Author: Gateway Gazette Contributor

  • Solutions & Substitutions by Reena: Getting Gum Out of Hair and Makeup off Clothing

    By Reena Nerbas Pickle Juice on Teak Table Dear Reena, Sunday night a jar of pickles spilt onto the dining room table, which is solid teak (very old reclaimed wood if that makes a difference). The pickle juice sat there for a few hours before being discovered. I tried putting baking soda directly on the…

  • Faith Forum ~ Blessing Reflections

    Faith Forum ~ Blessing Reflections

      “Yee-haw! That right?” asks a little granddaughter of her grandpa on Thanksgiving as they were on their way to the pasture to see and feed the donkey his apple treats. Laughter around the table while playing a game late at night after a full Thanksgiving Day and meal. Safe journeys for family members who…

  • Faith Forum ~ Heaven’s Reconciliation

    Faith Forum ~ Heaven’s Reconciliation

    The two opposite sides sit at an enormous boardroom table. The tension is thick as both parties expect yet another day of stressful, ongoing negotiations in the wage dispute. Words fly and the sweat flows – but at the end of the day there is still no resolution or settlement; they’ll be going at this…

  • Faith Forum ~ The Incredible God Journey

    Faith Forum ~ The Incredible God Journey

    By Gloria Wessner You may know what it feels like to look at the wonderful sights, sounds and shops in Italy. You may know what it feels like to dig your toes into the wonderful white sand of a beach in the Caribbean or experience the richness of wildlife in the Arctic. It takes good…

  • Faith Forum ~ I Don’t Want Religion!

    Faith Forum ~ I Don’t Want Religion!

    By Gloria Wessner That might sound weird coming from someone who writes about God, but it’s true! I don’t want to be bound up in religion, which traditionally is understood as being boring, impersonal, duty-bound, can be full of rituals yet unfulfilling. What I want and need is a living, breathing and dynamic personal relationship…

  • Faith Forum ~ I Need Somebody Bigger Than I

    Faith Forum ~ I Need Somebody Bigger Than I

    I’m not ashamed to say I need somebody bigger than myself to live life. I don’t feel I need to always put on my ‘tough woman’ face and answers in order to be accepted. Very often life has not been easy and so I am not always going to answer ‘great!’ when somebody asks me…

  • Faith Forum ~ What’s Good About Good Friday?

    Faith Forum ~ What’s Good About Good Friday?

    By Gloria Wessner. The connection with Good Friday has to do with death – the term conjures up all kinds of negative and dark connotations. In real life, many times things must die in order to give way to the new (which we always hope is better) such as a seed has to die in…

  • Faith Forum ~ How’s It Going?

    Faith Forum ~ How’s It Going?

    By Gloria Wessner Now that the New Year is well underway, how’s it going for you? Perhaps it’s going very well, 2016 has brought a new outlook, a new significant other and perhaps some positive other new changes. The reality for most people is that this year is going a lot like 2015 and is…

  • Faith Forum: Joy

    Faith Forum: Joy

      The world just isn’t getting any better. Places in the world have brutal wars, starvation, extreme weather events, mass shootings, and peoples striving for democracy, economic disasters, extreme immoral religious behavior and major environmental issues. It is increasingly difficult to feel peaceful living in the world with all of these issues around you, as…

  • Faith Forum ~ A Different Perspective on Thanksgiving

    Faith Forum ~ A Different Perspective on Thanksgiving

    By Gloria Wessner This weekend is the yearly Thanksgiving holiday. Besides the traditional yummy turkey dinner and pumpkin pie, for some people it’s basically another long weekend. For others, they pause and reflect about life and are thankful in a general kind of way for what they have. For those who know Jesus in a…

  • Faith Forum ~ The Nagging Question

    Faith Forum ~ The Nagging Question

    By Gloria Wessner. Many religions, different ways of thinking about the universe and our place in it, contemporary thoughts on negative and positive energy and different philosophies claim to have answers to and about life. Even if one attains ‘enlightenment’ through meditation, or feels more peaceful with changes in one’s attitudes and values, or receives…

  • Making Sense of Election 2015 – Introduction

    Making Sense of Election 2015 – Introduction

    By E.P. Whinters Unless you are an economics or political science geek and this is your chocolate, my guess is that most Albertans are exhausted from election rhetoric and attack ads. I know I am. And yet, we start again to face into an unprecedented lengthy campaign leading to the federal election on October 19th.…

  • Faith Forum ~ When Grieving Dad

    Faith Forum ~ When Grieving Dad

    By Gloria Wessner. I’ve noticed recently in social media that many people are grieving and/or missing their dad (in some cases mom). With this being Father’s Day and having gone through this life event, too, I thought I would share a piece I wrote some time ago and trust it will be encouraging and helpful…

  • Faith Forum ~ New Life in the Garden

    Faith Forum ~ New Life in the Garden

    By Gloria Wessner. This time of year always brings a sense of newness as we work in our gardens and flower beds, or enjoy the ‘new green’ look all around us. The snow has given way to the warmth of the sun so it can be dug up or cultivated and prepared for planting. Then…

  • Faith Forum ~ Starry Connections

    Faith Forum ~ Starry Connections

      Did you know that in our galaxy the Milky Way, there are over 300 billion stars? And that’s not counting other galaxies. That’s an incredible amount of stars. Do you know how personal that is to God? “He counts the stars     and calls them all by name…”1 If the stars are that personal to…