Struggling towards the light (poem)

You never learned how to swim
But in my dream, I see you trying hard
Fighting your way towards the light.
Swimming for all you’re worth
Trying to get back to the surface
Of this somewhat murky pond.
Never realized how hard it was-
What effort it took to focus on the task
To collect the necessary resources
To be present for just a [...]

Reality Check–Cyber Psalm 15

Our friend, Dan, had a heart attack this week.  Scary.  So that made it doubly cool to get a perspective challenging email from him this morning with this Cyber Psalm from a blog he likes by David Ker, a Wcliffe Bible Translator in Mozambique.   
Cyber-Psalm 15
 NOVEMBER 23, 2007                   [...]

Love Is…

Yesterday had parts that were hard, and parts that were really beautiful.  The beautiful part was making it down to Karen Church in Kent and being able to be there for the celebration of the 50th wedding anniversary of a couple who have poured their lives into loving God, their family, their community and seems [...]

Reflections from the kitchen (refugee resettlement)

Kids are the most awesome ice breaker.  Start with  a family of three working (English only speaking) adults, add a family from Burma (a dad and two daughters , age 9 & 11 speaking Burmese and Karen-little English)  in the process of being resettled to the US  from a refugee camp in Thailand, put together [...]

“Not Rape” (a tough read)

For any man, woman, husband, wife,  teenager, sister, parent, brother, teacher, pastor, friend….please click on the link here to the instructive but tough read on what the writer calls “Not Rape“.  Unfortunately, this experience is too common, too untouchable, and too often, those who experience it are blamed for causing it and have nowhere to [...]

What’s love got to do with it?

Not the Tina Turner song, but the title of it, has been replaying over and over again in my head this week along with John 13:34-35 where Jesus commanded us to “…love each other.  Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove to the world [...]

It’s Always About the People (a commercial)

 There’s a lot of talk about Joe the Plumber this week-maybe representing a sudden interest in the opinions of working people?  So, since yesterday was my last day as bookkeeper at Ballard Optical in (where else) Ballard, I’m going to throw out a couple of opinions here regarding the people I work with and why [...]

“…a man is worth far more than a sheep”

Several years ago I had the privilege of hearing a missionary from Palestine preach on Matt. 12:9-13, the story of Jesus getting in trouble with the usual religious hierarchy for healing a man on the Sabbath, again.  Valuing people more than prevailing power structures, religious or nationalistic systems, or political correctness, again…. 
 
The quote above is from [...]

How do you find new neighbors?

It was a strange coincidence that our last day at our home church  was September 25, 2003–“Friendship Day.”  As our church celebrated reaching out to their neighbors and shared a salmon barbecue with the community, we were saying goodbye.   The past six weeks had happened so fast we hadn’t even gotten to tell our pastor [...]

You gotta read the book!

Last week in Alaska, I had time to sit and read “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace….One School at a Time,” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. This is my new all time favorite (takes my breath away with hope) book.  It tells the story of Mr. Mortenson helping to [...]

Why I Love My Husband

Got your attention, huh?  My girls asked me one time, when they were teenagers, to describe what I would consider a hot guy.  I described their dad–they listened well enough to know exactly who I was talking about:) We’ve been married 30 years, as of last month.  I am still amazed at the gentleness and kindness [...]

Justice or righteousness?

It amazes me how important the choice of one word can be, either in politics, or in an argument, or even theologically.  Like a lot of American Christians, I have several Bibles, and don’t read any of them as much as I should.  (Working on that).  I was raised with the King James version (that [...]

Chid sexual abuse

 
Warning, I’m angry!  Heard another story this week of yet another young woman trying to deal with the memories of abuse suffered at the hands of people she should have been able to trust as a child.  (There are too many stories, and yes, I know it’s not just women telling them).
 
A long time ago, [...]

How Do You Change the World?

You get a different answer from every person you ask.  The most famous answer probably comes from the Bible (Mark 12:31 “Love your neighbor as yourself” — or the paraphrased version …”Treat other people the way you want to be treated”). Our friend, Dan Imburgia*, wrote one of the best, simplest, most profound answers I’ve [...]

Earthquake relief donor

He “walked” across; we thought he was passing by…
 
“I want to donate!” He drew out a few coins hidden in his palms. An officer lent a hand but he insisted that he place his money into the donation box.
 
All are speechless as he gives back to society in his own way!
 
“I still have money!” Again, [...]