Recent Posts
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Reconciliation is the Center of our Work, But …
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Palmer Becker has written a great book called Anabaptist Essentials: Ten Signs of a Unique Faith (2017, MennoMedia). In the book, he outlines three organizing principles of an Anabaptist perspective — Jesus is the center of our faith, community is the center of our life, and reconciliation is the…
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Three Essential Things
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I have the good fortune of being in a women’s contemplative book study with friends from various churches in the area. This group combines contemplative prayer and lectio divina with exerpts from a book of our choice. We just finished studying The Soul’s Slow Ripening by Christine Valters Paintner…
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A Woman of Valor
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I have alternately loved and hated Proverbs 31:10-31. Depending on your translation, it is listed as “an ode to a capable wife” (NRSV), ” the “virtuous wife” (NKJV), the “wife of noble character” (NIV), or “description of a worthy woman” (NASB). All of these titles remind me that the…
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With a little help from my friends
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The Beatles song, With a Little Help from my Friends, comes to mind as I maneuver family complexities with my 94 year old father laid up in rehab recovering from a broken leg. It’s hard to walk this path right now. My father and I have always been close.…
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Recentering
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It’s been quite awhile since I last wrote. I’m not sure why I haven’t … it’s not that I’ve been sitting around, twiddling my thumbs. In fact, the opposite has been true. Things have been flowing spiritually and creatively and it’s felt a bit like I’ve jumped into a…
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Planting & Watering
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I love summer gardens. I love all the stages that go into having one — planning it out and the anticipation that begins to build, purchasing the seeds or plants, preparing the soil, planting and watering, weeding (well, maybe less so as the summer goes on), the harvest, and…
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An Altar in the World
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We have one shot at life. One chance to live out our hopes and dreams, to become the person we want to be in this world. To do whatever it is that God calls you and me to do. Thankfully, within this one life, we have lots and lots…
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Stone Art
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I have always loved stones. I have wonderful memories of scrambling over huge boulders by the Shining Creek Trail River in North Carolina when I used to go backpacking long ago. I see lots of stones when I drive to Virigina. I can tell when I have crossed the…
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Las Tejadoras de Mampujan
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Tejadoras de Mampujan: Colores de Paz: This is the original group of women led by Juana Ruiz (standing on the left), from Maria la Baja, Colombia. These women create story quilts that share about their heritage as Afro-Colombians, the violent displacement they experienced during the multiple decades-long civil war,…
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Beautiful Imperfections
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Cherry bowl turned by Charles Geiser. Personal hobbies are an extremely important tool for self-care. Turning wood requires not just skill but focus, patience, and imagination to visualize what you want to make. This bowl is an example of how to work with “imperfections” in the wood, incorporating them…