Soul Munchies

This is one of those books that captured me from page one. Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, it highlights what life was like for whites and blacks, and their relationships between each other, during that time. It’s beautifully written in the first person – which makes for fun reading, especially out loud. The characters  [ Read More ]

Almost exactly 4 weeks ago, I was sitting in my office talking with an incredible group of youth when I received a frantic phone call from my baby sister. My aunt was being helicoptered to Atlanta because of a severe illness and the doctors weren’t sure what was wrong with her. Her heart rate had  [ Read More ]

Where are all my virtual book club members?! I know you’ve been anxiously awaiting the announcement of the next book. We’ll next tackle The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. Written as a fictional allegory, the Pilgrim’s Progress is the story of the main character’s (Christian) earnest and impassioned search for salvation. After a book like  [ Read More ]

One of the greatest treasures in the world may be used bookstores. In a little town called Baraboo I discovered the Village Booksmith. From the moment I walked in, I knew I had fallen in love. Run by beautiful golden retriever, it was full and full of books. Now I’ve been to bookstores before –  [ Read More ]

Today, Kevin & Taylor in the morning on the Fish asked people to call in and share the following: “My life would be more simple if _______.” Here are a couple of my answers. I didn’t have a cell phone. I wasn’t a Facebook junkie. I had a secretary all to myself to help me  [ Read More ]

When we began this project, we had no idea there was a “National Simplify Your Life Week”!  Apparently it’s been around for several years – when I searched for it today I found this article from 2006!  Then I came across these more recent articles: Simplify Your Life This Week – From About.com, this one  [ Read More ]

For some time now I’ve been struggling with this question. It seems like for all of my young adult life, I’ve been searching for true Christian community. I’m not sure I even knew what I was searching for or what the words “Christian community” meant, but recently I’ve discovered that’s what I’ve been longing for.  [ Read More ]

D & I are now the proud sponsors of not just one Compassion child, but TWO. That’s right. We fell so in love with Jose at first sight that we decided to Sponsor Amiru too. Amiru is 3 and is from Ethiopia, and we are already completely in love with him as well. Being new  [ Read More ]

D and I had the joy of spending last week in downtown Knoxville with 20 youth and 1 other adult from our own congregation as well as youth and adults from St. John’s Lutheran Church, Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church, and Christ the King Lutheran Church for WOW 2010.  As part of WOW, we stay  [ Read More ]

Some time ago I featured Heatherlyn during a Music Monday post. She and her husband Jason may be one of my greatest inspirations for living simply and for following my wildest dreams. They “get it” – that life is not about what you own or where you go, but instead life is about being the  [ Read More ]

As I listened to this song a few weeks ago, I heard something different than I ever had before. If I had the chance to ask Michael Jackson what he meant by this song, I think he would say he hoped it would remind us of just how broken we all are. And maybe he  [ Read More ]

It’s been chaotic and busy here in Knoxville, so I apologize for the delay in this post!  This song is one that has always been near and dear to my heart.  Yesterday our Bible study surrounded this song – we talked about the importance of uniting with one another in the midst of our differences  [ Read More ]