Earlier this week, I shared a post about my family's Sock Scavenger Hunt. I paid my kids actual money to track down every sock in our house, so that we wouldn't have to go buy more. And...it worked! This exercise was related to growing concerns about textile waste. In addition to wanting to scale back the amount of stuff in our house, I am trying to be more conscientious about where my clothes come from: and the related environmental and humanitarian impact of what I consume.Here's what I've … [Read more...]
Lost and Found: A Parable In Socks
May 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment
You know what was great about living in the desert all those years? Among other things--not having to wear socks. Ever.Maybe occasionally with running shoes or hiking boots, if you were going out on a trail. Because, you know, rattle snakes. But otherwise, it was 10 months a year of sandals. Glorious, breezy, open-toed, sock-less freedom.Sure, I love a warm fuzzy pair to wear around the house on a cold winter day. But even better was the complete absence of cold winter days. For the most … [Read more...]
This Magic Window
December 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Most years, I’m a Christmas minimalist. My kids get 3 or 4 gifts each—some of which are books, some “boring” things they needed anyway. I refrain from planning lots of festive family outings, opting instead to nest in and avoid the rushing, shopping madness out there in the suburbs. We do our church things, we put up a tree, we bake stuff for the neighbors. It is simple and good.So why is it that, this year, I cannot stop shopping for toys? And have thrown myself into the ‘daily surprise’ fre … [Read more...]
Thin Pink Line: Teaching My Daughter About a Woman’s Place
July 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The poorly applied fuchsia lipstick. The nervous stage mothers pounding Starbucks. (The GLITTER SPRAY. God as my witness, there will still be glitter spray eons after the apocalypse. It will outlive the cockroaches and Ted Cruz...) The piles and piles of bobby pins. Strains of Katy Perry lurking around every corner…It must be recital season. Mercy.I used to be a dancer. Then I was a dance teacher. Making the leap from performer/choreographer to dance mom has been a stretch for me. No … [Read more...]
How to Do It All
September 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Sometimes other clergy ask for advice on how to balance being a pastor and a parent. So here, I’m going to give you 10 never-fail secrets to getting it all right at church and at home, keeping up your self-care and personal appearance, while having a smile on your face at all times.Lol, people. L.O.L.The truth is, there is no such list, and if anybody tells you they have one, they’re a lying *#%&^$#@!. When people ask how I do it, I answer, “sometimes, not very well.” And that’s the d … [Read more...]
Screaming Like a Girl
June 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The small boys were screaming—nay, shrieking—on the playground. It was all in good 4-year-old fun, but dang, it was shrill. It was headache-inducing. Anyone with ears would have wanted it to stop.Including the dad volunteer (this was a co-op preschool setting) who approached them. “Hey,” he said, “hey, cut it out. Are you boys? Or are you little girls?”Oh, HELL no. He did NOT just do that.But yes, he sure did. And you know what? It worked. They stopped their screaming, shrieking bansh … [Read more...]
The Right Kind of Prayer
March 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
A few weeks ago, Saint Andrew Christian Church hosted a "Welcoming Church" event, in partnership with a sister congregation and the GLAD Alliance. The goal was to generate conversation around what it means to be an open and affirming congregation, and what difference it makes to identity and mission when you 'say out loud' that you welcome everyone. Because, if we're being honest, most of our congregations still chant the mantra. You know the one: "We welcome everybody. Why do we have to talk abo … [Read more...]
Enough
October 31, 2013 by 3 Comments
I followed a sparkly red lady bug and a plush green dragon down the street.Nevermind it was October 31. It was about 100 degrees outside, and the plush, fuzzy, cozy costume—which would have been just swell in some chilly autumn Midwestern burrow—was utterly ridiculous in the desert. But dang, he was adorable.We’d just moved from one desert suburb to another… just a few miles apart, but worlds away. The place we’d been the previous year—with a two-year-old witch and a newborn, who went dre … [Read more...]
The Sacred Maybe
August 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I have a boy who is almost 3, but he's been talking like 4 since he was 2. He didn't get the memo that boys and/or second children do not develop vocabulary as quickly as their female/first child counter parts. I mean, boy likes to chat. At his two year check-up the nurse said, "does he know a) 5-10 words, b)10-20 words, or c) more than 20 words?" My husband and I kind of looked at each other and said, "um...why don't you ask him?"For all his articulate advancement, there are certain turns … [Read more...]
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