The dresser in my bedroom nowwas second-handwhen my grandmother painted it for my mother’s childhood bedroom,streaky olive greento compliment the shag carpet.My aunt had a matching one,well, almost matching,paintedand second-hand.I painted it navythe summer we lived in the apartmentand the landlord kept coming over to make sure I wasn’t getting paint on the porchand I moved to…
Friendship: A Series
Friendship is divine. And, we don’t talk about it enough. I wrote this series, originally, as a sermon series for use in January and February between the seasons of Advent and Lent. I loved writing it. The congregation loved the worship theme. And, our weekly Bible Study loved the conversations. I’ve made the series into…
The New, True Marks of Kid-Friendly Churches
We love our kid-friendly church. We still talk about a moment in worship, several years ago now, when a two-year-old walked down the aisle from the back pew to stand in the front of the sanctuary. The handbell choir was playing the introit from the side balcony. Front and center, the little one tilted her…
Friends on the Mountain/in the Deep: Transfiguration (Week 6)
Between an ending and a beginning there is the deep, and if we’re so lucky, friends who will wade into the deep with us. This is week six in a series on friendship. SCRIPTURE: Luke 9:28-36 REFLECTION:When the sitcom ‘Friends’ came to an end, I watched with my mom and my sister, and we cried…
Jesus as Friend: The Gospel of John (Week 5)
I want you to hear Jesus call you his friend. This is week five in a series on friendship. SCRIPTURE: John 15:1-17 REFLECTION:Jesus says, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” I followed the story of speed skaters Brittany Bowe and Erin Jackson from the Olympic trials…
Friends in Faith: The Letters (Week 4)
Is friendship at the center of Christian practice? If not, should it be? This is the fourth week in a series on friendship. SCRIPTURE:Romans 12:9-211 Thessalonians 5:9-24 REFLECTION:Subjective age. Subjective age is the age you actually feel. Subjective age is a clinical term and the subject of social scientific research. Do you know that friendships…
Mary and Elizabeth: An Advent of Friendship
Elizabeth’s friendship with Mary creates the compassionate space in which Mary sings! This is Week 0, a preview week, for a series on friendship that could be used in January and February. SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:26-56 REFLECTION: I’ve been thinking a lot about friendships, lately. About the beauty of friendship. About what I’ve learned in my…
Friends in Hard Times: Job (Week 3)
If we can quickly dismiss that God’s love for us is somehow balanced on a scale with our goodness, why do we seek a balanced sense of love and care in our friendships, especially in the midst of suffering? This is the third week in a series on friendship. SCRIPTURE: Job Chapter 1 REFLECTION:A major…
Friendship’s Declaration: Ruth and Elijah (Week 2)
There are some things friends just need to say to one another. This is the second week in a series on friendship. SCRIPTURE: Ruth 1:1-18; 2 Kings 2:1-15 (though the true emphasis is on Ruth) REFLECTION:There are some things friends just need to say to one another. The last and celebratory meeting of my Buddhist…
Two are Better than One: The Wisdom of Friendship (Week 1)
True friendship is a reflection of God’s own love. This is the first week in a series on friendship. SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Proverbs 13:20, 16:28, 17:9, 17:17, 18:24, 22:24-25 (selected verses are below for ease of reading) 20Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,but the companion of fools suffers harm.28A perverse person spreads strife,and a whisperer…
Do Not Lose Heart
A sermon on 2 Corinthians 4-5:1. I remember sitting in high school economics class. I’m not sure what the state of Tennessee hoped we’d be learning, but the coach of the baseball team turned our economics class into a personal finance class. The personal finance radio celebrity, Dave Ramsey, lives in my hometown, and our…
Snow Angels: Super Small Ways Parents Can Grow Children’s Spirits
A couple months into my Maternity Leave away from church duties, my oldest child, still yet a toddler, sat in the floor of her room reading her children’s Bible. I noticed and asked, “What’s your story about?” “Jesus,” she said. “Do you know him?” Now, either my mainline denomination-ly raised toddler had become the best…
Midnight Songs: A Prayer Practice for People at their Spiritual Limit
At the end of my hospital chaplaincy internship my supervisor gave me a prayer book for the bedside. The small volume lends its wisdom in important pastoral moments with people at their limit—people who are dying or very sick. Usually, when the spiritual moment for bedside prayers arrives, we know it. Someone is very ill….
TWO COPPER COINS 