And I’m learning that to sit with grief (which is sometimes seemingly out of the reach of hope or any warm sentiments) is to honor our capacity to love. At some point the chest hurt eases but I’m not grabbing for that moment.
If your picture of God is chaotic
In case you need this reminder or first-time instruction… The Holy Spirit doesn’t guilt-trip us into submission or action. The Holy Spirit can work with us in our guilt-warped state. AND… The Holy Spirit begins peacefully. What begins in peace may ramp up in passion and enthusiasm but -will not manipulate -will not confuse -will…
The body speaks
It’s Wednesday. Last week Monday, a member of my church died. She was our matriarch. In her honor, we had a time of singing and prayer instead of the usual sermon during our worship service on Saturday. Minutes after worship, I got word that another member had died. She’d been sick for a while and…
The gift of the unexpected
As I got closer to my favorite coffee shop, I could tell it was full but I chose optimism, parked my car and went inside. The owner saw me, smiled, then looked around seeing what I had just seen—not a single seat. I kept looking around; maybe I’d missed one. As my eyes looked left…
Back to the baby days
No. I’m not having a wee one. It’s that the days feel as unpredictable as newborn days, unpredictable except for the sleepless part. But replace sleepless with restless. I sleep but I’m worn out. Forever tired. At least 8 days out of 7. And so often wondering, is this it? Is this really going to…
Pandemic reflections. Good for the soul.
Reflecting… Roughly two years ago, my church began hosting the Learning Hub. It would be a semester-long adventure of making sure area elementary school students had a safe place with WiFi in which to do online school. It was a tough journey. There were a few days when we were short on volunteers. One of…
A tribute to Carolyn, to those she loved, and to those who loved her.
You can’t map out everything. You get a text that someone is back in the hospital. You’re out of town. You get back into town and finally visit. You have a great chat, even laughs, and promise you’ll be back soon, internally denying the gravity of things. You get back three days later because they’ve…