Messages

Christmas comes with all the feels. When I was eight, I opened all my presents, went upstairs, and crashed on the couch. My mom concerned that I was pouting for not receiving an unnamed gift that morning provided a rousing verbal reminder of the true meaning of the season. In response, I threw up. We all handle […]

I’m not sure how many times I’ve driven past Arapahoe High School without noticing that their mascot was an American Indian Warrior. Too many to count because I only saw it two weeks ago, and the only reason I noticed was that Fiona pointed it out to me.  Of course, I had a lot to […]

I am the worst version of myself when nothing goes as planned.  Usually, things do not go as planned. The frequency of these disruptions stems from the inconvenient reality that plans are dependent on specific circumstances beyond my control. This lack of control causes me a substantial amount of anxiety. This anxiety results in creating a […]

We were paddleboarding at Cherry Creek State Park on a Sunday. Fiona and I arrived before the parking lot was full. Before the reservoir was busy with motors and speckled with inflated boards. We laid claim to a small slice of the shore with a blanket, pumped up our paddleboard, and glided out onto this murky, settled substitute for the […]

It dawned on me the other day while I was walking. Faith isn’t believing things will turn out the way I want them to turn out. Faith is knowing I don’t know how things are going to turn out and doing them anyway. Put more plainly, faith isn’t trusting that God will reward my good […]

November is a time of celebrating the memorable moments of this year while casting new visions for where we hope to go in the year to come. Non-profit Executive Directors complete this task through video, email, newsletter, and end-of-the-year giving campaigns. Pastors do this in a sermon. Based on scripture. In under twenty minutes. For […]

I am not a vegan but I wish I was.  There are many injustices in our food systems that could be corrected by eliminating animal products from the human diet but for me, veganism is a response to an unjust system reliant on the suffering of animals. Years ago, Fiona and I sat through a […]

July 3rd to be exact. Since I last typed up and sent out a message.  I could say I have been busy. Because I have. I could say I have been overwhelmed. Because it would be true. I could say what Jessica said in her introduction to the wander this morning…that sometimes we are too worn […]

Inspired by Micah 2: 1-5I’m not sure if it should make me feel better or worse that the issues dooming the community in Micah are the same issues plaguing our contemporary society. Both in the ancient Israelite community and in contemporary American society, land represents the promise of survival and sustainability. Both in the ancient Israelite […]

For the past year and a half, I have regularly used the word “conservation” when referring to our community’s relationship with these ten acres of shortgrass prairie. While conservation has not required that The Land remains unchanged, it has created space to understand the pricelessness of The Land we would be conserving. As a practice, […]