Quotidian Grace has some harrowing and heartbreaking stories of Katrina. The devastation is pretty hard even to fathom.
I admit that I don’t have any/many personal connections to New Orleans or the Mississippi coast. Growing up in Houston, I lived with the reality of hurricanes; one blew through when I was 11 and crushed a live […]

In honor of PPB’s 100 things post, here is my list. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
100 things about me (aka, I’m thoroughly sick of myself now)
1. I am the oldest of four
2. I am a Texan by birth, living in the diaspora
3. I’ve been married almost 11 years
4. I am a reverend
5. and […]

…but it does.
Since reading the book In Praise of Slowness, I’ve been more or less religious about driving the speed limit. Call it a spiritual discipline. Every time the speedometer creeps up, it reminds me to breathe deeply and center and slow down. Truth be told, I’m not a great driver. I’ve hit three cars […]

i don’t believe in
soul mates,
The One,
you complete me,
i’ve been waiting for a girl like you,
a feeling deep in your soul says you were half now you’re whole.
but i did have a dream once:
i stood outside my childhood home
and a party buzzed and clattered within.
and my guide (faceless person)
said my soul mate was inside.
i wandered slowly,
scrutinizing […]

Rocks: Waking up to the sound of her singing Amazing Grace from the other room.
Sucks: Having her meltdown at the shoe store. I’d gone in on a whim; I can feel where her toe is in the shoe, and it’s not exactly roomy in there, but nor are her feet going to be horribly deformed […]

This post is about blood and goo and life and the human body.
If you’re squeamish about blood and goo and life and the human body, read no further.
There is a dear young woman in my life who got her first period over the summer. Her mother e-mailed me because the two of them are celebrating […]

part I
So here we are, Pastor G and I, in our Jesus Year, still young enough to be considered young, but not as young as we used to be. We’ve got nothing on paper, no proposal, no clergy cohort group, no projects on the horizon.
But something interesting has happened. After spending a couple of years […]

PastorG and I have been thinking and talking for years about the spiritual lives of young women. It began when we were very young women ourselves, hungering for a book or resource that addressed where we were in our lives. We had a couple of basic questions:
First: For women in our generation, who came of […]

I’m back from retreat.
C’s face looks different, but how?
It’s just been two days.
I’m rested, stressed both:
Bay breezes, bald eagles, yet
Aaaaaa!!! So much to do!!!!
It’s blissfully cool,
A/C repair receipt sits
on kitchen table.
C at dinnertime:
“I have a baby too, see?”
And lifts up her shirt.
I have missed your blogs–
I just got caught up; now, bed,
Will write tomorrow.

Staff retreat beckons;
Three hours in car tomorrow,
Two days at the beach.
Heat advisory,
And yet, A/C is broken.
Poor, poor R and C.
Sermon this weekend:
No manuscript, just notes
Of less than a page.
C’s big girl panties
Dry as a bone all day long;
Stickers awarded.

Here’s one: How to teach your children to address non-family adults. This is a current topic of interest in the reverendhousehold.
R’s thought seems to be the following:
1. There are friends who are so close as to be family. These are the people whom your kids learn to address as Aunt or Uncle Firstname.
Example: PastorG. She’s […]

So far in my tenure at Suburban Presbyterian Church I have performed three weddings. Interestingly, all three were the second wedding for at least one member of the couple, and two of them were for people who are significantly older than I am. Which really isn’t that big a deal, but just last week I […]

We’re back, as the mountains of laundry, e-mails and to-do lists can attest.
We had a wonderful time. It was a good decision to go to Sesame Place, since it rained a bit yesterday, but the park still had plenty for us to do in the rain. The water park attractions were great, and C surprised […]

You find yourself walking down a long hallway in reverendmother’s blog. Reverendmother is nowhere to be found… ah yes! She has left town for a few days.
At the end of the hallway are two doors, one on each side. You peek inside each room.
The first room is a child’s playroom, decorated with cheerful primary colors […]

And boy will it be obvious. High quality, this one.
But I will go to bed by 11. I will, I will!
~
We are going to Sesame Place. Don’t tell C though. It’s a three-hour drive. We’re using the euphemistic “going on a trip,” and that’s satisfying her just fine.
~
Today is C’s half birthday. (Which means yesterday […]

Friday Mom has waded in deep over at her place, and her wonderful thoughts about mid-life have really got me thinking further about what I want my life to be. Then I stopped by jo(e)’s place this morning and was totally captivated by this post. What a rich life this person seems to lead, dense […]

C has been deliberately working on her “L” sound. (Right now it’s the typical toddler “W”.) She understands that her tongue needs to be near the front of her mouth to make the L. So she will stick out her tongue and blow exaggerated raspberries wherever the L should be, to wit:
Me: What do we […]

A perfectly round midsection appeared on the black and white screen, and the ultrasound technician measured it. With a few buttons and mouse clicks she threw a dotted circle around it like a lasso. Organs swam in and out of view. Kidneys… stomach… And then: “It’s a girl!” The announcement came like a shot, and […]

First, my aunt remains in the dying process. She is only awake for a few moments at a time each day, which makes me so grateful I didn’t wait too long to go and see her. It seems like it will be soon now, but who knows? Lots of hugs go out to my mom, […]

Well the Adventure with Big Girl Panties continues in the reverendhousehold. We’ve been putting C in underwear every evening and she’s stayed high and dry; of course, we’re also escorting her to the bathroom every 30 minutes or more. Today will be her first full day without diapers (except naptime), and next week we’ll probably […]