December 4, 2021

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;… 

a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;       Ecclesiastes 3:1-2,6

Through our home organization business, we have seen just about everything. We have seen crowded garages, overstuffed closets, piles you have to make goat paths across, and various sundries we cannot even mention. 

We absolutely love what we do. We get to see the direct impact getting rid of clutter or organizing has on a person’s mental health. 

What makes the work exciting is that every job, every house, every client is completely different. Some clients show us “their mess” while we stand back and ask where the rest of it is. Everyone has a different relationship with what they find overwhelming. Clutter is so subjective. 

One common theme, however, is what we have dubbed the “I’m gonna pile.” We probably all have a pile, drawer, or tote of these items. Things I’m gonna make, or fix, or do. Maybe it’s scrapbook paper for the scrapbooks you are going to make, or the yarn for the sweater you are going to knit, or the jars for the jam you are going to make. 

We hope this is something we are going to get around to doing someday. 

However, the tough reality is that if we are honest with ourselves, there is no hope that we are actually going to do these things. But getting rid of these items has a deeper meaning for many people. It’s like we are giving up on our hopes and dreams. Letting go of those items means our hopes won’t come true. 

When it comes to home organization, we need to first have self-acceptance. It’s ok if we don’t fulfil these hopes. We are making room for things we will actually do, rather than feel guilty for not completing these activities every time we see the items. 

Hope is not without questions or doubts. But with the help of God, hope rises above despair. 

God can also help us declutter our minds during this busy season, making room for what’s really important. Take time to sit quietly, enjoy your surroundings, and clear your mind to see God’s blessings, thinking of the hope that is yet to come. 

Prayer:  O, God of hope, we remember today that Jesus is our hope – and the hope of the world. We thank God for the promises he has made to us. Lift our minds in watchful hope to hear the voice that announces his birth. Help us to clear our minds this advent season, to prepare room for what is really important. Amen

Laura Churchill Duke is an author, journalist, professional home organizer, and this year a communications professor at Acadia University. She lives in Kentville with her family and hopes for a time when she can travel again. 

December 3, 2021

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.                Jeremiah 29:11

Hope is wanting something to happen or a feeling of expectation...

For example, one year when I was little, I wanted a tablet for Christmas. I got a tablet, but that doesn’t mean that everything you hope for will come true.

One year, my great-uncle Foster got sick with cancer. We hoped he would get better, but like I said, not everything you hope for comes true.

Sometimes having hope is like having faith. You have faith that it will happen, but you never really know.

I hope that someday global warming will go away and the earth will heal.  I hope that people without enough money for food and shelter get help.  I hope that there is no more violence or hatred in the world.

Mary had hope because she knew God was always with her. She trusted that God would always care for her and keep her safe. 

But not many people have hope, because they don’t believe in God and that he will keep us safe and always care for us. 

Prayer: Dear God, My hope this Christmas is that more people start believing in you and trusting you.  I hope that people have shelter this Christmas and are safe and healthy.

In your name, we pray, Amen.

Liam Caines is 10 years old and in grade 5. In addition to golfing, curling, biking, and running cross-country, Liam discovered baseball this summer! Liam is also in the Annapolis Valley Honour Choir and plays the piano.

December 2, 2021

Therefore, with alert sober minds, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.

                                                                           1 Peter 1:13

Hope is a positive word.  But what does it mean, really?  Hope has different meanings depending on our need and capacity.  Sometimes when in dark situations with no capacity to change our circumstances, hope means wishful thinking.  This is an alternative to despair.  Job experienced this, and we experience it with him.

Hope sometimes is gathered but we try to store it, much like those saving the manna in the wilderness which turned wormy in the morning.  Hope, in this case, is more magical thinking functioning much like superstition.  It is hope, but it is yesterday’s hope.  It is not renewable.

There is another hope.  This hope includes the first two types and then stretches further.  This is Hope as Grace.  This hope is experience as assurance.  It includes but also sees beyond wishful thinking, and magical thinking.  Like Job, we may not see it, but it is still there.  Imagine the experience of Zachariah, John the baptizer’s father.  Silenced when he did not believe God.  His disbelief was not bigger than Grace.  When the time came to name his son John, the formerly silenced Zachariah said, “No, his name is John.”  Remember Simeon, the prophet who blessed Jesus 8 days after birth.  His hope was he would not die before seeing the Messiah.  Imagine that moment when he looked upon the promise of God with his own eyes.  We are sometimes granted that vision, that quiet reassurance God’s grace will do what it has already planned.  

