Pastor’s going on vacation…this means I get to preach for two weeks in a row. And of course I get the last installment of the random “the Kingdom of Heaven is like…” parables told in Matthew. Both an over-used and a misunderstood concept, I think. Meanwhile, we haven’t talked much… Continue reading
“What’s your story?” I was sitting at a pizza restaurant with a group of church leaders who until the day before had been complete strangers to me. But now, after 2 days of conversation and training, we were chatting in a much more familiar tone as we sipped beverages and… Continue reading
During my senior year of high school I took a class called “Current World Issues.” We watched a lot of CNN. And the teacher tried to convince us to care about these news stories we researched and reported on each week. Unfortunately, in our teenage arrogance, we thought we knew… Continue reading
What follows is a series of entries about how I got to the point where I am getting ready for a 15 day trip to East Africa. I figured breaking it into installments would be better than expecting someone to read a novel. But be warned…it may still be a… Continue reading
I’m really excited to have a chance to go back to Africa this summer with a young adult from my congregation. Here’s an ‘interview’ we published in the church newsletter with the information: I had a chance to catch up with one of Advent’s young adults for a conversation about… Continue reading
I’ve been getting surprisingly challenging questions from kids recently. Last week in preschool chapel a group of kids came in obviously eager to engage me in a conversation they had been having on their own. The first kid comes up to me and says, “Sister Michelle, I have a difficult… Continue reading
Another poem I came up with to talk about the Beatitudes. I really need to find an illustrator to help me put some images to these words! After teaching the crowd, Jesus went up on a hill His disciples went after him, following still. Jesus had more to say so… Continue reading
I used to smirk at those commercials about some anti-depressant drug. You know, the one with the lady that walks with the cloud over her head, and while it is sunny all around her, the cloud turns dark and starts raining on her. The narrator says something about how depression… Continue reading
“So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he… Continue reading
I’ve enjoyed getting better at waking up early enough in the morning to get to the beach and have a cup of coffee while I watch the sunrise. Here’s my picture entitled “Coffee at Sunrise”. The other thing I really enjoy about sunrise walks on the beach is watching… Continue reading