Skip to main content
All Posts By

Debra Rienstra

Michigannaturespirituality

At the Mineralogical Museum

“I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” — Ezekiel 11:19 Hardness has advantages. I think of this today here in Michigan, where the temperatures have been so cold that snow absolutely crackles when car tires push…
mm
February 20, 2015
artsmemoir

Filling Out the Questionnaire at the Dance Studio

Congratulations on starting dance lessons! Dance students gain many benefits through becoming better dancers. In order to assist your specialist teacher in personalizing your foundation and future programs, please let us know the five most important benefits you wish to receive through your dance lessons,…
mm
February 6, 2015
silly

OT/NT Entertainment Group, Inc.

I’ve been thinking about the complexity of modern communications and entertainment and the very long distance between the Ancient Near Eastern world of the Bible and life in a mass media culture. That led me to wonder what would happen if a bunch of biblical…
mm
January 23, 2015
memoirMichigannature

Snow Day

Six-thirty a.m. Dark. No sound save the wind’s distant crescendos and calms. No traffic sounds. Slip out of bed to check the internet for closings: could it be? Oh, snow day! A peek outside: streetlamp light illuminates the snow, still blowing horizontally, at least eight…
mm
January 9, 2015
silly

Holiday Classics Updated

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Santa, the elves, and the reindeer have all completed sensitivity training. So when Rudolph is born with a red nose, everyone affirms his difference. Comet, the flying coach, now emphasizes inclusion, so he welcomes female reindeer into the games. In fact,…
mm
December 26, 2014
review

Exodus Movie Wrestles With God

Director Ridley Scott had me at the thundering hooves. I should not have enjoyed the two-and-a-half hours I spent watching Exodus: Gods and Kings—there are so many things wrong with it. But who can resist cast-of-thousands battle scenes, Egyptian palace intrigue swathed in gold lamé,…
mm
December 12, 2014
college lifesilly

Hogwarts Adjusts to New Realities

“I am so glad I’m not taking Divination anymore!” Hermione had just come down from the girls’ dormitory into the Gryffindor common room. She plopped down into a squashy armchair next to Harry and Ron, looking thoroughly disgusted. “Look at this,” she said, flipping open…
mm
November 15, 2014
memoirspirituality

Mighty Deeds

“There’s a lot of down time between the mighty deeds of God.” I heard myself saying this to my friend Sharon over pancakes yesterday. We were talking about her church’s efforts to discern where God is taking them next. They were weathering some discouraging developments…
mm
September 20, 2014