I didn’t know it at the time, but it was one of the best gifts Dad ever gave me.
It was a pocketknife—just two simple blades that folded into a plain brown handle that said “Old Timer.” In fact, here is the exact one I had. The Girl Scouts taught me most of my knife safety, […]

So, sitemeter is a delightfully addictive time-waster. Actually, it doesn’t take that much time; in mere seconds you can suss out the various google searches that lead people to one’s blog. A sampling:
The “As I Said to Brad Pitt over Racquetball Last Week…” Searches–aka Name Dropping:
courtney kupets
ayelet waldman oprah
daughters of zelophehad OK they’re not celebs […]

My work day was bookended by meetings. This afternoon I met with senior pastor, music director and an elder to do some worship planning this afternoon. We did our getting-started things–sang a song, prayed a prayer, spread out notebooks and calendars and hymnals on the wide round table. Suddenly senior pastor turns to the elder, […]

I have an essay coming out in the new Mothers Who Think collection about how I love my husband more than my children. I know I’m going to get grief for that, even though the editors wisely discouraged from putting in a line about how I love my husband so much that I would toss […]

First, I’m back, and I’m excited to be getting back into a routine. C has been an angel, and I can’t believe I ever left her. I’ve missed reading everyone’s blogs, which I did only in a cursory way last week. I’m excited to hear what everyone’s up to!
Second, I’m excited that this, this, and […]

Well I finished the scarf today, and wrapped it in a piece of flip chart paper, taped together with mailing labels (which I looped and hid under the flaps of the wrapping–otherwise, unsightly), and tied with the last stray bit of the Eros yarn. All in all I was proud of that little bit […]

This is actually in response to reverend mommy’s recent post about her chicken salad. Read it.
First of all, the recipe sounds delicious.
And she spoke to them in parables…
A friend of mine tells me that she served a church in which the Presbyterian Women put on a luncheon. The dessert was to be an ice-cream concoction […]

As part of my public awareness campaign about the joys of knitting, I want to make the following item crystal clear: when you see someone knitting in a public place or a large gathering, it doesn’t mean they are oblivious to you. In fact, they are probably able to focus just as well (if not […]

this was all a dream,
i think.
what did the world look like
(its contours and colors)
before the cyclones came,
before storms kicked up ordinary time
and twisted it,
spindled it,
into oblivion?
all i remember is,
the trains roared out of the station,
slaves to some awful schedule, and
the house trembled and went black—
no time to find a closet,
no time to open windows
(are you […]

Holy Hell.
Part of this training involves spending time in small groups. We have quite a diversity in our group—anglican, missionary baptist, methodist, catholic, two flavors of lutheran… fine, interesting, fun; and also, two flavors of presbyterian, one a female clergyperson, the other a man from the denomination that split off from ours over the ordination […]

A strange confession: I love hotels. Nice, big, corporate hotels. Of course, the charm of a quirky bed and breakfast is appealing too, and you can’t beat the low-budget coziness of sleeping on a family member’s pullout couch, but there’s something about the anonymity of a large hotel that has always appealed to me. It’s […]

I’ll be out of town for most of next week at a training. I hope to continue blogging, assuming I can do so without annoying or arousing the suspicion of my roommate, a member of the church. I promise to do my best to bible-blog this week. In the meantime, everybody loiter around Songbird’s place […]

Now that I have a few more blog pals/blogs I read, I thought I’d revive this little game:
Who would play you in the movie?
(Links to these blogs are above)
Peripatetic Polar Bear would be played by Laura Linney. Smart yet unassuming.
Danny from Field of Dandelions would be played by Timothy Busfield (although perhaps that’s partly because […]

What’s hot in RM’s life right now:
taking the 6th grade bible study class out for ice cream tonight (in 15 minutes, actually)
little she-who-is and her latest sentences:
in response to me calling her for dinner: “No. I’m playing.”
and
“Someday I can swing on the swing at S______’s house, okay????”
It was the “okay” that made my heart melt.
Carrie […]

Tonight I’m doing my part-part-part time job writing worship resources for the preaching mag—hmm, well, it’s 9:30 already, so I guess I’ll work on them until I run out of steam. In the meantime, just to prime the pump, here is a fun survey on one of my favorite topics.
(abridged from jo(e)’s site)
Favorite food to […]

Our yard is a disaster. If it weren’t for the valiant efforts of my husband, I feel certain we would be voted off the Island of Tidy Lawns. I think it’s just not who we are. Our last house was in the city, and it had a postage-stamp-sized lawn in front and a blanket of […]

I love that it’s National Poetry Month. Heck, I love that National Poetry Month exists at all, but there’s something appropriate about it being in April. April is just-Spring, when the world is mud-luscious. April is also the cruelest month. Poetry conveys both sentiments, and everything in between.
When I was in second and third grade, […]

This is a minor copout because it isn’t new! I wrote this sermon three years ago, as a second-year student, for the senior sending service at my seminary. (Thus ChicagoRev has heard it before.) I am preaching this weekend, and given what life looks like right now, it will be a variation of this message. […]

OK, let’s get going with some Bible blogging!
Since several people expressed an interest in using the lectionary, let’s start there. Maybe we could branch out at some point; we can just see how it goes.
I’ll copy the lectionary texts below. Choose one or more texts to respond to, on your own blog, however you see […]

it’s the inhale before worship begins.
we line up in the hall,
Bible-bearer, acolyte, and two women
in robes and stoles.
breathless latecomers slide in before us
(that way they’re still on time);
piano prelude drifts through doors
thrown open.
and then
the scritch of a match,
and flame kisses wick
of a long, glimmering…
what’s-it-called?
acolyte thingy.
and then, two clanging bells
announce us:
we walk in, and it always […]