Empty Cities

390,000 people are dead.

Leaving the Ninety-nine

“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”Hosea 6:6 Jesus quotes this verse twice in the Gospel of Matthew. He brings it out first when criticized for eating with “tax collectors and sinners,” and again when criticized for his disciples eating raw grain plucked in the field on

Grief

Wracked with sobs that threatened to squeeze the life from my body, I held hers and felt her grief writhing in her, too. I sat on the kitchen floor holding my sixteen-year-old daughter like I did when she was small, her head on my shoulder, my arms wrapped around her holding her up. I had

5 Ways to Not be a Jerk this Christmas

Holidays are stressful! Sometimes it is all we can do to hold ourselves together and maintain our status as civilized humans. Everything is pressure-filled, schedules are packed, people are living on caffeine and sugar. It all just leads to a gigantic case of the Christmas Crankies! Here are some ways you can resist the temptation

Have the Christmas You Have

For all my lovely friends who struggle at Christmas time, I want to offer this phrase: Have the Christmas You Have. Christmas is a time of joy and laughter and tradition. It’s also a time of sadness, depression, loneliness, frustration, conflict, guilt, comparison…and every other possible emotion or experience. Just as every day is different

The Team That Screams the Loudest

When I was in school, we would often have pep rallies where teams or grade levels would throw a cheer back and forth, getting louder every time until all the students in that section were screaming at the top of their lungs. There was only one rule, the team that screams the loudest wins. As

Juneteenth & Philando Castile, Still Waiting

A much overlooked holiday was observed in African American communities around the nation this week. Juneteenth is a celebration of the day the last slaves in Texas were told they were free. It was June 19th, 1865 and more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years. These men, women, and