Prayer: Thank you, most Gracious God.   You plant hope in us.  Hope in your promise, hope in your guiding love, hope in your commitment.  Help us to be as committed to these things as you have been to us.  Help us watch that hope lead us to change that sees your plans come to fruition, and thank you for letting us in on the preview.  Amen.

Jeffrey Hosick is a veteran firefighter, a fire department chaplain, a psychotherapist and a pastor.  He is currently serving in an interim ministry in Dartmouth.  

November 30, 2021

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."                                                       Romans 15:13

Hope. Christmas. It does go together, doesn’t it?  Hope is defined as... desire accompanied by expectation, to wish expectantly, to trust. Christmas is a very “hope-ful” time of year: that much-sought-after gift under the tree; good weather to travel; family and friends to share in the festivities; hope for a more peaceful, reflective Christmas, where the rush and chaos make way for time to ponder and wonder at the meaning of this wonderful season. 

I remember one Christmas from my childhood when I hoped to receive a specific present from Santa. Christmas morning came ’round and I was so excited! But ahhh, my hopes were dashed! Although I received other wonderful gifts, that particular toy wasn’t there. How was I to deal with such a thing? I remember not saying anything to anyone, because I realized that I had not included that item in my Christmas letter to Santa. I thought the elves would have told Santa because, weren’t they around, making sure I was being good? They would have heard me sigh about that toy as I looked again and again through the Sears catalogue. I tell you, my hope in the elves diminished significantly! What did I learn from that experience? As a child, I learned that I had put my hope in the wrong people (elves) instead of the right person (Santa). 

Many (many!) years have passed since then. Over time, my hope found its way to God, because over and over in my life, God has proven to be trustworthy. God has shown all of us how to trust Him by sending Jesus to show us the way. That little baby, born in a manger, came to give us hope as He points us to God. Through His promises, His life, death, and resurrection, we have been given the knowledge that we never have to walk our life path alone – we have been given hope for changed lives, new beginnings, and company on our journey. 

Wishing you a very “hope-filled” Christmas! 

Prayer: O God, we praise you because You are our hope. Thank you for walking with us as we embrace Hope during our journey through the Advent season. 

Cynthia Worthen is happily a mother to three and grandmother to four. She’ll be very specific in her letter to Santa this year! 

November 29, 2021

Image by Taylor Wright on Unsplash

 Monday, November 29, 2021

 Life’s a Dance

 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow. 

       Jeremiah 13:30

I have learned to be grateful even when I feel sad and to think positively in the midst of negativity.  When I became a widow with four teenagers, the future looked bleak indeed.  With the encouragement of my friend Shirley Jackson, my proposal of a preschool in Port Williams became a reality.  I loved working with and teaching 3-5 year-olds at Size Small Nursery School and meeting many of the young families in The Port ... for 22 years!

I have learned to hold onto hope when I feel hopeless.  This Spring I felt devastated when told that I had cancer and needed major surgery ASAP.  Eleven days in hospital, at a time when visitors were not allowed, seemed like an eternity.  Home never looked so good as the day I was released, and along Belcher Street the apple blossoms were an encouraging sign that Spring was here.

I have learned to accept love and to appreciate my family and friends who have been my reason to push through 6 months of chemotherapy treatment. I am thankful that the side effects have been minimal and manageable. If all goes according to plan, treatment should be finished by the end of the calendar year. A wonderful reason to celebrate a New Year in 2022!

I listen for the whispering of the angels over the worry and static in my head and I have a new appreciation for the gift of each new day - which is why it is called the present.  So, my friends, live every day to the fullest and dance with joy and be happy.

Prayer:

Dance then, wherever you may be.

I am the Lord of the Dance said He,

And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,

And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He.

Amen

Lorraine Miner grew up on the Gaspe in Quebec. Her first trip to NS was when she came to Acadia University as a teenager. Lorraine has three daughters and one son who are all married now and have given her six beautiful grandchildren.