ONE HUNDRED FEET FROM CHURCH

Hi, I’m Karen—a writer, ravenous reader, avid Netflix viewer, KC Chiefs fan, gardener, and coffee lover whose inner Anglophile is perpetually at war with her inner Francophile. I also like to hike and ride my trusty bike, once completing Missouri’s 237-mile Katy Trail in four days. In November. Not my best decision. My husband, Jim, understands my impulse to dream big and my need to order takeout regularly. Our son once told me that everything I cook smells like fire. Oh, and I grew up in parsonages. My dad was a Lutheran pastor and, just as significantly, my mom was a Lutheran pastor’s wife who wanted her daughter to stand up straight, get good grades, and keep her clothing and her life spotless. Although I managed to get good grades (except for math, which made me cry), I’ve never been a spotless kind of gal. From the ripped and stained clothing of my childhood to our dog’s muddy paw prints on the kitchen floor and the chaos that is my desk today, I can’t keep anything clean for long. I will forever be a messy pastor’s kid turned messy adult—but one who has been cleaned whiter than snow by a loving God.