Staff Trax

I have a pretty ecumenical background: I was baptized Presbyterian but grew up in military post chapels, where Protestant worship was led by pastors of a different denomination every year. Our family jokingly identified as “Episcomethobapterian” – so I’m pretty comfortable everywhere. I joined my best friend’s Methodist church in college and later spent almost 12 years as a worship…

I love the story in Genesis when Abraham and Sarah, in their nineties, are told that they will have a child – and they laugh! And yet, a year later they have Isaac – which, by the way, means laughter. How many stories do we have where God is trying to convince his people that they can trust in His promises? They struggled with God’s ways just as we do today. How difficult is it to trust…

I was lucky enough to grow up going to church every Sunday. My dad was an Army officer and we moved every 1-3 years, so church was a place we could immediately be welcomed into a new community of friends everywhere we lived.

Interestingly, it was the years we lived farthest away that shaped my life the most. My dad was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, for my 5^th-7^th grade…

I have to admit, I’m pretty familiar with this week’s scripture because I’ve read it to my kids out of the big Spark Bible they were given at age 3. Otherwise it’s not really one of the big stories — when Jesus is consecrated at the temple as a baby— but I assume it’s included in the children’s Bible since it’s one of the rare stories of Jesus as a child. And really, it’s the…

I grew up with chocolate Advent calendars. My 2 brothers and I took turns every day in December opening paper windows to find and eat chocolate. Oh, the anticipation every 3 days! We also always had an Advent wreath with 4 red candles (a German tradition – like the Advent calendars) which we lit every evening at dinner in December, and took turns snuffing out the candles with Mom’s fancy…

I absolutely love "The Message: the Bible in Contemporary Language" by Eugene Peterson. If there’s ever a scripture you have trouble understanding, try reading it in "The Message" — it’s more conversational and relevant to our world today. We’ll be reading the Beatitudes this Sunday from Matthew, and I’d like to give you both translations of my favorites:

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed…

I made apple crisp today, and it hardly made a dent in the bag of apples my kids picked at a local orchard this weekend. The cider donuts and slushies are long gone, but what to do with all of the apples? As a kid I remember climbing what seemed to be very tall trees, and sitting up there chomping away on sweet, juicy apples — I’m sure we brought mountains of them home, and mom probably canned…

Those who know me (even just a little) can probably guess that I am not a fan of conflict. I like to look on the bright side of things, see the good in people and situations, and help others do the same. I’m actually surprised to find myself writing about it, as conflict is something I intentionally avoid whenever possible.

And yet conflict is a part of life. We have the ability to escalate…

I was always a really confident kid. I look back at pictures of my childhood and ask my mom why she dressed me that way and pulled my hair into a fountain on top of my head, but at the time it didn’t bother me in the slightest. I fell in love with music early on, and decided when I was in 3^rd grade that I would study music in college and be a music teacher. I followed my dream,…

I am not a gardener. I have memories of my parents’ beautiful vegetable garden, eating snow peas off the vine and dripping in strawberry juice, and my brother’s height being compared to huge zucchinis. I thoroughly enjoy others’ landscaping and flowers, but if a plant needs much tending, you probably won’t find it in my yard — I am excited to just be able to grow grass.

This…