“The church exists to set up in the world a new sign which is radically dissimilar to the world’s own manner and which contradicts it in a way which is full of promise.” – Karl Barth[1] Tucked into the green Burundian hills of the equatorial African highlands, in a side room of a hospital building that was never meant to stand as long as it has, my team is gathered around...
“Hurry up, Sarah, run upstairs, take your soccer uniform off and get your dress on! We’re going to be late for the Christmas concert!” “I still need to bake the cookies for tomorrow’s Christmas party, and the house is still a mess!” “Jerome, if I have to repeat myself one more time, you will lose all privileges for the rest of this week… You need to clean your room before your cousins arrive for...
Standing in line for coffee, sitting in traffic, watching for the elevator, or listening for your boarding zone to be called. As much as we resist the idea, waiting is an everyday part of life. Sometimes there is joy in waiting, like the anticipation of the birth of a child, planning a family vacation, or listening for the punchline of a joke your three-year-old is trying to tell. Sometimes the...
Like many, I am a sucker for all the sentiment surrounding Christmas, especially when it feels more like a Christmastide in rural England than a tinsel-laden trip to the mall. Give me “The Holly and the Ivy” over “Jingle Bell Rock” any day. But whatever your cultural preferences, for most of us, the carols, the kids coming home, the decorations, and yes, even the presents given in love, do make...
Let me bring you into some of my holiday challenges. Thanksgiving is close at hand, but we haven’t yet heard back from any of my extended family we invited to join us this year. I’m sure they are busy with their own holiday challenges and have not yet realized Thanksgiving is next week. So, we don’t know how many we’ll have. It could be eleven or twenty-four. While not everyone comes over for...
