No, I have not left my husband Phil, nor am I living with my son (his name is Shane anyway) – these are my responses to the two questions I most often get asked when I say, “I’m living at Sean’s House.” Sean’s House, named for and inspired by Sean Locke who this world lost to suicide in 2018, is a safe and welcoming place … Continue reading Living @ Sean’s House
I started my first unit of chaplaincy in January 2020. The pandemic had already hit in other parts of the world, but we were still mostly naïve enough to think that such a thing could never hit our shores. By March 2020, the country was in quarantine and my first unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) was being done remotely. So, I finished that first … Continue reading Chaplain VS Pandemic
As I finished up my first of three units of study for my chaplain in residence program, I was required to write a “theological position paper.” This was one of the hardest papers I have written, but one I am most grateful for having suffered through…literally. It made me think about how I think about God. That was the easy part. But more importantly, it … Continue reading My Theological Dilemma
Just when you were beginning to think chaplaincy was all sunshine, roses, and holy moments… (or was that just me?) I am about to talk about taking offense. Do we have a right to take offense? Or is it a choice to take offense? Let’s start with a definition of what it means to be offended. Dictionary.com says, it means to be resentful, annoyed, or … Continue reading No Offense
There is a new buzz-phrase floating around out there, maybe you have heard it, or maybe it is just the new circles I am traveling in these days… the buzz-phrase is holding space. The phrase originates in the therapy realm, but it accurately describes what I do as a chaplain… for those of you who were wondering. Your first question might be, what does it … Continue reading “Holding Space”
As a youth pastor, I used to think, “I only have this short window of time, 7 years, if I am lucky, with these students.” Such a brief time in their lives. I felt it was my job to pour into them as much Jesus as possible, before they are gone. As a chaplain, I recently had the privilege of visiting a man on the … Continue reading Keep Me in the Moment
As I begin this 12-month journey, as a chaplain in residency, I think about the first time “chaplain” entered my conscience. Of course, I had heard the word and even knew someone who was a chaplain, but I had never given the vocation a thought. In seminary we had an option to do an internship – either as a pastor in a church setting or … Continue reading My Call to Chaplaincy
Goodenough in Christ 