Today I went to an Iowa grocery store called Fareway. They are known for their meat department, so of course I picked up a steak. I had forgotten that someone from the store goes out to your car with you to load your grocery into your car. What a luxury!
27.06.2025 21:26 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
After church a thank you dinner - complete with music by the Almost Heaven Dulcimer group!
Me and one of three UHaul vehicles Iβve driven this week.
I was presented Mothman Chips by Mister Beeβ¦a taste of West Virginia!
Lunch with Alicia - which included her sharing her latest creative project - this beautiful cross stitch - βFree Palestine - are we not their brothers and sisters?β
All the feels as this last week in West Virginia winds down. This time tomorrow Iβll be hours west of South Charleston - making my way to North Liberty Iowa!
21.06.2025 21:26 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Collecting memories
as I prepare for (yet another) move
Some thoughts as I prepare for my next adventure
23.05.2025 20:58 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Emry enjoying some zen time
Whee - Riley loved the slide
Emry exploring the tree house at the Iowa Arboretum
Me and Em
A grand time yesterday in Iowa!
06.05.2025 11:55 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
YouTube video by Cross Lanes United Methodist Church
Children's Message Easter 2025 Cross Lanes UMC
A creative childrenβs moment - with the help of Karen, our admin assistant. This is one of those things I couldnβt practice - so it was either going to work, or not π¦
youtu.be/SdItY_euFF8
22.04.2025 00:55 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Bad Friday
reflections from a mother's perspective
In our house βGood Fridayβ is known as βBad Fridayβ
open.substack.com/pub/deborahc...
18.04.2025 12:59 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers for our brother and his family, and yes even for his captors. Soften our hearts to hear the cries of your people.
17.04.2025 18:38 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
And another groups response. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.
02.04.2025 21:29 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Over the past month I have been with two different groups of people who are walking alongside and serving survivors of flooding in Appalachia. At the start of the training, when asked how they were feeling - this is what they shared.
02.04.2025 21:24 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Cory Booker! A moral moment, an inflection point, let the government function for the people!
01.04.2025 23:41 β π 23 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Monochrome photograph featuring a sitting Black woman in a long dress and white shawl holding knitting pn a table beside her, looking outwards
Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), abolitionist, women's rights advocate, who chose to be photographed with her knitting. As an enslaved person, she had knitted/spun endlessly and when free later in life, she taught knitting to former enslaved women aiding self-sufficiency #womensart
22.03.2025 06:10 β π 10187 π 1928 π¬ 0 π 70
And so it begins⦠#clergyonthemove #iowahereicome
22.03.2025 14:36 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Have you ever wondered?
The first signs of spring
Where I ponder about spring and the color yellow:
open.substack.com/pub/deborahc...
15.03.2025 17:27 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
It may seem odd to commemorate this day - but I donβt ever want to forget how my (our) world changed five years ago. #lettherebepeace
15.03.2025 13:06 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Five years ago today I was changing my weekend plans - so that I could get home before everything shut down. My plans for a weekend out of state with friends was not only put on hold - but the fear was that we had no idea when weβd see each other again.
What are your early pandemic memories?
14.03.2025 17:26 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
For my neighbor, Marta, my United Methodist Colleagues serving in Ukraine, for all that my faith teachesβ¦I stand with Ukraine
01.03.2025 01:14 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
A quick picture after worship today
My Iowa family (Bryan, Zayden, Emry, Lauren, Riley) and son Ethan.
Today it was announced that I will be appointed to serve as a Transitional Intentional Interim serving North Liberty First United Methodist Church in North Liberty, Iowa, effective July 1, 2025. It means a lot to be able to return back to Iowa. This allows me to be closer to my family. π
23.02.2025 20:45 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
The bulbs provide the tender stalks and daffodil flowers with everything they need to flourish. In their own time.
In this season - I want to be a daffodil bulb.
15.02.2025 01:40 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Anticipation... and wonder.
The appearance of these slender stalks make me smile - not just because of the anticipated arrival of spring. But also because of the resilience of the bulbs from which they come.
15.02.2025 01:40 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
And we have lived through multiples of them and some more than others.
So be at peace. Trust God. Love your neighbor and your enemy. In a season of cruelty, be merciful. And, as our Lord taught us in the Beatitudes, you will be blessed.
To which I say...Amen. Amen. May it be so.
08.02.2025 14:38 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
What will be most helpful is to be activist in response, for the common good (not partisan gain), and to be contemplative in mind and heart. This will serve as a buffer to the trauma.
08.02.2025 14:38 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Continue or begin a spiritual practiceβread the psalms, or the gospel of Luke with us (now in chapter 8). Create a prayer list and practice intercession.
08.02.2025 14:38 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Wisdom from @bishopkencarter.bsky.social
If this is all disturbing to you, I invite you to stay engaged... Take consistent and simple steps. Avoid doomscrolling to the degree that you can. It only feeds into the desired responseβthe cruelty is the point.
08.02.2025 14:38 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 1
yep...totally agree. As a pastor I think my main calling is to be curious - to ask questions that help others discover and lean into who they were called to be...
07.02.2025 15:16 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Ecumaniac: ELCA pastor, UMC denominational staff member, married to an Episcopal priest (The Very Rev. Dr. Grace Burton Edwards), and member of The North American Academy of Liturgy, the Consultation on Common Texts, and the Order of Saint Luke
Husband, dad, veteran, writer, and proud Midwesterner. 19th US Secretary of Transportation and former Mayor of South Bend.
Equipping and transforming people and places for God's mission around the world. An agency of The United Methodist Church.
Facebook: General Board of Global Ministries
Instagram: @umcmission
Threads: @umcmission
LinkedIn: General Board of Global Ministries
Bringing people together to discern, learn, and lead for the worldwide Church and Academy. An agency of the United Methodist Church.
Facebook/LinkedIn: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry
Instagram/Threads: @gbhemleads
UMCOR is the humanitarian relief and development arm of The United Methodist Church, dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the world.
Facebook: UMCOR - United Methodist Committee on Relief
Instagram/Threads: @umc_umcor
Waverly, IA, Long Covid Sufferer, Christian Liberationist, lifelong Detroit Lions fan, Lit RPG enthusiast, probably resting right now.
I thought I'd have it all figured out by now.
Iowa captive. Former PCUSA church pastor. Medical staff manager. Adoptive parent and husband. Camera manipulator. Fan of Brewers Baseball and all other sports Wisconsin. Vanderbilt, Tulane, UDTS alum.
Appalachian woman, retired, United Methodist clergywoman, child of God, follower of Jesus, listening for the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Now living in Kansas, but have called western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and middle Tennessee home.
Pastor, counselor, author, wife, mother, farmer, crafter, seeker, observer, flock tender
Reader. Writer. Opera Fan. Glass-half-full-most-days. Antiracist. She/her. Area Code 304. Apple-AT-chun.
Perhaps you have been made for a time such as this. He/Him. Husband; dad to a dog, cat, and soon a human; UMC Pastor in WV; wannabe runner.
Advisor π | Ally π³οΈβπ| Advocate βπΏ
Missiologist, United Methodist pastor, and global nomad
http://www.taylorwaltersdenyer.com/p/about-me.html