This year in worship, we are doing something different. We are slowing down and pulling back the curtain on how the Bible came to be and how it holds together as a living story of faith. Through eight sermon series, each with weekly handouts, we are building a shared resource; a binder for each family with tools to engage scripture more deeply, paying attention to context, genre, and the unfolding journey of the biblical story. This week, I’ve been working through the Covenants series of our...
13 days ago • 2 min read
This week I found myself in a standoff with a printer. It refused to join the WiFi network, and I was determined to make it comply. I followed troubleshooting steps, watched videos, clicked links, unplugged and restarted, downloaded apps, changed and reset settings, and before I knew it, I was deep in a tech rabbit hole that felt urgent and consuming. At some point, I noticed how tense I had become. My shoulders were tight, lifted almost to my ears. My jaw was clenched. My patience was gone....
27 days ago • 2 min read
Yesterday, my son received his driver’s license. Then he did the thing: he got in the car, buckled his seatbelt, waved, and drove away on his own for the first time. I was surprised by how okay I was. Not because it didn’t matter, but because something in me has been quietly preparing for this for a long time. Growth does that. It doesn’t usually arrive all at once (although it can thrust itself upon us, uninvited). It often comes in small, almost unnoticeable shifts. Practice drives. Longer...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
May this Christmas meet you right where you are in the quiet corners of your life, where longing, gratitude, grief, and hope all sit side by side. May the story of God choosing to dwell among us remind you that you are never alone, especially in the ordinary, the unfinished, and the tender places. May peace settle into your body like a deep exhale.May joy find you in small and surprising ways.And may love feel close enough to touch. As this season unfolds, may you trust that the light born in...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
"What do you think about enchiladas?" That was the question I dropped into my family group chat as my siblings and I were planning our Christmas gathering. We were talking through the usual details, including the assumption that we would do the traditional meal with turkey. No one objected, exactly, but no one sounded excited either. It was familiar. It was fine. It was what we had always done. When I typed the enchiladas question and added, “What if our get-together is more "Feliz Navidad"...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
I saw a saying this past week that has stayed with me. I first saw it on a bumper sticker, then unbelievably, I heard it said on an episode of Shark Tank. (Ok, God, I see you...) Just a few simple words: Do good, be kind, share what you can. The wisdom and simplicity of it nestled in my heart. Good wisdom is like that. It doesn’t overwhelm us with rules or demand heroic effort. It slips in quietly, looks us in the eye, and asks something both beautifully clear to understand and surprisingly...
2 months ago • 1 min read
This week I found myself in a conversation about the liturgical calendar; why we follow it, why we mark seasons like Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and even the long stretch of Ordinary Time. It can seem like a peculiar rhythm to people outside the church. But the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the calendar is one of the best tools we have for faith formation. It shapes us slowly. It gives us language, patterns, and rituals that help us grow into the kind of...
2 months ago • 2 min read
I stepped outside this morning and heard the crunch of leaves under my feet. The air still smelled like fall. You know that scent; a little earthy, sunny and brisk, and filled with the last notes of a season that is quickly slipping away. It feels almost impossible to imagine that by the weekend we will be staring at blowing snow and frigid temperatures. My mind has a hard time holding both realities at once. Fall all around me. Winter barreling toward me, not even asking for permission. Life...
3 months ago • 2 min read
“How can I be thankful for this?” I hear that question every time we bump into those verses about giving thanks for all things. And honestly? I get it. Who wants to give thanks for the crummy stuff that keep us awake at night, the things we’d trade away in a heartbeat if we could. I’m not thankful for awful things. Even when walking through them has stretched me, toughened me, or brought me closer to the God I seek, I still wouldn’t call the awful things themselves a gift. What I am thankful...
3 months ago • 2 min read