Sometimes, when we know that we're embarking on long-term trauma - especially these particularly uncertain ones - we have to crash. Maybe it doesn't look like Oreos for you, maybe it's something else. But for me, in order to gear up for the next round, I have to let down for a little while.
Deployment Lesson for COVID #1: Celebrating Small Milestones
March 20, 2020 I had a familiar feeling in my gut this week that I was finally able to articulate yesterday: it felt like we were gearing up for a deployment. It feels like a sense of impending dread, fear and uncertainty, preparing for long-distance relationships, feelings of confidence that we’ll get through it, holding... Continue Reading →
Small Churches and Re-Opening Our Doors
Six weeks into COVID-19-closures, I’ve noticed this last week that, at least in the clergy world, the conversation is beginning to shift to re-opening. And I get it - I will be thrilled when my kids can go back to school and church members will once again sit in the sanctuary! I’ve read several articles... Continue Reading →
On Ash Wednesday, as a clergy-parent
From dust you were made; to dust you shall return...
I was not ready for what happened next.... Standing before me was my own child.
Book Review: When Kids Ask Hard Questions
I often find myself sitting next to my kids, talking through the Big Things that are happening in their lives — some of those Big Things I experienced when I was their age, but let’s face it: Our kids have different lives than we did, and some of this is new for all of us. Because of that, I was delighted to see When Kids Ask Hard Questions: Faith-Filled Responses for Tough Topics come across my social media feed recently.
On Bi Visibility Day (a letter to those who are hidden)
Happy Bi Visibility Day, friends! Now that it’s now been exactly one year since I shared this coming-out post, I thought it would be a great time to share some of the things I’ve learned in the past year. When I first posted, there were some things I expected to happen: I expected to lose some... Continue Reading →
Eighteen Years
Eighteen years. That’s how old I was on that day. I was a freshman in college, at a school in downtown Chicago. The phone in my dorm room rang and woke me up, and it was my sister. She knew that we didn’t have TVs in our room, and this was long before we got... Continue Reading →
Finding Home as a Disciple of Christ
I am a Disciple of Christ. That means something different to me today than it did two years ago or five years ago or ten years ago. And that’s okay... which is exactly the point. I recently wrote about how my husband Jonathan and I read books together during his second deployment as a part... Continue Reading →
Bombs Bursting in Air, Then and Now
Independence Day and I have a complicated relationship... Even as a child, I knew why we celebrated with fireworks. I knew the noise was meant to emulate the sounds of war. I imagined myself, as a young girl, hiding in a barn, keeping my breathing quiet lest the Soldiers find me.
Not Who We Were: on breaking down theology, rebuilding faith… and staying married
Have you ever found yourself questioning the things you were always taught? Maybe the things you were told about alcohol or modesty started to fall apart, maybe a tragedy forced you to reconsider how much God really is in control, maybe you started to see some contradictions in the Bible and wondered if it’s still... Continue Reading →