Time With Tandy

Inspirational author and speaker

Time With Tandy

Inspirational author and speaker

Category: inspirational

  • Honouring Family Heritage

    #inspiration, family, heritageI have a granddaughter who plays the snare drum in a Pipe and Drum band. It was a thrill to watch her playing as she marched in a local parade. Parents, siblings, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins all gathered along the parade route and cheered as she marched by in full Scottish attire.

    My father would have loved this. He had a fondness for these bands. When I was a young girl, I was in a parade with my Brownie pack. My dad was given the task of taking photos. There may have been one or two of me but the majority were of the pipe and drum band! He would have been so proud to see a family member taking part in this activity. The only way it could have pleased him more would have been if she’d been playing the bagpipes!#inspiration, God, heritage, family

    Another granddaughter does Highland dancing. We have watched her in various competitions over the past year. The intricate foot movements and the swirl of her kilt show her dedication to Scottish traditional dances.

    My husband was born and raised in Scotland. If I trace my family history back several generations, I also come across Scottish ancestors. We appreciate the desire of these girls to honour their heritage.

    It also reminds me that as a child of God, I should be involved in activities that reflect this heritage. Do I honour God by spending time with him? Do I follow his example of loving my neighbour? Am I generous with my time and resources?

    God loved me enough to call me His child and make me a member of His family. As such, my actions should reflect this heritage.

    See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! (1 John 3:1 NLT)

    You are members of God’s family. (Ephesians 2:19 NLT)

  • The Jay

    #inspiration, nature, Jay, river
    photo by Lynn J. Simpson

    Today’s guest blogger is Lynn J Simpson

    He sits perched on the floating branch fallen from one of the maple trees that line the river bank. I watch from my own perch, where I’ve come to be in a place where I often come, to slow a mind that has got caught up in its own whirl of thoughts like a river eddy.

    But decisions and worries continue to swirl through my mind. Then I gaze at the Jay’s presence, see it’s still wings while it sits upon its perch. And my mind finally stills.

    I watch and wait, light sounds of the river’s water and the rustling of tree branches above me, from winds unseen grace my senses.

    My eyes follow the Jay as it takes it flight, flies from its perch that has become unsteady in the moving waters. The Jay flies up and up, finally resting in a Manitoba Maple tree’s branch that, I see, points west attached to a trunk that is sturdy and steady.

    I rise from my own perch, steadying myself on the uneven turf with the help of reaching a hand against the sturdy tree that resides beside me.

    I steady with the knowing that no matter when life seems as unstable as a branch on rushing river waters, I can find even ground again. I just need to take responsibility for my life and fly.

    Lynn J Simpson is a writer who is rarely without camera in hand, capturing Breathing Spaces moments to share. She’s published two journals to help people create healthy mind-sets and is a Certified Professional Life Coach. A mom, a grandma, and explorer, Lynn loves to capture life’s journeys through writing and photography. You can find her at InspiringHopeInYou.com

     

  • Lessons for an On-Time Girl

    #inspiration, #God, guidance, time
    image from pixabay

    Todays guest post is by Carolyn R. Wilker

    Getting up in the morning seemed hard for me during high school years. The days often felt long—an hour bus ride beginning and end of the day, then farm chores or sibling care, and two hours of homework. My energy often flagged by the end of the week, and I could barely get out of bed.

    Mom was up each morning to get our breakfast ready. My sisters and I only had to sit down and eat before catching the bus. Mom even set the kitchen clock five minutes fast. Enter a recurrent dream about missing the school bus, always near the end of summer.

    In the dream, I’d be part way out our country lane, and the school bus would come. Usually the driver saw us coming, and he’d wait, but in the dream, the driver never saw us, and he’d go right by. I could never run fast enough.

    One school morning, I hit the snooze button once too often and really did miss the bus. Dad would take me, but I’d have to wait until he was ready. He got me there in time, enough to grab books from my locker and get to my first class.
    It took only once to realize how that extra ten minutes of sleep messed with my day. I had to make the effort to be up on time—that was my responsibility.

    We can ask God for help, yet we need tomake an effort too. Solomon asked for direction to rule his kingdom (1 Kings 8); he still had to do the hard work to make it happen. In the same way, we can ask for guidance, then we must set our mind and body to the tasks before us.

    Carolyn R. Wilker is an author, editor and storyteller from Ontario. Reading came easily in primary school, and she was hooked on books and words.https://www.carolynwilker.ca/

  • Putting it Together

    #inspiration, puzzles, TetrisHave you ever played Tetris? This video game has various shaped tiles which descend on your screen and you need to manipulate them so they fit together. That’s a very simple explanation, but I’m sure many of you have played or know of this game.

