Advent always starts with hope. The day that Advent begins rotates. The temperature varies from Advent to Advent, but this season of waiting and watching always starts with hope. This year as we decorated our tree and trimmed our house with greens and lights, we were also chasing a toddler around. It made the whole …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Over my ten years of ministry, one of the the phrases I’ve heard again and again for people who are experiencing unexpected medical emergencies is: “We’ll know more tomorrow.” This whispers of the knowledge that is gained by invoking tests and stats, bloodwork and scans, and being in the care of medical professionals who have …
Close to Charleston, on Johns Island, sits the Angel Oak. The Angel Oak is hundreds of years old (some estimates even say it is over 1000 years old) and used to be nestled in the heart of a thick forest. Now, it sits in Angel Oak Forest and is free for anyone to visit. It …
