This week we finish up our series on Becoming Love with a focus on stress. If you have missed any part of the series list here. Stress is part of our everyday lives but as people of faith we have tools that many people don’t have. I first became aware of these tools at a …
Thanks for awesome response to our new series, Becoming Love. Last week, we looked at relationships myths. If you missed it, listen here. This week, we are looking at a significant topic: when people let you down. How do you respond when people let you down? Depending on the situation, I have: Pretended it didn’t …
When I was a child I began gardening. This was pre-Home Depot days, all we had were small local nurseries and so my Mom, who also loved to garden, took me. I picked out plants to grow and friends of my parents gave me plants for my collection. I displayed everything on an old ladder …
So, I am a planner. In fact, every day when I meditate I notice the thoughts that most often interrupt my solitude are plans I am making. My practice is to bow to them (instead of fighting or resisting them) and say, “planning”. It’s an acknowledgement. During meditation others may struggle with “feelings”, “pain” or …
I come from a family where most of us cannot get out of bed in the morning. We get this from my Dad whose ideal day was lying in bed and reading books. But, I married into a family who loves the morning! As a baby, my son would get up at 4 AM. My …
I love the New Year. In fact, I love it so much that I celebrate a fresh start four times a year by rebooting my life every three months. I came across this idea in the book, The Twelve Week Year by Brian Moran. Last year I tried it out for 3 months – I …
I recently visited a church where I had an opportunity to share how the Cal-Pac Conference of the UMC is really doing in growth. After sharing, the woman looked at me and said, “that cannot be right, I heard (unnamed person) say the no one new comes to church and that the UMC would be …
Read more “#9 Believe You Can Grow – 9 Actions to Grow Worship and Professions of Faith”
Visiting a church for the first time can be a challenge. Sadly, sometimes the challenge is just locating correct information about the church. Case in point: One Saturday night I searched for the Facebook page of a local UMC only to find that the posts were 6 months old & nowhere could I find the …
Read more “#8 Social Media – 9 Actions to Grow Worship Attendance and Professions of Faith”
A friend who is a retired UMC clergy person shared with me how hard it was for him and his wife to find a new church home. They had moved into a new community and visited the five UM churches driving distance from their house. At each one they filled out the registration pad leaving …
Read more “#07 – 9 Actions to Grow Worship Attendance and Professions of Faith”