I have a lot of conversations with people who are wrestling with hard questions. As a pastor, I talk to people about everything from how to plan a funeral to whether or not God is real. But sometimes the questions aren’t around big life decisions. Sometimes they are about the tricky realities that we face…
I’m a pastor, so most Sundays of my life I preach a sermon, where I teach people about the Bible. This week I shared with my congregation about a woman named Naomi, who experienced great tragedy – and was pretty ticked off about it. Here’s a summary of the story. Naomi’s husband and her two…
We all know what it’s like to feel tired. Sometimes we know why we feel that way – we stayed up too late, work has been exhausting, we’re still recovering from that cold last week – but sometimes we feel tired and we we’re not sure why. All we know is that things seem harder…
For all the years I was in school, I told myself the same story every semester. It’s called the “It’s going to feel so awesome when exams are done” story. Every fall and spring as the end of term loomed, I would declare: “When I write that last exam, it’s going to be amazing!!” I…
This week, I remembered Tim Horton’s breakfast sandwiches and it made my heart break and swell with happiness all at the same time. Let me explain. When my sister, Roxanne, died in 2013 I worried about something that almost every grieving person I have known also worries about: if I would forget things. Would I…
God, Give me endurance. I never prayed this prayer until this year, until the weeks and months of lockdowns started to bleed into one another. My prayers have changed since 2020. Last year this time I prayed: “‘Stop this!” Last year, I prayed: “Please let this be done after six weeks!” Last year, I prayed:…
Dear God, Today, I am so overwhelmed with worry for our healthcare workers. I hear them on the news, pleading for more understanding, more support, more awareness – begging us to take things more seriously. Trying to help us see what they see, when they ask us to please stay home, please be careful, please…
Dear God, May I never again take the ability to gather with others in the same space to worship for granted. I did in the past. There were Sundays when leisurely breakfasts, long walks or sleeping in seemed better or more needed. There were baseball tournaments and swim practices. There were schedule conflicts. And it…
Create in me a clean heart, oh God and renew a right spirit within me. Relieve me of my resentment. Release me from resenting those who post pictures of family gatherings and no-longer-allowed “social bubbles.” Release me from resenting the people “not taking things as seriously” as I think they should. Release me from resenting…
Today is International Women’s Day, and there is so much that I could say, but I think I will sum up my thoughts with a story of something that happened to me in my first month as a pastor. I began my job as a lead pastor in my church when I was 27. I…
