Pondering Mary & Emmanuel

I’ve been thinking a lot about Mary this Advent season. Because of my childhood religious upbringing Mary wasn’t really talked about because any talk of her might be misconstrued as worship. Through the years I’ve allowed myself to wonder and question – Jesus is okay with questions, God’s not threatened by my curiosity. This year…

The Gift of Presence

The other day I was in the car with my husband and I pointed out what I thought was a new sign on the side of the road. He let out a little laugh and gently let me know that the sign had been there for a very long time. I hadn’t noticed, but I’ve…

Entering Into Rest

ENTERING INTO REST It doesn’t seem like it should make sense that being home more, quarantining for Covid, working from home, could make us more tired. But changes in our daily rhythms of work, school, and play can have an enormous impact in all areas of our lives. Our home, the place where we usually…

Refreshing – Mind, Body, Soul and Spirit

Do you ever feel just plain tired? Worn out? Like you’re in a dry desert of life?  Perhaps you’re feeling the darkness and cold of longer nights if it’s winter, loneliness, confinement, or the longing for something new, an escape from the monotony of the day to day life.  You’re not alone. Living through a…

Examen This Day

READ “You will seek Me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 “I am with you always…” Matt 28:20 “You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me.” Psalm 92:4 REFLECT Quick! If I ask you to recount your day yesterday, will you be able to share…

My Christmas PlayList

READ John 1:14 So the Word became human and dwelt among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. Luke 1:78 Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to visit us, to give light…

Arm and Aim With Jesus

READ Be still and know that I am God. Ps 46:10 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body, you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15 We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds.…

Sometimes It Just Seems to Be Too Much

A prayer by Ted Loder Sometimes, Lord, it just seems to be too much: too much violence, too much fear; too much of demands and problems; too much of broken dreams and broken lives; too much of war and slums and dying; too much of greed and squishy fatness and the sounds of people devouring…

Live Hope

It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed in just a few years. At the beginning of 2019, we thought we understood how dark the world could be, how lost, how hopeless. Today, we’re inundated with despair and discouragement. It’s fitting we revisit these words from February 2019, because we need this truth…

A follow up to “Live Hope”

REFLECT Perhaps you took the time last month to read the Discover Hope Reflection Article, “Live Hope,” by our minister of spiritual care, LuAnn Roberson. If not, you can access the article HERE. The idea that we find hope by going through despair, rather than trying to avoid or use optimism to cope, was intriguing…