The Christmas season brings many joys. It also brings a heightened awareness of those around us who struggle with finding joy in the midst of a season of excess and extravagance. We plan for parties and celebrations with people we cherish, thinking little of the expense of entertaining friends or feeding family. When I’m in

(Image of a Wonder Bread bag from a Folk Art Museum!)
I was always fascinated by the crinkle-crackle of the mat just inside Grandma’s back door. Crocheted in a circular pattern was yard upon yard of plastic bread bags. It was always fun to sit while tying my shoes and see if I could identify any

I love short sayings.  Our Vacation Bible School comes with three short imperatives:  Grow in Faith.  Have Fun.  Change the World.  That’s a great package and Nardin Park UMC has a great VBS team to help our youngest experience each element.
Our Kids at the Park week begins Monday morning.  I’m taking a break from my preparations

My traveling companion jokingly asked “Are we there yet?” as we made our way back from The Detroit Annual Conference held in Adrian last month.  We were both exhausted from four days of connecting with friends both old and new, eating, worshiping, walking, and drying ourselves and our stuff (Lenawee County received FIVE INCHES of

  We all do it.  We wonder, at one time or another, if we are in the right place doing the right thing.  Should I spend time with these friends or those?  Should I move my investments?  Should I change jobs?  Should I go back to school?  Should I choose this college or that one?  Should we get a dog

One of my church mothers used to sing “Count Your Blessings” all the time.  It’s an old hymn, usually reserved for Thanksgiving and old-time hymn sings.  It pops up and gets stuck in my head often.  Written by Johson Oatman, Jr. in 1897, it tells us to count what God is doing and reminds us that we will be