Collette Broady Grund

A conversation with the kids about Paris Ollie and I were playing Legos when Kendall walked in. “Did you hear about Paris?” she asked. “Yes,” I said. “It’s scary, huh?”. “Yeah,” she said, “I don’t know why the tourists would do that.” Tourists? Oh. I quickly explained that tourists and terrorists are very different things,…

I’m struggling in my work these days. It’s so many details, so much prep work that could be done by a trained monkey. Last week I spent 3 hours cutting out paper Moses’ and taping clues around the church for a scavenger hunt. It’s evidence of my sinfulness that this kind of work makes me…

Last week on retreat, as Marrett and I were walking the labyrinth at Wellsprings Farm, I remembered this song. It came to me as I walked a labyrinth in Nashville, during The Young Clergy Women Project conference. This is the first original piece of music I’ve shared in more than a decade, and I hand…

Marrett and I went on retreat this weekend, to a beautiful place called Wellsprings Farm. As we settled into our hermitage, we began the retreat with meditation. For me, meditation is about clearing my mind so that I can hear the voice of God, and I haven’t been doing much of it lately. I tried…

Published simultaneously at http://youngclergywomen.org/to-till-the-ground/ It was Sunday morning, eight weeks from my last menstrual period, three weeks since the first faintly pink positive result appeared, ten days since the darkened line confirmed it, and a measly 24 hours until my first prenatal appointment. It was Sunday morning, and I was bleeding. Marrett and I had…

I grew up in a split-level rectangle that was a lot of bedrooms and a little living space, nestled in the big woods of Wasilla, Alaska (see picture above). My family was equal numbers male and female, with happily married parents and four children, two girls, then two boys. When I was my son’s age,…

Here’s the text of the sermon I preached yesterday. For an audio recording, click here. Pentecost 5B: June 28, 2015 Mark 5, Lamentations 3 Faith and Fear at the Boundaries Oh, man, I love this gospel story. There are so many good details and connections, so many meanings to take away, so will you bear…

Lord, have mercy. I’ve just read Bishop Eaton’s letter about the Charleston shooting last night, and I’m simultaneously thankful for her call to repentance and self-examination, while also wondering why it took the killing of some of us (ELCA seminary grads) by one of us to say these things so clearly. I wish I could…

I’d like to say, after nearly three years, that I hardly think about my divorce at all. But it wouldn’t be true, because when you share a child with someone to whom you are no longer married, there’s rarely a day you aren’t affected by it. Most of those days, it’s just a reality that…

(Simultaneously published by The Young Clergy Women Project) I think of my grandmother at Christmas more than any other time of year. Each Advent, I hear the words of Mary’s upside-down kingdom song (the Magnificat) set to the haunting chant of The Lutheran Book of Worship’s evening prayer service. Grandma taught me to sing it…