Skip to main content

Let us have grace. Grace for each other’s weaknesses. Grace for suffering and sin and even for the “walking-dead” among us.

I have been thinking about some of these things over the past several months, and now even more with COVID-19... But, the topic came to mind after recently having suffered through 2 early-term (under 6 weeks) miscarriages, both right before hosting missionary teams | my sister’s recent near death and continued struggle to fully recover | and then recently seeing school reports from my little brother who was diagnosed with a meduloblastoma (brain tumour), after struggling in school and needing to be homeschooled (over 20 years ago!) | also thinking of past and present struggles in my own life, family (and extended family), and friends (including experience with PTSD and special needs).

1 Corinthians 10:13 English Standard Version (ESV)

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.“
Let us have grace for: 

The parent at the grocery store, with children misbehaving - they may not be their biological children (foster/adoption/respite/step), and they may be suffering with a (visible or invisible) disability (fetal alcohol syndrome/developmental delay/PTSD/malnourishment).

The young boy in your classroom who is acting rebellious and not handing in homework, changing his neat writing into scribbles - he is angry and stressed about things at home and about his failures, wondering why he can no longer ride his bike, rollerblade, print his name... his parents are getting divorced, and “worse” than that, he has an undiagnosed brain tumour.

The woman you interact with at the store, in passing, at the bank, at church, in a business meeting, hosting you for a meal in her own home, anywhere, who seems unfriendly, irritable, grumpy, or even unintelligent - she is struggling because she ___________ (has an autoimmune disease, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, brain fog, has a newborn and hasn’t slept as her body recovers from labour and delivery, has her period and is in pain, just had a miscarriage, is being abused (physically, emotionally, or spiritually), was recently raped, is going through menopause, is recovering from a near-death experience (car accident, malaria, TIA, stroke) - and “has to” keep going like nothing happened or is happening.

The man that you interact with that seems distant, irritable, distracted, unfriendly - he is ______ (struggling in his marriage or other relationships, he is burdened with the burdens of his family, he is caring for a sick wife or struggling child, he has trials in his business or ministry, he has no income, he is in physical pain, he is fighting a sin or a sickness), but “has to” keep going and not let go of his responsibilities.

The drivers who rage and cut you off - they have a cortisol imbalance and are in a constant “fight or flight” mode from a trauma (at least/especially in El Salvador!), they are on their way to the hospital or the morgue, they just lost their job, they will lose their job if they arrive late.

The people being served by ministries and relief efforts who fight to be first and get the most - they are living in fear and in poverty and literally think they will not survive if they don't fight to receive (and probably suffering from PTSD).

Those who bought out all of the TP and hand sanitizers - they are living in fear, and may have PTSD or a disability (like brain injury) and might not be able to think more than 15 seconds into the future.

Sometimes we need to have grace for people. We are all going through something. 

Aside from the trials and temptations and struggles of our lives, we are living in a fallen world, dealing with our own sin, being sinned against, and living with the affects of sin and the curse.

Let us love. Love through showing compassion and understanding, and love through speaking encouragement and Truth (and truth in love). Let us share hope.

There is hope in the Gospel. Hope in the Saviour who was acquainted with grief, who was fully God and humbled Himself to take on our flesh. Who, in His love and perfect, divine sinlessness, freely took the wrath of God upon Himself on the cross, bearing our sin, shame, and curse, and now offers us His righteousness. 

Let us humble ourselves to repentance, to obedience, to His Lordship, and to allowing Him to sanctify us through His Word and through the trials that He brings us through. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and remember that this is not our home - if we belong to Him and He is our Lord, then we are citizens of Heaven and have an eternal hope of no more pain, no more sickness, no more tears, and no more sin. And everything will be perfect, and will be so much better because of what we have suffered here... 

He is working all things together for His own glory and for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose. 

