Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Check In To The Grace Hotel

Image by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels.

As any traveller knows, hotel staff can make or break your stay.

Especially the staff at the front desk, because they set the tone immediately. Within minutes, you get the sense of whether your hotel stay will be a happy or problematic one.

Case in point: when I was very young, my family spent some time travelling in Europe.

We stayed in a beautiful country where the people happened to be sticklers for rules and regulations. While we enjoyed our time in this nation, dealing with officials who insisted on strict adherence to protocols and procedures, even for tourists, became a bit tiresome.

Then we landed up in the south of France.

We arrived at a hotel late at night, exhausted, and trudged up to the front desk. My father introduced himself and mentioned to the clerk what country we’d just arrived from. He then began fishing out the documentation he needed to register for our stay.

The desk clerk took one look at two weary travellers with a cranky toddler in tow (me!), and said,

“Relax. You’re not in that country anymore. Here’s your room key. Go get some sleep and we’ll deal with the paperwork in the morning.”

I think my Dad almost cried out of gratitude and relief.

Although we settled the bill with the hotel when we left, my Dad doesn’t remember us ever properly registering with them!

Isn’t that what God’s grace is like?

God accepts us before we’ve proven ourselves or filled out all the forms or ticked off all the boxes.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Inside Scoop

Image by Dan Fador from Pixabay

What do you see when you look at a tree?

Probably the same things I do: its pleasing shape, the attractiveness of the leaves, its height, or the welcoming shade it casts. The presence of flowers, fruit, or nuts on its branches would also catch my attention.

But someone who wants to use the tree will look at it quite differently.

A woodworker will assess a tree’s trunk and branches and have a sense of the quality of wood it will bear. He or she will know which areas will produce the truest grain, and whether the core of the tree is likely to be “conky,” or decayed inside.

My grandfather could judge a tree in this way.

He could discern how the way the tree had grown and the stresses it had been exposed to would combine to make the strongest grain. He could point to the best part of the tree out of which to make an axe handle, for instance.

My grandfather and I could look at the same tree but see entirely different things. I would consider the outside, but he would look much deeper.

I think God’s vision works in the latter way.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Unsung Heroes

Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay

Ever had a time when all your plans were upended?

Joseph certainly did.

The man who would become the earthly father of Jesus probably had his life all mapped out.

He thought he’d get married to Mary, settle in Nazareth with her, have a posse of kids, and build his business. He could probably foresee how his life would unfold over the ensuing decades.

But then God stepped in.

First Joseph had to deal with the jaw-dropping news that an angel told Mary that she would bear the Messiah. Joseph was told by a divine messenger to go ahead with the marriage, despite tongues wagging in town about his being cuckolded by some other man. No doubt Joseph hadn’t figured his married life would start out this way.

Then the couple had to travel to Bethlehem to be counted in a census. While there, Mary delivered her child in a stable. Joseph certainly never thought this was how a child of his would be born.

The next thing you know, the young family had to flee to Egypt to escape those who wanted to murder Jesus. I’m sure Joseph hadn’t banked on having to travel to a foreign country to evade capture by the authorities.

At every turn, Joseph’s life and plans were upended.

And yet he’s something of a hero in the Christmas story, albeit an unsung one.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

A Perfect Fit

Image of tailorbird by hartono subagio from Pixabay

There’s nothing quite like a perfect fit, is there?

When you buy a piece of clothing that hugs you where it’s supposed to, and is more flowing where you want it to be looser, you feel confident and comfortable. There’s something special about a garment that seems like it was made just for you.

The tailorbird of tropical Asia know this, too. When it fashions a nest for its young, it makes sure it is perfectly suited for its young family.

The female tailorbird makes its nest out of a living leaf hanging from a shrub or tree. She chooses a leaf and carefully checks it for size by wrapping it around her body like a cloak.

If the leaf suits her, she uses her needlelike beak to sew the sides together with plant fibre or spider silk, making as many as 200 stitches.

Once the leaf “cup” has been sewn, the male tailorbird lines it with soft materials in preparation for the eggs that will soon be laid in it. The parent birds make a perfect home for their chicks.

If a tailorbird goes to so much trouble to make nest that is perfectly suited for her family, won’t God make sure that the service He has in mind for you is a perfect fit, too?

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

All Hands On Deck

Image by Dirk Wouters from Pixabay

Do you ever feel like God couldn’t use you in His service?

Do you think you’re not qualified, because you don’t have any unique gifts?

Do you think ministry is just for pastors or other specially talented people like musicians and singers?

Banish these thoughts from your mind.

God can use anyone in the service of His Kingdom, and He has gifted each one of us with a unique combination of talents, skill sets, personalities, and backgrounds. There are people you can reach for the gospel that no one else can.

