Tuesday, June 29, 2010

News Release

Local Writer Finalist for National Award

Heather Kendall, a resident of Innisfil since 1997, received a national award on Wednesday, June 16, at The Awards Gala of The Word Guild. She won first place in the Article—News category of The Canadian Christian Writing Awards. Faith Today published her article, Reach Out With Good Friday Drama, in March/April 2009. In it she described the interactive play, In Search of Jesus, which New Life Fellowship Baptist Church has put on every Good Friday for the last four years.

Heather is the author of the book, A Tale of Two Kingdoms, and a freelance writer for various Christian publications. Her latest work is a poem in the anthology, Grandmothers’ Necklace. The Stephen Lewis Foundation is sponsoring this book to support grandmothers in Africa who are looking after their grandchildren, orphaned by AIDS.

Heather is a member of The Word Guild, a national organization of writers, editors and speakers who share a Christian worldview. With 350 members, it provides professional development to published and aspiring writers through multiple channels, including writing contests and awards, newsletters, Internet discussion groups, manuscript critiques, workshops and conferences.

For the third year in a row, Herbie Kuhn, popular speaker and in-house announcer for the Toronto Raptors basketball team, hosted the black-tie gala. It was held at the headquarters of World Vision Canada in Mississauga, Ontario.

www.tale2k.com

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

A Leap of Faith

Birdfeeders only feed birds, or so I thought. Apparently squirrels do not know this. Seeing how easily squirrels snatched the seed from our birdfeeder, my husband decided to move it. He hoped to outsmart them by dangling the birdfeeder on an abandoned satellite dish. Surely squirrels cannot climb a metal pole!

A few days later we saw a squirrel clinging precariously to the top of the birdfeeder. He looked very determined to feast on the forbidden sunflower seeds on the ledge below. With head down he gulped a few seeds before hurling himself to the ground. Another time a squirrel lunged onto the birdfeeder, swinging it enough to spill the seeds onto the grass below. Then the squirrel jumped down onto the grass to enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

Both of these squirrels took a chance leaping onto a swinging birdfeeder. The Bible records the story of Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, who jumped out of a boat. He walked on top of the water on the Sea of Galilee to meet Jesus. As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he was safe. But when he looked down, he sank.

Like the squirrels, jumping to be near food, Peter took a leap of faith to be close to Jesus. He faltered when he stopped looking at Jesus. All the other disciples never even left the boat. Are you like Peter, risking everything for Jesus? Or are you like the rest, staying safely in the boat? God expects every believer to put Jesus first and risk everything for the glory of God.

www.tale2k.com