Emotional and Spiritual Health

Hello Church Family: Pastor John had asked me to share some details around my new clergy status with you this week and to talk about the Primary and Secondary positions that I will be doing both inside and outside the church. You may have noticed already, I have been signing my weekly congregational letters as Reverend Brenda Coffin for the past month. It is because I became clergy in the United Methodist Church when I passed my Board of Ordained…

Greetings Church Family: It’s July, and to lighten the mood, I’m writing about taking care of our temple (body) through good food. Everything is so bountiful during the summer months, and it’s a good act of self-care to nurture your body with good food. Seven Species of the Holy Land I did a little research and found that there is a prestigious list of the Seven Species of the Holy Land They are Dates, Pomegranates, Figs, Grapes, Olives, Wheat, and…

Hello Church family: Over the next few weeks, since it is summer, and a lighter life season, I will be focusing on self care. I really like Jordan S. Rubin’s writing in The Makers Diet and wanted to share an excerpt with you in the form of prayer. The Maker’s Diet, (which really isn’t a diet book) but more a jumpstart on a healthier lifestyle program, Rubin includes a 40-day health experience. As part of the Spiritual component he suggests…

Hello Church family, It’s great to be open again and to be gathering as a church body. I know many of us are  dipping our toe back in and are still a bit unsure about getting up close and personal and rightly so as the Covid virus is still a concern. I know it feels a little strange to sing with our masks on, but we’ve come to accept the fact that practicing social safety is always a good idea.…

Greetings Church Family: As a Spiritual Director, I help others focus on their internal spiritual life to see how God is stirring in this season. I used this little article, Seven Steps to Simplicity by Spiritual Director Lynn Baab with my Spiritual Direction groups on zoom during the coronavirus. I thought you might like it too! It teaches us to practice simplicity in our lives and to be self aware of our words, possessions, nature, money, relationships, silence and prayer.…

Hello Church Family:  It is Thursday July 2, and because the fourth of July is usually about freedom, I wanted to share the topic of freedom with you from a different angle. The excerpt below is from Mark Nepo’s Book of Awakening  and is about practicing authenticity as you care about others in your life. The idea to be emotionally available and free with others and to practice inner and outer kindnesses as what Mark calls being “a creature of…

Hello Church Family: This week, we will take a look at cultivating a habit of Joy, which is the fifth habit from our series of cultivating practices of Faith, Hope, Love, Peace and Joy. Hopefully you have had a chance to reflect and expand your spiritual senses during the past few weeks, as you have pondered scriptures and spiritual touch points around these topics. For one, I am very joyful that HUMC is opening its doors again on July 5th…

Greetings Church Family!  I was curious about what Cultivating a Habit of Peace would look like this week from both an individual and community standpoint considering all we are going through together in this state of unrest. How do we practice a peacekeeping mentality when we as a nation seem to be in a perpetual state of unrest and experiencing a degree of lawlessness. First, what does Jesus say about PEACE. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called…

Hello Church Family: Remembering George Floyd I’ve postponed writing about cultivating a habit of joy this week– our fourth challenge in a series of cultivating good habits. The reason I’m interrupting myself on this plan is to address what I think is more important at this time, and that is the sadness and other emotions many of us are feeling about the death of George Floyd as his life celebration and funeral was held this week–on Tuesday. Like you, I…

Hello Church Family:  LOVE is the third habit in a series of cultivating good habits, and we are framing it around planting seeds of change as we build awareness and non-judgmentally notice how we are called to love. We will look at Jesus’ words through scripture to assess our own behavior to live in love, speak in love, and move with mercy. Check out a few habits to integrate into our own lives. Is there anything you would like to…