Tennis and Testing

Pondering this week’s Lectionary Psalm 139: 1-6 O LORD, you have searched me and known me. 2          You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3          You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 … Continue reading »

Advent ~ While We Wait?

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” Psalm 37:7a Be still. Really? How many times have you heard that this week?  Namely, that the way to approach Advent is by being still and waiting.  Seriously, it’s not an option for many of us. For me, I put a few things into the … Continue reading »

Spiritual Change Agents ~ My Children?

  I didn’t have a Damascus Road experience.  My children led me into the ministry. This post is based upon the following premise: “The idea of children actors in their own right is not new, but feminist theology gives it renewed meaning…First, feminist theology upholds children as persons created in God’s image and therefore deserving … Continue reading »

Referred Pain, Therapy, and the Bible

This summer I’ve spent a lot of my spare time trying to learn to play a decent game of tennis.  Rarely have I ever picked up a racquet beyond my high school physical education classes some 30+ years ago.  This new level of activity sent me to my family doctor. Tendonitis was the preliminary diagnosis … Continue reading »

Can We Put A Dent in Human Trafficking?

I was contemplating the next topic in my summarization of the book “Let the Children Come” when my Presbyterian planning calendar caught my eye. January 11, 2012 is designated Human Trafficking Awareness Day.   Referencing the link listed on the calendar, this grabbed my attention: A Global Phenomenon in Our Backyard Modern-day slavery is a global … Continue reading »

The Mutuality of Caritas

We learn from our mistakes, don’t we?  And, many of us don’t want to make the same mistakes our parents did. So, we make different ones. IF my memory serves me correctly, and that’s a big IF since we are all tainted by perspective, I grew up in a “children are to be seen and … Continue reading »

Children as a Labor of Love

Mom: Where are you guys? Jesse: Just past exit 130, aka the exit for UMW Mom: I had a loneliness moment when we drove by that exit. My youngest son, Jesse, enters his freshman year at the University of Mary Washington on August 24th.  He’s happy about it. I am dreading it. Above is a … Continue reading »

The Child Question

The Child Question: What will become of children in a greatly changed world in which they no longer seem to fit easily or well? Have you ever wished you could get your kids to do more around the house? My guys developed a one-task-per-day quota sometime in adolescence. Evaporating with out notice, gone were the … Continue reading »

Christian Faith: Children as Gift

Early in our marriage, John and I experienced a miscarriage at 18 weeks.  I won’t speak for John, but I was devastated.  It took almost a year, a lot of prayer, and fertility treatments to get pregnant again. To our extreme pleasure, Jacob arrived in July of 1985. When he was two, John and I … Continue reading »