Spice of Life

 I grew up in church and as I've talked about before, the older I get the more I realize I don't know (and it's okay).  Lately I've been thinking about how there are a few things in the Christian faith that are actually very mysterious.  For example, the concept of the Trinity: three beings in one, is something I will never fully understand in my limited human brain.  The idea of Jesus walking on earth as a man that a woman gave birth to, son of God and on some other level, God...mysterious.  For me, it's okay that I don't understand these things fully, I still believe them.   The mystery that I've been wrestling with is the idea that I was created in the image of God, you could say, "a divine being" because I bear the image of the Divine...but that I am also a sinful person.  I have matured enough in my faith that I can hold these two things at once and know that it's yet another mystery.  However, growing up in the church and being taught t...

When Jesus was on earth His focus was on the outcast and marginalized, who at that time were women, lepers, tax collectors (to name a few).  I now believe in my heart that if Jesus were here now, that group of people that he spent most of his time with, that he welcomed into His inner circle, that He saw as beings created in God's beautiful image, would include the LGBTQ community.  Those who continue to be shunned, outcast, misunderstood and hated by so many BELONG at the table.   I am ashamed to say that when I was growing up I was in the camp of people who were angry that the rainbow had been "co-opted" by the gay community, but that was before I knew how to think for myself.  Today when I see rainbow flags or t-shirts, I am reminded that God's promises belong to ALL of us and that we were all created in the beautiful image of God, which is so much more mysterious than we will ever understand. There are some changes happening in the CRC denomination and a cle...

Lately I have been contemplating the seasons of motherhood.  Early on when they were newborns (and of course the first experience was much different than the fourth), I was exhausted and at times nearing insanity.  I was the food source and the comfort source and didn't have "me time", that was definitely not a thing.  At the same time, I was overwhelmed with how much love I felt for these tiny humans.  As they grew into toddlers and started to exert their independence and develop their personalities...I was "tested" you could say.  During this stage I began to see how much they were teaching me and how much I still had to learn about being a functioning, healthy parent.  When I was at home with the kids 24/7, I often took that time for granted.  Now that I am working outside the home, I love my job but I also find myself drinking my coffee in the morning before work just staring at the face of my 3 year old. As my third child got older I started to se...