well, some of you already know i am on a summer movie marathon. it is all a little wacky and so out of character because i am seriously a person who does not have extra time to be watching movies! if i hadn’t said i’d do it, i probably would have only watched 2 movies by now. plus, we […]
Read Morere-thinking power
the old saying “money is the root of all evil” isn’t really that accurate. we all know there’s something underneath money that is far more insidious–power. i think about power a lot for all kinds of reasons. my free-fall out of the power-laden mega church i was part of probably was the icing on the […]
Read Morecamping: "church" at its finest?
as you all know by now, i have a lot of issues with “church.” i love love love people gathered together in all kinds of ways to learn and practice loving God, our neighbors, ourselves. it’s the programs, the inauthenticity, the power b.s., the unnaturalness of it all that i can do without. i believe wholeheartedly, in every fabric of my […]
Read Moreclearing the rubble
“we all blossom in the presence of one who sees the good in us and who can coax the best out of us” –desmond tutu * * * * * yes, there’s no doubt in my mind, we live in a genesis 3 world. created in God’s image in genesis 1, things went awry […]
Read Morechurch in the now, life in the now
“we are always getting ready to live but never living” – ralph waldo emerson i get completely random and weird thoughts here and there (more like all the time). yesterday when i was sorting laundry (yeah, just imagine how much we have with 7 of us in the house and everyone playing sports) i was thinking about church […]
Read Moreart is healing
this past saturday the refuge hosted a grafitti art workshop at joshua station, our friends near downtown denver who provide transformational housing for struggling families. it was a perfect spot for our gathering and sam trujillo, who works for milehigh ministries (they are the umbrella organization for joshua station), did an amazing job facilitating a wild and […]
Read Morea nifty chart for the journey: stages in our life of faith
one of the hardest things about all of the tossing & turning & churning of spiritual growth and change is that it sometime can just feel so confusing and disorienting. when others around you are perfectly fine with where they are on the journey with God, church & life, but something feels awry in our spirit, […]
Read Moreme + movies = happy
i have said before, i really, really love the movies! it’s a way i connect with God & life and is my most favorite escape. well, this summer i set a little goal to watch as many movies as i possibly could for the next few months and to not feel guilty about it. this will be a […]
Read Morei hate shame
yeah, i know hate’s a strong & negative word. i don’t like my kids to say the word “hate” and i am always giving them alternatives: “don’t like”, “don’t agree with,” “not into” are all fine. but when it comes to shame, honestly, the only word that i can think of that’s appropriate is hate. i hate shame. […]
Read Moreidentity prayer
ah, today a short & sweet blog post, yeah! are you relieved? since i only post a few times a week i am well aware i always squeeze in more than average in a single post! sorry, it’s a metaphor for my life…. for the past 6 weeks or so at our sunday evening […]
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