Dear Child of Mine, First you should know that you helped me in writing my Tuesday night message for the young teen camp at Somerset Beach. Thanks for listening. I was their speaker for the week (me?!?) and had nine messages to prepare. I have never had trouble with public speaking, but the topic-choosing, pick a […]
True Sabbath
Child, I’ve been a Jesus follower almost as long as I can remember. Sunday church is as much a part of me as sleeping or eating. I’ve known that one of the Ten Commandments is Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Exodus 20:8 Yet, I confess, I am only now beginning to understand […]
The First Sunday
Dear Child of Ours, Sunday, June 29th, 2014 was your Daddy’s first week in the pulpit as Senior Pastor of Monroe Free Methodist Church. We spent the week preparing the sanctuary, arranging volunteers, setting the worship order, and praying. Wednesday morning was our first church event and we saw many former friends at prayer meeting. […]
So Many Graces
There is a line from a song* that resonates in my spirit, speaking truth into my weary soul – Your grace abounds in deepest waters. Child, this is the beautiful, broken truth of my life right now – wherever I am, God goes ahead. His grace is in the midst of heartbreak and fear, […]
Where To?
Dear Child of Mine, We are really looking forward to you joining us in this next stage of our lives. The past 10 years of have been full of transitions. I graduated from high school and moved out of the only home I’d ever known to attend college in Spring Arbor, Michigan. During the summers, […]
My Multitude of Children
Seeing as how it’s Mother’s Day, I thought I would share some pictures of the children God has blessed me with over the past 5 years. Though I may not yet (or ever) have biological children of my own, my life is rich, filled with dozens of kids who become an integral part of my […]
The Husband of a Runner
If you’ve read the updated version of the blog’s “About K & M” page, you will know two facts – a) I am a runner. b) Kevin is not. Despite my greatest wishes. For as long as we’ve been a couple (going on nine years!), one of my biggest hopes is that Kevin would become […]
Bringing “Hostess” to a Different Level
Sometimes I feel like I’m not really an adult because 90% of my life is spent with teenagers. And quite frankly, dear friends, I love it that way. It’s hard not to compare my life to other adult friends, to see how many real-live-grown-ups they have over for dinner on a regular basis. I convince […]
Dare2Share 2013 | the Follow Tour
In April 2009, I co-lead my first youth group trip (ever) to Dare2Share along with Pastor Dale. We took 7 kids all the way to Chicago. February 2010, Kevin and I lead our second group to D2S, this time in Columbus, OH. And in February 2011, we took our largest group ever (21 teens and […]
Tears of Passion
Have you ever been so invested in something you’ve been brought to tears during part of the process? That’s what happened to me during the teen Sunday School class I co-lead. Yes, it was embarrassing, but it managed to be simultaneously empowering. I felt freed up to be myself, to be passionate, to be so deeply […]