Category: Advent

Do Not Be Afraid...

1/6/2020

Are there times in your life when it feels like fear is all around? Life is never stagnant and sometimes change can be unsettling. The unknown changes can lead to fear that covers us like a shadow keeping us from engaging in life. After my divorce, I feared an unknown future, whether it was moving to a new place, finding a job or even trusting my relationships with friends and family. Finally, at a certain point, I was determined to overcome my fears! To this day, when I feel the fingers of fear creep into my life, saying the words, “I will not let fear win,” gives me the courage and determination to move forward. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “There is nothing to fear except fear itself.”

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God Showed Up...

12/2/2019

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As my seminary life drew to a close and my future of ministry looming ahead, I sought some advice from Rick, the Spiritual Care Director, to discuss doing an internship of Clinical Pastoral Education, CPE or chaplaincy in Colorado. This would be a huge move for me as I had lived most of my life in Minnesota with all of my family and friends. In my discussion with Rick, we discussed the end of my marriage, leaving family and friends and what a new start looked like for me. He then asked me a profound question, “Are you running from your life in Minnesota or are you running towards life in Colorado? For a few minutes, I was stumped. What kind of question was that? After a few deep breaths, slowly my thoughts came together to answer his question. I had lived most of my life in Minnesota, as a wife, a mom to my daughters, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, mourning the death of my parents, letting go of a 26-year marriage and finding a new community at the seminary. So was I running from all of those experiences, ignoring any leftover emotional baggage and pain? I looked at him and said no, I was not running from that life because it had made me the person I was. However, I felt like I was running to something new and different. It was time to make a change to find where God was calling me in my next chapter of life. He agreed and admitted that he wanted me to own it and believe it too. I did move to Colorado and then Florida, which changed my life, nurtured my call in ministry and opened my world to sunny skies, great new friends and welcoming church families. Rick’s thoughtful question continues to guide my life’s decisions by taking an intentionally pause before jumping into something new.

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Who was that Baby...

12/4/2018

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Welcome to December and the time in which Christians celebrate the Advent season, the weeks that precedes Christmas Eve. During the next four weeks, we wait with anticipation for the baby Jesus to be born in a manger surrounded by animals, with a bright star in the sky marking the spot of the holy birth. The well-known story continues with angels singing hosanna to the shepherds as they announce the Christ child’ birth in a nearby stable. All of the blessed events happen to a engaged couple known as Mary and Joseph. It is a wondrous story that outshines all of the other holiday hoopla and one that has been celebrated for over 2000 years and counting.

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New Birth...

12/13/2016

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This weekend, I was walking around an outdoor shopping plaza basking in the glow of the Christmas lights, the bright décor and yes snow. Imagine my shock when I walked out of the movie theatre and there were snow flurries in the air. I had spent the majority of my life in Minnesota and moved to Florida a number of years ago to avoid the snow, ice and freezing temperatures. However, seeing the snowflakes dancing in the air, mixing with the festive glow of the lights, which reflected softly on the shoppers, was a fun and nostalgic time. Just like the Christmas song that played overhead exclaiming, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for Christians, this season is the most wonderful time of the year as we prepare for the birth of the Christ child.

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Robust Hope...

11/29/2016

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Thanksgiving is over and now we can look forward to the Christmas holiday season. The retail shopping experience seems to start earlier and earlier each year as the decorated Christmas trees have adorned the store aisles since before Halloween. It is a holiday filled with lights, beautifully decorated trees, Christmas carols, parties, and a time of buying gifts for people we care about. Little children are excited to see Santa and insist that they have been nice rather than naughty and excitedly hand the jolly bearded one their long wish lists. The adults scramble from store to store searching for just the right present to put under the tree. It can a fun but hectic four weeks!

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Advent Credo

12/7/2015

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It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss--

This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life;

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The Waiting....

11/30/2015

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Through the years, I have celebrated the Advent season as a time of reflection and anticipation. For Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving, the Advent season begins the Sunday after turkey day and ends on Christmas Eve. This is a time for Christians to prepare and wait for God’s promise of salvation through the birth of the Christ child. Many people, especially children, would agree that this is a season of waiting, not for the baby in the manger, but for Santa to deliver presents to the nice and coal to the naughty. Like the children, many churches do not wait but jump right into the Advent season by singing Christmas carols, like “Joy to the World the Lord has come” because it is the season to be jolly. To be honest this was my expectation too. For years counting the number of shopping days, holiday parties, and children’s programs that were left until Christmas Eve were part of my tradition too. That was before I discovered the blessing of the Advent season, which creates a space of waiting and preparation for the birth of the baby Jesus.

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Do Not Be Afraid...

God Showed Up...

Who was that Baby...

New Birth...

Robust Hope...

Advent Credo

The Waiting....

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