    I am a fan on hands-on rather than computer games so was pleased to find a wooden version of this puzzle.

    My eleven-year-old grandson was happy to be the first to sit down with the challenge. Before long he had successfully completed the puzzle. I was impressed when twice more he fit random pieces together with the same positive result.

    Each time he finished, the design of the coloured blocks was different. This gave me hope that since there was obviously more than one solution, I might be able to put it together as well.

    Then the scene in front of me changed. Rather than going by instinct, my grandson studied the pieces and created intricate patterns. When he was left with one or two pieces that didn’t fit, he was confused and frustrated. The first few times had been so easy that he couldn’t understand what had gone wrong.
    This boy is a thinker so started over again, carefully planning each piece of the puzzle. It still didn’t work. Unfortunately, this was repeated again and again, becoming more difficult each time.

    The lesson I learned from watching him is not to over think a situation. My initial instincts are usually correct. When I constantly second guess myself I end up unable to complete even a simple task.

    Paralysis by analysis never works out to my benefit.

  • Fires Burning

    #inspiration, encouragement, #JesusI am drawn to campfires. Sometimes I roast marshmallows and other times I am content just to sit near and appreciate the beauty a fire has to offer. I like to watch the flames lick and dance and when they have burned down, I’m enthralled with the glow of the embers.

    Our eleven-year-old grandson, Logan, also has a love of campfires. Unlike me, he is not content to sit idly beside one. Instead, he wants to tend the fire, turning over and rearranging the burning logs.

    He joined us for a fire recently and, poker in hand enjoyed rearranging the burning pieces of wood. When the flames died down, he used his poker to break up the glowing embers and move them away from the rest of the fire.

    It didn’t take long before the glow left these embers, making them look like lumps of coal. Logan commented on this and we told him to move the dark pieces of charred wood close to the larger ones still showing the red and orange of fire within. Pieces recently removed ignited quickly; ones that had grown cold took a little longer. Some needed to be completely surrounded by the pieces with fire still alive inside them. Eventually, all of them burned brightly again.

    I have had experiences where the flame of passion for life has died down. Just as an ember removed from the fire grows cold, the same happened to me when I distanced myself from other believers. I discovered the colder I became, the longer it took to reignite my spark.

    This is a good reminder to surround myself with positive, encouraging people. Together we can fan the flames of potential each of us carries. As followers of Jesus, we can be the spark that points others to His love and light.

    (Jesus said) “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20 NIV)

  • Come Up Kicking

    #inspiration, life, committmentThe exercise instructor added some new challenges to our water aerobics class. We had to keep our feet off of the bottom of the pool while moving them in a cross-country ski motion. In order to keep afloat, our arms were busy sculling at the same time.

    When we were allowed to touch the bottom again the instructor told us to come up kicking. There was to be no pause. We went directly from fighting to keep our heads above water to kicking our legs up high.

    After the class (I was too busy trying to breathe during it!) I thought about the come up kicking statement.

    There have been times when the bottom seems to have dropped out of my life and I’ve had to fight hard to keep from going under. It takes everything I have just to stay afloat.

    Eventually, I am able to put my feet on solid ground. The natural inclination is to rest. Far more beneficial is to come up kicking. It isn’t easy but the head start I gain will give me a much better chance of reaching my goal.

    Past experience has taught me that what I achieve is directly proportionate to the effort I am willing to put in. In other words, how committed am I to what I say I want?

  • A Day at the Beach

    #inspiration, ##God, beach, lake, children, loveToday’s guest post is by Marcia Lee Laycock

    The day couldn’t have been more lovely, the sun sparkling on the lake, the beach slowly filling with families. A little red-haired girl caught my attention. She stood still on the shore, her small head bent over something in her hand. She started forward, stopped and peered at her hand, took a few more steps and stopped again. As she approached, I could see a moth cupped in her palm. She tilted her hand each time it moved, stopped when it crawled dangerously close to the edge and moved slowly forward when it was secure. Eventually the little girl reached her parent, holding her hand out for her mother to admire the precious treasure.

    My delight in watching that little girl deepened as I realized God had just given me a picture of Himself. His care for each one of us is no less complete than the careful protection she provided for that small moth. Isaiah 46:4(b) says “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” God holds us in His hand and takes great care to keep us there. In John 17:12, as Jesus prays to His Father on our behalf, He says “I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost …”

    Like that child who was so pleased with her treasure, Jesus delights in presenting us to His Father. In John 17, He asked his Father to protect us, to set us apart from the evil in the world and draw us into a complete relationship with Himself. He says “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

    How incredible to think God loves us as much as he does His own Son!

