Awkward Christian
When my friend Melissa asked the discussion question, I wanted to shrink into the floor. “What do you need to confess?” she said. There was a long silence while we all considered our answer. We were at IF:Gathering, or more specifically, at one of its 40,000 off-site streaming locations. Our conference center was Melissa’s living room, …
Really? You listened to a woman? for The Junia ProjectRead More
I didn’t want my seven-year-old to see the painting. A woman lies naked on her bed, her legs spread open, a baby birthing with all the blood and vagina you’d expect. The mother’s face is covered with a sheet like a corpse. The baby has emerged only up to her neck; her head lolls to …
The Unsettling Song of Our Pilgrimage for SheLoves MagazineRead More
A few months ago, I wrote a post that quoted Kathy Khang: ““But to find your voice can be dangerous because you have to choose things and take risks and speak.” Then I waxed poetic about her bravery, amazed that she might find it hard to use her voice. Kathy was kind enough to stop …
Dream your wildest dream: One Woman’s Yes with Kathy KhangRead More
I took Sarah Bessey’s little yellow firecracker of a book, Jesus Feminist, to worship a few months ago, hoping someone in my (not terribly conservative) church would ask me about it. Because Jesus Feminist is a book you want to have conversations about–a book that’s inviting, and warm, and a bold call for all of us …
“I have to know who I am.” One Woman’s Yes with Sarah BesseyRead More
I want the entire church to look down at its body and realize that large parts of it are missing. I want the church to cry out in anguish as it realizes its chronic, degenerative disease: the tender parts that were dishonored, cut off, ignored, mistreated. I want it to start caring—now! for the parts …
Calling myself a feminist keeps me honest. **** One of the biggest culture shocks I ever experienced (yes, it rivaled South America) was going to the Bible Belt for college at a small, secular university. When I visited the school before enrolling, I discovered that the broader campus culture was almost a reaction against the …
In Spanish, “Thanksgiving” is literally Thanksaction: Acción de gracias. I like how spirited that sounds. And today, I’m asking you to truly celebrate una acción de gracias. Please, contact your local Congressional representative, and ask them to do what they can to bring immigration reform to the House floor. Please. I attended Spanish-language church …
I read Christena Cleveland’s call to read blogs by people of color with a surge of chutzpah. “Absolutely,” I said to myself. “I just didn’t know where the people of color were blogging. I will get right on this.” Later that day, I added the twenty-odd bloggers to my feed reader. I felt proud. I …
When I started asking social justice activists questions, I thought I’d feel awful when I compared myself to them. If I talked with people who were walking the walk of serving the poor, of crossing cultural boundaries, of standing in the face of exploitation, of preaching reconciliation, I would be reminded over, and over at how …
“I’m waiting for us to get there,” my four-year-old told me. We were on the way to her second gymnastics class, the cars on the freeway breezing by us, the sky blue and adorned with soft wisps of clouds. We’d been in the car about two minutes. “I hear you, honey,” I told her from …
This post originally appeared at The Happiest Home. Not long after we moved into our house a few years ago, I panicked. Big time. What was making me hyperventilate? Cabinet shelves. (Yes. Super-important.) Bear with me here. We just bought a lovely house. Days before our move, I started cleaning out the kitchen. I knew …
Do you ever feel guilty about how homogenous your friends are? Do you avoid multicultural situations or conversations about race and ethnicity because you’re terrified of making a mistake? Do you wish you knew how to get over yourself and follow Christ’s lead as a reconciler? I’m learning a ton from Christena Cleveland’s wise posts on …
White and clueless about race? Here’s the secret to changing that. Well, the clueless part.Read More
When I was a new mom, a friend said something I’ve been mulling over ever since. “People over projects,” she said. We are both writers; she was speaking about finding work/life balance in the midst of the parenting storm. Projects were important, sure. Projects were great. But people needed to come first. I nodded. There in …
A while ago, I commiserated with a friend about how fearful we both were, growing up. Like me, the friend took years (or never attempted) to do all the “fun” kid stuff like riding a bike, swimming, watching horror movies, or going roller-skating. I bemoan this about myself on a regular basis. Like a lot …
For a long time, my approach to insomnia was to fight it. Oddly, engaging in battle while trying to sleep did not help things. I concocted careful rituals: Earplugs, of course, and also a face mask. A fan to drown out any remaining ambient noise. Breathing and counting. Shifting positions once, twice, ten times. A …
