In times of uncertainty and extreme stress, our heart rate increases. It’s a natural, biological response to the increased stess we are experiencing. Although it’s natural, it isn’t something we often notice or ask each other. Instead when we check on each other, we ask “How are you?” eliciting a response from our brains rather …
This week our congregation worshipped virtually for the first time six months. Even though we knew it was the right decision based on the positivity rate for our county, it was a difficult decision to make. The rolling isolations and quarantines remind us that we aren’t where we hoped to be. We hoped to be …
Over the past six years, I have joined scores of people who have set a reading goal for the year. My goal has been fifty books for the last six years. The only years I have met that goal were years we were battling a pandemic. There is something about slowing down that reminds us …
I don’t ever pick a word to start the year, instead at the end of the year, I reflect on what word or phrase has come to me throughout the year. 2021 was a year of slowing down. We started the year continuing to homeschool our two-year-old and five-year-old and after a semester of routine, …
Last year during Advent, I released my first book called Morning Light and what I discovered was when you send the light out, light returns to you. My favorite reminder of this was the candles I received. These candles have anchored this past year reminding me that when we open ourselves to finding the light, …
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 …
In the midst of my preparation for our Advent Journey, I have revisited Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark. This morning, she reminded me: “By day, I am a servant of the urgent. Nothing important has a chance with me. I am too consumed with the things that must be done to …
Now that we are settling in to our new house, there has been more than once where I have looked at Sam or he has looked at me and we have asked, “How did that make the moving box?” It wasn’t something we needed or intended to move with us. It was something that was …
Recently, our two-year-old has been saying, “I give you heart,” when anyone in the family is hurt. She runs over to that person and offers a kiss and then this phrase. At first, I thought she was saying “I give you hugs,” but as I listened more closely, I realized she was making a connection …
Last week, I found myself moving slowly on 1-26, a familiar experience for me. Usually I can turn up the kids playlist or podcast and remind myself that this is a moment and invitation to slow down and look around. Last week, I wasn’t in the mood to slow down or look around. I just …
