Purpose & Belonging

Because "Just Be Yourself" Isn't Enough:Thoughts on Identity and Purpose In which I share: a story: "If Phillip, the most true-to-himself person I knew, could succumb to perfectionism and fear of criticism and failure, what chance did I, a person who cared so deeply...

This week, candles were extinguished with a breath and a wish. Though, "Happy Birthday" felt less like a mark of time passing and more like just simply something fun to do that day. Because, really, has any time passed since the start of the Coronavirus? And before...

I stepped up to 2020 with a fervor to embrace it. The known of 2019 stepped aside for the new possibilities of 2020, and I sprinted ahead. And then I stumbled. Not because of anything I had done; as the ground rose and fell under me with life disruptions, I found myself frantically trying to find my footing as I moved one week into the next. And just as I thought I had righted myself, the ground under me dropped out with a sudden and intense finality. This year has become what I believe God always intended it to be for me: an embrace.

In my attempt to embrace my unique design as I embrace this unique year, I am memorizing 20 verses.

I miscarried on a Sunday. By the following Thursday, I felt the familiar need to make sense out of my reality by creating plans, by defining purpose, by scheduling my day. So, I did just that. By the following Sunday night, at the one week mark, I found myself...

I see pictures of spring popping up all over social media. In my neck of the woods, it's gray skies, rain drops, yellow grass, and an alteration between cold and less cold. It seems fitting for today. Today is my second day of recovery from emergency surgery. I...

In order to graduate high school, I was told I had to read the entire collection of Mark Twain's works on on my family's bookshelf.I only made it through about 75% of the collection, but by then my parents' expectations shifted to a more realistic level and they let...

I don't take pictures.Not of my kids and definitely not of myself.Got nothing against photos... I just don't think to take them in the moment.And, if I'm being honest, with the invention of smart phones and social media feeds, I've become so very aware of my lack of a...

We tried a meal delivery service last weekend. We picked the recipe, the company shopped for us, and my husband and kids cooked the meal by following the step by step instructions.We ate it during our Sabbath meal and it was quite honestly one of the best meals we've...

This girl right here, she's my oldest. The one who made me a momma. The one in whom I recognize myself and yet is her own person so distinctly. The one with a flair for dramatics..My own little Anne of Green Gables..I have told her a number of times that she reminds...