The Quiet Chaplain

Photo by  Andrea De Santis  on  Unsplash A phone call comes at the wrong time. Someone stops by when the schedule is full. A child needs attention. A coworker has a question. A conversation runs longer than expected. The carefully arranged day begins to unravel, and frustration rises quickly. The interruption is rarely the problem. The real problem is that it was not part of our plan. Interruptions can feel like obstacles standing between us and what we believe we are supposed to accomplish. But sometimes, the interruption is the assignment. Scripture Reference: Mark 5:21–34,  Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore.  Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet,  pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”  Jesu...

Photo by  Levi Meir Clancy  on  Unsplash It has been a few years of waiting. Years of wondering what God wants to do in me and through me. At times, it has felt less like standing still and more like walking down a long hallway, looking at each door and wondering which one I am supposed to walk through. Since moving to the Kitsap Peninsula, I have worked several different jobs. Each position has taught me something, stretched me in some way, and added another piece to the journey. Yet somehow, after all the changes, I find myself returning to the place where my ministry began more than twenty years ago. I would like to say that the path has always made sense. It has not. There have been moments of clarity, but there have also been long stretches of uncertainty. I have wondered whether I missed a door, chose the wrong one, or simply needed to keep walking. Waiting has not felt passive. It has required me to keep showing up, keep listening, and keep trusting God when I coul...

Photo by  Dane Deaner  on  Unsplash Meetings may not feel like holy ground. Sometimes they feel like interruptions to the “real work.” They can be long, unclear, tense, repetitive, or filled with more talking than action. We walk in carrying opinions, deadlines, expectations, frustrations, and sometimes a quiet hope that it will end quickly. But meetings are not just about agendas. They are about people. People with ideas. People with concerns. People with pressure. People who want to be heard. People who may be carrying more than they say out loud. And because meetings involve people, they can become places of faithfulness. Scripture Reference: James 1:19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Meetings have a way of revealing us. They reveal whether we are quick to listen or quick to defend. They reveal whether we want understanding or control. They reveal whether we can stay present when...

Photo by  Justin Morgan  on  Unsplash The inbox may not feel like holy ground. It often feels like pressure. Unread messages. Follow-ups. Questions. Requests. Reminders. Decisions. Things that need a response. Things that should have been answered yesterday. For many of us, email is one of the ordinary places where hurry gathers. We check it between tasks. We answer while distracted. We skim while tired. We avoid it when overwhelmed. And somewhere in the middle of it all, we can forget that many messages represent people. Behind the question is a person. Behind the request is a person. Behind the follow-up is a person. Behind the poorly worded message may be someone who is hurried, anxious, confused, or carrying more than we know. This does not mean every email is urgent. Boundaries are wise. Some messages can wait. Some need a shorter answer. Some do not need an answer at all. But even with boundaries, the inbox can still become a place of faithfulness. Script...

Photo by  Sorin Gheorghita  on  Unsplash Most of us do not think of traffic as a place of spiritual formation. We think of it as something to survive. The commute can feel like wasted time. Brake lights. Delays. Crowded roads. Ferry lines. School zones. Construction. Weather. Detours. The same route, the same turns, the same waiting, day after day. It can become one of the most frustrating parts of ordinary life because it sits between responsibilities. We are not quite where we were, and we are not yet where we need to be. We are in between. And in-between places can make us restless. We want to arrive. We want to get home. We want to get through it. We want the road to clear, the clock to slow down, the person in front of us to move a little faster. But maybe the commute is not just wasted space. Maybe it is threshold space. A threshold is the place between one room and another. It is the crossing point. The transition. The moment when we move from one part of life into...

Photo by  Laura Ohlman  on  Unsplash We often look for God in the noticeable places. We look for Him in answered prayers, powerful worship moments, clear direction, open doors, sacred spaces, and seasons when life finally seems to make sense. And yes, God meets us there. But He also meets us in the ordinary. He meets us in the routines we repeat, the responsibilities we carry, the tasks we finish, and even the ones we leave undone. He meets us in the quiet places where no one claps, no one notices, and nothing feels especially spiritual. This series, Faithfulness in the Ordinary, is an invitation to notice holy ground in daily life. Not because every moment feels beautiful. Not because every task feels meaningful. Not because ordinary life is always easy to embrace. But because God is present in the lives we actually live. Before we talk about the sink full of dishes, we need to remember this: faithfulness is not only formed in big decisions. It is formed in small repeate...