Posts By Miriam Crossman
Miriam Crossman is the Director of Group Life at Grace.
Advent Blog: Bright, Shiny, Pretty Things
Special Blog Series Grace Staff Miriam Crossman on December 03, 2009
Last year at this time, I was crazily constructing blue and silver centerpieces for my son and now daughter-in-law’s December 20th wedding. I always love a good party...and a wedding is a great party! It was a really fun, but very hectic Christmas. Full of family and friends, bright-shiny-pretty things and a tremendous amount of joy. Those are always the things I love about Christmas...along with the opportunity to give the special people in my life just the right presents.
How Does a Christian Parent Love an Adult Child Whose Lifestyle is Anti-God? (Text Answer)
Grace Happenings Grace Staff Miriam Crossman Text What's Next on April 21, 2009
The best advice I’ve ever come across came from a former self-titled “prodigal” of a nationally known author and pastor. The son’s name is Abraham Piper. “Your rebellious child’s real problem is not drugs or sex or cigarettes or porn or laziness or crime or cussing or slovenliness or homosexuality or being in a punk band. The real problem is that your child doesn’t see Jesus clearly. The best thing you can do for rebellious children … is to show them Christ. It won’t be simple or immediate, but the sins that distress you and destroy them will begin to disappear only when they see Jesus more as He actually is.”
Giving Good Advice
Grace Staff Miriam Crossman on February 11, 2009
I recently re-read the book of Job and was struck with one of the players in that very human drama recorded in the Bible. Because of my work with groups over the last 10 years here at Grace, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to both watch and participate in a lot of interaction between people, most of whom mean well. But even when our intention is to help people, we can hurt others when we offer advice that’s ill-timed or poorly thought through. Personally, I’ve given some really great advice at some really bad times! Elihu, a much younger man than Job or his three older “friends” is first mentioned in chapter 32. His method of counseling Job is noteworthy:
Hospitality
Grace Staff Miriam Crossman on December 16, 2008
In the original language of the New Testament, the word for hospitality literally means “lover of strangers”. We often think of the process of connecting people to Grace as people connecting themselves to us. In reality, true connection begins with Grace attenders reaching out to those the Lord brings through our door and blessing them with the kind of love God has bestowed on us.
Why I Love What God is Doing at Grace
Grace Staff Miriam Crossman on December 11, 2008
My experience at the guest café this past Sunday is why I love to be a part of what God is doing here. I talked to 2 families with young children, both of whom were attending church for the first time in several years. One family had seen our whoisgrace.com bumper stickers and the other had driven by our building routinely. They both wanted their children to have a place where they could learn about God and figured that we were a good place to try.