Presbymom

Luke 4:1-13 Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day in Lent. Popular culture will be asking you 'What are you giving up for Lent?' A Facebook post by Texas Presbyterian Foundation pretty much summarizes my thoughts on that quite well - FAST from judging others, FEAST on Christ dwelling in them . So many of us get into the 'feeling' of this season but really don't stop to think what it means. Barbara Brown Taylor helps some - "'Lent' itself means 'spring' - the greening of the human soul, pruned with repentance, fertilized with fasting, spritzed with self-appraisal, mulched with prayer." I can't help but jump back to my theme from last week's transfiguration. Jesus shone brightly white, but the rest of us are an ordinary green. Perhaps this ordinary green is not so easy either! I take the words of another superstar - Kermit the Frog. "It's not easy being green. You blend in with so many ordinary things. Greening o...

Jeremiah 1:4-10 Here we are in a society that is more connected than ever before. Already this morning, I have read news from around the world, polished off my work communications from various team updates in e-mail, confirmed a doctor appointment and checked out the latest social news from friends on Facebook. It is only 9:30, but I have sent and received texts as well as making a couple of calls. We reach out with the touch of a button or even with a verbal prompt through blue tooth while driving. Yet, ask anyone how they hear God's call in their life - very few of us seem to be blessed with a sense of clarity in this. The words of Jeremiah are familiar but frightening if we really ponder them closely. "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." God had something in mind for Jeremiah. Does God have something in mind for us? Even if it isn't this same grandiose message from a voice to pluck up and pull down, to destroy and to build, how do we listen to God? H...

Luke 4:14-21 I am a frequent user of Facebook, but it has one major drawback (Same is true of blogging!). The message is generic to all your 'friends' at once. Let's face it, we wear many different hats. I am a mom, a wife, a volunteer, an associate pastor, a friend, ... the list goes on. In telling the same story, we would use different words depending upon which of these hats we were wearing at any given time.On Facebook, we only get one shot at phrasing things, and if our peers and our parents, our co-workers and our boss, our children and ... well you get the idea. If the different audiences see it. There is always that awkward moment when we realize we have said things in a way that we wish we could rephrase for the current listener. The internet doesn't give us that capability. Each person will read something and pickup a different nuance. Yet the same is true when we hear things taught, spoken and preached. In this Luke text, Jesus ...

John 2:1-11 And on the third day, Jesus changed water into wine. Woo-hoo, time for a drink. But, but, but - the pastor in me says. This is just wrong. Why in the world is Jesus' first miracle in the Gospel of John about wine and saving face for a couple at a wedding feast. This isn't life or death, this isn't a healing or the radically anti-norm social statement that I have come to expect from Jesus. This is just an embarassment of lack of proper planning for the family of the bride. However, after discussion with several friends and a Wednesday morning Bible study, I wonder. Is that not the point? Isn't the point that Jesus does work in the mundane and the everyday. Jesus can work with old vessels to bring joy to our everyday lives. No matter the setting. One of love where the snitty politics of social setting threaten to ruin the day and send the party away from us. A seemingly unimportant miracle is not only loaded with symbolism about the coming resurrection o...

Blogging time again! After a four-year hiatus, I am going to give this a go one more time. Much has transpired in the last few years to change my life as well as what this venue looks like and holds for those of my online friends. I hope to redesign this to eventually be my site of choice as there are several distinct areas I enjoy and want in one place. Facebook is quickly outliving its early promise and becoming the advertising tool of yet another commercial engine. Pinterest is fine, but it doesn't hold the detail of feedback and commentary that I want. And, I really am intrigued by the idea of sharing theological thoughts with my friends from several communities and beyond. Please bear with me as I begin a stage of redesign. Blessings to you and yours and Happy New 2013 to you all!

Wow - I still have a blog out here. Oops, it's been a while. I am sitting at home listening to the hammers as my floor is reinstalled. I am blessed that insurance covered the damage I did by leaving a sink on, but I am annoyed that I am trapped at my house for a week while repairs are underway. Life is in an unusual limbo period while I am awaiting a call. The economy is working against me. I value the time with my children and family but struggle with personal identity and keeping spirituality in place. Patience must be the lesson that I am learning - or need to learn, or something! God has a plan - maybe the plan for now is that I wait and enjoy the downtime.

God is good! I am constantly running from thing to thing yet remain reassured that God is all around holding my little whirlwind of a life together in His hands. I remind myself of the Tasmanian Devil from cartoons zooming off a cliff and picture God carefully thumping me back in the right direction or giving me a wall to bounce off of just before I go careening over the edge. Family is good for relaxing by the lake with no thought about the ever-present to do list. My children and husband are the safe reservoirs that rejuvenate me. I am ready for a break to slow down and can see it coming SOON! AMEN!!