gabriellehayes79

From Worldly to Whack: Tye Tribbett Keeps Challenging the Church

Disclaimer: I didn’t listen to the Breakfast Club interview. I have never listened to any Breakfast Club interview. Unless and until they are interviewing one of my relatives, I will probably not listen to any Breakfast Club interview. Please do not tell me I need to listen to the entire interview. I’m not interested. WhenContinue reading “From Worldly to Whack: Tye Tribbett Keeps Challenging the Church”

Look Deep Before You Leap: What “Seekers” Can Learn from “Who TF Did I Marry”

So earlier this week, I was captivated by a young woman on social media who was recounting her experience of an early pandemic relationship. The poor lady had obviously been traumatized. She took responsibility for her role in this fiasco, as she told us the details of her failed marriage. She told the world theContinue reading “Look Deep Before You Leap: What “Seekers” Can Learn from “Who TF Did I Marry””

Wanna Be

I really needed some good news this week. This week has challenged me to the point of tears on multiple occasions. I needed to hear from heaven, and my normal courses of action were not breaking through walls around my hardened heart…and then I saw a picture of the incredible Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart standing at theContinue reading “Wanna Be”

Church Girl: The Chorus (or The Importance of the Congregational Hymn)

Music is the universal language of mankind.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Music is an important part of many people’s worship experience. Whether you’re attending a cantata in Latin at your local cathedral, or joining in a Hebrew nigun at a historic temple, so many of our religious and spiritual services are enhanced by the beauty ofContinue reading “Church Girl: The Chorus (or The Importance of the Congregational Hymn)”

Church Girl (Verse 1):

I’m just going to come right out and say it. The Beyonce concert was better than any of the church services I’ve been to all year. I don’t say this lightly. I am a confirmed and confessed “Church Girl”. I was baptized in 1988. I believe in Jesus Christ. He is the giver of allContinue reading “Church Girl (Verse 1):”

The Burden of a Broken Body

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the blessing of a broken body. The universe heard me, and just a few days later, my own broken body betrayed me and I wound up in urgent care. I didn’t tell anyone, but my siblings and the people I live with. Since I went to theContinue reading “The Burden of a Broken Body”

The Blessing of a Broken Body

This morning, I read I Corinthians 11:23-26 as I took communion by myself. (Today I used Ritz crackers and cranberry juice because I didn’t want to crack open a full bottle of red wine.) As usual, I broke the cracker in half, as I do with my wafers when I’m in a church setting. IContinue reading “The Blessing of a Broken Body”

You’re Welcome!

My mother had a medical procedure that required us to check into the hospital at 6:00 am. As such, I spent the better part of my morning walking around a hospital campus. While others brought blankets and books, I brought my refillable water bottle and a set of headphones. I am not the type ofContinue reading “You’re Welcome!”

Mothering my Mother

I help her bathe and get dressed. I feed her breakfast before I go to work in the mornings, and I check in with the sitter periodically to see how their day is going. I worry if she is getting the proper nutrients to sustain her. When I get home from work, we talk aboutContinue reading “Mothering my Mother”

Friendly Cooperation

I want to say I was shocked by the announcement that Southern Baptist Convention voted to boot out one of the biggest churches in the country. But as someone who is truly “Baptist-Born, Baptist-bred, and when I’ll die I’ll be Baptist dead”, I barely shrugged my shoulders. Saddleback Baptist church has 19 campuses and weekendContinue reading “Friendly Cooperation”