Adapted from a devotional previously shared on this blog on May 19, 2016. “Gentlemen, this is a football.” That is how Vince Lombardi, started each season on his team’s practice field. Lombardi, the former coach of the Green Bay Packers who led them to victory in the first ever Super Bowl (and the one after … More This is a Football * 10 Minute Devotional
Sometimes there is nothing left to do but take the next obedient step. When strategizing and brainstorming comes to an end, when finances run dry, when a medical diagnosis isn’t good, when the weight of grief is too much to bear, sometimes there is nothing left to do but take the next obedient step. Remember … More The Next Obedient Step * 10 Minute Devotional
The knock at the door was followed immediately by a yell. “I have a smoothie for you!” My friend Katie was at my seminary apartment uninvited. Again. Katie always seemed to forget that I’m an introvert. (Pretty sure that “introvert” is just Latin for “call before you come over.”) She handed me a blueberry-yogurt-pineapple concoction … More Essential Friendship * 10 Minute Devotional
(First and foremost, to my current congregants: Have no fear – I am not leaving! This is a post from last year about my former church in Wisconsin. K, on with the post…) If you’ve been going to church for any length of time, odds are you’ve had a pastor leave. Sometimes it’s for another … More When a Pastor Moves On
We read a children’s Bible to our 4-year-old every night before bed. He always asks a lot of questions, both because he’s genuinely interested, and because each question he asks allows him another minute or two of bedtime delay. A few nights ago we read the story of the Red Sea from Exodus 14 and 15. You … More The Impossible God * 10 Minute Devotional
I’m a pretty frugal person. It probably started when I was born in Wisconsin, a state where thou-shalt-live-humbly. Everyone drives Toyotas and Fords and Subarus. Millionaires live in log cabins. As an elementary schooler I literally didn’t know people could buy clothes from the front of the store. I thought those were just for show, since everyone I knew always headed straight … More Faith, Frugality, and Feasting * 10 Minute Devotional
Good Friday is this Friday, April 14. Good Friday is all about the death of Jesus. The horrific, bloody death of Jesus. This day is one of cornerstones of the Christian faith. It’s important. Essential, even. I want my kids to have a grasp of it from their earliest days. To have heard about the … More How to Explain Good Friday to a Preschooler, and Other Things Seminary Never Taught Me
UCC Pastor Lillian Daniel, co-author of An Odd and Wondrous Calling, wrote a Huffington Post piece that went viral a few years ago. In it she vented about her irritation with those who claim to be “spiritual but not religious.” Daniels writes: Being privately spiritual but not religious just doesn’t interest me. There is nothing challenging about having … More Personal, not Private * 10 Minute Devotional
Holy Week’s a-comin’, friends. After basically missing the whole shebang last year due to a case of extremely overdue pregnant-itis, I’m stoked for this year. Holy Week, the high point in the church year that begins with Palm Sunday (April 9, this year) and ends on Easter Sunday (April 16), is the best. If the church had a Super … More 10 Ways to Enter Into Holy Week
This week at our house: Me: What do you want for breakfast? Preschooler: Peanut butter pancakes. Me [fifteen minutes later]: Here’s your breakfast! Preschooler: WHAT IS THIS?! I HAAAATE PEANUT BUTTER PANCAKES!!! Me: [silently Googling how old a child has to be to go to boarding school overseas] Kidding. Mostly. Pre-kid, I sometimes felt at … More What’s at the End of Your Rope? * 10 Minute Devotional
Courtney Ellis 