Flourishing!

"The Laying On of Hands" - my favorite part of the service! In 1998, I took a position as the middle school youth director in an über suburban town called Wayne and served a Presbyterian Church with a name that was the same. I had good memories of that time in my life. Youth mission trips. My wedding. Figuring out the call to attend seminary. Reluctantly saying yes to attending Princeton Sem (of all places). It is almost ten years ago from the day I left this place. And now I'm back. But in a different way. New pastors. Many of the same families. Same old love and support that I remember so well. If my life were a movie, my youth minstry days would have been a forshadowing of this moment. The Lord took me around the world and back to be able to serve the place that nurtured me as a young adult and as a new Presbyterian. So today is kind of awesome. I get to renew my vows as a teaching elder. I get to say yes, again, to serve in new and exciting ways. I get to sh...

So, it's that time of the year again. Christians all over the world have gotten through the sights and sounds of Ash Wednesday. And now its time to put into practice 40 DAYS dedicated to giving something up. Why? Because we want to get our minds around the idea of sacrifice. We want a tangible way to remember the sacrifice Christ made for the world. So, we take a moment, reflect, and decide to let go of something as reminder of the big sacrifice Christ made for us. (you know, God in the flesh, death on the cross, raised again on the third day ------stuff like that) I like the idea of Lent. I don't always like the implications of the practice. I like people who say, "instead of giving something up for Lent, I'm going to take something ON!" I never did too well with that. I always forget to do the extra stuff and before I know it, Lent gets away from me. This year, I think I have a custom made Lenten practice. For the next 40 days, I will turn off the TV after 9...