Lord, teach me. . . .

If your response is, “The parents should never have brought their children here illegally,” know this: I pray to God that you never have to flee violence or poverty or persecution with your children. And if the day comes that you must, and your babies are forcibly removed from your arms,  I will fight for you, too.  --Brené Brown Finding my voice. (You have one, too.) It can be so, so easy to just go along with the tide. Listen to the news, shake our heads in disbelief—and change the channel. Or change the narrative. Those aren’t our children. No more. What is happening at the southern border of the United States, and in Australia, and in Europe and elsewhere, is humanity at its most inhumane. As a pastor who professes to follow the way of the Christ, I cannot stand by in silence any longer. (I may have already waited too long.) This isn't about politics; this is about justice. This is about speaking up for those who have no voice. Taking children from their f

One of the most important gifts a parent can give a child  is the gift of accepting that child’s uniqueness. –Fred Rogers A little while back, I was wandering the hall of the church during our Free Lunch for All when one of our regulars, Pearl, showed up. Pearl is a devout young woman who usually attends with her helper, Maggie—but today, Pearl had a new friend with her. I went over, greeted Pearl, and introduced myself to her friend. I asked her friend her name. It’s nice to meet you, Pastor Heidi. I . . . am Unique. It just doesn’t get much better than that. I was without words for about three seconds. Then I smiled, welcomed her and told her I loved her name, how much fun it must be one’s whole life to get to tell people, every day: I . . . am Unique . And she is, too, with beautiful red braids, her own distinct sense of style, and a dazzling smile that warms the room. She’s one of the fortunate ones whose name reminds everyone she meets that she is sp

Treat your family like friends, and your friends like family. --Anonymous What an amazing experience! Yesterday, I joined my husband for lunch with the group from a local nursing home that he drives a bus for. Lunch was at PJ McIntyre’s—you guessed it, an Irish pub restaurant. The first woman I spoke with, Bridget, is one of the nursing home residents and has a delightful Irish brogue. It turns out she is the first cousin of Patrick (PJ) McIntyre. And today—well, today was a celebration! Family had come from several cities away to celebrate a granddaughter’s nineteenth birthday. Bridget introduced her to each one of us. We also met Bridget’s sister-in-law and other children and grandchildren. Truly, a delightful clan! As we ate our dinners, Bridget cruised around, checking on us. Was the food delicious? Did we need anything? (Our very pregnant server had a bit of a break!) Oh—and Patrick said everyone gets dessert—on the house! (Like we needed dessert. There was a

If organized religion has become less relevant, it’s not because churches have held fast to their creedal beliefs. It’s because they’ve held fast to their conventional structures, programs, roles and routines. –Gary Hamel “Organized religion” takes a lot of guff these days, doesn’t it? Between the Franklin Grahams and the Jerry Falwells of the world, small wonder any of us who are called to leading a church dare to get out of bed and show our faces most mornings. But we do. For me (and I think, for most people), the problem isn’t with the organized part. After all, we pay good money for the latest Marie Kondo book. We contract with closet designers to make room for all the extra shoes and clothes we don’t really need. We make sure our phone is connected to our watch and our computer, so we will always be where we need to be, right on time! Being organized is a vital part of modern life. But religion . That’s another thing. People talk about being spiritual but not re

Happiness is a choice. You can choose to be happy. There’s going to be stress in life,  but it’s your choice whether you let it affect you or not. –Valerie Bertinelli Recently a survey reportedly revealed that unmarried women without children live longer and are happier than any other demographic. Seriously? Of course, people began lining up on all sides, defending the study or attacking it vigorously. At the end of the day, I am sure in a month or so there will be another study that affirms, once and for all, that Charlie Brown had it right all along. Happiness is really a warm puppy. But the truth is, there is no single definition of happiness that everyone can subscribe to. Some people find happiness in that first hot cup of coffee every morning; me, I can’t drink the stuff, and if I did, I would probably burn my mouth. But that’s okay. Everyone’s definition of happiness doesn’t have to be the same. Just as everyone’s definition of love doesn’t have to b