Yesterday, it was time. I had put it off long enough. I had to clean the four-year-old’s car seat. Cleaning car seats is probably my least favorite parenthood task and it’s because it’s not just one task. It’s a multi-layered, long series of tasks. First, you have to uninstall the car seat. Next, you have …
As part of the children’s church, our four-year-old brought home a cup of soil where they had planted a seed. The lesson had been about planting seeds of love and kindness and how important that was in bringing about new life and hope in people’s lives. The idea was that we could be the sunlight …
Last week, I decided to take some time to bake cookies. Baking is something that calms me and brings me back to waiting and watching for something new to be created; a practice that doesn’t come naturally to me. I have been baking my family’s chocolate chip cookies for years and can make that recipe …
We enter into the center of Lent, recognizing we aren’t to the end yet. We stay in the darkness of Lent, even though it’s uncomfortable. We trust you are here with us, and that you will be revealed to us again.
One of the question I get asked a lot from our six-year-old and three-year-old is, “Is this right? They are both at ages and stages where they are learning so much so quickly. They are acquiring new skills, gaining new experiences almost faster than I can keep up and they want to know that the …
It’s about this time in the Lenten season that we get weary. We are tired of the reminders of that we are dust and to dust we will return. We are tired of the darkness. We are tired of confessions. It’s about this time in the Lenten journey that we want to skip ahead to …
When light breaks through and the sky lights up, the possibilities begin. When light breaks through, there is an invitation to begin anew. When light breaks through, sorrow and despair fade into hope. When light breaks through, the shadows of uncertainty flee making way for resurrection.
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 …
Yesterday brought the Spring Equinox and the reminder that the light is coming. At a time and place where there is so much violence, the equinox is an invitation to find the glimmers of hope in the new life that is beginning to bloom. In our modern society, we don’t live as in tune with …
In the midst of the contentious presidential election in 2020, I heard conversations on both side of the aisle that claimed the righteousness of their choice for president. I heard justifications and defenses, but I never heard actual debate. Debate listens to the person and the responds to the person’s points with counterpoints without demeaning …
