Transformed | Inspired | Called

Spiritual Lessons of Autumn

- by Kara Carter

Autumn teaches us something we would rather avoid: everything changes.

The green leaves that seemed permanent turn gold, orange, and red. Then, almost quietly, they loosen their grip and fall. The trees do not cling to what has been. They release what they have carried through the summer and enter a season of vulnerability, waiting, and hidden work.

Transformed. Inspired. Called: An MCEC Devotional

Peace Be With You

- by Jean Claude Nkundwa

One of my favourite summer experiences is leaving town with family and friends for a day at a small lake among the Gatineau hills. We gather around tables full of food, tell stories, and play in the water while a breeze moves across the lake and through the green forest. Sometimes elders, nearly one hundred years old, sit surrounded by children and grandchildren, sharing heroic stories that I never tire of hearing. My young daughter moves happily from person to person, receiving attention and offering her wide smile in return. In moments like these, I wish life could remain just as it is.

Transformed. Inspired. Called: An MCEC Devotional

From Obedience to Spiritual Maturity

- by Kevin Peters Unrau

“Rules are for when we lack the wisdom and experience to know what to do.” 

I both appreciate and am challenged by this quotation. Rules are helpful because they save us from constantly discerning and negotiating every aspect of our lives. Can you imagine trying to drive without the basic rule that tells us on which side of the road to drive? It would be chaos! But wisdom and experience can show us when we should break this rule. 

Transformed. Inspired. Called: An MCEC Devotional

Our Safest Place

- by Herb Sawatzky

Eugene Peterson writes that it is an incredibly difficult thing to calm oneself. It takes a Herculean effort to calm ourselves down. We know that we need to take deep breathes when we are caught up in the middle of it, we tell our kids and our loved ones to do exactly this, and yet when it is our own turn to try and climb up out of the muddle of distress and anguish, we are reminded how immensely difficult it is to stop and take a breath, to slow down our own breathing and calm ourselves down. We know how hard it is to quiet our own souls.

Transformed. Inspired. Called: An MCEC Devotional