On Birthdays...

To my dear TFMC Family,

I’ve been thinking about birthdays lately.  This past weekend, our southern neighbour celebrated 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Canada celebrated a birthday earlier in the week, a modest 159 years.  In a few weeks, the Neufeld family will celebrate 100 years since they took the courageous step to immigrate from what is now Ukraine to Canada.  We, too, are celebrating a birthday milestone, our 225th.  Birthdays are a time to look back and to look forward...

Seeing Red

To my dear TFMC family,

What gets you mad?  What makes you angry?  We’ve been dealing with a lot of anger and frustration in our home as of late.  When things do go according to her plan, in her way, at her timing, Chloe gets quite angry.  Her feelings are quite big these days, as is to be expected for toddlers.  But I don’t think that big feelings and angry outbursts are limited to toddlers and preschoolers anymore...

Family and Familia

To my dear TFMC family,

For four years, I have addressed you as my "family." For some, this was likely just a sentimental salutation. For others, perhaps it gave you pause. For still others, you may have read right over it. I used the term intentionally, though lately, I’ve wondered if I need to rewrite it...

Faithful in the Small

To my dear TFMC family,

At the MCEC Annual Church gathering this past weekend, I participated in a presentation regarding fundraising in the Church.  It was recognized that talking about money was a thorny subject.  One that preachers often avoid, and one that often makes folk listening squirm.  Even though Jesus talked more about money than any other subject on earth, we still find it tough to talk about...

Pacifist, Not Passive-ist

To my dear TFMC family,

I have a poster that I’ve regularly hung in my office. It was part of a push by Mennonite Church Canada a number of years back to remind the constituency that we are a peace church.  On it is the phrase, "Pacifist not Passive-ist.”...

A Quiet Distinction

To my dear TFMC family,

To be clear: Donald Trump is not Jesus. JD Vance does not get to tell the Pope that his theology is wrong. And whatever Pete Hegseth is doing in Iran, it is neither a Holy Crusade nor divinely supported.  These claims of divine authority for political and military acts are exactly what our Anabaptist forebears warned against when they saw the state church merging with power...

When Astronauts Pray

To my dear TFMC family,

I’ve been watching with great interest the progress of the Artemis II mission. Space travel has captivated me for as long as I can remember. I grew up devouring National Geographic magazines, watching NOVA specials, and nurturing a deep curiosity about the worlds beyond our own....

Sacred Discomfort

To my dear TFMC family,

We are approaching the last week of Lent. Palm Sunday marks the final seven days—more or less—of Jesus' life on earth.  This last week of Lent also means that for those of us who've either fasted from something or tried to pick up something new, you only have one more week of your fast. Easter will be a true celebration.  In our home, we've been fasting from snacking before going to bed. I do miss my chips at night...

Lent's Confrontations

To my dear TFMC family,

One of the things that I appreciate about Lent is how deeply personal it is. Lent is a season of self-reflection. While for much of the year we reflect on our outer walk with Christ — that would be our actions and how they reflect Christ, for example, through peace and justice work and sharing the love of Christ with the world — for Lent, we are asked to attend to the inner spiritual life. This is the one that calls us to draw closer to God and Christ by looking at, reflecting on, and perhaps reconciling aspects of our faith lives which need attention...

Submission and Power

To my dear TFMC family,

I've been thoroughly enjoying the way we've been slowly working our way through the scriptures typically associated with Holy Week.

We've been given the opportunity to dwell in these stories that, for narrative sake, we often move through quickly as we tell Jesus' journey from the Last Supper to the Cross. We don't usually walk through these stories slowly, so I've really appreciated the chance to spend considerable time with them.

Growth in Dissonance

To my dear TFMC family,

I've been thinking about our Lent theme for the last week, and have been noticing how many places of dissonance I live in.  I’ve realized how much I love resolution, how much I love things all tidied up.  So any number of the started but unfinished projects at home drives me nuts.  I want to get them done.  When a problem arises at home or in the church, I sometimes have to restrain my impulse to just fix it.  Because, as I’ve learned, it’s in the solving, it’s in the fixing where the greatest growth occurs.

Reading Revelation

To my dear TFMC family,

Currently, the book “The Water Hole” by Graeme Base is very popular in our house.  It’s both a counting book and a search-and-find book.  The latter is the most interesting part.  Within each illustration on each page are additional animals to be found.  But they’re not obvious.  Sometimes it’s the negative space, or the crease of a leaf, or a carefully drawn branch that creates the shape of a creature...