Once every so often, a new blog comes along that truly is
worthy of one’s time in reading it and keeping it on one’s favorite list to
return to again and again. My very best
friend has started writing just such a blog.
It is entitled “Canoeing with God”.
My friend, Nicole, is an exceptional writer as she is able
to paint vivid scenes with her words and communicate her points seemingly
without effort. She is a freelance
journalist credited with myriads of published articles, essays, and even a
documentary over the years.
On her latest project, Canoeing with God, her writing
encompasses stories about life, and always how that life leads us to Christ. In some of her posts, she begins to tell her
continuing story of her past and how, through many exceptionally difficult
trials and tribulations, it lead her to find and develop a wonderful loving
relationship with Christ.
In between those stories of her past challenges, she weaves
in occasional stories of everyday challenges too. Always, she finds God in the ordinary, and
not just the extraordinary events of life.
Nicole is a rarity in that she is very clear-eyed in how she
sees the world, and yet she manages to do so, through God’s grace, with great
optimism. All too often we tend to
become cynical as we grow older, particularly when one has been through the various
heartaches that Nicole has. And yet she
finds the good in people and the love of Christ in all she does. It is an attitude that comes out in her
marvelous writing.
When I first met Nicole, I noticed she had a tiny little
model canoe adhered to the dashboard of her car. I asked her about the significance of the
canoe, and she responded, “If you notice, there aren’t any paddles in it. God has them.” And so He does. And He leads her canoe wherever He chooses,
just as He does for all of us. It is
simply up to us to trust in Him as He leads us through both the calm, serene
waters and the turbulent rapids of life.
Nicole shares her journey in her wonderful new blog of precisely how she
has done that thus far.
I would unabashedly like to give Nicole and her blog, Canoeing with God, my whole-hearted support and recommendation for all readers out
there that have similarly traveled life’s difficult and beautiful streams. In other words, I recommend it to everyone!
