jamie y. watkins

Author: jywatkins

  • Seeking Community: United Methodist Churches

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    I’m catching up on our church-visit posts. Chad and I attended two United Methodist Churches in November (not two Sundays in a row, since we interrupted our church visits with a ten-day trip to Norway). The first UMC we attended is in the neighboring town where we used to live. We used to pass this…

  • It’s Not About the Building

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    I love debating the topic of church buildings because I can see the merits of both sides. I like discussions with no right answer. I think it leads to much deeper conversation and shows the layers and complexities of our world and the ways in which we relate to God. So let’s talk about the…

  • Things I Learned Traveling in Norway

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    My husband is the best travel partner (okay, I already knew this one, but I’m reminded of it whenever we travel). He makes me laugh. He supports me when I’m stressed or confused. He lets me comfort him when he’s stressed or anxious. He spends hours with me in the Nobel Peace Center so we…

  • Norway: Finding Peace in “Forgive Us”

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    jywatkins
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    I chose just the right book to read on vacation to accompany our theme of peace and to align with our visit to the Nobel Peace Center. Reflecting back on my post about the laureates, the one thing I didn’t mention in my (ever-changing, evolving) definition of peace is forgiveness and lament. Forgive Us: Confessions…

  • Norway: Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

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    In addition to the #BeDemocracy exhibit at the Nobel Peace Center, Chad and I explored the exhibit about the Nobel Peace Prize laureates, 103 individuals and 22 organizations in total since 1901. The exhibit itself was an interesting experience. Each year was represented by what I can only describe as a tablet on a pole, in a field…

  • Norway: Peace, #BeDemocracy

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    I can’t remember if we decided to focus on peace before or after we found out the Nobel Peace Center is in Oslo, but whichever, it was one of the things I was looking forward to most on our trip Norway. The Novel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo each year, unlike all the other…

  • Norway: Peace in Learning

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    Chad and I arrived in Norway this week. The flights (we had a layover in Munich) went well for the most part, even felt fast for coming all the way to Europe.  We made it successfully to the hotel to unload our giant bag and rest. Carrying around our luggage is one of my least favorite…

  • I Pray for More Time

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    Here’s what I know: the idea of losing my husband terrorizes me. We have one of those “I go first” deals that I’ve heard many a wife say they’ve made with their husbands. I don’t want life without him and when I think about it, the emotions of that grief and fear can overwhelm me. I…

  • Seeking Community: Lutheran Church

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    It’s been a couple weeks since we visited our local Lutheran Church, but right after I left for a business trip and then had visitors for my birthday… so we’ve had a couple Sundays off since this visit. I still want to chronicle it, though. I don’t know where my lofty ideas of Lutherans came…

  • How Business Trips Ruin My Life (not really, though)

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    So here’s what happened on my way to Utah for a business trip two weeks ago. (Let me first say, I don’t go on many business trips, and judging from this experience, that’s a good thing. Also, on my last business trip, my flight was delayed like 6 hours and I was stuck alone in the…