personal

Heaven… ticketed guests only?

Like just about anybody who works in a church, I get aย lotย of catalogues. I mean, aย lot. I usually flip through them quickly before dumping them in the recycle bin, but this week, a particular catalog caught my eye. It’s not important which one, but it was for children’s spiritual formation-type things: Vacation Bible School, Sunday […]

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“Where’s my free copy?” “How much money are you making?” and other awkward questions… answered! (sorta)

    So… my bookย Seamless Faith: Simple Practices for Daily Family Lifeย is done being printed and is now available for purchase and reading. I learned a lot in the writing and publishing process. More about that next week, but for now, I thought I’d answer a few questions here about some of the nitty gritty

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Some thoughts on being a pastor and a mother — a reverend mother?

Reprinted from the church newsletter. Enjoy (if you can get past the giant run-on sentences!) When I was interviewing for the position as pastor at Northwood, I was very pregnant with Samuel, and it was a phone interview. I was full of nerves when I considered what would happen when I got to the stage

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Sermon Remix: Grief

It’s probably not surprising that ministers and funeral directors cross paths a lot. I guess it’s probably like produce growers and chefs, or teachers and crossing guards. We’re often in the same place at the same time.ย  Though I’m admittedly paintingย with a very broad brush here, in my experience, funeral directors are often deeply compassionate,

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On Kids Making Their Own Valentines and 5 Underachieving Valentines Ideas

Psssst. Lean in. I’m talking to you, mother or father or guardian of small children. You’re doing aย greatย job. I know you’re really, really tired sometimes, and part of the reason is that it’s exhausting to do a bunch of little mundane but very important things like cut the grapes in half I meanย quartersย so your kids

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6 thoughts on plagiarism, creative expression, and sermon writing

I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity recently as my book inches (and simultaneously sprints) toward the finish line. The whole process of coming up with ideas, letting them take root in my mind, writing them down, spiffing them up and sending them out into the world (with a team of people) has been hard

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