The Flow State

The other day, the icebreaker question that was thrown out was: if you could sing like any famous singer, who would you want to sing like? I knew the answer almost immediately: Lauren Daigle. I love her voice. She has such incredible range and her songs are always so full of emotion. I’ve also recently become a fan of Charity Gayle, I suppose she would be second in line of voice I would like to steal like a sea witch.

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God of Consent

"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." - Daniel 12:2

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Tending a Grave

As I was considering this post, I was trying to recall if I have ever been to a cemetery. I believe the answer is yes, because I have a hazy memory of visiting one as a child. I don't remember who we were visiting there, however. I do know when I lived in Peru I went to one, accompanying my mother-in-law. But it didn't look like this picture. There was no grass, and the graves weren't in the ground, but rather in a cement crypt of sorts. 

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But, yet

Time is a funny thing. It flies when we are having fun. It goes by in the blink of an eye. We are strapped for it, or we have it on our hands. We race against the clock sometimes; other times we kill time.

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Talk About It

Trigger warning: this post talks about suicide. If this is an issue close to you, you might want to skip this one. There are resources listed at the end of the post if needed.

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Embracing the Red Panda

In case you were wondering at my silence this past two weeks, well, I was on vacation. Although the vacation itself was marvelous - very restful, in fact - the travel to and fro was long and full of delays and other annoyances. Nevertheless, I used the long travel time to read and rest and even watch a movie.

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Church, what is it good for?

Growing up as a pastor's kid, I constantly felt under the microscope. I felt as though all eyes were on us as the pastor's family, and likely, that was not mere paranoia. We were under incredible pressure to always look and act perfect. We knew somehow my dad would be judged if we did not. I can remember driving to church, fighting in the car, my mom screaming at us from the front, and then pulling up by the sanctuary and all of us getting out with bright smiles, as though nothing had happened.

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Anchor Points

As a writer, putting words to paper is not difficult. What is difficult, is coming up with a title that captures those words and the attention of potential readers. Which is why it surprises me that today, I am starting this post off with a title, and no words.

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All My Worship

I am currently in seminary, and I recently chose my summer class. It is called "Worship". When I saw the title, I erroneously thought it was about worship songs. Rather, the course is about how a church service is planned and organized, and the different elements of our faith which are often included.

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Death Where is Your Sting

The other night, my husband was watching one of the many Star Trek shows out there (don't ask me which one). I wasn’t completely paying attention, but suddenly there was a line in the show that made me tune in.

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Know Whose You Are

I have two boys. I wouldn't say that I have particularly tried to push gender roles on them, but they are very much boys. They like traditional boy things. And they reject things that are too "girly".

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I am the 19%

On Monday, June 1st, 2020, former president Trump made a speech in the Rose Garden in regards to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and rioting that were spreading not only across the country, but around the world. While he began by saying that “justice will be served” for Floyd and his family, Trump then declared himself “your president of law and order.” He criticized the states and local governments for not doing more about the rioting, calling it “domestic terrorism.” He firmly stated that he intended to send out the National Guard and even the US Military if necessary to “end it now.”

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"Why does this country hate us so much?"

When we moved here six years ago, I had a newborn and a toddler. I was blessed to be in the position of not needing to work right away, so I took some time to stay home with the kids. I put my toddler in preschool two mornings a week to give baby and I some one-on-one time. One of those mornings when baby was about nine months old, I was browsing the internet and saw an article about the "No Tolerance" policy being enacted on the border.

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