Today my daughter stayed home from school so we can have a mommy/daughter day. We had breakfast together, we went for a walk, and we watched Disney movies ALL DAY LONG. It was lovely—completely unproductive in all the ways I wanted to be—but lovely. At lunchtime we watched, “The Odd Life of Timothy Green”. While I don’t love, “Odd Life” it is definitely on my “folding laundry flicks” list. It has a sweet soundtrack, a precocious and endearing lead actor,... Read more
Alright, ladies, here we go with this week’s “Campfire Conversations”. Up to this point, I’ve been calling them, “Campfire Calls” but today, as I was praying about these posts on this tribe’s core theological distinctions and convictions this dazzling picture of community kept coming to me. I love the picture of women surrounding a crackling fire, knee to knee, laughing and talking about Jesus. I love the ease of the word, “conversation” over “debate” It’s inline with the culture of... Read more
Today’s prayer for peace comes from the Jesuit Podcast, Pray-as-you-go’ s September 24th meditation on Psalm 122. I LOVE this resource! The format: Bells – the call to prayer Opening music, with a few words of introduction Scripture for the day Questions for personal reflection Repeat of the scripture reading Final reflection Conclusion: Glory be to the Father… Is perfect for a quick trip to the grocery store or my morning bike ride. Tomorrow when I go back to the orchard, I’ll... Read more
On the weekends, I would like to share some of my favorite words on unity and love in the Body as our weekend meditations. I’ve been calling them “liturgies” but a more accurate description would be “prayers”. These are my prayers for this tribe, written by others for the Jesus Tribe. It’s a way for me to remember and center myself on our essential ethic of unconditional love as I process my distinct convictions and passions throughout the week. I... Read more
In my post called, “For the Days I Don’t Feel Black Enough”, I described how I try to overcome shame and identity crisis from childhood bullying by taking an Oreo Eucharist. The response from that post was ridiculously humbling. Some of my favorite messages were from women who could relate to my story and would actually go out to buy Oreos, to take very own Oreo Eucharist! The stories they shared with me of how they struggled with shame, fear,... Read more
If you say something to me that I disagree with, I’ll scrunch up my face and say as sweetly as apple pie, “Wow, you really think that? That’s fascinating!” But, really what I mean is, “How on earth can you be so wrong! You my friend, are cra-zy.” I am a fantastic coward! You’d think being a church planter I’d have a little more guts to lovingly draw-out my friends with different views—after all, I am helping my husband form... Read more
The farm where I pray and pick apples is a scenic forty-five minute drive from Cambridge. With a passion to connect with like-minded women burning like a fire in my bones and my friend’s encouragement to warm my heart, I pondered the word “tribe” on the drive. Before this trip and leading into this thirty-one day challenge, whenever I prayed for direction and community, the word “tribe” rang clear and strong in my heart. But that’s a loaded word for... Read more
Late Sunday night I emailed my friend about a tense conversation I’m having with Jesus. Which is this in a nutshell: I’m begging him for community and purpose and calling. He keeps telling me, “wait”, “trust”, and “peace be still” And I’m like, “Seriously?!?! We’re doing the cryptic Christ thing again?” I went on to tell her that I’m struggling in this early stage of church planting where I’m forming a tribe of believers here in Boston but feeling so... Read more
It’s FMF time again. Time to write for five minutes, unedited, for the love of words and encouragement. This morning I posted an FB status that inspired today’s response to our prompt: True. I hope you enjoy: With Paint Stains on the Bum. GO FB status: Yes, yes I was awakened fifteen minutes before school by three ALREADY dressed kids! Then I threw on a pair of capris sweat pants with paint stains on the bum, re-twisted my funkified, slept... Read more
“This is what comes from avoiding who you are, Diana. You’ve got a mess on you hands because you thought you could ignore your heritage. It doesn’t work that way!” “A Discovery of Witches” Deborah Harkness I am from military corners on my civilian sheets. From “Just For Me” relaxers and hair grease. I am from Saturday morning chores dancing to jazz and “Earth, Wind, and Fire”. From vanilla, lavender, ylang ylang and lemon because once you’ve conquered a messy... Read more
Shalom in the City
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