The other day, I was chatting with someone when it happened—that familiar tightening I hadn’t felt in a while. My fists were clenched. My shoulders were high. My mind felt foggy and overworked. And suddenly I recognized it. My body was telling me something it has told me before. The feeling was eerily similar to the mental exhaustion I carried during the height of COVID. Not the same circumstances, not the same level of isolation—but the same deep weariness that comes from wo

The new year always arrives with a kind of quiet insistence. It doesn’t knock loudly like a holiday or demand attention the way a birthday does. It simply shows up, standing there in the doorway of our lives, asking us to notice what has been carried forward and what might be ready to be folded differently. For me, this noticing often begins in the most ordinary of places: the laundry room. Laundry has a way of marking time. Loads come and go with the rhythm of weeks and seas

Families waiting to visit with the one and only Santa Clause at Silverton UMC. Advent always begins with waiting, but I’m not sure I ever realize how much waiting we actually do this time of year until we’re deep into it. For our family, these early days of Advent in our family have been full—full of the usual traditions, the yearly rhythms we’ve come to love, the little markers that tell us Christmas is on its way. We’ve been selling Christmas trees at my son’s school tree f

Not long ago, someone asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks: “Why don’t preachers preach from the Bible anymore?” I’ll admit, I was taken aback. My first instinct was to laugh — not in a dismissive way, but in surprise. Because as far as I know, I do preach from the Bible. Every week, in fact. That’s literally where I begin. So, I took a breath and asked this person to tell me more — to unpack what they meant. I got curious. They weren’t able to fully articulate t

Warning: this is going to be a super nerdy post. Something remarkable just happened in The United Methodist Church—something that many of us have been praying and hoping for. The Council of Bishops announced yesterday that all four  constitutional amendments approved by the 2024 General Conference have been ratified by our annual conferences. Every single one. (You can read more about them here on the Council of Bishop's Website .) That means this isn’t just a policy update—i

This morning, I had breakfast with my dad. Now, before you think I’m seeing things, I should tell you—my dad died in April of 2024. But that doesn’t mean he’s gone. The communion of saints, or what the writer of Hebrews calls “a great cloud of witnesses,” isn’t confined to some distant heaven. I believe they surround us, especially in the small and ordinary moments of our lives. Today, my breakfast was simple—an “Egg in the Basket,” one of those meals that’s more about comfor

A bright orange guitar pick with Gsus Saves on it. My office manager handed me this guitar pick earlier this week — bright orange, with the words “Gsus Saves” and a guitar chord chart printed right on it. I laughed out loud at first. It’s clever, right? A pun that strums right at the intersection of faith and music. But the longer I held it in my hand, the more I realized — there’s actually a little theology in this tiny triangle of plastic. On one side, there’s the Gsus chor

The start of something beautiful - I've been tasked to make a stole - one that will be shared among the Elders in our Annual Conference. I rounded out my renewal leave this week with an Order of Elders gathering in Hood River, OR. I found myself throughout our time together, sitting in that familiar space between conviction and questioning — that tender tension where God’s Spirit tends to do some of the best work. For the past few months, I’ve been wrestling with some vocatio

The world feels so big and overwhelming right now. Some mornings I wake up and wonder what fresh headline will undo for the rest of the...

From childhood faith to justice-centered music, my story reminds me: the Spirit calls us to resist with love. Where do your roots lead you?

Last year, I planted two  pumpkin plants. Two. That’s it. Somehow, those plants took it as their personal mission to make me the Pumpkin...

One of my favorite Instagram creators is Blair Imani, who teaches folks how to be “smarter in seconds.” She uses a peppy, engaging style...

This picture is one of my absolute favorites of me in the midst of ministry. It pops up on my Facebook memories every year in late...

Because no matter our age or stage, the work of becoming is never finished. And thanks be to God for that.

A relationship with God isn’t meant to be static. It’s not a single well-worn recipe you memorize and never change. It’s alive, dynamic, and full of opportunities to grow.

There is something mesmerizing about sitting on the edge of a swimming pool and simply watching kids play. No phone in hand. No book open...

...ministry takes more than a balanced budget—it takes bold imagination, a little holy restlessness, and a willingness to try things that might seem unusual, risky, or even a little wild.

Here’s the thing: the church is not called to be a factory of platitudes. We are called to be a community of presence. A people of gritty, grounded, and grace-filled truth.