I thought she had fallen. I couldn’t see her torso or her face. She had lurched over the side of the electric cart/scooter. But as I got closer I realized her eyes were open and her hands were moving
Blackberry Moments
“Look, I found a huge one, this one will be mine… oh look at this little one here, this can be for my little sister.” This was the running monologue of my 5-year-old grandson during our recent blackberry picking adventure. We learned to bypass the red ones which are too …
Summer Worship Update
Senior Minister, Rev. Carla Aday provides an update on summer worship plans.
The Middle
“Everything looks like a failure in the middle. Everyone loves inspiring beginnings and happy endings; it is just the middles that involve hard work.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business Review 2009 Back in March, we thought we needed to hunker down for a few weeks or maybe even a …
Happy 4th to You!
The Fourth of July was spent one of two place for the first 25 years of my life: in the swimming pool in my Aunt Millie’s back yard in Dallas or at the Faught Farm where dozens of kids spent the day in team olympics that began with volleyball and …
Questioning Together
What to do? Many of you have asked me in the last several weeks, “So what are we going to do?” What I hear in your question is that you feel moved by God to create a different kind of world, where all people, regardless of skin color, experience dignity, …
Together
I was taught that there were five senses: taste, touch, sight, smell, sound. All ways of knowing the world around us, of taking in the beauty of a hibiscus blossom or the sumptuousness of the first summer tomato. Something resonates in the heart when we hear a loved one’s voice on the other end of the telephone. Our senses do not just make us safe. They seem like a passageway to the soul.
The Beginning
A year ago, I visited for the first time in my life, the place where Jesus likely hung on a cross to die. We sat in lush green garden with sweet smelling flowers and looked out a dusty red earthen hillside on the edge of a rugged curved road. We …
Voices of Hope
It has been a heavy week. After spending 13 weeks worried about a pandemic, we added a worry about the fabric of our community. Would the fibers hold or fray? It would be easy to give in to despair. Perhaps like you, I began to relive moments of my own …
Worship Update from Carla
As our community is beginning to lift some of the restrictions on public gatherings I want to share with you an update on our plans as a church community. I have been in conversation with other area faith leaders, congregations of our size across the country, our church board and …
Spiritual Connection
A young father recently told me, “I am realizing that our family doesn’t need more vacations, we just need to spend time at home hanging out together and enjoying each other.” And my son drove home from Nashville last night and at our dinner table he proclaimed, “Wow, it’s so …
Now more than ever…
How would you finish that sentence? Please email me or text me (816-381-9253) with your completion to that sentence. Here are a few from where I sit… Now more than ever, I am enjoying sitting down to dinner with my husband every night and savoring a home cooked meal. Now …
Tender Nurture and Tenacious Strength
Each of us has our own perspective on Mother’s Day. You may reflect on the experience of your own mother or your journey of being a mother. The two characteristics I celebrate most on Mother’s Day are tender nurture and tenacious strength. Growing up I felt my Mom’s tender nurture …
Ten Signs of Hope
As the days drag on, the earth bursts forth in beauty. I find my heart ricocheting between savoring the now and worrying about the future. So I thought today we could sit back and notice the signs of hope around us and within us. Volunteerism is up. Applications to volunteer …
What’s next?
This Sunday will be our seventh Sunday to meet for worship via live stream rather than in person. We began on Sunday, March 15. Three days prior to that a nurse friend told me, “Churches probably need to take a few weeks off and then come back boldly with a …