living in light of eternity
They are still small, mini-people, with that baby fine hair and the imperfect use of pronouns. But every single one already has strong opinions, big plans. "Mine," says one. "I want purple." She snatches a block, fierce and determined. Her tower is prodigious (maybe six inches tall). She guards it with a look that means trouble... Continue Reading →
What's a good career path for a girl who just wants to change the world? Stay at home mom, right? Wait... I’m a person who feels strongly what Courtney Reissig calls the “pull of the spectacular.” I want my short life to count. I want to do eternal things with the days I’ve been given. I... Continue Reading →
"The gospel redeems and enchants every aspect of our lives—from the spectacular to the quotidian. We have a Savior who was a carpenter, a King who spent his days with fishermen. And he taught us that work isn’t ultimately about us, or about how it makes us feel—it’s about 'loving and serving our neighbor.'" --Gracy Olmstead for TGC
Grisham, Hemingway, Melville, U2, The Byrds, Dave Matthews, and debatably, Pink Floyd. What do they all have in common? They’ve all borrowed (stolen?) from Ecclesiastes. Who can blame them? What is not to love? This is the book for our times: from drinking to free love to despondent fatalism, it’s like the lyric sheet of our... Continue Reading →
I suppose it probably surprised some people when we loaded up our entire family and brought them along for Michael's D-Min cohort that first time. Shoot, it surprised me. I mean, really? Bring three elementary school kids to Georgia for 10 days for a grad school intensive? Who does that? I suppose it surprised still... Continue Reading →
It is a beautiful phrase, rolls over the tongue like a dessert at Macaroni Grill: sola gratia. By grace alone we are saved, undeserving sinners though we are. By the kindness of God, by the compassion of Jesus. Grace is our highest doctrine, our most precious inheritance. For 500 years we have repeated, sola gratia. ... Continue Reading →
Last weekend we decided to drive east instead of west. About two and a half hours' drive are the Pawnee Buttes, rising up out of the flat plains like giant, misplaced sand castles. To get there, you have to hold your nose through dairy towns and take care to stop at one last outpost of... Continue Reading →
Our church has been focusing on the importance of building joyful, passionate disciples of Jesus. The ladies were challenged at the If:Gathering to step up our discipleship relationships. The whole congregation has walked through a “core commitments” sermon series focusing on… yep, discipleship. And at our recent kick-off with the Calvary Family of Churches, we... Continue Reading →
What if a book had the power to change the temperature of your life, stir warmth into a cold heart, light a fire in a stale room? What if a book had the power to speak so directly to your soul that it seemed the author had been peering into your windows day after day? ... Continue Reading →
"For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how... Continue Reading →
Catherine's Letters 