My sweet Natalie works at Marriott. On a recent visit to Phoenix, I ran into a friend of Natalie’s in the hotel lobby, a friend we’ve known forever and who worked with Natalie at their first property. She mentioned that the desk manager had been at that same property with them. So I went to introduce myself to him as Natalie’s mom. I was already anticipating a wonderful, Oh, so nice to meet you! I love Natalie… , because not... Read more
It’s hard to believe that it was just this past March when I began this FreedHearts journey with you. What a year!! Thank you for your love, support & encouragement, and I want to thank God for this wonderful, messy, beautiful experience of getting to know God and His heart better. We look forward to a colorful, incredible 2014. Here’s an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. Susan Cottrell’s FreedHearts blog was viewed about 500,000 times... Read more
We LOVED the movie Saving Mr. Banks. Loved it! Emma Thompson is my personal favorite, and Tom Hanks is always good, too. I didn’t see Mary Poppins until I was in college. My friend summed up the story: “It’s about the dad’s redemption.” Not the magical nanny who comes to manage these children, nor the children who need to be managed, but the dad’s redemption. I love that. The screentime and singable scenes go to Mary Poppins, the chimneysweep, and the... Read more
“I thought that being faithful was about becoming someone other than who I was… and it was not until this project failed that I began to wonder if my human wholeness might be more useful to God than my exhausting goodness.” – Barbara Brown Taylor in Leaving Church I’m NOT a stay-in-the-lines person. In fact, I pretty much live my whole life outside the lines. Some of my ideas send old-time religionists into apoplexy. But I love, love, Jesus. Love. Yesterday,... Read more
Christmas is on its way. So perhaps are your kids. What will the holiday hold? So, I’m a mom, and I understand how easy it is to continue to direct my kids. If they would just do this or tweak that. But may I tell you? Once they’re up and out, you’re teaching time is pretty much over. Your time to make them into ‘the person you think they should be’ is gone… (and honestly, it was an illusion all... Read more
Our pastor Rick received a big plastic nativity scene as a gag gift last year. What struck him, he said, was how white they all were. Mary had a pink gown and blonde hair! Nevermind that only the wealthy royalty had access to pink, and blonde is out of the question–we love to clean up the stories, make them more palatable instead of gritty and messy. Rick (who’s an artist) took some brown paint and UNgentrified them! Mary and Joseph. Pregnant... Read more
As Christmas approaches, I write you personally about knowing God. Personally. Intimately. Some children see Him lily white, The baby Jesus born this night. Some children see Him lily white, With tresses soft and fair. Some children see Him bronzed and brown, The Lord of heav’n to earth come down. Some children see Him bronzed and brown, With dark and heavy hair. Some children see Him almond-eyed, This Savior whom we kneel beside. Some children see Him almond-eyed, With skin... Read more
“My sister loves girls and that is okay! God loves us all — girls and boys — so it is okay.” Age 6 When a gay child comes out, how does the family deal with the younger children? This can be tricky. Not only must the family come to terms with the situation, but they need to sort out what’s age appropriate. Should they tell them? Avoid the subject? Will they understand? Will they want more information? What’s too young? And what... Read more
“When our child told us they were attracted to the same sex, we were shocked. The usual questions flooded us: what would this mean for their life? Would they be safe? Would they ever have children? We truly had no idea what lay ahead. But here’s the realization that smacked us: we were now the ‘others.’ Over the three years following our child’s revelation, we met many Christian parents of gay kids, and realized we were not the only ones... Read more
“The ground is level at the foot of the cross.” Standing in line is leveling. Egalitarian. I was recently standing in line at a store and noted the variety of people. Some were more accomplished, articulate, or attractive than others. But no one gets to the front based on those merits, only by the equal investment of standing in line. In childhood we learn to stand in line, and if someone cuts, it affronts our sense of fairness. Jesus is leveling as well. Some... Read more
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