Nate and I never see movies in theaters (see being parents of small children, also global pandemics) and we’re usually at least a year behind when it comes to the latest greatest movie that everybody’s talking about. So last night we watched A Star Is Born with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. I enjoyed the …
The Bible and Me
If I had to name the most common obstacle for Christians to a life of true trust in God, it would be fear—mainly the fear of being wrong about the Bible, which is often equated with being wrong about God. - Peter Enns, The Bible Tells Me So Growing up in the PCA, I was taught …
Two announcements!
I know I've been pretty quiet over here lately. And now it's time to announce why: I wrote a book! You may recall a post I wrote a year ago when I finished the manuscript copy. For the past year I've been furiously editing, revising, getting feedback, doing more editing, glaring at the piles of …
I am a racist
I grew up in a white bubble. I was born into a middle-class family of Irish, German, and Czech descent, both sides of my parents' families settled in the USA for multiple generations. We lived in a middle-class white neighborhood in Colorado Springs, and we went to a PCA church with more than a thousand …
Dear Mama with Mental Illness
Dear mama with mental illness, I see you. I am one of you. We are in this together. I know what it’s like on the days when mothering feels absolutely impossible. When the weight of the darkness is crushing and you want nothing so much as to stay in the oblivion of your bed, and …
Unfenced Easter
When I was growing up, my dad always created fun and often elaborate treasure hunts for us kids to find our Easter baskets. I’m carrying on the tradition with my children. After Sean and Muriel hunted the plastic eggs in the yard, Sean found a clue in one of them– the letters A B C …
Saturday Night Worship: A Benediction
It’s been a rough week. Nate was TDY for a few days, and in a manifestation of the curse that descends on every military family at some point during TDYs, the kids came down with a stomach bug. And then Nate came home and I got it and then Nate got it, and the whole …
The Knowledge of Good and Evil
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. …
Rage
It's like breaking a poorly set bone so it can reset. And it's going to hurt like hell for a while. And your job is to sit with it and feel the anger. Stop worrying about what's holy. – Brett the chaplain Driving away from my counseling session. I'm not an angry music person. Insistent percussion …
Deconstruction
They promised you This is how life works. Trust us. We know the way. The only way. Deviate– –and die. You can’t trust yourself, kid, they said. Your self lies to you. Brain heart body spirit all Deceitful– Listen at your peril– there is one road –ours– Deviate– –and die. Who you are? Oh …
