Last month, our lives changed with one phone call. After a long and involved process, my husband Will and I found out from our assigned social worker at the adoption agency that we were picked by the birth mother to adopt a baby boy! He had just been born two
Last month I participated in a silent retreat at Holy Cross Monastery. Yes, you read that correctly. I voluntarily signed up and went on a retreat at which no one talked for days on end. And yes, there were other people at this retreat. Twenty-five of us or so went
I, like many who attended American high school, remember reading and learning about Henry David Thoreau. A naturalist who eschewed society, he is especially known for his famous book Walden. Thoreau lived in a simple cabin on Walden Pond for 2 years, only ate beans, and spent his time alone
When I first started the Christian minimalism journey in 2018, I started with minimizing my stuff. We had moved from a 3,000 square-foot house to a 1,200 square-foot apartment, and stuff was, well, stuffed everywhere. We had a storage unit outside of town that was “high and tight”– stuff packed
Note: This is a guest post written by Cassandra Roberts, mother of two children and creator of the Needed and Known podcast and blog. You may be well on your way on the Christian minimalism journey. You’ve probably even read my favorite posts about comfort buying and making changes now.
As a pastor, I’ve eaten at my share of church potlucks. Potlucks are community meals in which everyone brings something to share. Some potlucks have more than enough food to go around, while others have a limited amount of food. I’ve noticed that people tend to fall into two categories
Note: This is a guest post written by Zach Labagh, Pastor at Allegheny Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mohnton, PA. In the last few months, due to the pandemic, I found myself and my family changing how we function completely. Our calendar that was full has now diminished to online and
Note: This is a guest post written by Matt Kendziera. When Jesus Walked After beginning his ministry with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” Jesus walked down the mountain and didn’t stop walking for the better part of two chapters. He strolled
On Wednesday April 8th, my Father-in-Law Norman Platnick died. He had been in the hospital for 1.5 weeks following a nasty fall down the stairs and severe head trauma and stroke. My husband Will and I were not allowed to visit him in the hospital here in Philadelphia due to
On March 7, we left to go on an 8-day cruise to the Caribbean for a planned family vacation. At that point, the coronavirus (COVID-19) had been spreading in other countries and there were a few cases on the West Coast of the U.S. Since there were no travel recommendations