Mended Vessels

I am the Light of the World — The Easter concert we attended Palm Sunday included five lit candles as symbols of Christ’s life. At key points during the program, the narrator extinguished one of the candles. When he snuffed out the last candle, it wouldn’t go out. He tried several times, but the candle stayed lit, before […]

Light That Won’t Go Out

15 Apr, 2019 in Billy Graham / Devotionals / Easter / Holidays / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Such a Moment tagged Christ / Easter / Faith / For Such a Moment / God / Jesus / Light / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels by mcoutu

Those who are not outsiders... — Once again, the world has been shocked and saddened by a mass killing–this time in New Zealand at a mosque by a man apparently filled with hate toward immigrants. Hate toward those unlike himself. Hate of those who are different. The “others.” Meanwhile, in the United States, incidents of rudeness, […]

Whose Truth is True? Let’s Silence the Hate

18 Mar, 2019 in Deafness / Devotionals / Faith / Life / Listening / Love / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Such a Moment / Truth / Words by mcoutu

Disappointments, but God... — The cruise ship was scheduled to stop in two ports: one city (Nassau, Bahamas) and one beach (Coco Cay, Bahamas). But the weather predicted for the second day would make the Coco Cay stop too dangerous, as passengers had to be tendered to shore, and the wind was expected to […]

Change of Port: Handling Disappointments

25 Feb, 2019 in Devotionals / Disappointments / Faith / Forgiveness / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Such a Moment / Waiting tagged cruise / Disappointment / Faith / For Such a Moment / forgiveness / God / Joseph / life / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / trials / Trust by mcoutu

My sheep hear my voice — My current novel-in-progress features a main character who is deaf, so I’ve been researching hearing loss and how deaf people communicate. I’ve always enjoyed watching an interpreter use American Sign Language, especially during songs at church. The fluid movement of their hands is like a visual dance, rising and falling in tune […]

Learning About Hearing Loss: Life Lessons

11 Feb, 2019 in Devotionals / Faith / Gratitude / Hearing / Listening / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Such a Moment tagged Christ / Christian fiction / Deaf / Faith / For Such a Moment / God / Hearing / Jesus / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / trials / Writing by mcoutu

Power of God — Too many appliances, not enough outlets. Can you relate? In our bathroom, we have an electric toothbrush, a water pic, a razor, and a hair dryer. And only one outlet. We leave the toothbrush plugged in all the time, the razor only when it needs charging, and the others only […]

No Connection, No Power

21 Jan, 2019 in Authority / Devotionals / Faith / Life / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Power / Such a Moment tagged Christ / Faith / For Such a Moment / God / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels by mcoutu

Ladder lessons — Last week I worked on a Samaritan’s Purse rebuild project in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Samaritan’s Purse uses volunteer crews to repair and rebuild homes damaged in disasters. We were reconstructing houses damaged in a massive flood in 2016. These people have been out of their homes for more than two years. Before […]

2 Lessons from a Ladder

14 Jan, 2019 in Authority / Devotionals / Faith / Life / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Ministry / Such a Moment / Work tagged Faith / For Such a Moment / God / Jesus / life / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Restoration by mcoutu

Anticipation of Christmas — Can you feel it? The anticipation, excitement, hope, and wonder in the air as Christmas approaches? Or have you gotten too focused on the shopping, baking, decorating, and list-making to notice? Christmas is the season of anticipation. The four weeks leading up to December 25 are called Advent, defined by […]

Christmas–The Season of Anticipation

17 Dec, 2018 in Christmas / Devotionals / Faith / Hope / Joy / Life / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Such a Moment by mcoutu

Daddy & little girl walking — As an author, I write characters with wounds and scars. Often those occurred in childhood, they are usually invisible, and they resulted in a lie (or lies) the character believes that affects his or her actions in adulthood. Just like real life. I’m sure I have wounds that have influenced […]

Scars Remind Us of Our History

29 Oct, 2018 in Devotionals / Faith / Fathers / Marie Wells Coutu / Memories / Mended Vessels / Scars / Such a Moment / Thankfulness / Truth tagged children / Christ / Faith / For Such a Moment / God / Jesus / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / scars / wounds / Writing by mcoutu

My mother — Advice your mother gave you stays with you all your life, right? When I was a college freshman and going on a spring break trip to New York City with friends, my mother sent me off with this advice: “Remember who you are and what you represent.” At the time, […]

Best Advice Mother Ever Gave Me

13 Aug, 2018 in Advice / Expectations / Faith / Life / Marie Wells Coutu / Memories / Mended Vessels / Mothers / Such a Moment / Words tagged advice / Christ / Faith / For Such a Moment / God / Jesus / life / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Mother / relationships by mcoutu

Parking-never back up — My husband tries to avoid backing up in a parking lot. It’s dangerous, he says. Whenever possible, he chooses a space where he can pull through–not so he can exit faster, but so he can see what’s coming and avoid being hit by someone else who is backing up. He’s […]

Never Back Up

30 Jul, 2018 in Advice / Life / Marie Wells Coutu / Mended Vessels / Such a Moment / Truth tagged Christ / Faith / For Such a Moment / God / Jesus / life / Marie Wells Coutu / repentance / Trust / Truth by mcoutu