A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church June 18, 2023 Philemon Introduction to Worship We are continuing our Short and Sweet sermon series. Today is the Letter of Philemon. And hearing it all, from the salutation to the close, we get the reminder that Paul wrote letters—actual letters—to people he knew and loved and some…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church on July 17, 2022 Matthew 6:9-13 Romans 8:12-17, 28-30 We decided to do a whole series on the Lord’s Prayer for a few reasons. Partly because we get a lot of questions about why we at Calvary say the version of the Lord’s Prayer we do each…
If you followed my blog as I found my birth family, you might remember my half sister Carol. My birth mother didn’t want to meet me when I first contacted her, but she did give me the name of my birth father. He had died in 1996, but I tracked down his daughter Carol. I…
My birth mother died this morning. She had been in failing health for a while. I don’t know what I am feeling. I am sad. And I’m sure I will feel more sad at some point. I’m also grateful, not to replace or ignore the sadness, but as a companion to it. Before Washington State…
I’ve been thinking about my birth mother lately. Maybe because thinking is all I really can do. She doesn’t want to be in a relationship with me, and even if she did, she’s not in very good health. Maybe I’ve been thinking about her because her 91st birthday is around the corner. My birth mother…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian in Boise, Idaho Matthew 1:1-17 Dec 30, 2018 I was always the person in my family who wanted to know the family tree. Even though I was adopted, and none of the blood, genes, or quirks from that tree ran through my veins. While I’ve always been grateful to…
……I got all my sisters with me. That’s about all the lyrics I know from the Sister Sledge song, but they are enough. This weekend I flew to Seattle, stayed with my sister, visited another sister, and met a new sister. I have one more sister yet to meet, and one other sister I have…
We saw the film Three Identical Strangers last night. Here’s the synopsis of the film from its website: Three strangers are reunited by astonishing coincidence after being born identical triplets, separated at birth, and adopted by three different families. Their jaw-dropping, feel-good story instantly becomes a global sensation complete with fame and celebrity, however, the…
I haven’t published much lately about my birth family discoveries, mainly because some of the more recent ones are taking me a while to process. There continues to be much gift for me through all of the experiences I’ve had, whether they’ve been the joyful reunion kind or the painful answers kind. I’m the kind…
William Stafford’s poem, “The Way it is”, is my companion on this first day of a new year. The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard…
Glass Overflowing 