Today marks two years living without you here living among us. Like a toddler, my grief rides a roller coaster of emotions – The pure delight of memories filled with fun and celebration. The intense anger at how unfair it is to have to put on shoes and go on as if life continues. The …
My dad loved babies. He loved all children, really, but especially babies. One of the hardest parts of finding out we were expecting a new minihuman was the realization that she would never meet her Baba in this life and that he would not get to hold her, rock her, and sing an original lullaby …
I got the dreaded “mailbox is full” notification yesterday morning. Between Spring Break and Holy Week, I had let some phone messages pile up and was slowly working my way through those voicemails. In an attempt to get back on track, I scrolled through. my voicemails to see if there were any I could automatically …
This past year of ministry has been walking close to grief both personally and as I walk with so many people grieving the loss of loved ones, the loss of plans, and the loss of the way we lived before COVID. Although it may sound like a year filled with sadness, it has actually been …
After my second year of teaching, I went to Germany for one school year to teach. As a young American in a small town, I found myself most often on the same schedule of retirees. We would eat our kuchen and kaffee at the same time in the afternoon and then go see a lecture …
As I walked into the sanctuary this morning, I realized I had accidentally left on the lights behind our stained glass windows. As I looked closer, I checked in our “hope” window. We’ve been watching that window because it’s started to teeter a bit. The weight of the biggest stain glass is showing the impact …
Over the past year, I have been on a journey to analyze and to resist the hustle of a capitalistic society. I have tried to keep track of my learning and my reading here in this space so that I can remember the revelations that occurred when I started asking, “Why?” And then, I hit …
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the phrase “being negative won’t help” or “just think positively.” There is a thread that runs through our culture ad our society, especially for women, that urges us to “stay positive” and “to smile more.” This is especially prevalent in conservative communities and depicted in the Lego …
As I have walked with individuals and families along the journey of grief, one of the reflections I’ve heard again and again is their surprise that the day after a loss or tragedy, the light still comes in the morning. As we were walking yesterday, I felt the same surprise. How could the day look …
This week is the week where Christmas and Christmastide collide every year. For many who celebrate a cultural Christmas, this week is full of taking down decorations, reorganizing, and decluttering in order to get ready for the New Year. For me, this is the week for basking in the light of all five candles blazing: …
