PARISH VOICES

Recently I was blessed to spend three weeks with my Scottish granddaughters. Scotland is roughly 4,500 miles from Seattle and 8 hours ahead of us. It makes for difficult FaceTime and phone calls. The oldest is now 8½ so I've accepted the distance and relish the times I can be with them. The youngest, almost 2 years old, so loved "reading" books. She had her favorites and even if they were placed randomly on the bookshelf, she searched them out easily. The 5 year old still enj

Pastor Allan passed away a short while ago. He was the first pastor I remember having when I was a kid at a small Baptist church in eastern Washington. You might wonder why I would share about a Baptist pastor when I am an Orthodox Christian. I remember hearing Fr. Barnabas Powell on Ancient Faith Radio sharing spiritual guidance he received while entering Orthodoxy. He was told, “You cannot be Orthodox until you are thankful for everything that brought you to today.” I am s

I heard a saying recently that went, “You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.” These eleven words could have been Jabran’s motto. He couldn’t control what happened to him but could control his reactions. He had the unwavering ability to live in the present. No lamenting about the past or stressing about the future. He lived life as if that day was the only day that mattered. When Jabran and I moved to the Pacific Northwest from Indiana, we were looking fo