MomminginMinistry

 I feel like I start this New Year's Eve post the same every year..."This year has had its ups and its downs." I keep thinking that's special and unique and yet here we are again with another year that "had its ups and its downs." I'm guessing your family had one of those years too? Last New Year we rang in 2022 with our friends, the Oakley's. It was so special after several years of social distancing, and "socializing sparingly" to be together again. Unfortunately, we didn't successfully recreate the video of them singing "Sweet Caroline" at the top of their lungs like they did on New Years Eve 2017, but we did have a good time. This year will look different...there's girlfriends and even a wife added to the mix, but it's always good to be together. As a family we didn't take any large vacations this year. We did, however, take advantage of some extra time to see and experience the beauty of our own state.  This i...

 If you follow my blog and Facebook posts, you probably know that I made a pretty major (for me) life change the beginning of November. I left the congregation I'd been attending for over 30 years, and employed with as a Children's Pastor for the past six years, and joined a house church network, The Table, as their Family Connections Pastor. How is it going? I'd be lying if I said I didn't get homesick for not only the people I belonged to and with for 3/4 of my life, but for the conventional church model in general. A whole wing of a building devoted to just kiddos, and room to store all their crayons, glue sticks, picture books and glitter. The sounds of lots and lots of voices belting out "Joy to the World" as one. A copy machine for all those worksheets and coloring pages, and a million other conveniences I took for granted. Even kids' Christmas programs. I never thought I'd say that...how soon I've forgotten the year everyone got strep days b...

 I wanted to make a separate post about the next two books on my list, because they're in such a different category from the last two. Here's one non-fiction, and one children's picture book that must go on my list. 1. Grace Can Lead Us Home: A Christian Call to End Homelessness by Kevin Nye Kevin interned at our church doing youth ministry one summer. He was one of the first people who made Dan and I feel old. Because here was this very well-spoken, wise grown-up and he was considerably younger than us. And, much, much cooler. Kevin's path has taken him in some different directions than Kevin would have planned, and has lead to him devoting his life to ministering to and alongside unhoused people, first in Los Angeles, and now in Minneapolis. In this book he shares many of the things he has learned. I probably started reading this book pretty sure that I knew a little about this subject, and did a decent job at striving to see the Image of God everywhere I looked. I ...

I used to write a Favorite Things blogpost, kind of like Oprah's Favorite things episode each year. The only thing was I couldn't afford to give anyone a car, and 90% of the time I mostly talked about books I think everyone needs to read.  So, this year, let's cut to the chase...I'm going to tell you about some of my favorite books and authors recently, so you know what to bring along for a long trip to visit family or end up quarantined with whatever this flu+covid+strep thing is that's going around. 1. I'm a little addicted to Liane Moriarty books. I need to start by saying that there are cuss words in them and I am very sorry. However, she's Australian so maybe these are not even cuss words in Australian? But for this reason, maybe they aren't for everyone. However, here's what I like about them: They are well written and pick up the slightest details of human behavior and thought patterns brilliantly. They're suspenseful without being way too...