redemption

A Heavenly Fixer Upper

Karen BrownLeave a comment


Like many of you, I’m slightly addicted to the TV show, Fixer Upper. In each episode, Chip and Joanna Gaines help lucky clients choose a home to purchase, usually one that needs major TLC, and use their great renovating/design gifts to make it into a spectacular home.

What makes each Fixer Upper special is the way the Gaineses develop a relationship with each client and tailor the renovations to fit their personalities and passions. For example, one young couple wanted to work more from home, so Joanna included the design of a cool office space for them. Another family loved the outdoors, so Chip suggested they add bigger windows and an extra door to the back yard of that house. With every project, they seem to be genuinely invested in their clients and work hard to build a home that they’ll love. It’s sweet and impressive to watch.

During commercials, I take a minute to look around my home.  Continue reading →

Blessed Unassurance

Karen Brown6 Comments

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I used to know things. I mean really know them. As a child, I knew dads got ready for work while kids watched The Lone Ranger at 6:00am. I knew moms always bought girls new outfits for picture day. I knew homework would be returned with a star and a smiley face from the teacher.

I also had a solid grasp on marriage and parenting, but that was way before I had a husband and kids.

Then, as an adult, there were other things I became so sure about: Continue reading →

The Irony of Saying So

Karen Brown10 Comments

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On Sunday, my pastor preached from Psalm 107 and challenged us to more boldly tell our personal experiences of God’s goodness. We are “the redeemed of the Lord”, he reminded us, “let us say so.”

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble

“We need to share our stories”, he said, “because there are plenty of folks who need to hear about a good God.”

We listened from our pews. We shook our heads and took notes. I noticed some folks even cried. The redeemed-est, I guessed. Continue reading →

When Real Life Sneaks Into Sunday School

Karen Brown4 Comments

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I’m a licensed and experienced teacher, mom of four, former homeschooler, and have taught Sunday school too many times to count.

And I’m actually nervous about this week’s elementary lesson.

The scheduled text is on Peter and the Beggar. It’s the story where Peter and John approach the temple to pray and meet a beggar at the gate. They heal him in the name of Jesus, and send him off  “walking and leaping and praising God.”

I’ve taught this group several times. I’ve even presented this story before. But like all teachers , I’m anticipating my students’ questions, and this is where the nerves are kicking in…

I’m imagining a few raised hands this week… Continue reading →

GNO: April Johnson’s Favorite Things

Karen BrownLeave a comment

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I’m a Michigander by birth, and am still one at heart and in my pronunciation of certain vowel sounds, but for the past few years St. Louis has become a home for me thanks to some wonderful people, many of which I’ve met through my church/workplace, Central Presbyterian. That almost makes up for the humidity and lack of lakefront acreage. Almost.

I spend quite a bit of time laughing at my own jokes, being jealous of people with dogs, and wanting to hug my mom. If you ever want to talk about books, the brain, or an interesting podcast you listened to recently, I’m your girl. Continue reading →

The Leveling Place

Karen Brown2 Comments

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It’s flattering when someone asks you for advice.

It’s terrifying when you remember that you have none.

Not long ago, a friend invited me to coffee so I could share any wisdom I might have about teen anxiety and depression. It was a reasonable request, for she knows I have lived that roller coaster. I’ve also read books and tried strategies. “Surely, I can offer some help,” I thought.

So, as my friend’s question floated across the tops of our steamy mugs, “What do you think we should do about our son?”, we both expected more than what came out of my mouth… Continue reading →

Dream

Karen Brown2 Comments

It’s called Five Minute Friday. Each week, we write freely on a one-word prompt. Then we link up at the amazing Kate Motaung’s site. It’s a flash mob of writers- having fun and sharing their take on one word. This week’s prompt is DREAM.

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I had a dream I was flying.

In the air, I saw old friends and dodged hissing snakes. When I tried to scream, my teeth fell out, but I couldn’t catch them with my feathered hands. Then, I turned a corner and plummeted to the ground, waking up just before I met my death on the rocks below.

Dreams don’t obey laws of physics, or reason. They reach backward and forward until we lose sense of when we are and mock our bondage to time. Continue reading →

The God of Water

Karen Brown29 Comments

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Water, like a wild Love that’s constrained

By dams of fear and levees of hate,

Builds a fierce current, black and white and jealous.

Until it overtakes its boundaries, and levels everything in its path.

Continue reading →

My Father’s World

Karen Brown17 Comments

It’s called Five Minute Friday. Each week, we write freely on a one-word prompt. Then we link up at the amazing Kate Motaung’s site. It’s a flash mob of writers- having fun and sharing their take on one word. This week’s prompt is WORLD.

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A playground crawling with kids, blue swings, and the mommy bench.

A dark alley covered with garbage, homeless men, and the drug dealer.

This is my Father’s World.

Cowboy birthday parties with cupcakes, party favors, and innocence galore.

Teenage pool parties with suspicious minds, unjust rage, and ten steps back.

This is my Father’s World. Continue reading →

When Jesus Meets the Addict

Karen Brown26 Comments
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We whisper about it in church hallways. We turn our head away from it at the parks and we hide it in our homes. We warn our kids about it and hate it in ourselves.

Addiction.

It’s nothing new. From tobacco to technology. From crack to caffeine. From over-working to binge-watching. From generation to generation, we’ve traded one addiction for another.

It’s an effect of the fall, we say. We shake our fists at the devil and hang our heads. Come, Lord Jesus, we say, and dream of the day when we can be free. Continue reading →

The Rock of Ages

Karen Brown7 Comments
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The Law was etched into it, carving God’s people out of the world and into holiness. It was held high then smashed to the ground in a frustrated rage – because all fall short. A stone mirror reflecting a broken people.

They placed their offerings upon it. An altar without rest, and messy from endless efforts to cover their own sin. Spilling gallon upon gallon of the wrong kind of blood. A stone table for doing work their hands could never finish.  Continue reading →

Heaven Off Highway E

Karen Brown21 Comments

Recently, my sister sent me a link to a real-estate listing. Because neither one of us is house hunting, I was curious. I clicked on it and saw a picture of a small white house with black shutters sitting between a field and a pond. Immediately, I recognized it as the ranch that my paternal grandparents lived in when we were growing up.

My grandparents have been gone for many years. I hadn’t seen it since I was a teenager when my Granny was in the kitchen and my Pa was sick in bed.

Each photo in the gallery brought with it memories I didn’t even know I still had: picking apart cattails by the pond, the smell of fish food in a container by the dock, the sound of our station-wagon tires turning onto the gravel driveway from Highway E…

By the time I clicked to the last photo, tears were rolling down my cheeks and I couldn’t speak. I wasn’t exactly sad, but I wasn’t happy either. Sometimes tears are mysterious.  Continue reading →