If you need more convincing, let’s take a look at the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. It took place at a time when Jerusalem’s walls and gates were in a shambles, which left the city vulnerable to attack from enemies.

Everyone’s help was needed to complete the repair work, and that included some of the most unlikely people.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Easter: Jesus’ Finest Hour

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

What makes something your “finest hour”?

To answer that question, we first have to reach back to June 16, 1940, when that phrase was made famous in a speech by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

World War Two had begun the previous year. France, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands had all fallen under the jackboots of the Nazis. It was a dark time, and the only thing standing between Hitler and control of the rest of Europe was the island nation of Britain.

In this context, Churchill prepared his people for the immense sacrifices that would be asked of them in the coming battles. He told them that the survival of their nation and way of life lay at stake. He let them know the consequences both of success and of failure in the task ahead of them.

He concluded his speech with one of the great rallying cries in history:

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’ ”

Churchill was telling the British people that their finest hour would not be a time of ease or comfort. Rather, it would encompass pain, sacrifice, duty, and selflessness.

The same holds true for us.

And the same held true for Jesus in His finest hour.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

You Are Now Entering The Mission Field

Image by Jimmy Emerson on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND-2.0

There are a lot of exciting things about travelling, aren’t there?

Things like seeing famous landmarks, interacting with different cultures, trying new cuisines, or having once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Even simply crossing the boundary into a new city can be exciting.

You often pass a large sign when you enter the outskirts of a new place. It might read, “You are now entering Albuquerque” or whatever your destination happens to be.

You get the same frisson of excitement even if you’re entering a small town that’s new to you. It still seems momentous, because the unknown awaits you. You never know who you might meet there, or what might happen.

These thoughts crossed my mind recently as I was exiting a church parking lot onto the main street. Leaving the lot, we were faced with a sign that read:

“You are now entering the mission field.”

My heart skipped a beat as I read that.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell · 2 Comments

We’re Here To Help

Image by An SiYu from Pixabay

Not far from The Faith Cafe, there’s a big-box home-improvement store. I had occasion to go there, and noticed the smiling greeter at the entrance.

He had a name-tag sticker on his apron that read, “Frank: Front End.”

I was both puzzled and amused.

Did the store managers figure that customers needed guidance determining which was the front end of Frank?

If I peered around to see Frank’s backside, would I see another sticker that read, “Frank: Rear End”?

Or maybe Frank needed a sticker on his apron to tell him which way to put it on, so he wouldn’t wear it back-to-front?

I giggled my way through the store until I finally realized that perhaps the sticker meant that Frank was responsible for covering the front end of the store. I felt a little sheepish at my mistake, but reasoned that the sticker could have been a little less confusing.

At another similar store I visited, the greeter had a name tag that read: “I’m George. I’m here to help.” That was much clearer. No mistaking what the employee was there for.

Then I thought, isn’t that what we believers are here on earth to do, too?

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

How To Pass The Baton

Image by Thomas Wolter from Pixabay

Have you ever run a relay race?

If you have, you’ll know that how well your team passes the baton matters just as much as how fast you all run.

I participated in a few relay races during high school when I was on the track team, and learned that there’s a knack to it.

When passing the baton to your teammate, you have to make sure that they’re up to speed first: at a sprint. You can’t hand off the baton at a standstill or even at a jog or your team will fall behind.

Therefore, we were taught a method to use at track meets when coming up behind the next runner on our team. We would shout out the name of our particular school, then say, “Go!”

Our next runner would immediately start sprinting with one hand behind them, ready to grab the baton in the passing zone. They wouldn’t look back at us, but simply keep running and power forward once we’d put the baton in their hand.

I think some these tips can apply to how we “pass the baton” to the next generation of believers in our spiritual race.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

All I Want For Christmas Is Staff

Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay

Have you made a list yet of what you want for Christmas?

Time is running short, so if you want to submit your list to Santa, you’d better get cracking!

Maybe you want some jewellery, a designer handbag, or a trip to a tropical isle?

Or perhaps your tastes run more to tools for your workshop, some custom bling for your car, or season tickets to see your favourite sports team play.

The kids in your life are probably way ahead of all of us and already know what toys and games they’d like.

As for me, after years of watching the historical British TV drama “Downton Abbey,” I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of having staff.

The size of staff required to keep a stately home like the fictional Downton Abbey running a century ago was considerable. They needed maids, cooks, valets, butlers, chauffeurs, and gardeners.

But the position that intrigued me most was that of footman. They seem to be so useful, able to turn their hands to any task around the house.

I really think I need a footman!

Or maybe, if I had to ask Santa for just one, a chef would be the better choice?

But really, I’m asking the wrong question. I should be asking: do I want to serve or to be served?

For Christians, there’s only one right answer:

It’s to serve others.

Read more