The Best Seat

The Best Seat

When I was a kid I liked to move around the church during worship.  From the front pew to the balcony you could see people encountering God in so many ways.  I learned that some people cried.  Some laughed.  Others danced, and not always well 😂. There were singers and...
It’s Okay

It’s Okay

I wanted to be a youth pastor through most of high school.  18 years in the church and all it took was one bad experience to make me high-tail it away from seminary and right into the arms of a major University where I would spend 5 years trying to convince myself...
I Was Resting

I Was Resting

I’m tossing and turning on a mattress on the floor, the soundtrack to My Best Friend’s Wedding playing through flimsy 1997 foam headphones.  Our family of 4 had moved overnight from a 3 bedroom parsonage to sharing a room in an efficiency apartment located over a barn...
Your Anointing

Your Anointing

29 years old.  12 weeks pregnant.  I’m sitting in the Head Master’s office with my resume- a collection of broken fragments of what felt like failed attempts. . I’m trembling, embarrassed.  Two sheets of paper covered in black ink with dates and places too many...
Platforms and Pulpits

Platforms and Pulpits

The sanctuary was my classroom.  I took notes on the back of offering envelopes and sat directly behind our piano player where I could watch their every move.  I have journals filled with sermon notes, binders full of chord charts and conference materials.  And every...