a novel

Three months ago I began preparing a sermon to share with my church community on the story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well. The sermon that I wrote was on vulnerability, imperfection, and the power of radical acceptance. (You can read it here .) I reflected on how, “Like the woman at the well we thirst for recognition and acceptance, but approach the world with our defenses up, expecting, and often receiving judgement for who we are or what we have done or failed to do.” I considered how, “In her interaction with Jesus, the woman at the well experiences the uniqueness of being seen and known for all of who she is.” and I asked “Where do we encounter and create spaces of radical acceptance? How do we see Jesus reflected in the waters of acceptance we receive and offer to others?”  I was excited - this was my first sermon at Stirling.. I spent a long time reflecting on the scripture, imagining the character of the Samaritan women, reflecting on themes, praying, journaling, ...

I wrote the following sermon to share with my church community on March 15, 2020. And then COVID. So I am sharing it here :) I love a story about a woman at a well. Maybe because I’m named after another woman, whose biblical story begins much the same way as our Samaritan woman, with a strange man asking her for water at a well. I imagine this Samaritan woman and my Old Testament namesake, Rebekah, very similarly. Wearing loose, hopefully light clothing, carrying a large clay pot, with a veil or scarf thrown over her head to protect her from the heat of the sun. Going about a daily task, about to have her life changed by a causal interaction with a strange man at the well she has visited every day of her life. You know the story of Rebekah - the wife of Isaak - who found her future husband and made her mark on history by answering Abraham’s servant’s request for water - and also offering to water his camels - on her daily trek to the town well one morning. Maybe the Samaritan wom...

Ten years ago, when I was just 19, I wrote a short and sweet bucket list . As I celebrated the 30th of a dear friend a few weeks ago and find myself starting to think about the last year of my 3rd decade, and the traditional "things to do before your thirty" lists, this bucket list came to mind. And as I read through it, I was pleasantly surprised by how I have lived into those desires of my 19 year old self over the past ten years. At the top of my list in 2010 was a desire to "find a home of my own, either a place, a person, or a people that I can come back to time and time again." I was willing to wait on this one, but I am so grateful that I didn't have to wait too long. In 2013 I found my person and we chose to walk through life together in 2016. Since then we have built a home for ourselves in KW close to my siblings - a place . But also, through the mystery of marriage, I have come to share in the stability of his family home in Virginia - another pla...