Category: serenity

Gratitude and depression

I was dreading Christmas that year, 2011. It wasn’t the first holiday I’d spend alone – it had been seven years since I’d been in a romantic relationship during the holidays, and more than twenty since I would fly back to my hometown. Not that family has to be romantic or genetic; when I lived…

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Gratitude Month is Coming 2018

Daily Gratitude List:  Make a list of things/people/furry critters you are grateful for and share it to the Facebook ItW Gratitude group.  It really lightens the mood of your newsfeed! Each season, Into the Wilderness offers a spiritual challenge on Facebook. Join our mailing list for updates.  

Gratitude Month is Back!

  Daily Gratitude List:  Make a list of things/people/furry critters you are grateful for and share it to the Facebook ItW Gratitude group.  It really lightens the mood of your newsfeed!

New Spring Programming at Into the Wilderness

Online Morning Meditation:  Online Morning Meditation, MWF,  7:00 a.m. -7:30 am Pacific   Looking for a way to jump start your daily meditation practice?  Start your week with Meditation at 7:00 am Pacific, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  We log in, have an opening prayer, read some scripture, meditate for 5 minutes, and share a bit….

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Daily Spiritual Challenge: Try Something New (March 27-May 14)

Each season (liturgical or actual season) Into the Wilderness hosts a different spiritual daily challenge on Facebook. During the Easter season (March 27-May 14) Into the Wilderness welcomes you to a practice of renewal and rebirth. Each day, try a new thing and post about it on our Easter Facebook group. Could be a new…

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Lent is Coming: Into Vulnerability

I hate giving things up. I have zero willpower. Seriously, for me, immediate gratification takes too long. So, what to do with Lent, a season that I used to understand as a time to give something up? The gift of Lent for me is this: it is a time to give up something/take up something…

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Psalm September ’15 is Coming….

Looking for a way to jump start your daily meditation practice? Join Into the Wilderness for Psalm September. The psalms trace the full range and emotion of a life of faith —  from lament to gratitude (sometimes in the same verse). Some of them seem completely annoying and outdated. We’ll read those too. Join us…

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Vacation Bible School Updates

1. Schedule updates!  See update schedule here…. Tonight at 6:30 we’ll be welcoming Dr. Sharon Fennema, Assistant Professor of Christian Worship & Director of Worship Life for a talk called “Look Who’s Coming to Dinner?!” which will focus on holy eating in Luke.  (Last week got postponed due to low holiday attendance. If you haven’t already…

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VBS Lectures and Reflections

Miss a session? Don’t worry — we’ll be including recordings of the lectures/reflections here. We don’t record the discussions afterwards…so don’t miss out!  🙂

ItW Does Vacation Bible School! The Gospel of Luke!

We figured we’d celebrate the grand tradition of Vacation Bible School, by offering one of our own, for grown-ups. We won’t be making felt sheep or finger-painting Jesus (unless you want to!), but we will be meeting online twice weekly to do an in-depth focus on the Gospel of Luke. YOU DON’T HAVE TO ATTEND…

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Valley of Bones

A brief Easter translation-(ish) poem on Ezekiel 37, modified for the for the “reticent, the recalcitrant, the bitter, those staunchly anti-Higher Power,” as requested by my friend Diane: The hand of the holy is on me, and She carries me through the sky and sets me in the middle of a valley; it is full…

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