Holidays
Each time I’ve undergone a job search, one of the first compensation questions that I’ve asked is “How much vacation time do I get?”
For my husband & I, in these “pre-family” years, traveling has been a...
The Power of Relationships
Last week, I had lunch with a good friend of mine, Kitty.
Kitty is someone that has had a hugely important role in my life since about 1990, when she came to First UMC Park Ridge as our Associate Pastor. During her tenure at First UMC, part of...
Church Buildings
Adam McLane recently posted this interesting blog. In it, he essentially poses the question, would churches better reach their communities without church buildings?
Since reading this blog, I’ve been contemplating this idea.
For five years...
Quilt Sunday
Two weeks ago, our church celebrated Quilt Sunday, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite Sundays of the year.
On Quilt Sunday, every pew is draped with several quilts – each handmade as a labor of love by six little old ladies in our...
The Greatest Generation
The Greatest Generation is a term coined by journalist Tom Brokaw to describe the generation of Americans who grew up during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity...
Little children & church
I’ve often wondered why, if Jesus told his disciples in Mark 10:14 to “Let the little children come to me, do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs,” that so many churches today don’t...
Legacy
If you were to take a poll of youth workers in the United States and ask them, “Who is the most influential youth worker in America today?” I think the overwhelming response would be Doug Fields, the Pastor to Students at Saddleback in...
The excess that surrounds me
For a long time, I’ve joked with my husband, Doug, about how he lucked out marrying someone who really does not enjoy shopping.
That said, I confess I have a weakness: The clearance rack at Kohl’s and REI. I can’t enter either of...
Raising each other's kids
In the last 3 years or so, my husband and I have noticed a trend: We’ll befriend a couple who we really get along with, share interests, and genuinely enjoy being with. Before long, the other couple gets pregnant. Nine months later, the baby...
Outcome-based education
During the past month, I’ve been inching my way through Scot McKnight’s “The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible,” a book which I definitely recommend.
One of the things that Scot talks about in this book is...