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Bye-Bye, Final Vestiges of 1980’s Mauve & Baby Blue Country Chic Wallpaper
I can’t believe it’s taken us twelve years (when we moved into our house in 2000, I started ripping the 1980’s GEESE IN THE SHAPE OF HEARTS mauve and baby blue wallpaper off of the kitchen walls the moment the door closed on our movers) … but we have finally (finally!) rid our home of the (I’m sure it was very classy 30 years ago) 1980’s accouterments: It was crazy how quickly today Fred and I moved from total lethargy and even inertia (“No way are we up for a home repair project.”) to counting yellowed plastic outlet covers (and buying beautiful new white ones!) and buying the quart of…
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The Strange, Ensorcelling, Oft-Inaccurate World of Today’s Technology
I’m having a strange technology week. Some of it has to do with my weeks-old iPhone and my haltingly slow steps into the world of interacting with friends via texting. (Yes. I admit it. Texting really is quite convenient when you have to interact with people on time-sensitive matters. But do I really want to be that connected during my normal day? Even just two days of needing immediately to hear any “alerts” left me with a slight experience of the phantom iPhone vibrations I read about in a June issue of Bloomberg Businesweek. Creepy! Addictive! But very real.) Some of it has to do with the fact that my name…
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Please Use (Even Just a Few) Words …
Knowing that it can be unloving (and even selfish) to ask for too many words from a friend (or husband!) who isn’t, shall we say, as much of a verbophile as me … I was a little reticent to ask for more details in a comment Fred recently made. (I don’t want to be a burden! I don’t want to be a Proverbs 27:15 constant dripping of a wife.) But I’m so glad I did and I know that Fred is too. The conversation was about something deeply important to me that it felt like wasn’t that important to Fred. I was trying so hard to be careful and non-accusatory and…
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When (Differently) Gifted Pastors Destroy the Church (Rather Than Build it Up)
So sad. But so true: When (Differently) Gifted Pastors Destroy the Church (Rather Than Build it Up)
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My favorite hobby is thinking …
Sophia said a beautiful turn of phrase last night and I thought you might enjoy it too: “My favorite hobby is thinking.” What a great hobby! She just likes to lie there, think a thought, and then mentally run with it. “It’s SO fun!” I’ll say! And wouldn’t you just love to be a fly on the proverbial walls of her thoughts? I would. I bet it would be fascinating, challenging, entertaining, delightful, introspective … lovely. I’m just so glad for the times she shares her experiences and the deepest cries of her heart with me. What a privilege it is to be her mother, her sister in Christ, and…
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Is it okay to pursue men?
I so admire Carolyn McCulley. To quote a great WW episode, “I love her mind. I love her shoes.” I really do! Everything I have ever read or heard from her, I have not only agreed with substantively, I have rejoiced in her gentle and winsome tone–especially when she is talking about people with whom she disagrees. Truly, Carolyn McCulley lives out 2 Timothy 2:24-26: “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth …” On today’s Revive Our…
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But I Already Know That!
Dave has a great post over on our Redeeming Church Conflicts site … four words that pretty much doom any efforts to reconcile or grow in grace: I Already Know That!
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What do pastors in conflicted churches need the most?
A classic! What do pastors in conflicted churches need the most?
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How to Find the Perfect Church
I love this article by my coauthor and friend, Dave Edling, and I thought I’d re-run it since I’m offline all week due to our family vacation: How to Find the Perfect Church
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Enemies Perfectly Disguised — Wolves in Sheep Clothing
When I popped over to Amazon to pre-order Gloria Furman and Dr. Kathleen Nielson’s latest book: Word-Filled Women’s Ministry It reminded me of one of my favorite articles by Dr. Nielson: Never Retreat! Challies pointed to it a few years ago and I’m glad he did. I love everything I’ve ever read by Kathleen Nielson—she communicates her love for literature and Scripture in profoundly wonderful ways. (Plus, she has only ever been extraordinarily humble and gracious whenever I’ve interacted with her in person.) Beyond the personal attraction, however, I must tell you that the content (an old letter from her grandfather to his parents two days before one of the…
