One of my responsibilities as part of my new job as Director of Children and Family Ministry is to teach preschool chapel once a month. Like many churches, we have a thriving preschool on our campus and it’s a delight to see all those 3- and 4-year-olds gathered together in a squirmy mob on chapel […]
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Our sphere of control is comically small: this is what we all learned in the early months of the pandemic. As we bumped up into our new reality—not knowing how long quarantine would last, being unable to make plans for the future, feeling the stress of uncertainty every day—we faced our own extreme limitations. During […]
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Last year was my first time observing Lent by “giving something up.” Throughout the years, I was vaguely aware that Christians from other denominations participated in some sort of fasting during the 40 days that led up to Easter. I always thought this was strange and unnecessarily hard: why wouldn’t everyone just skip to the […]
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When we lived in the south of France during my junior-high years, we had a cherry tree in our small backyard. Our house shared walls with a row of houses on a busy street near the edge of town. My parents had chosen to rent this house for all the space it afforded us: three […]
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My French is rusty. It pains me to admit this, because I have a lot of pride about growing up bilingual as a missionary kid. My family moved from California to France when I was seven. We attended language school for a year, and then I was dropped into French public school for the rest […]
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Maybe you’ve seen it. Maybe you’ve seen it so many times, you have the scene memorized: Buddy the Elf, played by Will Ferrel, is beyond excited that Santa will be coming to the department store. But when Santa arrives and invites a boy onto his lap, Buddy senses that something is amiss. He gets right […]
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The house was quiet. I was sitting on the couch, wrapped up in my favorite blanket, with a book on my lap and a scented candle flickering by the window. I took a sip of my tea, and thought: this is a sacred moment. But was it? Because on the heels of that thought came […]
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When we lived in Texas, a hail storm passed through our neighborhood leaving behind baseball-sized chunks of ice and a lot of damage in its wake. We watched the hail bounce in our backyard from the safety of our house, grateful we had heeded the weather warning and brought our cars into the garage. When […]
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It’s becoming a familiar, but unwelcome feeling: my body in one place and my mind in another. Even as I grow aware of it, I struggle to return my attention to the moment—to be wholeheartedly present. Just last month, I met up with a friend for a walk. After an hour or so, we circled […]
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One bright morning, I laced up my shoes and went for a walk in the hopes of escaping our noisy household. I meandered up the hill into a neighborhood, past houses with million-dollar views of our San Diego beaches. I passed by fragrant natal plum bushes, clusters of succulents lining the sidewalks, and palm trees […]
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Sarah K. Butterfield 