Camping is one of the joys of summertime for our family. It’s about the least expensive way I know of to have the most amount of fun while making lots of great memories together. Granted, it’s no European vacation, but we always have a good time and this year was no exception.
We set [...]
Regret is an awful feeling. It’s that sense of wishing more than anything you could go back in time and make something different, when you are steeped in the painful outcome of a past decision. Regret can also be complicated. Our choices, and their outcomes, shape who we are. They give us [...]
Last month we attended an outdoor wedding on a covered bridge in one of Oregon’s many quaint little countryside towns. Though it was a pretty good drive for us to attend, Josh and I agreed that the stunning beauty of the Oregon spring day made the drive on country roads more than worth it.
The [...]
…girl!
Today we had our ultrasound at 19 weeks pregnant and received the exciting news that our baby is a girl! She is very healthy and active. They looked at various things, checked her heart, brain, kidneys, stomach, bladder, and took a bunch of her measurements. They also looked at the placenta, [...]
These days people seem to be leaving Christianity much faster than people are becoming Christians. As a seminary student, I’ve had to read extensively on the reasons for this trend including cultural changes, problems within the Church, perceptions people have about Christians and Christianity, and so on. And in all honesty I can understand why [...]
I’ve been MIA from my blog since making the big announcement and I thought it was time to check in with an update and some explanation of what I’ve been up to.
Pregnancy!
That bit about feeling great and not being nauseated didn’t exactly last. Within a short time I was experiencing all the normal stuff – [...]
So it’s public now… we’re gonna have a baby!
We found out the good news the night before I was leaving for the weekend for Convergence (which I still need to post on!), so we didn’t really have time to absorb our new reality before having a couple of days apart. Truthfully, I think we’ll be [...]
I’ve started writing this post a number of times and each time I find myself struggling of the enormity of the subject matter. I don’t think that proof-texting my position is responsible or helpful. But on the other hand, this isn’t the venue for a detailed exegesis of all of the relevant passages in scripture [...]
Big changes often take place in small, incremental steps. Often they begin when we have the courage, or the simple curiosity, to ask a question. One question that has slowly been motivating change in my life is this: “Where does my food come from?”
It was several years ago that this seemingly obvious question first began [...]
Once in awhile something comes along that is truly appalling. Today’s rant is inspired by a full-page magazine ad for Holman Bible Outreach International. The middle third of the page is a photograph of an obviously impoverished, partially clothed, very young child, standing barefoot in a gutter, poking at the garbage on the ground with [...]
Karlene co-pastors a church plant in Springfield, Oregon with her husband Josh, focusing on Christian community development and emerging church practices. Along with her duties as a pastor, Karlene is a proud mother, diligent student, awesome wife, brilliant blogger, avid coffee drinker, and addicted Sudoku player.
This site was designed by my husband Josh as a Christmas present using XHTML, CSS, and powered by Wordpress.