Official News
March 17, 2015
My career in the Evangelical Covenant Church began with a late night phone call. It was 9:30 where I lived, 10:30 where the caller lived. I had been calling to find out how I could start working on staff in a covenant church. A woman named Doreen, who was new to her executive position over the department of Christian Formation, was finally able to return my numerous calls to her Chicago office… on her own time late a night. I was deeply impressed and moved by that fact- that she would call so late at night simply because she felt it was important. The rest is history, as some people say.
Tonight, I just hung up from aanother late night phone call from a doctor and have the same jittery feelings I did years ago. This doctor called us, at 10:30 pm his time, the night before he leaves on a trip… simply because he felt it was important.
And it is important because it’s about my son. Read the rest of this entry »
Thank You
March 15, 2015
We have walked this road with our son for nearly 17 months. Not a week goes by that we haven’t been given the gift of someone who asks, who prays, who helps. Not only do we have this group of doctors and therapists who are all trying to help our son recover, but we have this large group that loves us, cares about us, asks about us, and support us.
When Ian was diagnosed with yet another gut infection and our doctor said we should try to see a specialist he recommends who works on hard cases like ours, we were distraught. So tired. So weary. So ready for this path to end and a new one to begin. And we had spent all our money. We did not have any funds available to add in a new doctor who required travel and wasn’t going to take our insurance and would be very costly. But doing nothing is unfathomable to this mama’s heart and head. And so we prayed.
And then we approached someone, asking for a loan. Read the rest of this entry »
Too Long
March 8, 2015
I had a dream last night. I don’t remember much of it. In fact, I don’t remember any of it except one part, one piece, that stayed with me after I woke, annoying me like a cat weaving between unstable legs, demanding my careful attention.
The part of the dream I remember is this: A farmer and me. On a small hill, looking over the vast fields in front of us. The air was thick and heavy like the Nebraska stillness that comes right before a storm. It was hard to breathe. But this farmer and I stood, shoulder to shoulder, looking over the land. I don’t know why we were there. I don’t know what we were discussing. But I remember these words I said to the farmer: “The time from planting to harvest, the time it takes for this to grow, can seem like forever. It seems to take too long. From seed to harvest is way too long.” I looked at the farmer after speaking these words to see a far off look in his eyes and he simply said:
“Yep. But that’s the only way it works.”
And then I woke up. Read the rest of this entry »
Day By Day
February 13, 2015
I woke to the crushing reality that my son was already up. This is not good since it is way too early in the morning, but sometimes when his stomach hurts, he can’t sleep much. So he wakes up early. Too early for a 4 year old. Too early for his parents.
It will be a long day.
Waking up to the weight of the day is not easy. This stands in stark contrast to the mornings I wake filled with the light of morning and the joy of what lies ahead. But some days, like this day, I know that it will be a hard day. A day of watching a child move in pain and unable to clearly express his needs. A day of long (way too long) hours. A day where I know I will not eat a solid meal because my son will need me so much. A day where the quiet will snatch at my mind, creating a hole of worry that will threaten to grow big and explode by nightfall.
So as I heaved myself from bed, feeling heavy under the day, the Spirit began to sing to me. I know it may seem weird, but very often that is how God speaks to me. Through music, through lyric, through harkening me back to the songs I have stored somewhere in my soul. I know now when it is God speaking in those moments and when it is just me. Whenever a song or a lyric or a line comes to me without me having to even think, without me having to even ask, almost as though God anticipated my thoughts and answered them before I even knew to speak the question- that is when I know the Spirit is speaking to me. And that I should listen. Read the rest of this entry »
New Things
February 10, 2015
The Colorado air this February is warm, and though I know that we may still get a couple wintry blasts of snow before spring truly arrives, today it feels like the seasons are changing. There is little that compares to the bright blue of a Colorado sky. And on days like today it feels like the sky goes on for miles and miles, spotlighted by the bright warmth of the sun, as it makes its way toward the western mountains.
The breeze is sweet and carries occasionally the fragrance of the maple trees just beginning to blossom, fooled by the warm air into thinking winter is gone and it is time to adorn themselves in their large leaves. I hear the honeybees emerging from their winter hives to taste the sap that is starting to flow in those trees, taking every opportunity to collect their precious pollen to feed their young, even if in a few weeks they may end up shuttered inside again braced against the spring snow storms that may come.
When I was a child, the change from winter to spring was my favorite time of year. For some reason, each year as I saw the early spring crocuses lift their sleepy heads from the soil, something inside of me emerged too. I remember spending time alone outside, reveling in the sun and blue sky, feeling this jumping in my soul that had little language, but spoke deeply to something inside of me. Spring always meant new. The air felt full with the possibilities of new life.
And years later, I still feel it. The freshness of open windows blowing out the stale dust build up over winter. The hope that there will be something, something, something coming. Anticipation and excitement and awe all wrapped into a ball of knowing that in these days of change, Someone is stirring up something new. Read the rest of this entry »
ordinary sacred 