This was my late 1980's dream bag! When I was a girl, there was an older kid on my bus who teased me relentlessly. Every afternoon, it was the same routine. I carried a bright red bag my mom had made for me — handmade with love, but shaped, unfortunately, like a bright red pizza box carying bag. I had wanted a GAP tote bag like everyone else. Instead, I got laughter. Kids called me “pizza face,” which cut even deeper because, on top of everything else, I was battling teenage

A Christmas Tree Farm in Silverton, OR I grew up believing my calling was to be a teacher. I was the kid who lined up her stuffed animals and gave spelling tests. (They were excellent students, by the way.) So when I switched course in college and said I was going into ministry instead, people who only nominally knew me were slightly puzzled. “Why not teaching?” they’d ask. I usually smile and say, “I am still teaching." Because honestly, I never stopped teaching. Most Sunday

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...

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.