Tag: #ruthehetland
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#15 – Write an Anti-Diet Manifesto
#15 – Write an Anti-Diet Manifesto You don’t get my kids, too. Too many years, you had all of me. I gave everything to you. All that wasted time and energy. For what? To fit in a smaller size? To fit in? To ‘feel good about myself?’ What if I had just skipped the self-hatred,…
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Rituals (an Easter Message)
I’ve been thinking a lot about rituals these last days especially. Probably because Holy Week is always full of them. Palm Sunday we process in with the palms and say “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Maundy Thursday we have holy communion and the stripping of the altar. Good…
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Mary of Bethany (a Lenten sermon on John 12:1-8)
Our sense of smell can bring back memories in such powerful ways. I have what was left of my father’s aftershave when he died. I keep it in my dresser and every now and then when I come across it, I’ll open it and close my eyes and sniff – and I’m instantly brought back…
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Christmas Light
Christmas is a lot more cheerful for me these days than it used to be. In addition to the joy that sharing Christmas with our children brings, I really am happy to be at a church that has one Christmas Eve service instead of five. I feel like I really get to worship on Christmas…
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The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
Reflections on Shuffle-Play (an exercise to write a reflection each day on a song from my morning run) God has made everything beautiful in its time. – Ecclesiastes 3:11 Oftentimes a word or a phrase will get stuck in my head. Especially as I am praying over a certain text or a certain thought or…
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Even If
Reflections on Shuffle-Play (the daily exercise to write a reflection based on a song from that morning’s run) There are two pivotal words in the Bible story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The words are “even if.” If you grew up in the church you likely have known this Bible story most of your life.…
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Finish Line
Reflections on Shuffle-Play (the thing where I write a reflection each day on a song from that morning’s run) My husband’s parents died in 2007 – his father, Butch, in January and his mother, Dottie, in August. Our eldest, Owen, was just one year old then and our baby, Jesse, was born in June of…
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Nothin’ on Me
Reflections on Shuffle-Play (the thing where I write a reflection inspired by a song from that morning’s run) I do not have high standards when it comes to movies. Basically, I’m content if there is a happy ending. However, I was watching a made-for-TV movie the other day that was so unremarkable I simply couldn’t…
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Fancy
Reflections on Shuffle-Play (where I write a reflection each day inspired by a song from that morning’s run) I was doing some cleaning and organizing at church and kept coming across items that had been tucked away in closets and corners. Churches can end up having a strange assortment of odd stuff for a few…
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If Not Now
Reflections on Shuffle-Play I could sum up the gospel for this Sunday in one sentence. Here it is: We are each given gifts from God, and we are expected to do something with those gifts in order to grow them, however we can – not for the benefit of only ourselves, but for the benefit…