The street where we live is known for being the most crowded in the neighborhood: lots of people squished into lots of apartments, with lots of cars needing street parking. My sister won’t even come to my house in the evenings (she lived in this apartment before we did) because she says it is just… Continue reading Love thy neighbor (except when parking)…
Overrated
Okay, so tonight the novelty of mobility totally wore off. Somewhere between chasing down the kids to get shoes and socks on (after huffing and puffing and painfully contorting myself to put on my own), lugging the double stroller out from the back of the van while stuff crashed to the sidewalk, and doing my… Continue reading Overrated
Friday night friends
Doug and I recently passed the five year mark of living in L.A. The year before we moved here, we fell into a friendship with a married couple from the Midwest. It was a random set of circumstances that brought them to Portland for three months, the fall that Doug and I got engaged, and… Continue reading Friday night friends
Top ten
10. Walking into Mercy and Aaron’s room on Saturday morning and picking them up out of their beds. 9. Putting the toys away exactly the way I like them to be organized. 8. Doing laundry. 7. Dressing my kids. 6. Spending Saturday with best friends at the beach. 5. Going for a family walk down… Continue reading Top ten
Quotation of the Week
Today I’m really tired, because we’ve been having a heat wave in southern California, and we spent most of the day yesterday moving offices at work. So I’m just going to make some observations about this topic. Here’s what I observed: women helping the facilities guys move stuff. Women hauling carts piled high with stuff… Continue reading Quotation of the Week
Does it work?
This past week, I had the chance to read Scot McKnight’s newest book, A Community Called Atonement. It is an excellent book, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in grappling with what it means to be “saved” according to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The book is a theological discussion, but as… Continue reading Does it work?
Missional blood
“It’s easier to get people to give money than to give blood.” This was the quotation that caught my attention in Sunday’s L.A. Times. There was a large article about the significant blood shortage in L.A., and concern over the fact that it was a holiday weekend with an increased chance of traumas and injuries… Continue reading Missional blood
Heat wave
It was at some point on Sunday when I saw that the temperature in our bedroom (where Aaron takes his naps) was ninety-eight degrees that we realized that it was not a possibility for us to remain in our apartment for the afternoon. In desperation, I made a few phone calls to friends from church… Continue reading Heat wave
Tired
I was just talking to a good friend about the history of our church, and some of the reasons people have left our ministry over the years. There have been interpersonal conflicts, natural transitions (like marriage or geographic relocations), as well as I think what one blogger describes as “missional fatigue” (I can’t remember whose… Continue reading Tired
A time to mourn
I have a recurring dream that varies a bit each time but contains the essentials of shootings, gangs, and retaliation and my own personal endangerment by these things in my community. Not surprising, considering where we live, what we witness and hear about, and what we have cause to fear. When I have this dream,… Continue reading A time to mourn