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 Feed your spirit with these stories and reflections about living in relationship.

Here I am, God

Here I am, God

by Catherine Malotky—Here I am, God, coming before you, trusting in your love for me, your acceptance, your welcome. I am your child, claimed by you in my creation, named by you in my baptism, shaped by you in my forming.I come from a long line of faithful...

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Against the current: Finding a place where I belong

Against the current: Finding a place where I belong

by Liz Colver—I got married two weeks before I turned 21 years old. I had my first child when I was 25 and began seminary at 27. I’m certainly not the youngest to do any of these things, so I was surprised one morning when, as I was dropping off my oldest...

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May our hearts be homes where Christ lives every day

May our hearts be homes where Christ lives every day

by Helen Hollingsworth—It has been rightly said that everyone must be someplace because there really is no such thing as no place. There are all kinds of wonderful places to be. Maybe you aspire to be in some of them. Or some of you may be in those places...

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Keeping the struggling flame lit

Keeping the struggling flame lit

by Julie A. Kanarr—It was Sunday morning, and I was preparing to lead worship. This Sunday marked the festival of the Baptism of Our Lord, the first Sunday after Epiphany. During the service, we would be affirming the promises God makes to us in baptism....

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Can our relationships with food feed our souls?

Can our relationships with food feed our souls?

by Anne E. Basye--My friend Georgia is a poet. Her poems are all about food: dizzying incantations to butternut squash, Chanterelle mushrooms, ripe tomatoes and the alchemy of transforming them into something delectable.A chef, baker and school food...

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A place for us all in God’s limitless story

A place for us all in God’s limitless story

by Jordan Miller-Stubbendick--The kitchen counter is covered with a fine layer of flour. My hands rock back and forth over my grandmother’s rolling pin, smoothing cookie dough into a flat oval. My 3-year-old son’s eyes sparkle with delight as he selects...

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Celebrate women’s strength

Celebrate women’s strength

by Linda Post Bushkofsky— It's a little thing, really. Every time I change a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer, I think of my mother. This thought connection goes back 40 years or so. I must have been a college freshman, home with a trimester of learning...

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Celebrating bold women

Celebrating bold women

by Linda Post Bushkofsky— Have you ever thought about Mary as a bold woman? Our Advent memories of Mary’s song of justice have not waned so much that we can’t appreciate her boldness. During Epiphany Mary persists, caring for the infant Jesus as visitors follow the...

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Water and life abundant

Water and life abundant

By Ryan P. Cumming “I know I will never live as long or as well as I could have because I drank that water,” a resident of Flint, Michigan, told me and several of my colleagues from the ELCA churchwide organization. I sat in stunned silence and listened to this man...

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To save just one life

To save just one life

by Sarah Carson Amanda was in a Detroit motel room when she found herself at a turning point. The man she was with had begun to beat her. “I was scared for my life, so I ran into the bathroom with my cell phone and locked the door,” she says. On the counter she found...

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