This is Lent: Brushing Teeth, Bedtime, and Prayers
My days in Lent look different. They feel different. They sound different.
My Lenten days rise and fall with the sounds...
Embraced in Love
Dear Isaac,
Looking through your pictures I realized that most of the pictures we have of you include your sister.
In the...
A Christmas Eve Lesson on Cows, Speech, and Love
And the cows said, “MOO!”The sheep said, “BAA!”The chickens said: “Cluck!”
Charlotte could have chimed in with the cows...
On pumpkins, wastefulness, and abundance
I think of pumpkins and can’t help but think of her. She was just a toddler when I met her, close to the age of my daughter...
A Cole Camp Fair
Parades, turtle races, hay bale tossing, burgers, and rides, Oh My!
All signs of the Cole Camp Fair. If you’ve talked to...
The Moon at 3 a.m.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness:Come let us adore him
What else do you do at 3 am when faced with the wide-awake...
A Tale of Two Births
My Monday babies.
One coming late in the evening in no hurry to greet the world.
One coming with the rising sun eager to...
On Waiting
We fall asleep holding hands. Wondering if this will be the night. Will our hearts be expanding even more soon? Will we wake...
Of Fathers and Fireworks and Light Shining in the Darkness
“Here, take a seat on the bench,” the stranger stood up and pointed to my dad. He was weak and small, too ill...
Summer in Cole Camp
Mayberry.Stars Hollow. We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep saying it.
Cole Camp is our Mayberry and our Stars...
Little Blue Trucks
My daughter, Charlotte, loves the book, The Little Blue Truck. She loves the animals and making their sounds with their pictures....
At Home in the World on a Concrete Slab
It’s just a concrete slab. Hard, dirty, dusty, bumpy. A thick piece of concrete nestled in the center of the compound....
Weaver Chapel
I entered the college’s chapel to be greeted immediately by the organ music.
Could it be the same music I heard so...
Beauty is All Around
“Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us, and see the beauty in ordinary things.” -Thomas Merton
Beauty...
Painted Rocks
Have painted rocks come to your town?
For me it began with one find - at the park, perched on a tree stump, I found a rock....
Planting Hope
Saturday, February 18th, 2017. Nearly 70 degrees. Again, I repeat: It’s February in Missouri.
A Night To Shine
I have great memories from attending Prom in high school. I was crowned Prom Queen my senior year so who wouldn’t have...
#MUSLIMSWELCOMEDME
#MUSLIMSWELCOMEDME
I find that if I read through my journals from my time serving in the Peace Corps in The Gambia, West...
Writing with Friends
A weekly writing assignment shared with a friend has turned into a gift of words and stories. A number of months ago my friend,...
The Joy of a Garage
Parked in our attached garage you’ll now find my car. Such a small detail to share, but full of meaning. And joy. As...
Amazing Grace
Particularly close to God.
Particularly close to God?
That was the 10 minute free writing assignment that stumped me -...
This is Our Life
On the eve of our town’s fair, “Our World’s Fair,” as it's affectionately known, my daughter, Charlotte,...
Dear Charlotte
Dear Charlotte,
I once wrote a letter a day for 40 days. Give or take a few days. During the season of Lent I gifted myself...
Studies With Charlotte
I still remember the phone call.
Somewhere around my third day in the office figuring out what it meant to be Pastor Kim...