A Well Watered Garden

From owning one Bible in 2003, when we came to faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ, we soon had almost every version in our home. Julius picked up the NLT and used it as his quiet time study. Silly me - I would tease him and say that I preferred the NASB because the language was better! I don't think that I realised or appreciated the fact that he was doing the most important thing of actually waking up at 5:30am daily and reading God's Word - never mind which version. So now I am reading his NLT and I find it so comforting. God allowed Julius to leave me so many verses carefully underlined with his precious mechanical pencil (which no one was allowed to use, because we would be sure to misplace it!). Julius was so well organised. A couple of days after we lost Julius, God took me to Psalm 77. The psalmist's anguish was so akin to mine. I looked at the end of the psalm at the verses that Julius had underlined: Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty w...

3 weeks today. Waking up is always so hard. Yet I must. The ache seems so deeper - does it ever go away? I search God's Word for comfort, and I back again in Psalm 77. How appropriate - Asaph's language reflects my very mournings. I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! 2  When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. 3  I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help You don’t let me sleep.   I am too distressed even to pray! 5  I think of the good old days, long since ended, 6  when my nights were filled with joyful songs.   I search my soul and ponder the difference now. 7  Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? 8  Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? 9  Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion? An...

Way back in 2007 Julius and I had heard from my friend Gail that she had bought her burial plot for a good price. It was a small cemetery on a pretty hillside in a small town a little north of where we live. The price was good alright!! We laughed a lot about this, but knowing that some day we would need these - in his typical sense of humour, Julius would say that the stats on death are one is to one, we went ahead and bought ours. We laughed some more when we went up to the cemetery and discovered that it was filled with Anglo-Saxon names. The trustee looked a little surprised that his newest clients were South Asians and we laughed so hard when he said we were going to add much needed colour to the place!! Happy, carefree days laughing with Julius as we walked through serious moments in our lives. He encouraged me to face life and the reality of death courageously - looking always through the lens of God's Word. Six months ago we drove up the hill to bury my Dad. Ju...

How do I describe these last 2 weeks of my life? May 7th, 2013 a seemingly ordinary day. Julius dressed for work in his new red checked shirt, and new flat front khakis. feeling good, looking great, bounding off to work with a huge smile and a hug with a promise to come home. Last conversation "guess what I read in the book of Jeremiah today" (always, always excited about God's Word) "don't put my pyjamas to the wash", (knowing my habit of throwing everything to the wash), helping me clear the room for the workmen who were coming that day to change the windows (my strong man),  "thank you for making my lunch" (always so gracious and thankful). 10 am - a call from work to say that he was not yet there. No answer on his cell phone - wouldn't have returned a call anyway because his phone was in the trunk of his car (safe driving habit). I just knew that something was horribly wrong. and then a blur of OPP officer at the door, phone call to Ale...

Eight days for Christmas. The frenzy is all around me - the malls are packed, the music blaring and lights glowing. As the song goes, "It's the most wonderful time of the year" and I absolutely love it. But strangely, these days I am thinking a lot of 2 words that I read in Genesis 15:12 "dreadful darkness." This is the chapter in the Bible that describes the covenant that God made with Abram.The sun was setting and Abram fell into a deep sleep we are told, and then a "dreadful darkness came over him." Dictionary.com describes darkness as : "state or quality of having little or no light, wickedness or evil, obscurity: concealment, lack of knowledge or entitlement." What was so dreadful about this darkness? Was the darkness essential for Abram to hear God speak? Is it only in the dreadful darkness of our lives that we can see the flaming torch of His Light? What is your dreadful darkness as you approach this season of light? I know what mi...

Vicente Xavier Lobo, Papa to Julius and me, Thusa to the girls, Vixalo to his friends, Doutor Xavier to his patients, Uncle Xavier to all his nieces and nephews   and Dr Lobo to most others –on October 29th, went to sleep hooked up to his dialysis machine as usual and never woke up. Later that day, we went to clear out his belongings in the nursing home. Three years ago on Father’s day I had written a very personal letter to him. It was still in his drawer. As a tribute to him, I shared it with my dear family and friends at the Memorial service. My darling Papa, On this Father’s day, I want to tell you how much you mean to me and all the life lessons I learned from you. I don’t think I have ever taken the time to tell you how much I appreciate you. You have been a very good father to me – very patient and loving even when I did not deserve it. I remember sitting on your lap as a little girl and feeling so safe especially at nights when we did not have electricity and I was so a...

"We can go so far with God in the fellowship and comfort of close companions, but a time comes when each true follower is summoned farther still." Beth Moore, David Seeking a Heart Like His. In our study last week, Bible teacher Beth Moore took us to the scene in the garden of Gethsemane just before Jesus went to the cross. Matthew 26:38-39 records it for us: 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” These were the final hours for Jesus. He was going to face the cross and his death very soon. To be honest I had never seen this little nugget of information before, even though I have read this passage so many times. He went " a little farther" As Beth Moore pointed out the journey to a greater intimacy with God ...