Since Monday afternoon at 2:45 pm, a steady stream of pictures, videos, and stories have poured out of Boston in the aftermath of two explosions that rocked our world. Some pictures are horrific. Some videos are chaotic. Some stories are false. But ... Some pictures are inspirational. Some videos are courageous. Some stories are true. The … Continue reading Get Back Up
Author: Melissa
Pastor | Ragamuffin | Family | Friends
For the glory of God and the good of the world.
"Abba, I Belong to You."
If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook or read this blog regularly, you know that I often quote Brennan Manning. Apart from my parents, no one has had more impact on my life as a follower of Jesus Christ than Brennan. I will forever be grateful for his transparency and his passionate witness to … Continue reading "Abba, I Belong to You."
Scooting on Your Backside
Missouri is known for caves. Seriously. We are best known as the "Show-Me State" but we are also known as "The Cave State". There are over 6,400 known caves in MO and we have a Missouri Cave Association. There is also this beautiful six-page brochure. You are welcome. Caves are buried treasures. Underneath the earth are … Continue reading Scooting on Your Backside
Never Alone
In the wake of the suicide of mega church pastor Rick Warren's son there have been a lot of ignorant and mean comments made. Heartless words and cruel judgements from people who don't understand and from people who have agendas. I pray Rick and Kay never read them. Suicide is painful enough without the added violence of … Continue reading Never Alone
Stubborn Love
I attended East Elementary School growing up. Go, EAGLES! Around my sixth grade year they built this amazing jungle gym structure. The base was 10 ft high and you climbed up a chain wall to the first level. There was a fireman's pole and monkey bars and all of it was surrounded by a giant … Continue reading Stubborn Love
If Church was like an AA Meeting
From The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning: On a sweltering summer night in New Orleans, sixteen recovering alcoholics and drug addicts gather for their weekly AA meeting. Although several members attend other meetings during the week, this is their home group. They have been meeting on Tuesday nights for several years and know each other well. Some … Continue reading If Church was like an AA Meeting
Love Me Tender
I'm not comfortable talking about myself. I like to keep things light and close to the surface when it comes to me. I've always joked that one of the reasons I do well with youth ministry is that I never have to worry about personal questions. Teenagers are at the stage of life where they … Continue reading Love Me Tender
My Funeral
In a society that tells us to have everything all planned out, to know exactly where we are headed, we fail to trust God in what He is planning. We are trained to want total control. But it's when we put our unabashed faith in He who formed us that we let our obedience to … Continue reading My Funeral
Don't Quit
I've recently taken up running. I've always liked the idea of being a runner but I never took the risk to be a runner until a few months ago. If you had told me a year ago that I'd be running four miles and enjoying it, I would have backed slowly away from you and … Continue reading Don't Quit
Hunger
This is the devotion I wrote for our church's Lenten devotion book this year. It was for yesterday, the sixth Sunday in Lent and coincided with my sermon on the same text. Luke 15:11-32 "But while he was still far off, his father saw him was filled with compassion..." Our passage today is the well known story … Continue reading Hunger
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