Tomorrow is Christmas Eve; my kids are all home, and the older they get the more I realize the treasure of that time. We had our last Christmas party on Wednesday night and I’m beginning to get ready to go into vacation mode! For some weird reason the past few weeks post-election I’ve been coming […]
Read Morethe unimportant people.
It’s been an extra busy few weeks around here with Refuge life and kids and the juggles of this season, and I haven’t had space to write much. I know this season can be tricky for many, and 2016 seemed to have extra measure of ugliness for a lot of people I know. For me, […]
Read Moremy unsolicited advice
For almost 9 years I’ve been writing my guts out about church and faith and life and all my dreams of what could be. Despite the vulnerability and what it’s cost me in certain circles, I’m inspired by the incredible people I’ve met over the years through this blog who are changing systems that need changing, […]
Read Morewhen our deepest values get violated.
Post-election I’ve been thinking a lot about Nonviolent Communication. I’m not the best at it but I try. It’s been incredibly helpful for me as a tool to notice how unhelpful jackal words are in building connection between people (and how much they’ve been used since November 9th and oh, I’ve said my fair share) and […]
Read Morehope, my favorite word.
If you know me in real life, you know my favorite word is Hope. Refuge friends tease me about it all of the time, and for good reason. I love the word and have written it on my share of rocks over the years. I know hope is dangerous. It’s vulnerable. It’s scary. But it […]
Read Morenarcissism, power, and staying awake.
I hope you all made it through Thanksgiving okay. I know for many it was likely to be a rough ride, with the reality of family and friends’ who-voted-for-who. We avoided the topic in certain settings, overrun by all 5 kids home for 3 days and knowing it wouldn’t lead to anything productive. I’ll admit, […]
Read Morestrap in, it's going to be a long ride.
Now it’s been 2 weeks since USA election 2016 rocked our world. If you’re like me, you’re a bit inundated with the amount of articles and social media pieces centered on it. I’ve read reflections and ideas from all different perspectives and frankly, I am exhausted but can’t seem to not-read them. I can’t seem […]
Read More"making nice": the call of the privileged
“True peace is not merely the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. We’re 3 1/2 days out from one of the most traumatic elections in modern US history. It’s been brutal, folks. The pain, the grief, the shock, the reality. I was one of those people who […]
Read Morelight, hope, dignity, justice, peace.
Love is the whole thing. We are only pieces. ~ Rumi Tomorrow’s Election Day in the USA. Whoa, it’s been a brutal year. The division. The vitriol. The fracturing. The bombardment from every angle on social media. The influx of crazy “news” sources that people think are real. The memes. The comments. The friends and […]
Read Morelifeway, power, and the cost of telling the truth.
In 2007, I co-authored a spiritual formation tool for evangelical women called Refresh. It was a pretty cool project for that long ago; the entire book was printed in full color, magazine-style, and centered on 10 stories of real women (most of who were friends) with journaling and reflection questions, small group discussion ideas, and […]
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