Not all of us are actually alive. Sometimes, without realizing it, we stop living. We are busy – life keeps coming. We meet the needs in front of us. To those around us, we are a resource – so they might not notice that we’ve stopped living. Cereal still shows up on the table, the […]
I haven’t blogged in a long time. We all have habits that for some unknown reason we dropped. The question is, how to begin again. When I started to write this, the phrase “break the ice” rose up and demanded an investigation. It turns out that “break the ice” usually means “Breaking down a social […]
Curious people make great employees. They don’t just do what they are told, they push to improve, think outside the box, and find a new approach. On a connected thought, I listened to this TEDTalk this morning by Adam Grant. It turns out that successful people leave space for creativity. After they get started on […]
“Messy is not sin.” This is the quote from 40 Days of Decrease, my devotion for Lent. The sentence keeps rolling around in my head today. I like clean lines. I like smooth emotions. I like life to not be messy – because messy hurts. Messy is a bit like pruning (or a destruction derby, […]
Do you hide the stinky parts of life because they are just too much? We can learn from John 11. Jesus and his disciples were doing their thing and a messenger came from Mary and Martha. Come quick! Lazarus is sick. Jesus sent the messenger on his way and went back to eating. Jesus didn’t […]
Who do you dance for? Fear. Will others approve? Will they misinterpret? What would make me okay? It hits us in so many areas of life – parenting, job performance, social situations…the list is long. The cure? To dance before the Audience of One. I don’t know where this phrase started, but it means that […]
Yesterday I talked about self-identity. I’m thinking through this for a reason. I highly suspect that: Just as we tend to change careers every 7 years, we also tend to need to redefine our boxes (which means teens aren’t the only ones working on self-identity). When we are solely defined by what others think of […]
Many of us feel okay by setting a standard and meeting that standard. What do you use to make yourself feel okay? Some people define themselves by Family relationships Knowing and obeying all the rules Our mistakes and failures In John 8 Jesus and the Pharisees face off about how we define ourselves. Jesus suggests […]
A few things have converged to bring this post about: I’ve heard an increased chatter on bivocational pastors – pastors who have a full time job, and a church. A friend and I had a discussion on how it is assumed that women with children don’t have the time or energy to do anything that […]
Midlife-teen years are no fun. This is the moment when you want to take back every mean thought you ever had towards your mom during your teen years. Seriously – I didn’t like the teen years the first time around, and I’m not liking them any better today. To add to the complexity, I get […]