Author: erika

How white is “the Street”?

Someone made a comment to me recently about how there are no white people in the Sesame Street DVD we have (this person is white). Not having realized that or noticed, I paid attention the next time around and saw that in fact there were white kids and adults present throughout, though they were by… Continue reading How white is “the Street”?

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Categorized as Culture

Perspective II

We just returned home to L.A. after twenty-five days of what, by comparison, now feels like a totally surreal life. Living lakefront for a week was certainly a highlight, however it is a bit of a heartbreak to watch my Mercy trying to reorient herself to her cement environment here. Spending time at the cabin… Continue reading Perspective II

Perspective

My Dad’s extended family shares a lake cabin outside of Spokane, Washington, where we are currently enjoying a paradise-like existence. Someone asked my cousin, Jenny, how it works to maintain a shared place like this. In her words: “when you see something that needs to be done you do it.” She said this after driving… Continue reading Perspective

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Categorized as Family

Literally

Two good Mercy stories from this trip: 1) The other night Mercy and I were engaged in our Seattle before-bed routine of lying on my old twin bed together, singing and talking. As we were lying there her stomach growled, a good long gurgly growl. I looked at her with big eyes and told her… Continue reading Literally

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Categorized as Family

Seattle Crack

So Doug and I decided that I was not allowed to go to the little coffee shop down Richmond Beach road while I am here in Seattle. They have the best lattes–even Doug thinks so. So much so that we went there three times last time we were up here. But I got to buy… Continue reading Seattle Crack

Missional?

I regularly read Scot McKnight’s blog, and this past week he profiled some discussion about the closure of Axis, an age-specific worship gathering within Willow Creek, the famous first megachurch in Chicagoland. This ministry began while I was a student in Chicago, and I remember friends talking a great deal about it. I also new… Continue reading Missional?

Visual aids

Our church meets in an elementary school, and there is little about our worship space that is visually appealing. It’s not that our space is unattractive, it’s just that it’s a school cafeteria. Many of us have a desire to incorporate visuals and art into our worship gatherings, and our sister church in Pasadena has… Continue reading Visual aids

At the feet…

I am one of those people who has always seen the early church as pictured in the Acts of the Apostles as romantic, winsome, irresistible. This idea that people would literally bring their possessions to the feet of an elder so that the needs of a fellow worshipper could be met runs so counter to… Continue reading At the feet…

Quotation of the Week

“Does George W. Bush have enough faith to keep America in God’s good grace? Perhaps. But we should join our faith with his.” From the TBN documentary, “George W. Bush: Faith in the White House”, that Doug stumbled upon last night. Anyone who knows my husband AT ALL can imagine the conversations that followed.