It’s one of the top three guilt-trips for Christians: daily Bible reading (more than a verse or two) takes the gold; daily prayer (beyond “God help me!”) claims silver; and Scripture memorization, even a verse or two, is the lesser-recognized bronze medal winner. Yet most of us recognize that these are also the most rewarding…
Abbots & Popes: Lessons from Benedictine Monks
To be frank, I really never thought there would be much practical crossover between the lives of a medieval monk and a 21-st century working mom. There is nothing about daily routines on either side that screams “Similarity!” However, I was mistaken about the crossover; it’s there, but the similarity is revealed in a whisper…
Zinzendorf: When Church History Becomes Personal
One of the pastors at church is a former theology professor at a local university, and has graciously begun a series of Sunday evening courses to educate those from the congregation that wish to attend. The development of this series “happened” to transpire around the same time that I was questioning the role of formal…
Great Spoil
Psalm 119:162: I rejoice at Your Word like one who finds great spoil. At the end of the summer a year or two ago, it was time to harvest our garden, and surprisingly enough, my darling little children (who were 5 and 3 at that point, I believe) weren’t all that interested in helping me…
In Due Season
One of our hobbies (or mine, anyway; Z indulges me by constructing whatever I need and putting it in place, but the daily labor is mostly mine) is growing as much of our own food as possible on our little plot of land. We have more property than a typical house “in town”, but far…
Recent Reads, Volume I
A brief summary of what I’m currently reading or have recently finished, why I read it, and whether I’d recommend it. Although really, it’d have to be truly terrible for me to bother writing about a book I wouldn’t recommend…… Confession: I’m really awful with small talk. I don’t know what questions to ask a…
The Origin Story
We’re all familiar with the idea of an origin story, I would guess: the dramatic and often traumatic background that forms the foundation on which a superhero is formed. I’m not claiming to be a superhero, but I do posit that each of us has an origin story of sorts – some giant and extraordinary…