Michele Morin
Michele Morin is a teacher, blogger, reader, and gardener who finds joy in sitting at a table surrounded by women with open Bibles. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for nearly 30 years, and together they have four sons, two daughters-in-love, two grandchildren, and one lazy St. Bernard.
Posted in: A Collection of Books for a Grace-Filled Mother's Day
That's good to know. I'll try to fix it. They were linked in the post I copied over to this site, but I didn't check to see if the link survived the transfer. Apparently not! Thanks for the heads up!
Posted in: Introverts in the Church
This is a really good point, Michele. (How amazing that we are both one "L" Micheles!)
Because we are fearfully and wonderfully made, very few of us can be measured well with a purely binary system. When I took the MBTI the first time, I was an ENTJ, but the E was my lowest score and, sure enough, the next time I took it, I was an INTJ. I have a feeling that the I and the E are a coin toss for me, depending on my people saturation level on the day of the test.
Cynthia Tobias wrote about a different system (can't recall the name right now) that differentiates between the manner in which we express information and the way we prefer to receive it.
I guess we would both agree that it is helpful to know as much as we can about peoples' preferences and personalities, but only so that we can be growing and operating out of a healthy place -- not so that we can put ourselves and others in boxes!
Thanks for taking time to comment.
Posted in: Introverts in the Church
What an amazing insight: "because I am passionate in the pulpit people are disappointed with me in the pew."
I know that feeling, and have stood in groups of women and engaged in conversations, realizing that I was somehow not living up to their expectations.
I always come back to mission and calling in thinking about this personally, Even though I have introverted preferences, I don't get a pass on being part of the body. And, it's true that we get further in this effort when we do it in sync with God's unique design.
So good to hear from you, Victoria.
Posted in: What I Read This Summer — Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership
Me, too! And it was so great to have the spotlight on Moses' entire life for the purpose of gleaning those lessons which I think are applicable far beyond our lives as leaders.
I also shared my thoughts about the book here at The Network!
Posted in: The Beauty of Sacrifice and the Joy of Giving
I think these lessons are at the heart of the Deuteronomy 6 parenting model. There's no way we can teach our kids the proper role of possessions in our lives if we are not living it.
Posted in: What If Nobody Came?
Good questions. We have fluctuating attendance numbers at our small, village church. Several of our children are "brought" by their grandmothers. Some come with parents, but the parents are not regular church attenders. I would love to stay abreast of your church's action steps for updating the program in your church.
At one point in our church's history, we had a youth pastor who advocated for more up-to-date music in our opening exercises. It's not a worship service, but I guess no sacred space is immune to the worship music wars. I think the era of "bring a friend" Sunday has gasped its last.
It's challenging, really, to know where even to begin.
Posted in: What Is the Unofficial Dress Code at Your Church? Does it Matter?
I go careening all over the place with this issue, because my husband and I are definitely "church clothes" kind of people. We tucked in shirts on our four sons and did ties and suspenders for special days (like Easter). And . . . as soon as our guys graduate from high school, they are positively thrilled to start wearing jeans to church. I am studiously keeping my mouth shut because, so far, each one has continued in their faithfulness to church attendance, even when they have been attending college away from home. At this point, I'm thankful they are committed to being there, so I smile on "bad in plaid" Sundays when it happens that everyone is home that week, and they all message each other and show up in flannel shirts.
I do think that we're missing something by not showing up in our "best" for worship. There's a great verse somewhere in the minor prophets in which God is chiding Israel for offering Him less respect than they would show their king. As a culture, we do still have a sense that there are certain occasions for which we will make the effort to dress more formally. It saddens me that worship is not one of them.
Posted in: What Is the Unofficial Dress Code at Your Church? Does it Matter?
Yes, to your nothing/everything clarification.
In the past we fell off the everything side of the horse, and maybe today we're falling off the nothing side.
Also, your thinking about awe and honor without judging others is so spot on, especially in light of James 2.
Posted in: Easter 2018: What Songs Are You Singing?
We're doing a lot of Getty hymns: Christ is Risen; Around the Table of the King
And, of course, ALL the favorite Easter hymns! Really looking forward to the prelude on trumpet Easter morning!
Posted in: Justice, Grace, and Worth: Rachael Denhollander's Victim Impact Statement
Thank you for this thoughtful piece spotlighting Rachel's beautiful heart.
Posted in: Sinners Parenting Sinners
Great gospel-oriented reading, Staci!
Something I wish I had touched on more in the post (but I try to keep word count down) is our tendency to emphasize behavior without tying it to the gospel. Listening in to the average Sunday School lesson or parental pep talk, it would be very easy to draw the conclusion that God is most concerned with our sitting still and practicing our manners-- which are certainly great outcomes, but righteousness that does not spring from a new heart is not deep enough to sustain a relationship with the living God.
Thanks for the great book recommendation!
Posted in: Every Act of the Will
Hi, Staci!
I started the year with great resolve to make it through Chesterton's Orthodoxy by the year's end, and it's been a gold mine . . . but I keep reminding myself that gold nuggets come with a bit of work!