Advent 2016: Simplify

Advent 2016: Simplify

No, I haven't read any of those books on downsizing or simplifying. I would make the excuse that I don't have time, but really, I think it's because I don't have the attention span to read a whole book on simplifying. The idea sounds amazing because we have too much...

Advent 2016: Waiting In The Dark

Advent 2016: Waiting In The Dark

Happy first week of Advent!  According to the Church Calendar this is the start of the new church year and it begins with waiting and making ready.  Depending on your church you may or may not have a typical theme for Advent.  My church follows a Hope, Peace, Joy,...

God the Faithful Covenant Maker

God the Faithful Covenant Maker

There are times when I’m reading the bible (especially the old testament) that my only response is “What?”  I mean, I read the words but for whatever reason they don’t compute. I know I’m not alone in this… It happened when I was reading this passage about Abram...

Deeply Original

Deeply Original

A few weeks ago I was sitting in my office and got sucked into the Facebook vortex. After a few minutes of scrolling I ran across a video by Rob Bell. And at the end of the video he said something that has stuck with me since then. This is what he said…   “You,...

You, Me, and the Lectionary

You, Me, and the Lectionary

A few months ago Diana talked about Lectio Devina as a spiritual practice and encouraged those of us that are more visual to google ‘bible art journaling’.  As the director/editor of CovChurchPIM I got to google it first when Diana first...

Rule of Life

Rule of Life

So, there was this one time at Midwinter back in January where I saw Diana Shiflett.  If you haven't met her she's awesome.  And we started talking about the next blog post for this blog and she comes up with the brilliant idea to make a...

FPU: The Great Misunderstanding

FPU: The Great Misunderstanding

We are in our final week of Financial Peace University! Congratulations on making it this far! This week we're talking about the purpose and heart of this entire series: radical and intentional giving. You can do everything in these lessons,...

2015 Advent: Hope

2015 Advent: Hope

There is that scene towards the end of Home Alone.  Kevin, weary and sad on Christmas Eve steps into the huge cathedral downtown.  The seats are sparsely filled not even trying to win the contest waged by the voices of the choir echoing...

Saying Yes & No Honestly: No. 2

Saying Yes & No Honestly: No. 2

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of being yourself as a clergy spouse and how, for me, this means saying “yes” and “no” with honesty and integrity. Today I want to delve into this more by looking at some of the patterns I...

FPU: Real Estate and Mortgages

FPU: Real Estate and Mortgages

What is your current housing situation like?  Are you a renter? Home-owner?  We currently rent (and likely will be renting for the next few years).  Although we hope to own our own home in the future, the idea of buying a house and...