I’m hooked on fantasy football. This past season I named my team “Smack Attack” because even if I’m not the best at fantasy football, I can be great at smack talk. I play in a league with church friends, and our smack talk chat is not disparaging but generally consists of hyperbole, playful intimidation, and…
Month: January 2019
Tolerance isn’t good enough.
A couple of Christmases ago, I met someone who helped me understand what it means to embrace others for who they are. It was the year I met Patricia. Patricia was a college freshman living in a dorm at the university my youngest daughter was attending. Winter break was approaching, the dorms would be closed,…
Teaching and living literacy
I’m not a teacher. Or a speech pathologist. Or one of a gazillion amazing professions that know a lot more than I do about reading or speaking or learning. What I do know is that I talked with, read with, and imagined with my children. We played games with sounds, letters, and words. We wrote…
With a stitch and a prayer
It’s cold outside today, and I’m wearing a scarf. But not just any scarf. This scarf has more value to me than any I could buy in a store. About twelve years ago, one of my daughters was very sick. She suffered excruciating pain, unexplained fever, and hives for months. Every day she tediously did…
It’s a holiday!
Now that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day are over, is there any celebration left in you? I hope so! This day belongs to the Lord! Let’s celebrate and be glad today. Psalm 118:24 (Contemporary English Version) One of the many expressions my mom will be remembered for saying is, “It’s a holiday!” That usually meant that an…
First a Nurse
Family Ministry wasn’t my first career. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from St. Olaf College then worked as a Registered Nurse for fifteen years. My first nursing job was in my home town in Minnesota. I worked on a Labor/Delivery/Nursery unit, and it was exciting to help bring new life into…
It Ain’t Misbehavin’
Disrespect in church, like disrespect anywhere else, is not acceptable. But a child behaving like a child in church is a normal, beautiful part of who we are as a church family. A baby making baby noises is not misbehaving. A toddler crying because he wants a snack or he desires to be held is…
Ms. Marcia's Mom-ologues 