We have a lot of incredible kids here at Grace, and Charlotte Schoening is one of them. She goes by Lottie sometimes, and every time I see her she waves at me and runs over for a quick hug. A couple weeks ago, on Wednesday night at dinner, she came...
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.” Two weeks ago, the Youth had a party to celebrate something called “Purim.” Purim refers to ancient dice used in high...
When Lisa and I got married, one of our weddings gifts was this cookbook from my maternal grandmother, who just turned 80. Grandy made note of many of my favorite recipes as a child, and she hand-wrote them into a journal, added photos of me from my first birthday party...
It is one of my favorite images from the genuine imitation leather Bible I received on my seventh birthday — the image of Jesus with his “whip of cords” driving the merchants out of the Temple. I think it is because in all of the other illustrations Jesus was sitting...
I have vivid memories of being in kindergarten playing with my friends at recess. Our school classrooms were a series of cottages with a playground behind them. Years later, two of those cottages became a restaurant on the main highway called “The Little Pig,” but that is another story for...
“You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not…Elisha kept watching and crying out…” (2 Kings) “Let light shine out of darkness…” (2 Corinthians) “And he was transfigured before them, and his...
One cannot help but notice all the movement in today’s readings: Lift, cover, strengthen, spread, lower, raise, heal, bind, cast As Jerry Lee Lewis would say, “Seems like there’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on!” Mark’s gospel goes at a breakneck speed – opening immediately with Jesus’ ministry. We get...
Raising a child is a challenge, isn’t it? I’m thinking about this because we’re celebrating our daughter’s 11thbirthday his weekend. My mother and step-dad are here to share with us. We told wonderful stories, and we even went to the skating rink! I skated for an entire hour without falling,...
When I was a child, we would often spend two weeks each Summer at the beach. My mother and sister are sun worshipers, my dad liked time away from the grind of work at the mill, and I loved time away to read...