Luke 2:41-51 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his… Continue reading Can We Choose Happiness?
Chicken Soup for.... Remember all those Chicken Soup for the Soul books? They started making them for different types of souls : the teenager, the woman, America. (seriously, Google it.) I’ll admit it. I read and enjoyed these when I was growing up. I love a feel good story that can lift the spirits… Continue reading 7 Ways to Approach the Holidays
Far from God There are days when I feel far from God. There have been weeks and even months - one after the other- when I have felt far from God. This sense of distance is draining. I long for safety and security in general, but with God I especially crave and long for a… Continue reading How to Bless the Space You’re In
Wrestling with a Call When I started college in the fall of 2002, I had no idea what God had in store for me. I had been wrestling with a call to ministry for five years at that point but was determined not to heed it. Instead, I focused on enjoying my college experience without… Continue reading Why Women Should Be Pastors
Not My Plan I love being a pastor. I never thought I would. This was not my plan. Being ordained as a minister was going to be one step in the process to becoming a licensed Christian counselor. But then — I fell in love with pastoring people in the local church. The church… Continue reading What It Is Really Like Being a Female Pastor
Clueless Beginnings I didn’t know the first thing about Pilgrimage. I didn’t know how to plan a foreign trip, let alone backpack. Not that either are required for pilgrimage as I now know. But I was determined. It was 2006. My grandmother had just died. I felt an unexpected sense that I must find a… Continue reading 7 Steps to Planning A Pilgrimage
Anxiety Strikes I was five years old the first time I experienced a panic attack. I had seen a fellow student choke at lunch and though all had turned out well, I was in absolute panic that it might happen to me. Then the thought of choking became a regular anxious thought. It would return… Continue reading 4 Strategies for Dealing with Anxiety
Burnt Buttermilk Biscuits I’m from the south. Where sweet tea and cheese grits are staples. And learning to make buttermilk biscuits is a top priority for any aspiring chef. At the ripe age of 6, I decided that I had wasted enough time. The parental units had yet to give into my pleas for biscuit-making… Continue reading How to Ask for Help
It’s been said that we were born to be real, not to be perfect. I find this thought to be a great comfort. I am far from perfect. My first few days as a full time pastor taught me this fact more acutely than any other experience in my life. I had grand ideas about… Continue reading The 10 Must Haves for the Pastor’s Office
The Images of Church What “Church” means has a multitude of definitions and expressions. All of these are variable to some degree based upon who you ask. The word alone conjures a plethora of images: cathedral, rock star preacher, organ, choir, robes, coffee,incense, hymnals, Bibles, pews, screens with projected images, hands folded in prayer, hands… Continue reading What is Church?
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