About twenty years ago, as our daughters were becoming adults, I began using a parting mantra that was new to me. Instead of a simple “Good-bye” or “I love you” or “Be good,” I began to say, “Take care of…
Wedding toast
Julie and Tom come from parents and families that have been good examples to them for almost three decades. I am grateful that their success in marriage does not depend on one of us giving a brilliant toast on this…
Parenting cheat notes for a great school year
By Jinny Henson If not already, pretty soon the sun screen-shined SUV seats will be covered in permission slips, after-school snacks and random articles of clothing shucked en route to after school activities. The Road-Pro 12-Volt Slow Cooker you plug…
My wife and I are partners
When it comes to changing diapers, I wish my wife and I weren’t egalitarian, but we are. Our marriage is an equal partnership. We listen for God’s guidance together and apart. We communicate our needs and express our desires openly….
Reflections on the rising student debt: A Latina Christian perspective
Recently I was reminded through different conversations about the issue of student debt. The first two conversations were related to ministerial students (bachelor’s and master’s levels) who are acquiring significant debt to obtain an education. The concern relates to the…
Life outside the fence
We humans don’t like living outside our comfort zone. We like familiar surroundings, familiar faces, and predictable routines. I’m just the same though to most folks it might look like my husband and I are already living outside of our…
Grieving summer: a Havdalah
For many people, summer is a type of Sabbath: a slower pace; vacation; more interaction with neighbors as the warm weather invites people outside; a deliberate pause between academic years. Even people whose lives do not operate solely on an…
spare your face the razor
*Author’s Note: For maximum poignancy, please listen to The Oh Hello’s The Truth is a Cave repeatedly whilst reading. You’ll thank me later. A few mornings ago, as I stood staring groggily into the poorly complected face stubbornly greeting me each…
Now that we have eliminated evangelism, let’s work on eliminating evangelical
In some moderate to progressive denominations it is all about the “E” word. Either these denominations vilify certain “E” words and seek to eliminate them from the proactive movement of the denomination, or they are embrace more deeply certain “E”…
Soccer vs. church? Wrong question!
This year our family begins a new chapter…travel soccer. I am officially becoming one of those parents that I used to lament as a youth minister. “These parents are more committed to soccer than the spiritual formation of their daughter.”…
In + Out: a few thoughts on breathing
Some time ago, thanks mostly to the Comcast home page usually concerning itself with tracking the intricate and myriad movements of the Kardashians, I came across an article ranking the “most stressed out” countries in the world. In the study…
Are you opening — or closing — your children’s hearts?
There are only two ways to raise your children: you either shut them down or you open them up. If you shut them down you raise them in a zero-sum world of winners and losers. You teach them that the…