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A Well of Life

March 22, 2019 by Esther Filbrun · 2 Comments

Work mornings often find me sitting at the kitchen table, gulping down my breakfast and hot cup of coffee while I read a couple chapters of the Bible for a little spiritual refreshment before the day begins. Today was one of those, and even though I might not get the chance to sit and savour the Word like I would like to, I was blessed by several precious minutes before I had to head out for work.

One of today’s chapters was Proverbs 10. I appreciate the wisdom in Proverbs so much, but sometimes I feel like I can read a lot and not glean anything. Other times, like this morning and even with the limited time, the Lord blessed me with several verses:

“The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.” (Prov. 10:11)

Courage vs. Fear

March 18, 2019 by Esther Filbrun · 2 Comments

I read a quote last night that really struck me: “Living unafraid doesn’t mean that we don’t feel fear but that we don’t obey it.” (from the Our Daily Bread devotional)

As one who has had to deal with fear a lot, especially with regards to the aftermath of my brother’s death, this encouraged me to see another angle. Or at least hear the truth put in another way.

We were never called to obey fear—that is far removed from what Jesus called us to! He called us to walk and live out of love, loving God first and foremost, knowing His abundant, unreserved love, and that affecting every other area in our lives.

Tasmania 2019, pt. 5: Detention River, Dip Falls, and Unique Rocks

March 15, 2019 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

And here is part five and the final instalment of my trip’s pictures! It was so hard to choose which ones to share, and which not to. I’ve delighted in looking through the ones I was able to print, but seeing them here is special, too.

We took a walk down to the Detention River one warm afternoon, so the children could enjoy cooling off in the water. It was a beautiful setting, and I enjoyed seeing the little “peek” out to the ocean across the river flat! This particular river, at least near the sea, is a tidal river, and it was nearing high tide when we were down there.

Sometimes I wonder what makes one place stand out to you as being extra-special, and what makes another one just, well, ordinary. I think it has a lot to do with where one feels loved and accepted (such as my family home, for example), but I’m convinced there’s more to it that I don’t see, too. Perhaps it’s spiritual, or some other sort of tie like that that resonates with me—I don’t know. But whatever it is, when I am able to connect with others and share in the joys and struggles of walking this walk of faith with them, even for just a short time, I come away feeling very enriched.

Tasmania 2019, pt. 4: The Nut

March 8, 2019 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

Before I ever set foot on Tasmania, the girl I was traveling with told me I needed to see the Nut. And before you think that it’s some place where there are a bunch of almond or cashew or walnut trees, no…there are trees, but it’s a mountain along the northeastern edge of Tasmania that is a wildlife reserve. Apparently one of the best times to go there, wildlife- and beauty- and amount of people-wise, is at dawn. So, one evening just a couple days before I was supposed to leave, we arranged to meet up at 5 am the next morning and drive the 30 minutes or so to the Nut.

(Need to catch up on the previous posts? Here are the links: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)

I think we ended up leaving about 5:10 or 5:15, which was pretty good, since at least one person who ended up coming wasn’t even awake until 5! We had a beautiful, peaceful drive out there.

Monday Inspiration: Two Quotes

March 4, 2019 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

First, this “quote-of-the-month” for me:

“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.” — Corrie ten Boom

And this verse I wrote up and have tacked on the cork board next to my desk:

“Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.” — Acts 2:28

Tasmania 2019, pt. 3: Hellyer Beach and Rocky Cape

February 28, 2019 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

I got a note in my email last evening that made me pretty happy: Pictures from my trip to Tasmania have been printed and should have been shipped out today! Having gone through the pictures again to get them ready for these posts, it made me that much more eager to be able to arrange the real pictures into some sort of a scrapbook one day soon.

(To see the previous posts in this series, go to Part 1 here and Part 2 here.)

One evening, we walked down to Hellyer beach. It was about a 10-minute walk, over the Detention River, up through a residential area, along the road, through some native bush, past more houses, then out onto the tidal flat itself. Around the point was the beach itself, and I loved studying the different shells there—quite different from the other beach just 15 min. west!