A question for you to consider: What’s a big dream you’ve had that remains unfulfilled because some aspect of it intimidates you? For many years one dream of mine has been to attend a national writer’s conference. This is the summer I checked that one off the list. I still remember a summer afternoon as a teenager when I was curled up reading and thinking, “I can do this.” The idea that I could write […]
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Families
All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (Tolstoy, Anna Karenina) I’m just back from a mini-family reunion with my daughters for a few days. It was wonderful. It started with catching up on family gossip about who’s doing what where and our theories on why. Then we ventured on to several trips down memory lanes and the usual round of favorite family stories. It was like a […]
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Life is a Team Sport
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord!’ (John :20:18) We have only brief references to Mary Magdalene in Scripture, making it difficult to separate fact from fantasy. We do know she showed up. She showed up to let Jesus heal her. She showed up with a group of women who followed him. She showed up that gruesome afternoon when he was crucified. She showed up to discover the empty […]
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Love, in the Face of Hate and Fear
Who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:25-37) I only know Marilyn Sharpe because she e-mails me items every once in a while about her ministry. What I do know is that, in light of the recent outbreaks of violence, her tips offer practical, doable, helpful insights in how to de-escalate the inflammatory rhetoric and rash outbreaks of angry retaliation we see all too often. Marilyn helps congregations equip homes to nurture faith for all generations. She is a congregational coach, […]
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Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32). Are you sick and tired of all the news about people killing other people because of whatever misguided excuse they have for doing that? Me too. Do you feel helpless to do anything to turn the tide away […]
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