Taryn R. Hutchison's Blog: The Glorious Muddle, page 21

A Missed Missional Opportunity?

Halloween is controversial. Ghosts and ghouls and vampires and tombstones. Our world is scary enough without all that. It’s so controversial that a lot of churches choose to deal with it by pretending it doesn’t exist. Some ignore it altogether, focusing on Reformation Day if they acknowledge anything. Others have Harvest parties, Fall Festivals, Great […]

Voting and the Millennials

“I’m not going to vote,” a young college student proudly announced to me, out of the blue. “We can’t change anybody by changing the laws. So why bother? What’s all the fuss about?” I’m no expert on the Millennial generation, but I have read about some of the characteristics that are generally true of people […]

Contentment in Whatever Circumstance

I find I’m having to re-learn an important life lesson that I thought I had down: contentment in every type of circumstance. I learned it as a single missionary in a second-world country, where I truly enjoyed my life and God’s provisions. Here’s the surprising part. Now it’s even harder for me to learn to be content […]

Discovering Unknown Sisters

My weekend proved to be what I hoped for – not what I feared. The muddled circumstances that tempted me to give up and back out were just that – a muck of things not worth running amuck over. Yes, I’m good and tired this week as a result of a long and very full weekend […]

Clarity in the muddle

Have you ever been glad you never got to some nagging element on your continual to-do list? You know, something that takes as much time to write on your list as to actually do it. Remember my bench that washed away in the rainstorm a few weeks ago? My first thought, after admitting how much I […]

Loving and Seeing

My very first week on staff with Cru, fresh-out-of-college, my trainer took me up to the top floor of the imposing student center at the University of Minnesota. We looked down on the sprawling mass of students, scurrying to their classes. She read Matthew 9:36-38 aloud. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on […]

The Allure of the Bench

Every place I’ve lived, I’ve had a favorite bench. Sometimes they were secret benches, where I could escape from the world and no one knew where to find me. But always my benches looked out on something lovely, sometimes spectacular, often more soothing than dramatic. And always they were places where I could sit for […]

Knowing when it’s time to move on

How do you decide when it’s time to end something? Time to move on to the next thing? My husband tells me I’m not good at that. I tend to stay too long in jobs that aren’t challenging or fulfilling because of a sense of loyalty to the people I work with (whether I like […]

Anticipation

I love seasons. The distant memory of growing up with four distinct seasons is what propelled Steve and I eastward when it was time to move on from California. Each one ushers in its unique beauty and symbolism. Each one also brings parts we’d rather do without. Kind of like life. Every place I’ve lived, […]

The World Wasn’t Worthy

With all the upheaval in the world, I’ve been thinking a lot about persecution. Last week I quoted a verse that has been percolating in my heart. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” II Timothy 3:12 (emphasis mine). Everyone? Any persecution I’ve faced has been […]