Recently I rode on a leaking bus for two hours in the pouring rain with 40 fourth graders. Our destination: Mission Santa Barbara. Our group finally landed in the Mission Church with a shell-shocked Franciscan, conscripted into service after the scheduled tour guides got trapped at home in the rain. Having no idea what theContinueContinue reading “Those Who Lie in Unmarked Graves”
Author Archives: jencoito
Dear Santa, take me with you
Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 24, 2023 “Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the LORD is with you.” 2 Samuel 7:3 Dear Santa, For Christmas, I made a list of what you should give to places that don’t have stuff that are life essentials. I am going to start with asking you toContinueContinue reading “Dear Santa, take me with you “
Remember the Dance
Second Sunday of Advent The prima ballerina entered from stage right and I felt the pricks of pain in my toe as if it were only yesterday. The silk of the ribbons around my ankles and the gentle friction of the tutu skirt on my legs were as real today as they were a lifetimeContinueContinue reading “Remember the Dance”
Podcast Episode: Loved As You Are
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vUe2jKnLrUnbPGbdxMgR5 Check out the awesome podcast “Loved As You Are” by fellow Into the Deep writer Gretchen Crowder. I was interviewed a few weeks ago on the topic of “Loved As You Are”… enjoy!
Tasting Courage
This post appeared in a series on “Consolation Beyond a Smile.” Read the whole series on the Into the Deep blog. I am not a very adventurous eater. As a lifelong vegetarian, my options are often limited from the start. In unfamiliar settings I wonder about hidden pork fat and disguised fish sauce …steakhouses andContinueContinue reading “Tasting Courage”
Just a few extras
This post appeared in a series on “The Need is the Call” responding to the question: What if I can’t find a way to use my gifts? When I dump out the 500 pieces of a new puzzle, the colors and shapes all jumble together. All the pieces are there but the picture those piecesContinueContinue reading “Just a few extras”
A Flower That Doesn’t Die
The Passion was not just a symbolic grief this year. We lost my grandmother on Tuesday of Holy Week. Her feisty spirit didn’t always make her the easiest person to get along with. Despite my grudges or issues with her, my children loved her just as she was. Their memories are of the fizzy drinksContinueContinue reading “A Flower That Doesn’t Die”
When It Rains, It Pours
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” – Matthew 5:17-18 I surveyed theContinueContinue reading “When It Rains, It Pours”
Failing at Flossing… and Other Exercises in Humility
Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent There are very few degrees of shame that surpass a parent at the pediatric dentist office. Of course we brush twice a day, flossing on the other hand…. I know they need more help but some mornings we barely make it out of the house with both shoesContinueContinue reading “Failing at Flossing… and Other Exercises in Humility”
Warts and All
Thursday in the First Week of Lent “On the day I cried out, you answered; you strengthened my spirit.” Psalm 138:3 “When I wake up in the morning, maybe God will have taken all my warts away.” My six-year-old Clare has had this same prayer for months. Every few days she repeats her hopeful plea,ContinueContinue reading “Warts and All”
