Just a Cup

Years ago, when I was pastoring, we had a tradition we called Hugs and Love. We would always start off with a reminder about how God loves us just as we are. Then we would greet each other and tell each other that God loved us just as we were. I remember the first time I opened this tradition as if it were yesterday. I talked about how we were like coffee cups. When you first go to the store to purchase a cup, it is smooth and clean inside. However, over time and use, there are stains which build up and tiny little cracks that sometimes appear and yet we still go back to that cup time after time and accept it just as it is.

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Wait!

It is no secret, to those of you who read my reflections on a regular basis, that I am a Chopped fan. I am not sure I have missed an episode since it first aired. I have learned a lot about cooking from watching the show in terms of techniques and flavor profiles and combinations. However, one of the recent episodes moved me to tears and touched me spiritually in a way that I was not expecting. It all happened with a single word. WAIT! This episode, like a few of the others, was a redemption battle between four chefs who had come in second in their initial competitions. I remember each of them well. However, from the beginning, I had my two favorites Yohanna and Lance. I had remembered them from their initial appearances because of their humility, their grace, and their creativity.
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Grace in Community

Those of you who know me personally know that I should have stock in some tissue company because it takes so little to bring tears to my eyes. While there have been days in my life I have cried because I was angry and days I have cried because I was sad, the past year and a half or so, I have most cried for two reasons. One is when my body has been in pain, which fortunately has not been very often. The other, is that my cup is overflowing with experiencing the Creator’s love. One of the situations which always leaves me feeling humbled is when I am blessed with the experience of grace in community. It is that kind of moment like January 1, 2000. It seemed like that day everyone was in love with each other.
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Your Tire Is On How?

One of the things I suggest people do is to maintain a gratitude journal. It is something I do on a daily basis. I write down five things every day that I am grateful for and they can not be the same things I was grateful for the day before. Sometimes I write them down throughout the day as I find myself being grateful and other times, like today, they come at the end of the day when I have time to just sit and reflect. Usually, they are things that I am aware of. Things that I know the Creator has done in my life. Like a friend who calls just when you need to hear their voice or the way you can feel loved when your cat curls up on your shoulder and purrs. But sometimes, I am reminded of how the Creator is working in my life when I am not even aware of it
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