by jo | Dec 15, 2015 | Advent, Everyday Stories
I remember being in college, and learning that one of my old junior high students from the youth group I helped with had had his mother die. On Christmas day. Their dad was already out of the picture and life was already hard. For a story I wrote earlier this year...
by jo | Dec 1, 2015 | Advent
“Name ten people you met this week,” he said to us. We were sitting in a dining room in South Africa. We’d just come back from a couple weeks in Malawi, Africa, and we were debriefing in Johannesburg before returning home. They’d sent us...
by jo | Nov 10, 2015 | Everyday Stories, Jesus Time, Memoir & Essays
When I was born, I was in a hurry. As my mom’s third child, she’d gone through the ordeal before. She’s one of those women that actually loved being pregnant. She felt beautiful and vibrant. She worked out and was healthy. It was a good deal for her. But only 30...
by jo | Jun 30, 2015 | Everyday Stories, Jesus Time
This is not an opinion on the passing of the marriage equality law. This is not an opinion on homosexuality. This is an opinion about people who call themselves christians. And the heavy weight that entails. In my blog post a few weeks back, I wrote, “even with...
by jo | Jun 9, 2015 | Everyday Stories, Jesus Time, Memoir & Essays, People I meet, Travel
photo credit: Lower Floor. via photopin (license) I met a man in Seattle recently. His name was Sean. He was in Pike’s Place market, his worn backpack and layers the only things suggesting he was without a place to stay. I may have taken him for a wary tourist if he...
by jo | Apr 14, 2015 | Everyday Stories, Jesus Time, Memoir & Essays
“Do you know of any churches in Denver?” I texted a pastor I know from California when I had just moved to Denver last fall. He texted back right away: “Scum of the Earth Church. Pastor is Mike Sares. We went there last summer. If you want to go, I’ll let him know...