A Dense Cloud of Witnesses
Sunday is typically our family day. The past few Sundays have looked a little different for us, as I’ve had the joy of participating in Nominating Committee, a leadership selection process in our church that takes place every two years. That means that we’ve had Sunday “family afternoons,” instead of family days. Because our time […]
Celebrate the Wins
We begin a new month today, friends. November is here and 2021 is nearing the close. As I prepared for my leadership coaching call this last week, I wrote down ideas and took time reflecting. As I was doing this, the Holy Spirit invited me to stop. I paused and listened. Celebrate the wins, I […]
God Works In the Wait
The work God is doing in you is primarily what is happening while you are waiting. Often the thought is that the work is done when we arrive at the big place that we are praying for, yet so often the work, the real work, is done in the in-between. I know this. I’ve experienced […]
The Parable of the Brats and People Pleasing
This weekend, my friend Pastor Damian Chandler was here with us at our church to speak. It was a gift to my soul and to our congregation. In an open Q and A, he was asked the question, what is the riskiest thing you’ve done in ministry? I loved his answer so much I want […]
Know enough to choose empathy
Josiah asked me to be “mommy dentist” tonight so I brushed and flossed as he laid his head back in my lap. Suddenly he’s in excruciating pain. It’s the spot the dentist said to watch. Perhaps it’s going to be a cavity we need to fill. He hurts. What do we say in moments like […]
Hidden hurts and the tenderness of our God
I tripped.You can’t make this stuff up… About an hour ago I was doing bedtime solo with the kids and tripped over a potty seat tucked behind the rug. My toes caught under the plastic edging and I face-planted onto the carpet. Slowly, I moved my body to look in the mirror, and to my […]
Cry out to God in the Weary Land
“I waited and waited and waited for God. At last, God looked; finally listened.God lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud.God stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip.Taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God.More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves […]
The Call of God to Try Something New
I’ve been getting some serious joy out of trying new things. Perhaps it’s age and the desire to stretch myself. I actually blame it on COVID. Coming out of the pandemic lock-down, I’ve felt drawn to new experiences. In the last 6 months, when given the option of something ‘tried and true’ or something new, […]
The silence of the soul in the sanctuary of God’s presence
I was on for a Zoom meeting, but there was a problem. The audio was echoing so badly that I was unable to hear the others talking. For each person who spoke, their voice echoed at least a dozen times, making their words incomprehensible. Not only that, my voice echoed in my own ears! Between […]
A knock at my window and an invitation to see
Several times a week during this last year of pandemic, Mr. Jack pulls up his truck at my church office window. He steps out and comes over. If I’m working on something and didn’t notice his arrival, I hear a loud knock on the glass. Sometimes I see him approaching and move the blinds back […]
