Easter Monday: I Miss You
April 13, 2020
I’m writing today to say, “I miss you.” As I was experiencing Easter 2020 with my family, in our home, apart from the gathering of the family of faith, I acknowledged how much I value the body of believers. I miss my brothers and sisters in Christ! But why is that? What creates a longing […]
H.O.P.E. for those in S.O.S. distress
April 3, 2020
People are distress and some of them are acknowledging their distress with cries of S.O.S. (Save Our Souls). Time is ripe for sharing the Good News of the Gospel. This is the day to Help Others Perceive Eternally. Today is the day for Christ’s people to serve as living demonstrations of hope, secure. But how […]
Why pray in the midst of this?
April 2, 2020
I offered to pray for a mom who was angry and frustrated and grieving in the midst of more than she can bear. To be clear, I had done what I could and connected her with resources in our community in addition to offering to pray but the offer to pray is what provokes this […]
Reading the headlines through a Gospel worldview 3-23-2020
March 23, 2020
Resources related to the COVID19 Coronavirus Google created a comprehensive dashboard for one stop, accurate information https://www.google.com/covid19/ Resources for parents, now educating their kids at home. My conversation with educator Erin Paske, who has served as a private homeschool teacher and now instructs kids online to increase reading proficiency. My conversation with Lacy […]
Lent: A look at discipline with an eye to discipleship
February 26, 2020
Discipline. When we first hear the word discipline it does not ordinarily bring to mind thoughts of joyful anticipation. When we think of discipline we don’t think of luxuriating in a warm bubble bath by candlelight to soft music. We think instead about being sent to our rooms or losing privileges. We tend to think […]
Your soul has a lover; what we all need this Valentines day
February 13, 2020
Life is fleeting but love endures forever By Monday the roses and chocolates and cards will be history, but we will still need to know that we are each and all loved. My husband sat on the steps and held out a ring. It was large and worn and engraved with a date from 1966. […]
Death cometh and We Need Not Fear
January 27, 2020
Just last week there was a futurist promising that we could all live forever if we could just make it to 2050. Then Kobe Bryant and eight other very affluent people with very bright futures died in a helicopter crash and the world observed Holocaust Memorial Day and the coronavirus continued to claim lives and […]
Jeopardy GOAT: Recalling 29 times Jesus answered questions with questions
January 13, 2020
As the Jeopardy! Greatest of all Time series has unfolded I have been reminded of all the good questions that could be asked – and of the ways in which we trivialize many things of great significance. I was also reminded in a conversation this morning that sometimes the question Jesus would be asking is […]
How to talk to your kids when the news is full of horrible scary things
January 8, 2020
Like everyone, kids will hear horrible news today that can be scary. They will hear about wars and rumors of wars. They will hear that after the United States killed a bad guy named Qasem Soleimani, his country retaliated by bombing a place where U.S. military personnel live in Iraq. Depending on which station you […]
2020 in focus: Carmen’s top 20 trends to watch
January 2, 2020
As we look back over 2019 there are trends we observe in hindsight but what can we see if we seek to see what’s ahead? Only hindsight is 2020 but here are my top 20 trends for Christians to watch in the year ahead. Persecution. As the world devolves and more and more people set […]