We began the new year with Jeremiah. It was the same chapter even though it was a few verses earlier. There was still the invitation to remember and hold onto what might be coming. We are still in that space so many weeks later as Lent begins to turn into Holy Week. Likewise, we heardContinue reading “Pandemic Prayers for the Fifth Sunday of Lent”
Tag Archives: writing
Twinkly Lights in Blue Pandemic Days
Several years ago, I created a devotional for the grieving and brokenhearted. I called it Twinkly Lights in Blue Days. It’s sat there in my kitchen for anyone that might have wanted it or needed in the years that followed. Grief is close to my heart. My mother died of breast cancer before anyone reallyContinue reading “Twinkly Lights in Blue Pandemic Days”
An Expert In My Own Grief
Expert was the word that made me laugh in her email. I do not feel like an expert in anything. I’ve rather owned that pastors are the last generalists. We dabble in this and that. We have a lot of theological thoughts (hopefully) and some leadership skills. We know a little of this and aContinue reading “An Expert In My Own Grief”
70,000 Words
Earlier this month, I took a Memoirs 101 online class with the Writer’s League of Texas. The instructor emphasized structure and form, both of which feel like high ideals for the random assortment of memories that are currently cobbled together in a massive Word document that takes forever to open on my laptop. I shouldContinue reading “70,000 Words”
News From My Kitchen
Most people see Cooking with Elsa and assume it’s a cooking blog. I love to cook but on this blog you’ll find Ingredients for Worship and Recipes for Ministry and not so many actual recipes that you could cook up in your kitchen. It is, after all, a play on my married name. I’ve posted menus. I even thought about thatContinue reading “News From My Kitchen”
Twinkly Lights in Blue Days
Jan Richardson lost her beloved husband Gary during Advent. It was more sudden than the wars and rumors of war that the gospel Mark hints it could be. Nobody saw it coming and the grief lingered for many more seasons. In her online Advent devotional two years later, Jan shared that she was looking forContinue reading “Twinkly Lights in Blue Days”
Ready, Willing and Able for Peace
We were told that there would be booms. It was one of the first things that we were told about our new home. We’ll hear the booms, they said. Booms that shouldn’t frighten us or cause alarm, but are simply the noises of the military base thirty miles away. It was just something they hadContinue reading “Ready, Willing and Able for Peace”
Character: Essays by readers
Some time ago, the Christian Century invited readers to submit first-person narratives (under 1,000 words) reflecting on the word character. They are requesting essays from readers on other words in the future, but it was to this one that I wanted to respond. It was for this word that I knew which story I would tell and soContinue reading “Character: Essays by readers”
Spirituality for the Resistance
I have not felt like an activist in years. In truth, I’m not sure that I ever really felt like an activist even though ministry called for it. I couldn’t faithfully preach the gospel on Sunday without taking to the streets on Wednesday to advocate for that hope that had been in my words. WhileContinue reading “Spirituality for the Resistance”
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”
Cooking with Elsa 