According to the traditional church calendar, today is known as Epiphany. Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season. I love Epiphany. Epiphany comes on the heels of the New Year and offers the same invitations to something new. Epiphany ...
2019 comes to us fresh and alive with possibility! Darrel and I will set aside time this week, as we always have, to share our personal and shared goals. You may have set some kind of goals too (or have ...
Yesterday I chatted with a lady new to our church. She commented that when she was on the leadership team at her previous church, it was difficult to continually “stay strong,” to always “have it all together,” and to always ...
A man recently went into a bookstore and asked the manager what most popular books are these days. The most popular he said were books about how to get rich in the new information economy. No big surprise. The second ...
A few years ago I heard a surprising definition of the word, “circumstances”. Circumstances means “standing around”. Hmmmm. Interesting. The more I thought about it, the more I understood its meaning. Circumstances are those things that are standing so close to us they block our view of God. They crowd in until all you can ...
No doubt our lives are on edge. Just look at the empty grocery shelves. Managers at Costco have to separate people fighting over water. Unwanted, and especially unexpected, change grabs the accompanying fear of the unknown. We panic. We become paralyzed. We tuck in. We grab whatever makes us feel safe and secure. There are ...
Lent has been equated with the spiritual geography of the wilderness. This is where Jesus was driven by the Spirit after his baptism in the Jordan River. The 40 days of Lent originate from the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. No one likes the wilderness. With no familiar markers to guide us, we ...
According to the traditional church calendar, today is known as Epiphany. Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season. I love Epiphany. Epiphany comes on the heels of the New Year and offers the same invitations to something new. Epiphany celebrates the pilgrimage of the Wise Men to seek, and subsequently find, the Christ child. ...
I put out my Christmas decorations today. I love the way my home looks at Christmas; the lights, the colors, the candles. Some of my favorite decorations are the creches (nativity scenes) my husband and I have collected from our various trips around the world. The hand-carved olive wood creche from Bethlehem, of course, commands ...
Today is the first day of Advent. It’s perfect timing. For too many weeks I have lived outwardly and inwardly rushed. I feel scattered and find myself whizzing through my obligations without time for any kind of reflection, space, or meaningful connection to God and even those I love. Sheesh. All my good intentions have ...
We are just a little ways into Lent. I am surprised how quickly my resolve to live differently dissolves into my old and familiar patterns of living. Humph. I thought I was stronger, more capable than that. This is what makes Lent so valuable. Lent is a time of looking honestly at our lives; a ...
Today Lent begins. Lent is my favorite season! Said. No one. Ever. But I caught myself at least considering it today. Lent gets a bad rap. Deprivation, somber, renunciation (okay, no one uses that word)…but these are probably come to mind when you think of Lent. Who signs up for that? Lent, however, is a ...
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic, Time takes on the strain until it breaks; Then all the unattended stress falls in On the mind like an endless, increasing weight. The light in the mind becomes dim. Things you could take in your stride before Now become laborsome events of will. Weariness ...
Keeping Company with Jesus, a 9-month, weekly, interactive, on-line resource/spiritual formation tool that starts and ends with the premise that simply being with Jesus is transformational. The weekly posts includes a reading, reflection questions and a corresponding spiritual practice. Designed to be interactive, it is best done in community and in dialogue with others. Because ...