Let us not become weary in doing good - even to our fellow sojourners and those we meet along the way. They are either born-again sinners saved by grace who also need our grace as they are being sanctified and as they fight the inner-battle between their sinful flesh and their redeemed spirit,  or their behaviour is human nature, and they are actually “dead in their trespasses”, naturally living in sin, and don’t know any different - they need us to speak/preach/teach and live the Gospel. 

Either way, We all need grace.
__________________________________

 If you read this and are unsure of what you believe or where you stand, if you want eternal life - Jesus said, “you must be born again”. Find a Bible and read it - start in John and Romans to understand who Jesus is and what the Gospel is - send me a note if you need to be referred to a Bible believing and Bible-teaching Church or if you have any questions or prayer requests.




Reader’s Favourites

“Palm Sunday”. Thinking about Worship, “social distancing” & examining ourselves and our Gospel message

Psalm 139:23, 24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?  Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem by a crowd full of people singing and rejoicing over miracles. When Nicodemus came to Jesus and said that they (the Jewish leaders) knew that He must be from God because of the signs/miracles, Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)  The Jewish people had been waiting for the Messiah, and the entire Old Testament is full of messianic prophesies - on the road to Emmeaus, after His resurrection, Jesus went through the entire scripture to teach that it was all about Himself. The mes...
Read more

Father's Heart Coffee

Father’s Heart Coffee gives 100% profits to The Father’s Heart Village in El Salvador. With every sip, you empower us to sustainably care for the holistic needs of orphaned children.   Lets us know if YOU want to try our coffee! It is: -Shade grown -High Altitude (Apeneca) -Pacamara -Honey Process -Organic -Dark, Medium or Blonde Roast AND, for every pound of coffee sold, we can purchase 30 blocks for building a future of hope! We can ship coffee to you anywhere in North America! Order via our Canadian Website - donate page (more order options coming soon too!): www.fhfcanada.ca And, don't forget to order your copy of our book! Proceeds help our family to care for fatherless children in El Salvador & Uganda! Amazon Author Page
Read more

What do so-called “False Teachers” teach, and how can we know it is false?

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 I feel compelled by a biblical mandate, to say something about a huge burden that I have had for several year now, and that has been growing - to warn people about false teaching! Anytime a doctrine or teaching or movement is presented as biblical truth to the church in general, every individual Christian, and leaders in particular, are to rightly judged such teachings ...
Read more

Intentionality

As I finish up this school year with my littles, (and prepare to continue their lessons throughout the Summer, so that we are ready to begin the school year well), I am reflecting on this past school year, and the many travels and lessons that we have had together.  We began the school year in El Salvador, finished our first term in Canada, completed our second term in Uganda, began our third term in Canada, and are finishing up back in El Salvador. We have learnt and grown in each subject and grade, and as a family, and individually. I especially enjoy the lessons learnt through experience, as we travel, and as we live in different cultures and contexts – but, as much as I love teachable moments, and life lessons, and I love teaching God’s Word and the practical lessons of growing in character, I am otherwise, not a very good teacher, and very easily fall behind –especially in recording our learning (which is required for being Distributed Learner’s through my home province)....
Read more

More of life in the village - began writing in the village, and will slowly finish this week

As I sit here to write, I am surrounded by small children –some nephews, a little orphaned girl, and a great-nephew, plus some of my own children coming and going. I came to the church building to write, because the internet reception is better, the heat is not as intense, and I thought I would be alone – if I could speak the language I might ask them to leave for a little while, but I think that choosing love, and bearing the noise of all the “emotokars” (cars made of pieces of wood –that don’t resemble cars, but with an imagination and some good sound effects, they become perfect cars!)…in the time that it took to write that, they realized that I wasn’t looking at pictures or doing anything interesting, so they took their cars outside –but left a baby behind to play on the dirt floor. Actually, the floor is not dirt, it is made of cow dung. Here is Benjamin’s description of the [making of the] cow-dung floor: “I watched one of my cousins make a cow-poop-floor. First, they coll...
Read more

