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“That baby is just going to fall out of you” That was the common comment as I reached the end of my pregnancy. And I figured they were right. I had always had fairly quick labors and this was after all, number six for us, but we were all so wrong. After 20 weeks of […]
My whole adulthood it seems like I have been fumbling to get a hold on life. The string of babies and moves and ministries have never been tame no matter how much I try to hustle. I am forever reaching for the elusive moment, just around the corner, when my library books aren’t overdue, and […]
Never assume that the way it is now is the way that it always will be. This is hope. Whatever pain is lodged in your heart right now, whether it is from ministry or any other aspect of life, Satan wants to shout that this is the way it is, and this is the way […]
Every spring the weather app on my phone suddenly becomes an object of intense scrutiny. I’m longing for the sunshine, the spring temperatures, and for trees and flowers to bud. After a cold, dark winter the thoughts of sunshine on my skin and watching the earth come back to life fill me with anticipation. So […]
The Friday morning coffee date. It’s an oasis in the midst of every week. I sit across from my husband with my Cafe Breve and we talk about ALL THE THINGS – ministry, especially our conversations with people, and our children in all of their ages and stages. Sometimes we talk about plans for the […]
Investing in the lives of people is work – the gritty, dirty, sweaty kind. The kind that requires stretchy pants and a pony tail and comfortable footwear – metaphorically speaking of course. It isn’t confined to tidy schedules, and predictable flow charts, and it doesn’t make for an impressive lifestyle blog or instagram pictures. And […]
If the heartache of 2020 was confined to a pandemic and civil unrest, things might be a little more manageable. But the craziness out there hasn’t put an end to the things that go wrong in our homes and churches. Sometimes the troubles roll in like waves and you find yourself shakily pulling yourself up […]
Criticism in ministry seems to come in waves, at least in my experience. We seem to enjoy sweet seasons of an encouraging and upbeat atmosphere in our church body, and then – wham! You find out in a week or two that people aren’t quite as pleased with you as you had been thinking. I […]
Christianity is, at its essence, a willingness to let Someone else be the hero of the story. I find this immensely comforting, because right now I am anything but the hero. In fact, the overwhelming feeling is helplessness. As I write this we are in the second week of social distancing from Covid-19. People in […]
Maybe you have a 100% perfect record in pastoral care, but I must confess – my husband and I don’t. Over the years the accusation has been made on more than one occasion that we haven’t cared for a hurting person like they needed. It’s hard to hear. I always want to defend us, explain […]
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