'Kalkaska' Tagged Posts
Circum…what?
Our Anchored Bible studies this “semester” are focused on the book of Ephesians. And the church in Ephesus was dealing with this whole issue of Gentiles being a part of the body of Christ, the church. Jewish people at that time were not as excited that Gentiles were allowed to be a part of the family of God without following their traditions. Namely circumcision. Ephesians 2:11 says, “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the How COVID has affected us
A Harder Kind of Love
As Valentine’s Day approaches, our culture turns its attention to love. Store shelves fill with cards and candy. Restaurants fill with couples. Social media fills with carefully chosen words and images meant to express affection. Love, at least this time of year, feels warm and easy. But this week I’ve been reminded of another kind of love — a love that isn’t sentimental, isn’t simple, and certainly isn’t easy. It’s hard to miss how divided our world feels. Even moments How COVID has affected us
Finishing Well
Finishing Well(Even When the Newness Wears Off) February has a way of quietly testing us. The excitement of a fresh start has faded, routines are back in full force, and many of the goals we felt so confident about just a few weeks ago are already harder to keep. If you’re feeling that tension, you’re not alone. At the beginning of last year, I set a personal goal to hike 100 miles on the North Country Trail. I started strong How COVID has affected us
Waiting Well
Waiting is rarely our favorite word. We live in a world of instant answers, fast decisions, and quick fixes. Yet so often, God invites us into seasons of waiting. Waiting for clarity. Waiting for direction. Waiting for the next step. The Bible reminds us that waiting is not wasted time when it’s placed in God’s hands. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will How COVID has affected us
READY FOR AN UPGRADE?!
My laptop has been trying to update for weeks now. Every morning, there is a notification that the update failed. I guess there are conditions I haven’t met yet to allow it to do so. It has to be plugged into AC power in order to update. Automatic updates have to be turned on. And now it tells me it can’t update because it needs more room. My hard drive is too full. I didn’t request an update; it just How COVID has affected us
Reels
I get sucked into watching these short “Reels” on Facebook when I am doing some mindless scrolling. Some of them are pretty funny. Some are a bit disturbing. Imagine the “Reels” that would have been made back in Biblical times. Adam and Eve working the garden. Noah doing a daily clip of building the ark for 100 years. Moses recording a daily clip of leading the Israelites across the wilderness to the promised land. Or how about Jonah in the belly of the fish? Daniel in the How COVID has affected us
Don’t Waste the Wilderness
“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness…” Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV) Last year held a little bit of everything. There were moments of joy and moments of challenge, seasons of growth and seasons that stretched us. Some things moved forward, others didn’t move as quickly as we hoped. As we step into a new year together, many of us are still asking the same honest question: “God, what were You doing in all of How COVID has affected us
The Gift of Christmas: Jesus
Charlie Brown cried in desperation, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about!?!” The Grinch, after stealing all of the Who’s presents from Whoville, thought to himself, “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps…means a little bit more.” Our church has been in a sermon series this month of December called “The _____ that stole Christmas.” The series pointed to four prime culprits in the theft of Christmas: stress, grief, schedule, and commercialism. Each in their own way How COVID has affected us
Going All Out at Christmas
It’s that time of year! The stores are packed, the trees are tied down on top of the cars, Jamie has his lights illuminating half of Kalkaska, and Santa is coming to town. At church, we pull out the stops with music and decorations and kids’ programs. Personally, I turn into a different person. I want to shop and buy gifts. I start to get giddy with excitement as though I were in elementary school again. The question, of course, is why don’t we How COVID has affected us
Good Grief
Winter finally settled in over Kalkaska this week—the kind that slows life down whether we like it or not. And honestly, maybe that’s a gift. Last Sunday we talked about how Christmas can pile on the stress, and I think that stress has a way of pulling back the curtain on the deeper stuff we’re carrying: the weariness, the memories, the grief that sneaks up when the world gets quiet. Winter has a way of exposing what we’ve tried to How COVID has affected us