The Sonder Place

This past weekend was a crazy one! I had the privilege of performing a spoken word at an amazing youth conference on Saturday night a couple hours away. The next day, I got to preach for the first time in front of our new church home. It was a weekend that encapsulated a wide range of what I've gotten to do as I join God's work in this world. I went from crazy kids and big lights to a sanctuary with stained glass. It was the biggest swing in mood, setting, and atmosphere that I've experienced in quite a while. One of the themes of this conference was Jesus Over Everything, and it came up in my sermon the next day, too. It's interesting to think about just what that means. We grow to expect God to speak in certain ways and situations. We get accustomed to how we want God to interact with us. For some people it's in the routine and in the expected, the familiar prayers and creeds. For others, it's in the crazy and in the unknown, the raised hands and hoarse voi

"From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." [ Psalm 61:2 ESV ] Fall is in full swing, with the threat of *whispers* snow on the way. Schools are rolling, extracurriculars are in rhythm, plans are starting to be made for holidays. We are busy and getting busier as we head towards Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are times and seasons where we are simply busy. Where we become consumed with work, school, kids, friends, family, and things to do. It's possible, that in these times, that we begin to feel overwhelmed. We are discouraged; feeling like we are always a bit behind, like we just can't climb out of the hole. We feel like we are at the mercy of the river of our responsibilities and engagements. We have nothing to hold on to. When we are overwhelmed by life, a lot of people have a tendency to dig in harder. They try to rearrange the schedule, optimize the time they have, j