Sixteen days ago, I had surgery to repair a hernia in my esophagus.  In the weeks since, I’ve had to adjust to a different way of life, including letting people shuttle me around from place to place, since I can’t drive myself very well yet.
I’ve also come to realize that this mirrors my spiritual state.  [...]

My husband and I recently visited my favorite local winery:  Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville.  I could spend all day walking around their grounds, chasing the peacocks, sipping a variety of wines, and poking through the gift shop.  We also took the free tour of the facility, followed by a wine tasting.
At our wine tasting, [...]

On a recent trip to Mexico, my favorite activity, aside from eating and drinking, was painting pottery.  Forced to choose between misshapen turtles, overly large coffee mugs, flowery containers, Spiderman and Shrek figurines, and an assortment of vases. I decided to go with a vase, thinking it seemed the most practical (although I wonder if it [...]

I dragged my husband, kicking and screaming, to watch Disney’s Enchanted with me. Actually, he was a trooper. He knew his time was up. We’d watched too many guy movies in a row. It was bound to happen sometime soon.
All I wanted was a sappy, campy movie. I didn’t expect to learn something about Jesus [...]

One of my favorite pastimes is destroying exercise bikes.  During a period of 4 years, I went through seven exercise bikes.  I finally got smart and purchased one with a service agreement, so now, I just get lots of visits from the Sears repairmen.  They’ve taken to naming my exercise bike, names which I can’t [...]

A dying woman inspired my New Year’s resolution for 2008. Seven weeks before her death, Jeanne Clem (Pastor Bill Clem’s wife) told Mars Hill about her efforts to memorize scripture during her last days on earth. Specifically, she was working on a portion of 2 Corinthians, which she recited for us:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. [...]

One of my yearly Christmas traditions is making Salt Dough ornaments. Last Christmas, I started making a nativity set for our home. So far, I’ve made the core trio: Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, whom my husband lovingly refers to as “peanut Jesus” because, well, you can see the resemblance.
You’d think that a nativity set [...]

In our home, we celebrate Chanukah (sometimes spelled Hanukkah).  We do this because my husband is a Messianic Jew, which means that culturally and ethnically, he is Jewish, but he also loves Jesus.  We want to honor his Jewish heritage, but we also like to recognize how we can see Jesus in the midst of [...]