Last week, we celebrated my daughter’s 11th birthday. Of course, I am dealing with all those parental emotions of grief over how quickly time flies by, as well as pride watching her grow into this young lady who is so full of life. At her family party, I found myself overcome by gratitude by the […]
Let us be merry
We started December out with a lot of hope, expectation, and anticipation. There was a lot to look forward to in the Hawkins’ household in December! We had planned a trip to Texas for our niece’s Quinceañara—the first time we’d seen our Texas family since pre-2020. We had Christmas concerts and holiday showcases on the […]
Come, thou long-expected Jesus
We have a firm “No-Christmas-before-Thanksgiving” rule in the Hawkins home. For those of you who are reading this with the twinkling lights of a well-established Christmas tree in the background, that’s fine. I get it. I don’t have anything against early decoration. But we are a turkey-before-tree, yams-before-yule, and carols-after-cranberry family. Part of that is […]
How to get connected at church
There is a lot going this fall at Chapel Hill! From LifeGroups launching, to Alpha and Celebrate Recovery on Wednesday Nights, Kid’s Ministry, Student Ministry, not to mention our weekly Sunday Services and a myriad of other things. I get that it can be hard to know where to plug in. I hope that you […]
Pardon the Interruption
I wonder if anyone else has been challenged by this “One Anothers” sermon series like I have? I know you have, because each week we get feedback from people sharing how they felt like this message was just for them. I heard someone comment to Pastor Mark that she felt bad that everyone else in […]
How to love kids
Last week, I met with a couple who are planning to join Chapel Hill this fall. As they shared their individual faith journeys, they both pointed to a clear moment in their childhood when they knew they belonged to Jesus. Each of these moments happened at VBS. The Holy Spirit used flannelgraphs and Bible songs […]
How can I serve?
This is one of my favorite frequently-asked questions at the wood wall each week. I love that people at Chapel Hill want to connect to service. Serving our community and the church is part of who we are. It’s in our mission statement: exalt Jesus, elevate others, launch disciple-makers. It’s in our discipleship process: worship, […]
Membership has privileges
I wonder how many of you have signed up for a free trial of something and then forgot to cancel it. Maybe it was an app or a magazine. I was talking to a friend who told me that her son is the member of a gym in Arizona, but he lives in Washington. I […]
On sacrifice
Let’s talk about sacrifice. There is something about being human that seeks out relatability. We want to share in the experience of others, practice that empathy emotion. But when I think of the idea of sacrifice, real sacrifice, I have a hard time finding where I can relate. Sure, we all make little sacrifices here […]
It’s all about the waiting
It’s always nice when the rhythms of the day-to-day align with the rhythms of the church calendar. Such is the case with Advent. Eight years ago, I was due to have a baby around Christmas. I felt for Mary riding that donkey to Bethlehem more than ever that year! This year, my daily rhythm once […]