Tag Archive | church
Go and See
God comes wherever we are: even if we’ve failed to pray the right prayer; even if our gift list and baking duties are unfinished; even if social media got the better of us, and we spent the season in a bitter sniping match over politics, religion, or some unholy combination thereof; even if we are not quite ready, and not quite worthy of the ‘nice’ list; a child is born to us.
In Church, at Christmastime
The phone is ringing off the hook, The sanctuary’s hard to book. Yes it’s clean–dare you to look– In church, at Christmastime. One hard-working secretary Is a little tried and harried. Under bulletin notes, she’s buried, In church, at Christmastime. The kids are plenty sugar wired, the moms all look a little tired, […]
An Empty House
A Tao of Christmas shopping, from a wannabe minimalist: So, i buy most of my kids’ clothes at consignment sales. Also sell stuff there, so i almost break even. I go to this one sale twice a year (because it is at my church and i get to shop early!) While i’m shopping for clothes, […]
Preparing a Place
Sometimes the best, most life-giving things in the life of a church evolve without a great deal of planning. They emerge out of daily life without meetings, without a line-item in the budget, without a major marketing campaign or overhaul of policy. A few weeks ago, I overheard my yoga instructor say that she was […]
What We Can Learn…
Confession time: for all that i am willing to proclaim what is wrong with mega-church culture, I have never actually spent much time in one. I went to a really big church, once. I was in college, and went with some friends to what was quickly becoming one of the largest churches in the state. This was way […]
S*^! Jesus Says… Or Doesn’t
I just dropped a book, picked it up, and then proceeded to trip over a bike rack, all in a span of about 7 seconds. And all in public, of course. Yesterday, I got my calendar wires crossed and missed a meeting with someone who drove nearly an hour to see me. Also, I spent […]
A Sacred Discomfort
Doing some stretches. Carbo-loading (translation: stress eating lots of chocolate and white bread). Having some extra coffee. Trying to ignore the beginnings of canker sores that will be nasty and painful in a few days’ time. It’s Holy Week, y’all. It occurred to me, in looking at my calendar for the week, I don’t have […]
Everyone Else
October is a big month at my house. Yesterday was baby’s birthday (not such a baby now!) and our 8 year wedding anniversary. Tomorrow is Harper’s birthday, mine is next week; many other extended family members have bdays this month, and then there’s that little thing called Halloween, and all the costumed, sugar-loaded revelry implied. It’s […]
Soul Seasons
A pumpkin latte in my hand. From Not Starbuck’s. A cool crisp 62 degrees out. I am on a porch swing with a background of lush foliage, bleeding slowly from green into reds and browns and yellows. I am wearing my favorite brown sweatshirt, and reading a really great library book. The day ahead is miraculously […]
For Such a Time as This
I was sitting on the floor of my crummy first-year-of-being-a-grownup apartment, doing grad school homework that i should have done the night before, and getting ready to go to class. Which means I probably shouldn’t have been watching tv, but was. When the plane hit the first tower, i went and woke up my roommate, […]
Irreverin 