Author: erika

Changed

This past weekend, my alma mater granted two honorary doctorate degrees at their commencement ceremony. When I saw the recipients of these awards, I smiled. Ivor Jenkins, a South African anti-apartheid activist, was the point-person for a study tour I took of that country months before the first free election in 1994. He guided us… Continue reading Changed

Not feeling it

The helicopters and sirens have been going all morning. I am aware of the ways this makes me edgy, in general, with my kids. As my anxiety increases, my patience shortens. I don’t think the solution is to just ignore and pretend there is nothing the matter with the fact that police and emergency vehicles… Continue reading Not feeling it

Mother’s Day highlights

Singing Happy Mother’s Day to Grammy, Grammaline and Lauren (who is visiting her family in Hookem, Texas) over the phone. Preaching at Church of the Redeemer. Letting the kids eat way too many sweets at the church brunch. Taking a long nap with Mercy after church (well, I slept at least!) Crunchy-lunch-dinner at California Pizza… Continue reading Mother’s Day highlights

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Categorized as Family

Quotation of the Week

Faith is not a reasonable act which fits into the normal scheme of life and perception. The promise of the gospel is not a conventional piece of wisdom that is easily accommodated to everything else. Embrace of this gospel requires shattering and discontinuity. From Genesis, by Walter Brueggemann

Sunday’s Grammar

John, an old friend of mine in love with the Old Testament, is often heard saying of the Psalms: “God is glorified even in the grammar.” What exactly is he saying? Grammar, according to Merriam Webster, is “the study of the classes of words, their inflections, and their functions and relations in a sentence; a… Continue reading Sunday’s Grammar

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Categorized as Douglas

Too few

I saw my brother last weekend, and he told me that thirty-two people had been shot in a single weekend in Chicago. Due to the dramatic number of shootings in such a short amount of time, the shootings received significant media attention. The reality is, had only a handful occurred, it is likely that no… Continue reading Too few

Another David Cook fan is born

“He sings so…..so…..so…..singing!” From Aaron, near speechless, while catching a few moments of American Idol tonight.

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Categorized as Family

A good conversation

This past week, Doug wrote a guest post here that received extensive comments resulting in a quality dialogue about the identity of the church. I thought I would post a few excerpts here: I think the concept of outreach versus inreach itself strikes a dissonant chord in me. When I read through the gospels, I… Continue reading A good conversation