Yesterday marked a month since Hurricane Helene swept through the Upstate wreaking havoc in our community. As I was cleaning out my email on Friday, I found the email that informed parents and teachers that we were returning to normal schedule. As I reread that email, my mind protested. We might be going back to …
The last sermon series I preached as Pastor of Garden of Grace was called “Teaching from the Trees.” Now our days are filled with trees. Trees uprooted by the storm that have fallen into houses, into cars, and across streets. Trees being cut and trimmed to make way for new power lines to be strung …
As we walked in our neighborhood yesterday, we saw for the first time some of the destruction at the end of our street. We hadn’t seen the houses that had multiple trees through it or the cars that were trapped in driveways with transformers sitting on the roof or the cars that had trees through …
It’s been a week. It’s been a week since they announced an e-learning day, just one, for schools because of the coming Hurricane. It’s been a week since we shifted and sent computers home with students anticipating they had enough charge for one day of work since we would be back in the classroom on …
I should be pulling out my long sleeves and finding my boots. I should be shivering when I open the door in the morning. I should be experiencing the cool, evening breeze reaching for a blanket and a cup of hot tea. It is fall afterall. The whisper of fall two weeks ago hinted that …
This week we had to say goodbye to our pup, Willie. Although the signs of aging were evident and we knew dogs are went us forever, our hearts are still broken. On the first time we had him in Asheville, he jumped off the couch and starting whimpering and limping around. We were sure that …
I was standing at the desk in my classroom and as I turned around, I had that feeling. I thought I’ve been here before. In a very real sense, I had been there before. The trips back and forth to my desk have been numerous, searching for paper clips, scissors to lend a student, or …
Over the past two weeks, I’ve driven the same roads I drove twice a day going to school. I’ve run into friends and family grocery shopping, walking, and visiting the library. More often than not, I’ve look at people and thought, “That person looks familiar. How do I know them?” There’s something about coming home …
In the gospel of Mark, Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly and almost immediately goes into the temple to overturn the tables calling for justice and transparency in the religious leaders who are profited off of people seeking forgiveness and reconciliation to the God. Jesus exposes their money-changing practices as self-serving rather than God-fearing. In the gospel …
I have to admit, I am not sure that I knew the rest of the story of Jonah before my second year in seminary. After Jonah is saved from the big fish, he follows what God originally asked him to do and goes to Nineveh. After he shares the message from God (which isn’t a …
