Have you ever wondered why God didn’t announce that Jesus rose from the dead with a multitude of angels in the sky, like he did for when he was born? I mean, it’s kind of a big deal. No. God kept it small on Easter morning. He told one person. A woman at that. A […]
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Out of Place Series – Brittany’s Story I am not the same. I do things differently. I used to look around and try to figure out why. I tried to fit in. I wanted to fit in, but it never worked for me. I was always a little out of place. I had been brainwashed […]
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I’ve heard Christians talk about this time of self-quarantine as a Sabbath, and though I believe this sentiment is well-intentioned, there are many reasons to make it impossible to think of it as such. The Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments: Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor […]
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Out of Place Series: Jenny Lynne’s Story At the check-in desk, my escort to the administration offices asked why I was visiting the building. I told him I was there for an interview for the for the position of “Outreach Coordinator.” He gave me a quick once over and asked, “You done a lot of […]
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In the spring of 2000, I sat with fifteen of my classmates in our twelfth grade Church History class, listening to Mr. Jones talk about early Christian monks. As we learned more about the monastic traditions of our desert fathers and mothers, he mentioned offhandedly how interesting it might be to try and live as […]
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It seems that our world has changed overnight, and we are now living in an alternate reality. Schools, churches, and businesses have closed for an indeterminate amount of time. Everything is uncertain, causing widespread anxiety. We are facing a crisis that no living being has encountered before and we grope in the dark, trying to […]
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Back in the olden days, you wore black to show you were in mourning over a lost loved one. These days, there is no signifier we wear to show the world we are grieving. We may disappear from the public arena for a while but eventually, we need groceries, and to earn a paycheck, and […]
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Desert plants thrive in the desert. Tropical plants thrive in the tropics. Wildflowers thrive in the forest. But have you ever felt like a palm tree among pines? A bird of paradise among roses? Have you ever been transplanted to foreign soil, unsure if your roots will ever grow deep enough for you to thrive? […]
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Earlier this month, I drove 95 miles to a speaking engagement up in Orange County. I plugged my phone into my car’s stereo system and listened to a podcast with the occasional interruption from Google Maps. Eighty miles into my road trip and I pressed the “OFF” button on the car radio. I needed space […]
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Growing up as a missionary kid in France had its perks, and the local bakery (or boulangerie) was one of them. In the front counter space of our nearest boulangerie were pastries of all sorts—elegant creations low on sugar and high on butter. Bins lining the wall boasted candy you could purchase by the gram—my […]
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Sarah K. Butterfield 