Blog
Favorite Reads of 2020
As reading years go, this year has been unexpected which makes it very on brand for 2020. When I found a book I loved, I really loved it. However, much of what I read was good, but not amazing. My favorite books need to wow me, make me think, reorient my perspective...
Advent Practices for Shaping a Season
Five years ago Christmas stopped being fun. It had no reason to stop being enjoyable. I am a pastor charged with the teaching and preaching of this sacred and holy season, a season and story I delight in sharing. My children were peak ages for dollhouses nestled under...
Fall 2020 Reading Recap
As I review the books I’ve read over the fall season (September, October, November) I am struck by how as my reading nears the end of the year, it has gotten more focused. I’m less willing to give my time to fluff or average reads. I am prioritizing books I really...
Home by Another Way: A Meditation on a Covid Christmas
The highway between our home and my parents had been under construction for several years, as Oklahoma highways are neither expedient nor efficient in the repairs department. The road would predictably narrow to a bottleneck of a single lane where travelers would sit...
On Gratitude in the Hard Years
“Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace as thunder follows lightning.” ~Karl Barth This has been a hard year but in the pantheon of hard years, this one does not take the...
Book Review: Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl
After years as a restaurant critic for the New York Times (the subject matter of her previous memoir) Ruth Reichl is offered the top position at America’s oldest epicurean magazine Gourmet. The story of Reichl’s time at the helm of Gourmet during the golden age and...
2020 Best Christmas Books for Kids
I absolutely love exploring all the new Christmas books each year for kids and adding to our library. Each year we wrap our collection and use it as our Advent calendar. I also love making room on our favorites list for new titles while still cherishing some classics....
How to Start a Book Advent Calendar on a Budget
When I shared last year that our family does an Advent calendar opening a book a day, I received a lot of emails asking “how did you afford to do that? It’s a lot of money to start that tradition!” And they are absolutely right, if you went out and bought 28 books it...
We Are the Trail Makers
Two years ago we took the kids to hike Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks for a week. I love these weeks in the life of our family. It is time not just to connect without distraction in the goodness of God’s big and beautiful creation, to have long and...
