The Prayer of Family

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…

“I’m keeping you.”

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…

Solace

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…

Auditioning for Roles

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…

The Family Tree

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…

One Identical Stranger

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…

What do we let people see?

A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho Feb 4, 2018 John 4 Last week, you heard the story of Nicodemus meeting Jesus. While the woman at the well is my favorite story in the bible, I also love the Nicodemus story, and I noticed some contrasts and some similarity between them. Nicodemus…