"Send forth your spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the earth" ~ Psalm 104:30 Fifty days after Easter, the Church pauses in something like holy astonishment. The disciples had been waiting behind closed doors with uncertain hearts…and then the room filled with wind and fire, and nothing was ever the same again. Pentecost is not just and one and done historical footnote. It is an ongoing event. The same Spirit who rushed into that upper room is rushing still, looking for open...

Note: This is the story of our first miscarriage. Our first loss, although not our first experience with the reality of death. The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord in 2006 is etched into my memory in a way I could never have imagined. It was May 25th, and what should have been a day of joy became one of the great sorrows of our family life. I was 15 weeks pregnant with our sixth baby, due on November 9th. I had always wanted a November baby. Like so many families, we scheduled the...

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places." John 14:1-2 April arrived this year with a heaviness I did not expect, and a beauty I could not have planned. At the very beginning of the month, on April 1st, my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly. And by the end of the month, our home was filled with laughter and celebration as we hosted a bridal shower for my daughter, “Fresh Off the Market”, a day...