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(I couldn’t resist this title, har, har, har!) I just learned something about preaching from that great practical theologian, Judah Friedlander. (He’s currently on the TV show 30 Rock.) A local afternoon newstalk program just brought him in on their discussion about the increasing raunchiness of TV shows (and, before you draw any conclusions, this [...]
Zora stepped out on the porch this morning to check the temperature. “Mom! Mom!’ She came running back into the house, excited. “You HAVE TO come outside! It’s so peaceful. No one’s talking outside, and there are birds, lots of birds. Migratoring back to Chicago!” With 5 minutes to change Abram’s diaper and wrestle him [...]
News reports about the New York Police Department’s intensive surveillance of Muslims after 9/11 shock me, but particularly reports that just attending a Mosque made someone a target for observation. License plate numbers were taken from cars in the lot. They wanted an informant in every mosque. As a clergy-person, that bothers me. Houses of [...]
Shrove Tuesday run: a full on illustration of why I need a season of re-examination. I’m not proud of how this all went down. (Future pastor search committees: if you thought I’d be a good fit for your pulpit because you wanted someone who was a lot like Jesus, you’ll probably be moving on to [...]
My previous post laid out some of my theoretical thinking about how to talk to kids about difficult bits and pieces of theology. Here’s how that theory plays out for me in talking about death (sadly, a big topic around here in the last year). And then, some ideas about how I’m planning to talk [...]
I’m still going ahead with plans to take the kiddos to Ash Wednesday worship, even if it’s late, even if it’ll be a hassle (even though Erik realized, after my last post, that he’d committed to a professional engagement on Wednesday night, meaning I’ll be flying solo). My friend Meika (who has three beautiful daughters) [...]
My efforts to find an area church with AshWednesday worship at a reasonable hour for children are coming up dry. The church we attend has a noontime and a 7:30 pm option. Which is great for my husband, and other people who work near there: he can pick between lunch-break ashes or stop in if [...]
A year ago tonight, Erik and I were headed to the hospital (first for a false alarm: turns out I’m a little dense at telling when I’m in labor; in the wee hours of the morning for the real thing). Abram pulled off the rare feat of being born on his due date. Which has [...]
There’s something about the last few days of being pregnant, where you are bursting with possibility (OK, there’s something about reflecting on the last days of pregnancy: at the time, you just feel like you’re bursting…). A year ago, I hugely pregnant. Abram’s birth was only 3 days away (my grandmother had a massive stroke [...]
Mark 1:1-11 Genesis 1:1-5 Hope Christian Reformed Church, Oak Forest, IL On New Years Day, I took my five year old daughter for a walk, with the goal that we would be taking our shoes off and dipping our toes into Puget Sound. I figure, when you’re on vacation near the ocean, you ought to stick [...]