Blog
Allowing Braver Questions to Shape Us
I was listening to a panel discussion hosted by my judicatory ministry led by black leaders in my area when one of my colleagues, Dr Irie Session said “white people need to cultivate an ethic of bravery.” I grabbed a pen and scribbled it down on a post-it note pad I...
Poetry for Beginners: How to Read and Fall in Love with Poetry
I often talk about how reading poetry plays an important part of my reading and spiritual life. I try to read a poem a day, often in the morning over a steaming cup of coffee or a glass of water before I put my pen to my to-do list or crack open email. I find poetry...
Spring 2020 Reading Recap
Spring is always my slowest reading season of the year, as I spend my time in the yard gardening and soaking up the season before it turns brutally hot. Add in that by mid-March I became a full time home-school teacher and small biz owner and something had to give and...
My 2020 Summer Reading List
This summer is going to be unlike any other with the uncertainty of Covid spread. We cancelled our summer travel plans and will be continuing to practice social distancing since two of the beloveds in our bubble are high risk. Homeschooling has felt like a strange...
Sequins and Gratitude for the Small, Ordinary Details
Both of my children are competitive dancers. They dance year round, but starting in the late summer they meet with their teammates beginning a schedule of jazz, ballet and choreography to prepare them to compete in the spring. Like other athletes they discipline their...
Book Review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
I have always loved historical fiction for the way it transports a reader into a time and place, making what you read about in school seem real and tangible. However, over the last year or two my historical fiction reading habits have changed. While I used to love...
Deep Listening in a Culture That Wants Fast Fixes
My first call in ordained ministry was to a congregation that was planning on going multisite a few months after my arrival. Part of my portfolio was to create, implement, and evaluate a small group ministry from the ground up. To create a ministry where one...
Book Review: This Tender Land
I don’t know if it’s a remnant of being a voracious reader as a child consuming Rold Dahl books about children cast away by adults to creatively discover who they are or The Boxcar Children camping and foraging in a railyard but I love an epic “clever kids on a heist”...
Why I Am Only Attending Essential Meetings
I joke that in the past month in addition to being a ministry consultant, writer, mother and spouse I am now also the principal, gym coach, cafeteria worker, guidance counselor and two grade level teachers at our new home school set up. But really, it’s no joke. This...