Summer of 2022 News

Hi!

If you’ve read my stuff since way back in the Preschoolers and Peace days, you know it’s relatively quiet on this site. Back then, I wrote and published three times per week, and over here, I’m clocking in at about three times per year.

If you’re somewhat new to my writing over here, I hope three times per year suits you just fine.

Still, I do feel I owe you all some sort of an update on where I’m writing, what I’m writing, where I’m speaking, and what my family is up to. Some of you feel you know all of us because you’ve been here for so long, and I love that!

Writing

Aside from my copious career of three blog posts per year, I’m also sharing my articles with Key Life Ministries and publications that ask me from time to time. Go take a look at the other authors at Key Life — you’ll be encouraged.

Is it time for another book? Perhaps. But I have a firm belief that I should only be writing what God asks me to write, and currently, that’s something else entirely (see “School”).

Speaking

Yes! I still do speak wherever I’m asked. I wrapped up 25 years of homeschooling this year, but I did just speak at a small homeschool gathering last month and will always have a heart to encourage those of you who are still in the trenches. Homeschooling is hard.

My husband and I recently spoke for a week of family camp at Sandy Cove Ministries in Maryland, and we were overwhelmed with gratitude to be back there again. Have you been to Sandy Cove? Go. The leadership team is driven by grace and justice and mercy. For 75 years, the motto of Sandy Cove Ministries has been “Jesus Never Fails.” Amen.

School

I’m back in school! Since I graduated with my BA a million years ago (okay, just 30), I’ve wanted to pursue a Master’s degree. But 30 years changes a lot of things, and my desire for an MA in music has become a desire for an MA in literature. I’ve been studying online through Oxford University, and I’ll be applying for grad programs this fall. Wish me luck!

Instead of articles and books, I’ve been writing essays. Lots and lots of essays.

Teaching

And all of this brings me to the fact that I’ve also been teaching literature and writing online through Outschool. I adore this job! My students are from all over the world and they bring rich perspectives and ideas to our discussions. If you have a student in your home, I’d love to have them join us. You can find all of my Outschool classes here.

My goal is to continue to teach online, wherever that is in the future. Come see me on Instagram @kendrafletcherteaches

Our Family

There are a lot of us, so here’s a quick rundown:

Hayden is 29 and does all of the digital content and marketing for a music school in the Bay Area.

Nate is 27 and married to Jayne. They live about 10 minutes from us, which is super fun since they have our two grandbabies and one on the way!

Jack is 25 and works in a restaurant in Portland, OR. We wish he’d move closer but we also envy the beauty of his location.

Abby is 23 and working on her teaching credential. She has a biology degree and will be teaching high school biology. God bless her.

Caroline is 21 and is working as the scheduler for Fletch’s practice. She’s studying philosophy and also working part-time for the local opera company.

Annesley (Lola or Lalo, depending on who’s saying it) is 18 and studying early childhood development, but she’s seriously considering culinary school.

Christian is 15 and creates music every day. He loves to skateboard around town and is really digging being an uncle.

Joe is 14, but due to his brain injury, is developmentally about 6. We could write volumes about this kid, so feel free to ask if you’re curious. Yes, he still adores Peppa Pig.

Fletch and I just celebrated 31 years of marriage and we still really like each other. You guys, I’m in love!

Thank you for continuing to hang out here. My mission, so to speak, has never really changed: Help people get free from crappy religious behavior and learn to just simply follow Jesus. Lots of people these days call that deconstruction, but I don’t care what it’s called as long as it’s all about Jesus.

Need help leaving legalism? I’m still here to do that, too.

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What Happened When My Favorite Bible Teacher Said Something I Didn't Like

My favorite Bible teacher said something recently that made me pop an earbud out and press pause.

How dare he. I mean, here we were swimming along through the book he’s currently teaching, and all of the sudden he decides to voice his political opinion, which just so happens not to coincide with my own.

