Archive for April 2008

Broken Crayons

I found out something important about my childhood. Growing up, we had this huge tupperware carton of crayons. Everyone was broken and wrapper-less. I attributed this to two things: (1) We were a bunch of messy little hellions who broke all our crayons; (2) our parents were too cheap to buy us a nice new [...]

No no no no no…it’s almost May

Of the May (and late April events) here’s where I now stand: Done: Youth Sunday; Erik has a job; met with speaker for adult leader mission trip orientation; submitted worship service to worship magazine Yet-to-be-done: Adult leader mission trip orientation; confirmand dinner with session and all its trappings (ice-breakers, video editing of faith statements; display [...]

Noah’s Ark

It’s not every animal on the ark, but I still think she’s one smart cookie, and the kitty sound is particularly good, isn’t it?

Death, Taxes, and the Month of May (Or, why my retreat is perfectly timed)

We’ve had a series of big days. Taxes, of course. Erik’s grandfather died last week, so travel and family. Canceling my plans for a conference (shout out to Calvin College for being fabulous about refunding the registration. I love you guys!). Good rumblings in the Erik-employment department. An earthquake we didn’t feel. Zora learned how [...]

Da Mayor: benvolent dictator, always good for a quote

Mayor Daley is one of the things I love about Chicago. In theory, I think he’s a bit of a dictator. But, some of the decisions he makes, I kind of agree with. Plus, he’s always good for an absolutely brilliant quote. Yesterday, police shot a cougar that was wandering around Roscoe Village (a residential [...]

I wish these pictures were no longer relevant

I wish this photo-essay only dealt with issues that were long past in our country, that the flag was something we could look at without any squeamishness about what our country stands for, and what we actually do and how we actually act as a nation. Unfortunately, by the time you get to the end [...]

Perservation of the Saints

I heard someone use the term “perservation” today. Is that really a word? Word’s spellcheck says “no”. Not that Microsoft is the final authority on words, particularly theological ones. I think he meant “perseverance.” I’m a big fan of perseverance. Mostly because I’m not a big perseverer myself. And so the doctrine of the perseverance [...]

Memory Work

Let me start by saying: I think memorizing Scripture is a spiritual practice that we have lost, and one we should regain. I’m a horrible memorizer, and most passages I know are snippets from Bible passages set to music, or parts of a repeated liturgy. And, while I would love to be the kind of [...]

Reading, reading, reading

I’m thinking about books. Heidi’s got a good post about the book situation at her house. (Our house is similar…between a pastor an an ex-grad student…but worse because Erik and I are a little less organized and have a little less space than Tim and Heidi.) And some blogging friends, prodded by Alex,  have been [...]