With summer nearing its end and the temperatures finally going down (hallelujah!), I've been busy lately working on the church calendar for the next six months. Even though I've been out of school for a few years and most of you have been out of school for longer, but I think that the cycle of the school year is ingrained in our inner clocks. New things begin in the fall, even if we don't need to … [Read more...]

On Pentecost Sunday, as we went out in peace to love and serve God and our neighbors, I closed our service with a scenario to act on: the Holy Spirit soared through our sanctuary and in Her enthusiasm, She knocked over the candles on the table, which were still lit at the time. “Let the fire of the Holy Spirit burn in your hearts,” I implored, “but please exit as quickly and safely as you can … [Read more...]

The dark season of Lent is ending and Easter is upon us! Writing an Easter sermon (or an April newsletter) while still in the middle of Lent is a strange place to be in. The cat is still in her Lenten purple collar (yes, the cat is very concerned with wearing the appropriate liturgical color). The cross is still dark. We haven’t started rejoicing yet. We haven’t laid Jesus in the tomb, even … [Read more...]

From my sermon on April 15, when the roads were iced over: After six months here, I thought it was time I took a vacation, so I went back to Washington, DC to stay with one of my best friends. It’s the city I moved to after I finished college and even after I moved to New Jersey for seminary and after I moved here to be with you all, it still feels like home. That Sunday morning, my friend and I … [Read more...]

It’s Lent, a season that will lead us on a journey to the cross. The colors change from ordinary green to a kingly but sombre purple. Lent is is a season to be uncomfortable, to face our own mortality and our complicity in the crucifixion. We remember that just a little bit ago, we rejoiced at the birth of our Savior, even though in not much longer, we will be the reason He is hung on a cross to … [Read more...]

Iiiiiiit’s Groundhog Day! Growing up, one of the movies that my brothers and I would watch over and over again was the 1993 comedy “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray. Bill Murray’s character gets stuck in a time loop so that every single day when he wakes up, it’s the exact same day as the day before and he’s the only person who remembers what’s going on. The Jeopardy answers are the same, … [Read more...]

From my sermon for the Community Thanksgiving Service-- I got a cat. I have never lived with a cat before, but Gingersnap is pretty cute, so I went from living by myself to having a very small roommate in the manse. Now, I did grow up with a dog, so my assumption was that I would play with the cat and then she’d get tired and jump up on my lap and cuddle and it would be super cute. But … [Read more...]

Once upon a time, I was raised alongside my two older brothers in an old Victorian house by the ocean. I always wanted to serve the church, but if ministry hadn’t worked out, I would have aspired to be a novelist, an editor of history books, or a princess. In middle school, I discovered CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien and made it a life goal to one day study in Oxford so that I could walk in their … [Read more...]