We Were Made for Work

by Kathi Lipp | | 7 comments

Friend to Friend

While visiting our cabin in the mountains can be a magical experience, what it takes to keep it running is not. It’s a lot of hard work. After signing the mortgage paperwork and living through the first winter, we realized just how hard. Besides our regular jobs, there’s always a long list: clearing brush, taking down dead trees, chopping firewood, cooking meals, changing sheets, and cleaning the chicken coop. We are forever preparing for the next season.

We’ve learned to invite guests with a caveat: In the morning, we will cook you a glorious breakfast (for which the chickens have provided the main ingredient) and keep the coffee pot full. In the evenings, we will have cheese and crackers

Inviting the Holy into My Humble

by Kathi Lipp | | 5 comments

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As a child, I did just about anything to avoid work. This included paying my brother to do my chores; hiding dirty clothes under my bed; and one memorable time, putting dirty dishes in the oven so my mom wouldn’t see them.

As an adult, I figured out the only one I was hurting with my laziness was myself. Dishes that didn’t get done one day were still going to be waiting for me the next day. Laundry would pile up until my kids were tempted to use bandanas as underwear—or just go commando.

So as I got older, I learned the art of distraction to soldier on and get things done. Folding clothes wasn’t so bad as long as

The World as Worship

by Kathi Lipp | | 9 comments

Friend to Friend

In the year of COVID-19, like so much of the world, our church shut down.

I understood why it had to happen—we were in a pandemic, after all—but I missed it. The preaching and teaching, fellowship, communion, but most of all, I missed the worship. I missed standing shoulder to shoulder with others and lifting my hands and my heart in praise. I missed that intimacy with God, even among hundreds of other people.

As with every other situation in 2020, it was a time to get creative. Like other believers, we worshiped from our living rooms, sitting on the couch, our dog and cat cuddled into our makeshift pew.

It was good. But it wasn’t the same. And I, not

Be Where Your Feet Are

by Kathi Lipp | | 4 comments

Friend to Friend

I am what some people might call a prepper.

We live in the mountains of Northern California on 33 acres of forested land. We only “go into town” once a week for essentials like groceries (and Starbucks.)

There is a lot that can go wrong up here on the mountain.

We get snowed in regularly, and usually lose power when we do, so we have to stockpile food, fuel our generator, and charge our flashlights, emergency lantern, and backup power bricks.

After last year’s huge storm, when a tree fell on our house, not only did we lose power but also our backup generator failed. We are fortunate that our neighbors, Paul and Julie, were here to help my husband dig us

Please Quit

by Kathi Lipp | | 7 comments

Friend to Friend

Today I pressured a friend to quit.

My friend Lori has had some big, wonderful things happen in her life, including a wedding to the man of her dreams, and it was time to “get back to work.” She had an event planned, is a super hard worker, and was doing everything to pull it off.

She was exhausted. She was worn out from all the good stuff in her life.

But she was going to keep going, because that is the kind of person she is. She has a high sense of responsibility.

I could see in her eyes that, more than she needed to keep her commitment, she needed a nap. And I recognized that look, because at one time