Before the Left Behind book series was consuming the nation, there was Thief in the Night, a sinister and frightening movie venture into the popular mythology of the ‘end times.’ Back in the 70’s, large churches used to fill up their gymnasiums for screenings of this film and its sequels, and Christians were encouraged to [...]

Just what products do parents actually need when they bring a baby home from a hospital? In truth, not very much.  But the parenting industry and our conspicuous-consumer culture would have us believe that babies come into the world with a desperate need for more gadgets and gizmos than Ariel’s grotto. You want thingamabobs? Go [...]

My new year’s resolutions are pretty simple this year, but they say you are more likely to do things that you write down and share with others, so here goes. I figure that if I can make even a couple small changes it will feel good and perhaps empower me for bigger things next year. [...]

To: Karlene
From: Josh
So here is the big surprise that’s been keeping me up at night the past couple of days. I really appreciate your blogging and wanted to give you some place special online that you could call home. I love you so much and hope that this brings you a lot of enjoyment and [...]

“The practice of Christianity, done well, is both dangerous and magnetic.”
Diana Butler-Bass
(who says she was once called the ‘devil’s whore’ by James Dobson. he he he)

I started writing the next installment of our trip and ended up losing it by not saving. So I’m a little behind sharing about our Midwest adventures.
The rest of our time in Chicago was quite fun. We spent Tuesday morning at the Art Institute. Josh has been there many times, but it was [...]

Last Thursday Josh and I set out from Eugene for a 10-day trip to Cedar Rapids, Chicago, Valparaiso, and St. Louis. The first occasion for the trip was a wedding of an old friend of Josh’s in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Since he had accepted the invitation to be in the wedding, we found [...]

I want to draw attention to my friend Rachel’s excellent post entitled My Carefully Calibrated Difference on her personal blog. http://rachelstanton.wordpress.com/ I really identify with her thoughts about identification with the ‘other’ and the internal struggle coinciding with it.
As we talk more with others about this church community we are preparing to form we get [...]

I met a home-school mom the other day. She explained to me that her kids asked to go to public school one year, and she let them so they could “learn their lesson.” Sure enough, they were begging to be back home with mom by the end of the year. She said her [...]

My husband and I took a walk with Charlie last evening down by the river. It was one of those days when it’s still sunny and a bit hot, but if you’re paying attention you can tell that Fall is coming. Summer blackberries are ripe for picking and it still feels great in shorts. [...]