outWORD by Matte Downey

I spoke about one of my favourite Bible stories almost 2 weeks ago at church: the one where Elisha defeats the raiding enemy people by hearing their ambush plans from God and after he has captured them, preparing a feast for his enemies instead of killing them (2 Kings 6 if you want to check it out). The bit about the servant’s eyes being opened to see the supernatural fleet of horses and chariots of fire that were God’s protection around them is really cool, but the part that struck me this time around in the story was the feast of kindness. Amidst all of the killing and conflict and rooting out of evil in the story of a nation of people trying to dwell in a sometimes wild and somewhat unconquered land, this unlikely act stands out in bold contrast. This past week has been a bit of a tough one for me: all the activities and guests and medical appointments and paperwork deadlines and phone calls and travel plans and care-giving just seem to clump together sometimes and the last fe...

I had an interesting experience a few weeks ago when I contacted a company to come out and give me a quote on installing a shower in my bathroom. The person on the phone called me to get directions to my house, which is totally understandable as I live next to nowhere. I explained all the twists and turn, starting with…when you get to a split in the road, keep to the left. The lady called me back fifteen minutes later, saying that she had turned right at the split as the way left just didn’t seem right to her and now she was lost. That was a bit odd, but I instructed her to turn around and take the appropriate exit and then told her which street to turn onto from there. She called back in ten minutes, at a crossroads, not sure what to do next. I explained which street she should be on and after telling me I had spelled it wrong which was why she could not find it, she seemed to be okay. Five minutes later, the phone rang again. She was getting annoyed at this point, calling my ...

After almost a year of thinking and planning and measuring and calling people and sighing over large sums of money and looking at all the models available and realising walls were in the less-than-ideal places and asking plumbing questions and overall indecision…we are getting our guest bathroom downstairs remodelled and a shower installed. I love having a house with space for visitors and friends, and one of the first things I had hoped to do after we bought this home was to install a shower in the second bathroom so that our guests wouldn’t have to traipse up 13 stairs to use the shower on the main floor. Instead, we ended up doing almost everything else first, for no other reason than every time I tried to make the shower thing happen, I hit some obstacle, until a week ago when everything just seemed to fall into place. Timing, it seems, is something you just can’t fight. But we do. There is a natural ebb and flow to seasons and growth and rest and work and play, but our North ...

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good… Psalm 34:8 There is so much of God to know Experience See Hear Taste Touch smell and feel that he has invented a space and place called…eternity so that we can begin to fathom who this one we call FATHER is He is a perpetual feast a cornucopia of adventure and mystery beauty so rare and captivating that in a lifetime of gazing we will not be able to fully comprehend it This wild bigger than life GOD asks us to come taste participate grab hold of and enjoy the very essence of himself - It is not a polite sampling he invites us to no dainty drawing room portions but the reckless throw-caution-to-the-wind do not hold back dig right in partaking that a 2-year-old indulges in when presented with chocolate pudding or honey or watermelon. The experience is smeared all over his face and caught in his hair his eyes shine with delight and nothing else exists right then but the sweet stickiness of joy in his mouth. Throw away the fork and knife of care and ...