cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
We were newlyweds, in our first apartment, performing the dreaded church-shopping. We visited nearby churches, each one similar to the ones I attended as a child. Pews, pianos, choirs. They were sparsely attended, and though it was obvious we were visitors, very few people greeted us. So we moved on. I had heard of a…
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It was December 22, and the fire crackled as we nestled up in our sweatshirts, the oldest among us sipping whiskey to keep warm on our parents’ back deck. Beneath the large mesquite tree, we were occupying a new space as siblings: the first of us married and the youngest among us bidding childhood goodbye…
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My five-year-old fingers pulled the red crayon from the box. I placed it in the middle of the paper, made a curving line upward and around to a diagonal line downward. I came back to the dot in the center and made a symmetrical figure, a picture of a perfect heart. My heart was created…
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Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free Rolling as a mighty ocean In its fullness over me -S.Trevor Francis “Where was he? Why didn’t he stop it? How could he let it happen?” The words tumbled out of her mouth as we sat together holding the weight of her sexual abuse.…
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Sleepwalking was my companion for three years, but I must admit, it felt amazing to be able to sleep and walk at the same time. Now I know how Michael Jackson mesmerized the masses with his moonwalk. Gliding through the vicissitudes of life without a care in the world, the freedom to just be, with…
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“What are we doing?” That’s the first question I asked my Pastor as we unloaded boxes from cars. We were a small ministry with about twenty members. Boxes upon boxes of learning materials, cooking utensils, food, blankets and baby supplies. Again I asked, “What are we doing?” As we entered the side door leading to…
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Red Tent Prayer Warriors Prayer Focus A Lament to Bring an End to Abuse of Women We have just concluded a week in which we heard pieces of stories from the female victims, now survivors, of sexual abuse at the hands of Larry Nassar. (Who received a sentence of 40-175 years in prison.) The stories…
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It is the week when at some level the light of Christ’s birth shines brightly in the dark corners we tend to avoid and compels us to look at them before the New Year begins. We consider how we have lived during the past year and what we hope will be different as the new…
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