by Heather Caliri I am a big fan of a good to-do list. Give me some action items, goals, or priorities, and I will get things done with glee. Baseboards cleaned? CHECK. Phone call made? CHECK. Space-hogging NordicTrak finally dropped off at the thrift store? BLESSED FREAKING CHECK. But there was one part of my life that did not submit to the magic of checklists: faith. I’ve been a Christian for three decades, and every single one of those years, I... Read more
Let’s become critical thinkers about how and why and what we give (or, how to be generous without sending shoeboxes around the world…) a guest post by Michelle Acker Perez Every year during the advent season, Christians are presented with countless way to give. Traditionally one of the most popular ways is through Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Last year families in the US donated more than 8.8 million shoeboxes to ship to the global poor. Purchasing... Read more
Shannan Martin was one of my first blog friends. We were blogging before branding. Before Instagram. You know, back in the good ole’ days. Back when Shannan lived on a farm and I lived in town. Now Shannan lives in town and I live on a farm. And God has shaken (is shaking, let’s be honest) both of our lives up like a barrel of monkeys in the interim. Soon her second book, The Ministry of Ordinary Places, about this shaking will be be released,... Read more
(embroidery pattern created by Wild Olive) Today I am sharing a conversation I recently had my my friend Casey Tygrett. On this podcast we chat about being at home in our ordinary lives, and my love for the Liturgical year, and the other usual podcast stuff. Casey and I met at one of The Practice Retreats and immediately hit it off, I am so happy that he actually got organized enough to put a podcast together and invited me on.... Read more
Today on The Porch I am hosting my good friend, writer and liturgist, Aaron Niequist. His new book, The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us from Drowning, is set to release next week, and I cannot recommend it enough. Here is a little bit about why Aaron, a long time evangelical, wrote a book about finding God in ancient spiritual practices: “For a long time, all the tension and division surrounding the modern Church left me feeling spiritually empty. I... Read more
In my life, as a writer a minister, a mother, a wife, a person…there have been a handful of pivotal moments and bittersweet seasons when everything was turned on it’s head, when things changed forever. Often, these moments and seasons have been marked in time by words I have read or songs I heard, words and songs, forever bound up in my heart, that then become the forever- soundtrack for those transitions, a holy reminder of those tears, those... Read more
Hi there friends! Welcome to The Porch, a gathering place for thoughts and conversations about the intersection of faith and everyday life. My name is Jerusalem Jackson Greer. That is really my name, but I cannot take any credit for it. My first name comes from my mother, Tanya Beverly Jackson, her whimsical, 1974 Jesus-hippie ways, and the line of oddly name women we descend from. My maiden name is from my father, Johnny Joe Jackson Jr, and together we come... Read more
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