When it comes to "what to say" and "what not to say" to someone who is grieving, I have come to learn that prepositions matter. And so do adverbs. American author, Nora McInerny's husband, Aaron, died of cancer in 2014.…
I will always remember the first birthday card my new mother-in-law gave to me as her daughter-in-law. I don't remember the card itself, or the message written in it. Rather, I remember the envelope and the names she wrote on…
This Sunday afternoon, I will be officiating the wedding of a young woman in my congregation. Given that she is a philosopher and a linguist, studying for her PhD at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto, I wasn't surprised…
Note: If a film in which two socially awkward men make up paddleball games, do jigsaw puzzles, watch kung-fu movies, and face a terminal diagnosis, appeals to you, then bookmark this post, go watch the movie, Paddleton, on Netflix, and…
A number of months ago, I wrote a reflection on being written into the story, inspired by Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee's dialogue in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers. They had paused mid-mission to wonder "what sort of tale" they…
"Is this just going to keep happening?" my seven year old daughter asked. Her voice caught in her throat. Her eyes were tired from crying. She had had a hard day at school. "Is this just going to keep happening…
I've seen this meme pop up on Facebook a few times in the last bit and it's gotten some good traction: "It's not about how tired you are. It's about how tired you're making everyone else." - My husband explaining…
Although my voice sometimes catches in my throat during the funerals I officiate, I rarely shed tears. The tissue box at the pulpit is more there for the bereaved family members who come up to speak about their loved one.…
A week and a half ago, our family adopted a puppy from the Kingston Humane Society. Nevada is a three month old Siberian Husky mix and we love her. And just as we anticipated, she's turned our lives inside out and…
In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt, they arrived at the Desert of Sinai and camped in front of the mountain. Before God gave them the Ten Words, Moses did a lot of running up and down the…
