I was blessed to grow up in a family that valued disagreements. We didn’t see things the same and my parent’s cultivated our individuality. Our dinner conversations were a mixture of theological, political and baseball debates. I loved it. So I was surprised to learn that not all families did this free-for-all family dinner debate. …
Today I am finishing a week of vacation. It was awesome. I hung out with my husband and son in one of my favorite little towns, Paso Robles, CA. I love the houses, the town square, the great food and wine and cute shops. It is a walkable, pretty town and the area has a …
This week we finish up our series on Becoming Love with a focus on stress. If you have missed any part of the series list here. Stress is part of our everyday lives but as people of faith we have tools that many people don’t have. I first became aware of these tools at a …
Thanks for awesome response to our new series, Becoming Love. Last week, we looked at relationships myths. If you missed it, listen here. This week, we are looking at a significant topic: when people let you down. How do you respond when people let you down? Depending on the situation, I have: Pretended it didn’t …
When I was a child I began gardening. This was pre-Home Depot days, all we had were small local nurseries and so my Mom, who also loved to garden, took me. I picked out plants to grow and friends of my parents gave me plants for my collection. I displayed everything on an old ladder …
So, I am a planner. In fact, every day when I meditate I notice the thoughts that most often interrupt my solitude are plans I am making. My practice is to bow to them (instead of fighting or resisting them) and say, “planning”. It’s an acknowledgement. During meditation others may struggle with “feelings”, “pain” or …
I come from a family where most of us cannot get out of bed in the morning. We get this from my Dad whose ideal day was lying in bed and reading books. But, I married into a family who loves the morning! As a baby, my son would get up at 4 AM. My …
I love the New Year. In fact, I love it so much that I celebrate a fresh start four times a year by rebooting my life every three months. I came across this idea in the book, The Twelve Week Year by Brian Moran. Last year I tried it out for 3 months – I …
I recently visited a church where I had an opportunity to share how the Cal-Pac Conference of the UMC is really doing in growth. After sharing, the woman looked at me and said, “that cannot be right, I heard (unnamed person) say the no one new comes to church and that the UMC would be …
Read more “#9 Believe You Can Grow – 9 Actions to Grow Worship and Professions of Faith”