Recent Articles
03/19/2019
My daughter-in law bought me a bouquet of flowers. Isn’t that nice?! But then she gave my flowers to another woman. Why did she do that? Here is the story: While at the grocery store my daughter-in-law Jeri saw pretty bouquets of flowers and decided to buy one for me. While Jeri was in the […]
03/05/2019
The winter in Michigan this year has been harsh, with lots of snow and ice. On a particularly wintery day, my granddaughter Ashlee posted a photo on Facebook of her husband Nick clearing snow. Ashlee wrote, “That’s my man out there. He is clearing our driveway and sidewalks, and did our neighbor’s without hesitation.” She […]
02/26/2019
Craig and Jan Hoffman are retired pastors. Jan says, “Craig and I were so blessed to serve a great congregation for twenty-two years. We were the right people at the right time! I wish all ministers and congregations could know that kind of ministry.” Jan reminds us that it can be easy to forget that […]
03/06/2019
How can we care for and energize our pastors? Here are three creative ideas, shared by two experienced pastors. Consider donating to my “book allowance.” I’d like to be able to order that book you ask about, or that I see someone else reading. It’ll be on my office shelf, I may use it for […]
A friend of mine recommended Wayne Cordeiro’s book Leading on Empty, which talks about the important topic of pastor burnout. The title really grabbed me. I wonder: is a pastor you know running on empty . . . or maybe even walking (or crawling!) on empty? My friends Jan and Craig Hoffman are retired pastors. […]
11/26/2018
Ted Baxter suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on one side and unable to speak. Eventually, he was strong enough to visit his favorite coffee shop, but his speech was still difficult to understand and he walked with a limp. Ted recalls that many people were empathetic when they saw a man with a […]
By Christine MacLean A note from Karen Mulder: Christine shared this story with me during one of my speaking engagements at my home church, Hope Church in Holland, Michigan. It’s a lovely story about how one man’s love of music united a group of people to engage in a generous act of caregiving. My dad […]
