Every year, I’m excited for Advent, but I always get caught up in the busyness of the holidays, and by the time I catch my breath, the season has come and gone. I want to do something a little different this year that forces me to meditate on the four themes of Advent: hope, peace, joy, and love. I'm thrilled to announce I will be writing and publishing a series of short stories during Advent, focusing on these key themes. What Is Advent? Advent is a season observed by most C

Every single day, my husband eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. He assembles it the night before and packs it in his...

Fourteen Protestants—twelve of us lifelong Lutherans—filed into the back rows of the Cathedral of St. Helena for Sunday morning mass. ...

This week, I asked my good friend and fellow writer, Hadley, to guest blog for me. I'm currently on vacation, and she was kind enough to...

Nothing moves me the way organ music does.  On Sunday, I had the privilege of hearing one of the last songs of the great Schantz pipe...

I grew up in a three-dog household. My dad trained Nelly, our first dog—a purebread yellow Labrador retriever. The other two, Nikki and...

Last weekend, I attended the eighth annual Interfaith Outreach Association Historic Church Open House, one of the most joyful and...

Christian mystery author, speaker, and retired pastor David N. Clay is a member of my local writers group. I came to know him through his...

Heat rolled up from the pavement in shimmering waves, distorting everything across the intersection. We waited at the red light in my...

In college, I studied the dying science of print journalism. I’ve always been a self-starter and a go-getter, but journalism school...

My childhood home was a big, yellow farmhouse with a picket fence. I slept in a blush-pink room with a dormer that overlooked the front...

When I was a child, I used to think about things until my head hurt. What existed before time? How far does space extend? How can God...

I often ask God to reveal himself to me in obvious ways. Maybe I’m weak of faith, or maybe I’m just an experiential learner, but I don’t...

I’ve been reading a book over the past couple of months called Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton. It’s a 10-chapter...

My small group leader tasked our group with writing out God’s story in 300 words or less. I really struggled with this writing...

I attended evening prayer at a historic Episcopal church last week. Up to that point, I’d only attended protestant evangelical churches...

Yesterday, I attended an organ recital at the Methodist church downtown. The building has been standing for more than 100 years. Its...