I suppose some kids learn to drive in an empty Wal Mart parking lot, trying to avoid stray shopping carts and maneuvering around reserved parking signs and construction cones. My experience was different. The Nairobi Game Park is located on the outskirts of Nairobi, in the shadow of one of… Continue reading
My recent post about changing the settings on an exercise machine has been sticking with me more than I expected. I’ve been noticing in myself moments where I’m coming up against internal scripts that I’ve either successfully or unsuccessfully rewritten or adjusted. The first time I walked in the Pride… Continue reading
The other day at the gym, I sat down at a machine and immediately realized something was off. The settings had been left exactly where the previous person needed them. But my legs didn’t fit. So I stopped and made some adjustments. It wasn’t a particularly dramatic moment. But something… Continue reading
There’s a word in Swahili that I resonate with: vumilia. It basically means “persevere.”But the way my dad used to translate it is, keep on keeping on feels a little different than “just hang in there.” Kuvumulia, as an action, is less about barely making it through, and more about a steady,… Continue reading
My first two experiences in this year of Cultivating Delight weren’t dramatic or adventurous. They didn’t require travel or planning or courage in the way we often think about courage. But they asked something deeper of me. They asked me to challenge a story I’ve been carrying for a long time. A… Continue reading
This year, as I approach a birthday, I’m choosing a different kind of journey—not a list of goals, but a rhythm of living intentionally. I want to cultivate delight. To notice the small and the extraordinary. To create, to explore, to stretch, and to rest. To trust that what I… Continue reading
And in that space, Jesus expands his imagination: God’s love is not narrow or conditional. It is wide. It is generous. It is for the world. We often interpret in-between seasons as examinations. Prove your faith.Prove your devotion.Prove you’re growing. But Lent is less about proving something and more about… Continue reading
We know what it’s like to be in the wilderness and experience the temptation to question our baptismal identity. We know what that’s like…and it’s not fun. It leaves us famished and exhausted. Matthew 4:1-11 (Lent 1A. Diaconal Sunday, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church) I have to admit that when I… Continue reading
Ash Wednesday (and sermon prepping) brings me back to the wilderness. Each year, Lent begins with an invitation into the wilderness — in the reminder that we are dust and with a reflection on the story of Jesus being led by the Spirit into the desert. Jesus’ experience in the… Continue reading
To the casual observer, the yellow dish on my shelf does not mean much. It is handmade. Simple. Sun-warmed in color. The kind of thing you might pass in a thrift store without a second thought. It was mine once.Then I gave it to my friend Nicole.And after she was… Continue reading