by Elaine Olsen | Dec 20, 2010 | calling, church life, living God's truth, sundays
Last Friday, I loaded up on my pain meds and had my mother taxi me to the local Michael’s craft store. Sunday morning loomed on the horizon, and I needed a few Christmas activities to keep young hearts and hands engaged. I took my time, making sure to pick out things...
by Elaine Olsen | Sep 28, 2010 | cancer, cancer volume 2, church life, friendship, pain, pilgrimage, suffering
{for Nancy, my “Luke” today} “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this word, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. … Only Luke is with me.” (2 Timothy 4:9-11).The words from his pen haunt me now, even though nearly two...
by Elaine Olsen | Aug 16, 2010 | church life, faith, God's voice, Holy Spirit, packing up, pilgrimage
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength;...
by Elaine Olsen | Apr 21, 2010 | church life, packing up, pilgrimage
I’m sitting in a place this morning where I’ve sat many times before over the past six years. I’m perched at my dining room table, looking out at the highway that runs in front of our home. The azalea bushes across the street greet me with their rich dressing of...
by Elaine Olsen | Mar 21, 2010 | church life, faith, living God's truth, peace, pilgrimage
Loose ends. We all live with some. I don’t imagine there is a day that goes by when a loose thread or two don’t dangle their insistence before our eyes and within our hearts, thereby challenging us to trust in something bigger, Someone bigger, to weave them into the...
by Elaine Olsen | Jan 17, 2010 | baptism, church life, Holy Spirit, living God's truth, sundays
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” (Matthew...
