A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho November 6, 2016 Jonah 1:1-17; 3:1-10; 4:1-11 We humans often have a bad habit of “othering” people. By that, I mean we look at someone’s life that seems very different than our own, and we place them in some category at a remove from our…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church October 23, 2016 2 Samuel 7:1-17 Since our last episode, when Hannah was singing praise to God as she left her toddler Samuel in the temple, a few things have happened. Samuel grew up and became a great priest. “The Lord was with him and let none of…
There’s an article being shared by my conservative friends (thanks for not unfriending me!) and by a few of my progressive friends who think they can keep their Facebook profiles neutral. (I’m glad you exist, neutral unicorns). It’s a story about a Hillary Clinton campaign bus that illegally dumped human waste in a storm drain…
I went ahead and contacted one of my aunts and uncles (my birth mother’s youngest sister and husband). They did not know I existed, but have been kind enough to answer some of my questions about the family genealogy. They have sent me two books of family history, including photos of people who had previously…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church Boise, Idaho October 2, 2016 Exodus 12:1-13 and 13:1-9 In last week’s episode, 400 years ago, the Book of Genesis ended with the struggles of the family of Jacob being wrapped up with a neat bow. And the Israelites thrived in Egypt. They followed God’s Promise to be…
Dear Hillary, I know you’ve got this. You’ve been in public service your entire adult life. You know policy. You actually know the world leaders and have been to most of the countries that might come up in questions tonight. You’ve served in the Senate. You’ve been Secretary of State. You’ve worked on the ground…
I haven’t played the Friday Five in a while, but these questions were a good ‘thought exercise’ this morning. 1. What is your favorite Bible verse? Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things, God is working for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” This is the…
Here’s a brief update for those who have been following my birth family discovery as I met new cousins this weekend. It was great. I met two brothers and their wives. They are first cousins of my birth mother. We had a lovely visit, getting to know each other. One of them has a lake…
I blogged the other day about how the shame my birth mother carries is sticky and how her request for me to keep her secret (by not contacting her children, and by extension, my birth family on her side) is becoming more and more difficult for me. First, let me say thank you to the…
As regular readers may recall, I’ve been on a birth family discovery the past two years, ever since Washington State opened their sealed birth records and I got my original birth certificate in the mail. My birth mother does not want to meet me. And she has asked me not to contact her children, my…
Glass Overflowing 