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Receiving…
My strong friends, the ones who meet the needs around them are the first to offer what they have, and the last to ask for what they need. These women (and men) pour themselves out on behalf of others, and they sometimes forget that they need filling too.
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Midlife threshold: Recommit
In that dark time, I realized that my faith had been built on a wide and deep foundation of need. My need. I had come into this relationship empty and broken by grief and loss. The need had seemed unending. And yet, here I was over twenty years later realizing that my need was no longer enough.
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The faith of our youth…
When my kids were little, I had visions of our shared future. I imagined myself surrounded each Sunday morning with a throng of kids and grandkids filling a couple of pews in my local church. My hope was not without precedent. I had seen extended families gathered, maybe not every week, but often for holidays like Easter and Christmas. I looked longingly when I saw families of multiple generations gathering to worship together in the pews of our little church, and hoped someday we might fill our pew with a gang of worshippers in their Sunday best. Share this...FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedin
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Church lady 2.0…
In order to stay, I know I will have to manage my heart and my expectations. I will need to let the church off the hook. She can never fulfill my need, nor live up to my hope. She will continue to stumble and fall, just as I stumble and fall.
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Church with littles…
Pastor Alex put his giant hand on my shoulder and looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. “You know,” he said. “God is telling them to run and play and you’re telling them to sit still and be quiet.” He mused, “Who do you think they are going to listen to?”
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Visitation…
I hadn’t thought about the power and simplicity of pastoral visitation in years. Until this week. Until Pastor Bariloni called to say he wondered if he could come and spend some time with us.
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Annual meetings…
This process matters as well. The leadership may recommend, but the whole church membership must agree. We don’t always.