Posts by Megan Hill

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Time Is Short. Be Patient.

Megan Hill
Oct 27, 2021
The white rabbit in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is famously short on time. Having been summoned by the Queen of Hearts, he dashes in and out of the story, repeatedly checking his pocket watch and telling Alice how late he is. The white rabbit is not a very appealing character. From the tips...

Pastors’ and Elders’ Wives, the Lord Knows You Are Weary

Megan Hill
Apr 8, 2021
My pastor’s wife friend was nearly in tears. “We have to set up for church and take down every week. Then I lead the singing while I also parent my kids. Nearly every evening, we have someone from the church showing up at our house with an urgent need for hospitality or counseling. We’ve had people...

How to Delight in Serving Your Church: Read the OT

Megan Hill
May 18, 2020
In the thirty minutes after Sunday school and before morning worship, our congregation talks, drinks coffee, and nibbles muffins at long white tables in the fellowship hall. Before the pandemic forced us into social distancing, this was a predictable part of our weekly gathering. I hope it will be...

Godly (Dis)contentment

Megan Hill
Sep 7, 2018
Nineteenth-century author and hymn-writer Elizabeth Payson Prentiss lived a life of exemplary faith in the midst of serious trials. For most of her life, she was confined to bed as an invalid, and her husband also suffered from ill health. In 1852, in a period of three months, their two young...

Sundays are for Babies

Megan Hill
Nov 17, 2017
“Sundays are hard for babies,” a church member said sympathetically as she handed back my crying daughter. It’s a truth universally acknowledged. On Sundays, the carefully orchestrated nap schedule of the other six days bends and then snaps under the constraints of morning and...

A Healthy Church: A Praying Church

Megan Hill
Sep 30, 2017
It is said that a visitor to C.H. Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle once asked Spurgeon to tell him the key to his ministry’s great success. In answer, the famous preacher took the visitor to a basement room where a group of church members bowed in intercessory prayer. “Here,” he explained, “is...

Preparing to Entertain

Megan Hill
Aug 2, 2017
The first Sunday on which I invited guests for lunch after church, the oven settings failed. We all arrived at the house, anticipating the mouthwatering aroma of baked ham and instead opened the door to . . . nothing. The oven was cold, the ham even chillier, and my smile of welcome instantly froze...

Praying Over the Music

Megan Hill
Apr 26, 2017
A recent study of 3 million American drivers over 570 million trips found that the drivers used their cell phones during 88 out of 100 trips. Even in states where hand-held phone use by the driver is illegal, the study found that drivers still pulled out their phones regularly. On average, American...

In Defense of Praying for Aunt Sally's Big Toe

Megan Hill
Apr 15, 2016
"Pray for the dead bird on the sidewalk!" The six-year-old's words rushed through the church prayer meeting leaving an uneasy silence behind. Our pastor had invited requests, and one little boy--the newly-attending grandson of a church member--was endearingly eager. But his request? Not even just a...

I forgive you, but please don't call it 'giving grace'

Megan Hill
Aug 25, 2014
What should I do when my husband forgets to buy milk on the way home from work? When my kids leave their new bikes out in the rain? When fellow church members are curt or critical on Sunday mornings? Increasingly, I hear the godly action in these scenarios described as "giving grace." And, while I...