Seekers

My little abode is a little less brighter today. You see, yesterday I packed away all of the Christmas decorations. Down came the tree with its multitudes of decorations, all glittery and wonderfully themeless. Down came the stockings and garland. Down came the wreaths and all the tchotchkes. Most importantly, down came all of the […]

Love whispers

Unless you are living under a rock, you would know that Christmas, one of the celebrations that is central to much of the Western world, happened yesterday. Advent is over, the four weeks of hope, peace, joy and love culminating in the final night of light. But that doesn’t mean the themes should be neatly […]

So you’re one of THOSE “Christians”!

If you’ve followed my blog or any of my social medias, then this shouldn’t come as a surprise. I am a church-going, Jesus-following, God-loving Christian. Yet, in the past few months, I have been called un-Christian. I have been told I don’t go to a “Bible-believing church” because my church voted to be Open and […]

Waiting for peace

It was a year ago that the other half and I were stuck in a period of waiting. We were in the process of closing on our first house, this tiny abode in our little swath of the Midwest. The waiting period was anything but peaceful, as there were stresses, a portion of the roof […]

Be Generous

“The Church is the Church only when it exists for others…not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison There seems to be a contagion in this land. Well, to be fair, history […]

Consider the potter

This past weekend, the tiny church that I attend in this little swath of the Midwest had a special meeting after Sunday’s worship with a member vote. We voted on adopting the following welcoming statement and identity as a church: Norwalk Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is an Open and Affirming congregation. Inspired by our […]

Put on the Full Armor of God

Too much has been done hatefully “in the name of Christ.” Wars have been fought, people have been persecuted, laws have been passed that oppress and marginalize… all in the name of Christ. And as a result, the idea of Christianity has become maligned with the idea of persecution, of judgementalism, of fundamentalism. It’s a […]

I can do all of this? Really??????

I live in the Hawkeye state, otherwise known as Iowa. Even I, who cares very little for sports, have heard of the prowess of the female American basketball player Caitlin Clark. It’s hard not to miss it, since her name has been mentioned a great deal this year at both the collegiate and the professional […]

Go ye into all the world….

The other day, while the other half and I were out and about, we came back from shopping at one of the bigger farm stores in the area to find someone had crammed a cartoon gospel tract into the handle of the driver’s side door of the other half’s vehicle. The tract was a reminder […]

Perfection in the celebration

This past week, there was a celebration at the tiny church the other half and I attend in my little swath of the Midwest. Ten years ago, our current pastor started his walk with us. In those ten years, there have been numerous high points and low points, both globally and a little closer to […]