Category Archives: Uncategorized

Part of the Series “Hope Carried to Others” on the Into the Deep Blog. Santa is not the only one making a list and checking it twice as Christmas approaches. I have a Christmas card list, and an elaborate spreadsheet of gifts to purchase, ship, or wrap. Each of my kids has extensive wish listsContinueContinue reading “Making a List, Checking it Twice “

The past few months have been filled with unexpected, everyday “emergencies”: a very sick dog, a bunny with a broken tooth, new brakes for the car (front and back), a minor concussion for one kid and major dental work for another. I have nothing to show for my summer: no exotic cruise, no bathroom remodel,ContinueContinue reading “Wretched Food… An Invitation to Hope? “

Saturday, September 20 Reading:  Luke 8:4-15 When a large crowd was gathering, as people were coming to him from town after town, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed some fell on a path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ateContinueContinue reading “Bee Stings and God’s Abundance”

Readings: Matthew 18:1-5, 10At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enterContinueContinue reading “Before the Altar”

Cut, snip, crop, paste, decoupage.  I cannot count the number of projects in school and helping with retreats where the prompt was “All About Me” and the task was to cut and paste from a pile of discarded magazines and newspapers. In the 90s, every household seemed to have subscriptions to TV Guide, National Geographic,ContinueContinue reading “Bits & Pieces”

Reading: Lk 9:1-6 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, noContinueContinue reading “Doesn’t Quite Fit”

Reading: 1 Cor 12:31-13:13 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathomContinueContinue reading “Love is…”

Reading: Luke 6:20-26 Looking at his disciples, he said:Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and rejectContinueContinue reading “Meek and Humble”

Decorating for Christmas with three children is not the idyllic scene you see portrayed in the Hallmark Channel movies. The festive tunes playing in the background were interspersed with  fights over who got to hang the next ornament, the positioning of the nativity figures, and the shattering of Christmas dishes as the toddler decided to unpack that box. Between the cleaning, unpacking, decorating, and reboxing the wrappings, Christmas decorating was an all day affair. I look around and the ornaments are heavily clustered in the 6-year-old eye level area of the tree. Our nativities have Nutcrackers and Santa Pez mixed in with them. No one is going to submit my living room for any prizes or visit it on a holiday home tour.

What makes you real?  Our third grader got this question wrong on his Velveteen Rabbit quiz last week, which prompted me to look up the childhood classic as we prepared for the end of book test. What makes you real? According to the wise old rocking horse in The Velveteen Rabbit: “Real… is a thingContinueContinue reading “What Makes You Real?”