Our son’s school sends out a monthly calendar and as I was perusing it, I realized there was a teacher in-service day that I hadn’t been expecting. Maybe it was the leap day or the shortness of February that made me miss the update, but I found myself scrambling because that’s a day I had …
Have you ever watched the show “Naked and Afraid?” It’s a survival show that involves two people usually a man and a woman being dropped in the wilderness. They have nothing with them except one personal item and they are naked. They have no food and no water and they have to try to survive …
This suitcase has been with me for eleven years. It was one of the two I packed to move overseas for a year. It was quite an investment at the time because I wanted it to last and because I wanted features like dual wheels. But I haven’t traveled overseas in quite a while nor …
I love Lent. I know that sounds crazy, but I do. Maybe it’s because it is a bit of a novelty since I didn’t grow up remembering Lent at all. Maybe it’s because in my experience as a pastor, Lent is a season in which so many people have open hearts and open minds to …
After school as the sun begins to set and the day is coming to a close, our four-year-old asks, “Is it light/dark yet?” He’s asking if the time is coming where it will be time to get ready for bed and rest. Most of us call it an evening. If we are feeling poetic, we …
At four, everything seems pressing. As soon as our four-year-old wakes up, he has a list of questions or reflections he wants to share. His little mind has always been like this even before we could understand the babbles he was sharing. There was an urgency to his need to comment on the world, his …
I had a dream the other night that I was arriving at the yearly baptist denominational gathering. The first encounter was from a male colleague who greeted me with a lingering hug. My body stiffened and my mind prepared for what was to come. As he departed, he commented on how good I looked and …
There’s something about the rain that brings people together huddling under thin awnings gathering into lobbies looking out planning a quick escape. There’s something about the rain that refreshes souls and people reminding us of summer days running through sprinklers humbling us by drenching our hair and clothes. There’s something about the sun …
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” This passage from the gospel of Matthew chapter sixteen always challenges me. I can feel my palms sweating and my heart begin to beat a little faster. This is one of …
Last month, I came down with a sinus infection and ear infection. I have never had a sinus infection and the last ear infection I had was my first year of teaching thirteen years ago. When I got to the doctor, he said, “Wow you are just getting no air through your nostrils.” I was …
