I typically love winter.

I love the holidays and our annual winter ski vacation.
This year, however, winter has drug for me... And since I live in the Chicago area, I know it's far from over.
Being pregnant, I can no longer ski....
Read more

My husband and I have often wondered: Is it easier to bring social justice to the evangelicals or Jesus to the mainliners?
So often, our experience has been that despite the fact the Bible emphasizes the importance of both Jesus and social...
Read more
The last time I taught about divorce in my youth ministry, the kids from divorced families left in tears.
I didn't set out to make them cry. In fact, I intentionally remember trying to set up our conversation so as not to isolate these vulnerable...
Read more
Our church's annual meeting was two weeks ago. Each year at this meeting, the pastor talks about the state of the church, we discuss various issues impacting the church, and we vote on a budget.
Although the meeting is open to all members of...
Read more
Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
This week's prompt: Wait.

I'm not good at waiting.
For a type-A, driven person, waiting feels...
Read more
Reading:
Between a vacation at the start of the month and a doctor's ordered modified bed rest last week, I read a lot during January.
Fiction:

The Secret Keeper: I've lost track of how many times I've seen this book on...
Read more

The premise of Jon Weece's Jesus Prom is, I think, really good. According to Jon, “Jesus loved verbs. Verbs like love, come, rest, learn, hear, die, give, and go. So wouldn't it make sense that the people who claim to follow Jesus would love the...
Read more

Like many ministries, our high school youth ministry held it's winter retreat over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. This year, our theme was Naked and Afraid: Vulnerability in Relationships. Throughout the weekend, the book of Ruth served as our...
Read more

I chose my word for 2015 – hope - while in the hospital for the last two days.
For the last two years, choosing a word of the year has been a healthy practice for me. In 2013, I chose the word brave. Last year, my word was enough. Both shaped...
Read more