Sounds of Hope

I grew up in a Christian home.  My mother was a homemaker who taught children about Jesus.  My dad was a night janitor at a bank who spent most of his “leisure” time going to church service so he could learn more about Jesus. As a child, I saw my father bundle all manner of Christian reading materials – all my Sunday School quarterlies, Christian magazines, etc. – to send to his niece, my Tante Ruth, a single WOMAN who was teaching other’s about Jesus in Swaziland.  One afternoon a week, my father would take me to the Salvation Army where a wonderful WOMAN named Captain Johnson oversaw the Sunbeam program.  As a single woman, she was the “Pastor” of the congregation of Salvationists – she preached, administered, and served her corp as the sole officer.  Walking with my dad we'd often encounter Captain holding a street meeting on a corner. As a child, I read a book about Malla Moe – a single WOMAN missionary who would trek across Africa.  As I got ...

First thing in the morning, as I sit up in bed, I take my iPhone from under my pillow.  Now that I'm not working, I don't need it there as an alarm except on Sunday.  I have it there because all night it has been monitoring my sleep quality.  Last night was really good - 100%!  I have this cool little app that I got called sleep cycle.  It has the best alarm on it and it also monitors your sleep quality.  The more peaks and valleys, the better your sleep!  But this morning, before I could slide the snooze off and see my graph and numbers there were two alerts from my calendar.  Both were reminding me of the same thing - not the luncheon I'm going to later this morning but the day I could never forget.  Today is February 6, 2014.  Today is the 17th anniversary of the day our precious granddaughter went to Jesus.  I have this date set on my calendars because I never want to forget her. I never want to forget the joy of her sweet ...

Yesterday, someone asked me - so, now that you've finished your PhD what are you doing?  I wanted to correct this person and say, no, I don't have a PhD, I have an EdD.  I knew this person thought that my degree of EdD was useless and that only a PhD will do... he is an academic elitist and quite arrogant.  I opted to ignore the PhD part of the question and just answer him. Even though I'm not still working as a teacher I said - I've been teaching at a Technical College.  I'm sure that in his mind he was saying tsk tsk, a technical college.  If I told him that it was a proprietary school that taught welders, electricians, HVAC techs, and a variety of medical programs I am sure that he would have thought - what a waste of time.  I don't like arrogant elitist people.  I think that's why I loved teaching at the school where I've pour my heart into for the last year and a half. By most standards, I'm considered well off.  I live in a nice h...

Two weeks ago I said I was going to start writing… well, didn’t do too good on that one.  At least not yet!  I suppose if you have nothing to say, you shouldn’t say it. I think I’ve heard that before.   Now I’m a pastor.  I’ve been a pastor before but only “sort of.”  By most accounts pastoring a small group in a coffee shop doesn’t really count.  I’ve been pastoral in many ways but without a church.  Just that person people come to with their needs and concerns.  The one with a shoulder people could cry on and find support.   Prone to self-reflections and doubts, I wonder if I am really prepared.  I have the education.  I have the desire.  I have the heart.  Most importantly, I have the “call.”  Now I have somewhat of a stamp of approval from a large denomination.  The church I pastor has a wonderful history, beautiful people, and meets in a lovely white church with a steeple that lights up at night...

It was in a classroom on one of the lower floors at John Jay High School in Park Slope Brooklyn.  We had to write a composition about an essay, or short story we had read.  I remember picking up my pen and putting it to the three holed paper - loose leaf paper, we called it.  I wrote something about enjoying what I read because I too wanted to be a writer. That was a very long time ago.  My attempts at writing have filled these pages as well as those of Storehouses of Snow and Kingdom Bloggers .  I can't tell you how many times I've been told to write a book or how many times I have asked - should I write a book?  My analytic mind asks endless questions and never settles on an answer. But I've got that itch.  I've got that itch to set my fingers to the keys and share my thoughts once again.  Will I ever write that book?  I don't know.  But I need to write.  I thought about a new blog but decided this one will do just fine - I...