Brave Heart (April 2007)

Brave Heart April 11, 2007 thoughts on faith, being brave, being strong and living a life of love. (imagining a stage, with light shining down, and mew, standing behind the curtain and peeking out, too afraid to step out). I cannot step through the curtain and into the light. Of myself, I cannot. But I know whom I believe in and HE is able.  I know that He did not take me out this far only to leave me. He is faithful and His Word will not return to Him void. I have fallen, but He will never let me stay down. He has healed me and saved me and will continue to use me for His glory.  I will advance in faith and commit my life to the Lord and allow Him to change me and to make me more like Himself -even when it hurts. My identity is in Christ and not in my ministry. I will seek Him and his Kingdom. I will pursue intimacy and fight the good fight. I will not quit, I will finish the race.  The vision that God has given me is so huge, so amazing -and it is not m...
Read more

Reflections on Rwanda from 2004

A City on A Hill Written by Charity Pilkey, January 2004, after visiting Rwanda ( the land of a thousand hills ) Teardrops falling on a thousand hills Somehow invisible Footprints marching on a thousand hills Somehow silent Bloodstains rolling on a thousand hills Somehow transparent Echoes crying on a thousand hills Somehow muffled Tears that fell, now fall from mourners Survivors march to make new prints Blood now dried, remains a vivid reminder New cries resound on a thousand hills So, if you are remaining Keep walking and learning Keep striving and yearning For His light to shine brilliantly From this land of a thousand hills.
Read more

UPDATED: God's Faithfulness During Earthquakes and Natural Disasters

After feeling the whole house shake for a few minutes tonight, and checking the Salvadoran earthquake report, I am soberly reminded of the volatile world that we live in, and our need for God's grace. The earthquake, felt here, was a magnitude 8.0 earthquake, near Palmercito, Chiapas, Mexico. Thinking of our Mexican brothers and sisters, and remembering God's words in Romans 8:  For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us  and  in us!    For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed.   For the creation was subjected to frustration  and  futility, not willingly [because of some intentional fault on its part], but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope     that the creation itself will also be freed from its bondage to decay [and gain entrance] into the glorio...
Read more

Reflecting on Child Soldiers and IDPs in Soroti, 2004: Journal Entry and Poem

Child  Soldier (Reflecting again on meeting child soldiers in Soroti, Uganda in 2004)  Although I didn't know it at the time, I met my husband - and even interviewed him- in Soroti Town in 2004. That visit will forever be etched on my memory. We have just published the second edition to Samuel's story now. Having freshly re-read and edited every page, I have again re-lived his story as if it is my own (which is probably why I have been feeling so exhausted lately!). Imagining life as an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), living on a battlefield and surviving in the jungles, is one thing; remembering the child soldiers and child wives that we met is another. The picture on the right, and the one below, are of IDPs in Soroti. They have beautiful smiles, and while they were completely displaced and spread out throughout the city, seeking safety from Kony's army that rampaged villages in the district, they were still "innocent". The children that we me...
Read more

The Father-heart of God: a Definition

Having grown up hearing and learning the meaning of the “Father-heart of God”, I have never thought to sit and write a definition, until now as we prepare for a time of staff training (or envisioning). And as I have recently been told that the term didn’t make grammatical sense to someone -I wondered if it was our (mine and Samuel’s) Canadian, British and Ugandan language background, and similar church and training background that gave as a unique understanding of a term that maybe doesn’t actually makes sense? But when I googled it, mostly American blogs and studies came up - so American English uses the term too …but what does the term mean ? That is what I want to write about here. I am sitting in a coffee shop, thinking about the Father-heart of God, with headphones on. I felt compelled to listen to “How Great Thou Art” as I write and wish I could sing at the top of my voice while sitting here… thinking of all that it has ever meant to me and what it means now, the great truth...
Read more