This man is highly educated. He’s been my favorite Bible teacher from way back when I’d catch his broadcast in college. And I’m old, so he’s more old. Older than I am. And far, far wiser.

But that thing he said . . . What was I going to do with that? How could I still trust his wisdom and perspective, his knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and his experience as a follower of Christ over decades of his life? We weren’t going to see eye-to-eye on this one pretty important point.

Gratefully, I’m older and wiser now, too. There’s a lot of room for spiritual growth in my life yet, but I’m midway through an American life expectancy and I’m beginning to see where God has done some pretty impressive work, in spite of my undersized efforts. In the past, I’ve walked away from people and communities who aren’t “like-minded” (read: we think the same about everything theological, ideological, and pedagogical), believing that they had nothing for me and I was squandering my superiority on them. I’m not going to spit-shine and polish that last sentence to make myself seem less terrible than I really have been. I really was that terrible.

But this time when my Bible teacher guy said that thing that made me stop the podcast to argue with him out loud in my kitchen where he would never hear me anyway, I realized pretty quickly that I had been given a gift. My tendency has been to identify teachers and leaders who confirm my own biases and take up my cross to follow them. That’s ended not just once in disaster.

This time, my heart was softer. This time, I could smile and acknowledge that we were just going to have to agree to disagree. This time, I was actually grateful that we didn’t agree because in that one statement my eyes were thrust back upon Jesus and not on the guy saying the thing.

And the next day, I pulled that podcast up again and pushed play. As I’ve said here on repeat, it really is just all about Jesus, and Jesus didn’t come for my political opinions.

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Maybe Our Freedoms Aren't Quite What We Think They Are?

The whole entire book of Colossians is blowing up my life.

The explosion is a long time coming, because back in the First and Second books of Peter (letters he wrote to struggling Christians he knew), I couldn’t walk away from my reading without wrestling with a lot of little niggling things. I read those two short books just last month, so the collateral upheaval is acute as I sit here in February of 2022 in the wake of what isn’t quite yet a wake of a pandemic.

I’m not a Bible teacher, so I won’t be parsing Scripture here. But if you are curious to know where God seems to be lighting a little TNT under the churches Peter and Paul wrote to in the books of 1 & 2 Peter and Colossians, hold onto your hat for a few combustible moments.

Actually, just two:

Peter lays out the Christian’s identity in the second chapter of 1 Peter. He uses words like a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession. The meaning of each of those monikers can be broken down and cross-referenced and have been done so by commentators across the centuries. The short version is that when God enters the life of a believer in Christ, that believer becomes his.

He goes on to say, Look—you’re so loved by God and protected by him and secure in his love for you, you don’t need to do all the empty things you were doing to make yourselves feel better about yourselves. The reminder of who the believers are and whose they are should make us religious people relax. He loves us!

And then, Peter drops the bomb.

“Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

— 1 Peter 2:13-17

Excuse me, but what?

I picked up my phone and texted an older, wiser friend who actually is a Bible teacher and I asked, “How do we read the second chapter of 1 Peter and demand from our leaders our perceived freedoms? Is it just me, or do we submit to our government, even if we lose our earthly freedoms to do what we want?”

Before I disclose her reply, I want you to know that I wasn’t being pawky when I asked. And in the political climate that has seen mask mandates and protests and freedom convoys, I know I risk losing some of you, too. It’s okay. Maybe you read this passage differently than she and I have. You have that freedom. But here’s her response to me:

“I think we submit. And look like Jesus whatever the cost.”

Can you feel the shrapnel? When Jesus blows up our expectations and bids us to take up our cross to follow him and “look like Jesus whatever the cost”, there’s a lot of shrapnel. It changes us. It makes us look at our lives a little differently. It burrows itself into our broken places but always, always in light of the reminders that we are just what God has called us: His. For his glory and our good.

I’ll come back to the second explosion in 2 Peter next time. Until then, remember whose you are and that he never, ever wastes what we give up to follow him.