I never expected that I would be a stay at home mom. I never dreamed that I would find myself isolated in a city where I know no one because a pandemic has forced us to isolate since we arrived here. I’m not even sure how to begin new friendships with the risk assessment analysisContinue reading “Discernment in Coronatide”
Tag Archives: call
Pandemic Prayers for Proper 17
In the past week, my clergy groups have been full of posts and comments about how tired you are. Not just because you’re working so hard, dear clergy, or even because you need a vacation. Though, I imagine, those add fuel to this exhaustion but it is not this tiredness that you lament.
Back to Writing
When my beloved and I decided that we were going to do this thing, we were going to move across country and make a life together, I knew that I wouldn’t be in full time ministry anymore. I would leave the church I was serving to an unknown future. I hoped that there would beContinue reading “Back to Writing”
What I’m Up to Now
Holy threads are hard to see. They are as invisible and hidden as God. Even when we can see threads stitched through the fabric of our existence, they are often jumbled and knotted. We try to pick up those threads but we cannot untangle them from all of the rest. The poet William Stafford observes, there is a thread.Continue reading “What I’m Up to Now”
Everything is New
Last week, I had an interview with a church seeking an interim pastor. I knew what would happen even before that meeting. I knew it because it’s what always happens. As I sat there talking to these faith-filled, hopeful people, I came to love them. It wasn’t even a slow progression. It basically walloped me from theContinue reading “Everything is New”
Called to the Local Church
This morning, while on the second retreat as part of the Beyond the Call: Entreprenuerial Ministry, I offered this testimony. It is a truth that I struggled to say out loud. It is a truth I struggled to admit to myself because I’m not the quitting type, but I am in the thick of theContinue reading “Called to the Local Church”
That Reverberation in My Soul
A true call — that which is a true reflection of one’s vocation which Frederick Buechner so well surmised to be the “place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet” — must be a call where the totality of your deep gladness reverberates. As much as I can say this, it’s hardContinue reading “That Reverberation in My Soul”
That Hope is Stronger
I found myself today in one of those online conversations with a bunch of other clergy. I had asked for wisdom or a prayer. Or something else entirely. I’m still not sure what I put out there into the interwebs. To that posting, I got some feedback that I needed and some that frustrated me.Continue reading “That Hope is Stronger”
Pegged as a Radical Feminist
I preached a sermon recently in which I was pegged as a radical feminist. Not just a feminist but the radical kind. The kind that no doubt burns bras and hates men. This comment was made to me with grave concern. So he said: I should be aware of how I come across. I shouldContinue reading “Pegged as a Radical Feminist”
Cooking with Elsa 