Celebrating July 12th!

Happy 7 Month Anniversary!! (and Happy Almost Valentine's Day!)    "Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that ."(Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG) " Watch what God does. " I sat with that phrase for a while and out of the waiting came that famous line from the Gospel of John:  God so loves the world . God loves the world, every blade of grass, every hidden aquifer, every grunt and squeal of creatures, every swirl of snow, every life on Flight 752, every heron sweeping low over the waters, every kid who goes to sleep worried about something, every hunk of bread and glass of wine, every polluted lake, every burning bush, every lullaby that we sing. All of it, all o...

  And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. —1 Corinthians 13.13 Loving is always risky, because we cannot enter into it without being changed. Altered. Transformed. In the face of this, we might well ask,  Do I really want this?  Do we really desire to be so undone? Loving is never just about opening our heart. It is about being willing to have our heart become larger as we make room for people and stories and experiences we never imagined holding. It is about being willing to have our heart become deeper as we move beyond the surface layers of our assumptions, prejudices, and habits in order to truly see and receive what—and who—is before us. It is about being willing to have our heart continually shattered and remade as we take in not only the brokenness of the world but also the beauty of it, the astounding wonder that will not allow us to remain the same. Blessing That Meets You in Love It is true that every blessing begins ...

  HAPPY 5 MONTH ANNIVERSARY TO YOU BOTH!  and cheers to your first Christmas together just around the corner! Christmas time can be magical, but it is also a VERY busy time of year that can bring a lot of stress (the push to holiday break/stress of finals is real for all of the students you are coming alongside). As I was reflecting on Matthew 3:1-12 last week, I wrote this reflection below.... May you experience the gift of Emmanuel wherever you find yourself this season... and may you keep turning towards one another and to God through it all.  Advent is the season to hear John calling out— Repent. Change your thinking. Turn around. Come home to God. He says,  “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Not just words, but a life that tastes like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control— fruit that brings shalom in the brokenness of our world.  Jesus, we need you to come— to sweep the corners, clear the decks, till the soil, so that th...

  Dear Katelyn and Phillip,  A message appeared on my phone Monday afternoon from my friend whom I met working at Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp in 1991 (the summer after my freshman year in college) which is a lot like JH Ranch. I was delighted to see his name on my phone, but when I called him back, his voice was somber. He said he wished he was calling with good news, but he was calling because our beloved friend Ron had died of a sudden heart attack Sunday evening when he was going for a run. While I have not seen Ron in a number of years, we still texted and emailed every so often. This is a text I got in the spring of 2024 that is especially poignant in this moment:  Every so often I enjoy a late afternoon latte on a chilly MN afternoon. The added dose of espresso provides good closure to any given day with some complimentary energy towards the evening ahead.   This week, while ordering a latte at one of my local favorite gathering spots, I uncharacteristical...

  Katelyn and Phillip- This is a Nike ad that I remember from the early nineties.... The last part (act) is one of my all-time favorites... Hope this makes you smile today on your three-month anniversary. CHEERS TO 132,480 minutes of marriage together!  Hope you love it and get goosebumps from it just like I do. Falling in Love in Six Acts A passion play (Or what happens when you fall down that long well of passion over a person, a place, a sport, a game, a belief, and your heart goes boom and your mind leaves town.) Act I LUST (I think I love you. Who are you anyway?) Here it is, the big “wow,” the big “gee,” the big “yesyesyes” you’ve been waiting for. This is where you find  something  or someone and believe they are better, greater, cuter, wiser, more wonderful than anything you have ever known. Lust isn’t a sin, it’s a necessity, for with lust as our guide we imagine our bodies moving the way our bodies were meant to move: we can do marathons with our feet,...

  HAPPY 2 MONTH ANNIVERSARY TODAY!  photo of Taylor on an amazing hike we did in early September with the quote that I keep turning over and over in my mind as our summer came to an end...  a few reflections I put together after the hike pictured above that I hope resonates with you both... May you have a moment of gratitude for the wonder and wildness that you all get to do life together.  A Morning Blessing  Today is new, O God. Sometimes life flashes before me, and I wake to the gift that  this  day is. I realize—I get to be here. I get to be in the chores, in the errands, in the ordinary unfolding of hours. And I notice— the colors, the air, the sheer grace of being alive. “This is the day that the Lord has made.” If You made this day, if you intended me to wake up into it, then there is purpose already here. Thank You for the gift of this new day— for bringing me safely through the night, for bringing  us  safely to this moment. Help me ...