    Marcia Lee Laycock writes from Alberta Canada where she lives with her pastor/husband. She is the author of two contemporary novels, four fantasy novels, and four devotional books. Visit her online at www.marcialeelaycock.com

  • Play Ball

    #inspiration, guest blog, Kim Louise ClarkeToday we have a guest blog written by Kim Louise Clarke

    Because my husband umpires, I have the opportunity to watch a lot of softball, which in turn provides a rich source of life lessons. Like the one the other day, when I watched the girl in left field miss a very catchable fly ball. She stumbled to retrieve the ball at her feet and threw it towards first base. But the throw was weak and much too late.

    I felt sorry for her as I sat on the bleachers, eating my hotdog, content that I still had a chocolate bar to munch on, wondering how she could have missed the catch in the first place. Sitting and watching all the activity before me, I was risking very little other than gaining a pound or two.

    But each of these players, attempting to bat, run, throw, and catch, were risking a lot. Besides injury, they risked making a bad play and setting their team back. They risked failure, self-doubt, and enduring criticism from the spectators.

    This is similar to life beyond the ball diamond, where we can choose to remain a bystander watching other’s living their lives. Or we can choose to step out into the life given us, taking risks, knowing that we may meet up with failure, self-doubt, and criticism.

    “When was the last time you did something for the first time?” is a quote from John C. Maxwell (American business and investment speaker). It is a great question. When was the last time I tried something new, risked something, or got out of my comfort zone? Am I someone who is ‘playing the game’, or just someone who is ‘playing it safe’?

    Kim Louise Clarke hopes her writing will inspire, inform, and entertain. She writes travel devotional memoirs, having published one book, with another to be published soon. Website: www.kimlouiseclarke.com

  • Thunderstorms

    #God, #inspiration, blessings, restoration, healing
    photo compliments of pixabay

    I was raised in close proximity of Vancouver, British Columbia. We had occasional thunderstorms but nothing like I’ve experienced since moving to southern Alberta.

    Now, those are impressive! The echo of thunder can be heard in the distance as the storm approaches. The air feels heavy and oppressive. Ominous looking clouds fill the sky and the natural light becomes dim.

    A few raindrops appear and become more insistent when the thunder booms overhead and lightning flashes in the sky. At night I have seen incredible displays when both sheet and fork lightning have appeared during the same storm.

    Sometimes there are hailstones, bouncing after striking the sky with incredible force.

    Other times we are pounded with buckets of rain. I stand at the window and watch in awe as our street becomes a rushing torrent of water. It is exhilarating to be witness to this powerful display of nature.

    When the storm subsides I step outside and breathe deeply of the air which has been refreshed by the cleansing flood. It is no longer heavy and oppressive.

    The formerly dry, parched ground has been filled by the downpour that flooded the cracks with much-needed moisture.

    This is the kind of restoration God brings into our lives. When I am desperate for an end to my dry and thirsty life, I need more than a little hope. A gentle shower will not be enough to quench my needs.

    God is there; ready to flood my life with the healing power of his love. In the Bible, there is a story of God turning the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs. What He has done for others, I know He will also do for me.

    He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; (Psalm 107:35 NIV)

  • From a Distance

    #inspiration, beauty, vibrant colour, perfect pictureIn the distance, I see the vibrant yellow of canola fields. The beauty is breathtaking as the sunshine flowers contrast against the azure sky and verdant green of nearby trees.

    From a distance, this blanket of bright colour appears solid. When I get closer I see this is not the case. There are variations in shading and when I come alongside them I see more green stalks than yellow flowers. The flowers are quite small and not the showy blooms I’d imagined. The plants are still lovely; they just are not as I’d envisioned them.   #inspiration, flowersSince I am not native to this area, surprise and a little disappointment are felt when I realize the perfect picture I’d seen from a distance was not the reality upon closer examination.

    Oh, how this brought other memories to mind. I don’t know about you, but I have looked with envy at the vibrant life someone else had and wished mine could be as beautiful.

    In reality, I have only seen the tip of their life, the part that can be observed from a distance. Up close, the picture is different.

    No one has a perfect life. Struggles and challenges affect each of us. When I put on a mask to convince you all is well in my life, you have no reason to doubt me. You only see the picture I choose to show you.

    It is only when I allow you to have a closer look that you can see we are not so different after all. We are all perfectly imperfect and showing that is what makes us beautiful.

    “If you ask people what attracted them to the person they love, they never tell you of some perfect feature that focused them on sheer surfaces but rather an imperfection that allowed them to see into their uncharted depths.” – Eugene Kennedy