a planted life | learning to love
This morning I stood in my kitchen trying to force myself to think on what it means that Christ is risen when I'm angry with my son. I stood there waiting for the french press coffee to sit a minute before stirring, thinking, "Christ has risen. It's Easter, Sheila. That's what your entire faith rests... Continue Reading →
Photo by Edu Carvalho on Pexels.com When I was little, pre-school, I would hop off the wooden pews every Sunday to make my way over to the place where Clarice Lemley sat. Clarice, was in my mind, exactly Aunt Bee from The Andy Griffith show. She was plump and grey headed and wore flowered dresses.... Continue Reading →
Photo by Adil on Pexels.com I took a long walk with my German Shephard, Lukas, this evening. The sun is setting earlier. The sky glows with shades of orange and pink and the world seems to cover itself with a honey-kissed filter. I'm drawn out of the house easily on these fall evenings in the... Continue Reading →
Photo by Victoria Borodinova on Pexels.com Whether your church calls it family ministry, children's ministry, kids ministry... whatever it's called, here are three reasons people often give for why they shouldn't serve in a ministry that involves children. I propose these three reasons are exactly why you should sign up this Sunday to serve in... Continue Reading →
In the days after the November 3rd election, I scrolled through my Twitter and Facebook feeds, reading posts from people with crosses, fish symbols and scripture references in their taglines, that left me grieved. They used words like, "go to hell,” held up their Bibles, guns, favored-candidate's flag, and accused other Christians on social media... Continue Reading →
Photo by Myicahel Tamburini on Pexels.com Despair. That's the word that comes to mind when I hear the news stories of late. This morning, while I was getting ready to go to church, my husband sat at the kitchen table shaking his head. The news story about the two L.A. police officers, shot while they... Continue Reading →
On May 27th, the New York Times published the 100,000 names of people who died from Coronavirus. If you scroll down the screen of the online piece, you'll see the images of humans scattered sparsley at first, then densly as time moves forward. Next to many of these human icons you'll read the name, age... Continue Reading →
Im listening. I'm learning. I'm learning that the heroes of my American Christianity held out the gospel with one hand and the chains of their slaves with the other. I'm learning that the history I've been taught has left out a lot. As a result, I have believed a whitewashed narrative that made the wickedness... Continue Reading →
Tomorrow, people all over the U.S. will go to a local church. I have an opinion about what most of us going to church tomorrow think doing ministry means. I'd guess if you asked the average church attender, who among them is doing the work of the ministry, I bet they'd point to the... Continue Reading →
“Who’s Jason Vance?” you may ask. Nobody famous. And that’s the whole point. He’s the young church-planting pastor of my local church. A few years ago my small church closed. My pastor retired, went into a teaching ministry role and moved to Oregon. That sent me and my two sons into about three years of... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Faithfulness 