Some years, I’ve made a point of giving up something for Lent. Like fasting from chocolate. Or driving alone in silence instead of listening to music or a podcast. These are small, personal sacrifices – so small that I hesitate to call them sacrifices. Besides, they’re for a limited time – for just the six weeks of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday. Yet somehow, giving up … [Read more...] about Lenten Fasting or Feasting?
April Yamasaki
April Yamasaki currently serves as resident author with Valley CrossWay Church, editor of Rejoice! daily devotional magazine, a spiritual formation mentor with Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and often speaks in churches and other settings. Her latest book is Hope Beyond Our Sorrows: Learning to Live with Life-Changing Loss. Learn more at AprilYamasaki.com, WhenYouWorkfortheChurch.com, and Writing as a Spiritual Journey on Substack.
Venez, divin messie: Oh come, divine Messiah
The surprising doubleness of the Advent season I don’t know when or where I first learned about the Advent season as the four weeks before Christmas. Maybe as a child at the Lutheran church where I went to Sunday school. Or as a youth in the Anglican church I attended with a friend from high school. Or in one of the many different churches my husband and I visited as a young … [Read more...] about Venez, divin messie: Oh come, divine Messiah
Abundant Thanks to Abundant God
Thanksgiving Day in Canada has come and gone, but as we all know, giving thanks is not about a single day or weekend. Churches around the world give thanks every Sunday as part of their regular worship. Some of us give thanks every day when we pray before a meal, when some of us pray even before we get out of bed in the morning, or before we go to sleep at night. Every … [Read more...] about Abundant Thanks to Abundant God
On Writing a Better Story
Years ago, after my father died, I wrote down some of the things I remembered him saying. No education is ever wasted. Don’t spend what you don’t have, always pay cash. It’s a privilege to pay taxes – somebody has to pay for the roads. These things were part of our everyday conversation, and I don’t know that my father meant them to stick in my mind forever. But I’ve come to … [Read more...] about On Writing a Better Story
Psalms for Summer
Years ago, I was given a slim, pocket-sized Bible that held the New Testament and Psalms. Keeping the books of the New Testament together made sense to me since they tell the story of Jesus and his followers. But I wondered why the Psalms were added to the end of the New Testament. Why not add Genesis that tells the story of creation? Or the book of Exodus that gives the ten … [Read more...] about Psalms for Summer