Bonniebax Creates

Do you believe that God answers prayer? I’ve had my ups and downs with this to be honest. I’ve had some prayers that I prayed for a long long time, and they didn’t come true. Like a wish in a Genie’s lamp or a wish upon a star, I said what I wanted. But it didn’t happen. I’d say that unanswered prayer has been one of my biggest faith roadblocks in the last 10 years or maybe more. One of the prayers I prayed for a long time was that God would let me stay home with my kids. I spent many a day bringing that up before the Lord, pleading that my will be done. I tried to get around to ‘your will be done’, but it was a tenuous peace if I ever found one. One day I became completely convinced that God had told me I wouldn’t have to go back to work and could homeschool my kids in the fall. I made an event of believing this, really, and stayed open and hopeful and faith-filled. The days of August ticked by on the calendar while I nervously glanced out of the corner of my eye...

This thought occurred to me the other day:   It has never been more clear that we value physical health over mental health. I get that we can count cases of people who have contracted the virus, and measure their physical health outcomes. I am super thankful for smart women doctors at the helm in Alberta and Canada who are calmly and bravely leading us through this challenging time. I am self-isolating as much as possible with my family. So I get it, and I’m doing it. But hardly anything about this plan feels right for the mental health of our global population. I’m a person who believes very strongly in connection. I think it’s key to almost any kind of growth, peace or joy, whether we realize it or not, and whether we consider ourselves an introvert or an extrovert.   It’s one of the reasons I can’t give up on church, flawed as it is. The ramifications of this time on the mental health of parents and children and everyone else just seems immense to ...

Here is a Palm Sunday story - I hope it encourages you wherever you're at today. This idea came directly from a poem I read last week by Kaitlin Shetler - I must credit her for this idea which has been very meaningful to me. Here's my Palm Sunday fictional story: My favourite day is the one where I get a break, a little time to myself. I’m a slave girl in Jerusalem, and I work hard all day until my fingers bleed and my hair is soaked with sweat. I fall into bed each night, exhausted, but I’m also glad to have a kind master and a place to sleep. On this day, the sun was shining and the sky was clear and blue. And it was my day. I heard a rumour that something special was happening in the city, so I headed out to see what was going on. Wow, I hadn’t seen a crowd like that in ages. Maybe ever. I heard cheering up ahead and I ducked out from behind a slow moving family so I could take a short cut behind the temple to speed my journey. My master’s husband is a very important...

Does the world feel smaller to you? To me, it kind of does. I feel more connected to each other in a global sense, even as we stay distant and stay in our homes. I mean, we are doing the same things they are doing in India and Italy and New Zealand. We’re staying in our homes, and not going to the shops unless it’s for groceries. The amazing medical staff keep risking it all to help others, in every country. We aren’t flying in airplanes or riding the transit.  Things that used to seem so important now feel a bit irrelevant, like hair and nails, wardrobes, reality TV, parties, vacations, and even things like smarter brains, beautiful appearance, popularity or talent. I keep realizing how much we have in common as a human race. We are more alike than we realize. One thing I have loved about this strange season of covid-19 isolation is the videos of celebrities in their homes. I keep noticing things like their microwave in the background, or whether the walls are empty or full. H...