Wondering Presbyterian

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. -Mark 1:29-31 As I’m writing this, my husband is home with a bad cold. So many people are sick right now, whether it’s with a cold or flu, or something worse. It’s the time of year when hospitals (and, unfortunately, funeral homes) are busiest. January is just a tough month for physical (and emotional) health. So I sympathize with Peter’s mother-in-law, who is home sick with a fever. I always notice two things about this passage. First, I notice that Peter has a mother-in-law, but no where ever do we ever hear about Peter’s wife. One assumes if he had a mother-in-law, he had a wife. What did she think of Peter leaving his job as a fisherman to follow this religious nut named

            I’m always surprised by how much money I spend. I don't know why, because I’m pretty good about keeping my checkbook up to date; but, when I go back and look at things it always catches me off guard how much money I spend, especially on things I know I don’t need. As 2018 came to a close, I came to the decision that I have to take proactive steps to curb spending. My New Year’s Resolution is to give more but spend less, and try to shop local when I can. We’re halfway through January and already I can hear the books on my Amazon wish list calling out to me…             Do you do this, too? It’s great how convenient the internet makes shopping. It makes giving convenient, too. The internet is how I give money to charity (mostly to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance) and to my church (online giving automatically takes the money out of my account so I’m never waffling on how much to give. And when it’s an automatic withdrawal, it’s a given that it will happen and that hold

When I was in high school (I think...maybe it was middle school? I'm pretty sure it was high school), I went to a week-long creative writing workshop camp at the community college in my hometown. One of the exercises was to write a story based on a headline which went: "Take Time Out for a Good Time." And we all wrote stories about taking someone named Time out on a date. Now that I'm an adult, my name is Time and I want to take myself out.   Have you ever taken yourself out on a date? It’s kind of a wonderful thing. When I was home from college during Christmas break years ago, I decided to give myself a solo date night. I bought myself some eggnog and rented a movie ( On Golden Pond ) and informed my family that I would be in my room for a while on a solo-date, so don’t bother me. When I moved to Illinois and lived alone, I still practiced self-care by giving myself solo-date nights. I remember needing a night out during Advent once. So, I went to a sports bar for