Posts: Reflections

person inside a plant maze

Committed to the Seeking

Learning to consistently draw near to God

Apr 29, 2024

I looked around me at all the women gathered in this dim worship center, raised hands and eyes closed, some swaying side to side, singing their hearts out, and I felt nothing. I turned my gaze back to the stage and tried to concentrate harder on the lyrics, as if mouthing them might prompt the Holy Spirit to grace me with its presence.

God Faith Growth Life Lessons Reflections

weighing scale photo in a shop

Saving Us from Madness

Harmonizing our need for change and routine

Jan 30, 2024

Wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, take a lunch break, finish work, eat dinner, work out, shower, go to sleep. Sprinkle in chores, cleaning, and running errands every other day. We all have our own versions of daily routines. And let’s be honest, they don’t change all that much. There are those rare special-occasion days, or those tragic-news days, or the travel days, but everything in-between is fairly ordinary.

Change Reflections Habits Life Happiness

vintage analog alarm clocks

An Underlying Request for Affirmation

Reflections on our obsession with productivity

Jan 23, 2024

Only three weeks into the new year and I’m already exhausted. Could it be the dreary weather, the lack of sunshine and daylight? Or could it be the all-too-familiar “new year’s rush”? That sense of jumping on the bandwagon of creating goals and resolutions and intentions and then trying to stick to them without fail. Wanting to do all the things.

Human Condition New Year Reflections Self-Care Soul

chained window frame in dim light

Purpose Behind Every Limitation

The freedom found in obedience to God’s commands

Jan 18, 2024

Walking out of my orthopedic appointment, I felt immediate relief in my left shoulder. The injection was kicking in and I almost cried from joy. I went home and immediately scheduled my prescribed physical therapy for the next six weeks. This was a familiar scenario. Only six years ago I was doing the same thing for my right shoulder. The diagnosis? Bursitis in both cases.

God Life Lessons Reflections Habits Change

green leaf seedling plant in dry leaves

Overflowing with Fresh Seedling

A new year’s ritual of mindful surrender

Jan 01, 2024

January 1st. It carries so much weight. So much pressure and expectation placed on it. Some carried over from last year. The older I’m getting, the less I make new year’s resolutions and instead, think of intentions I have for the year. What mindset do I want to approach the new year with? What energy do I want to bring into it?

New Year Habits Reflections Transformation Goals

grayscale of two young girls laughing

Places That Increase Our Holiness

Learning to put away childish things

Sep 04, 2023

I’ve been reflecting on this verse for some time now, especially as I’m nearing my 40s. The instruction is simple enough. But can I be honest? This is something I struggle with. Have for my entire adult life. I have always thought of myself as a child at heart, viewing the world with a childlike naiveté. I’d like to think it’s how God made me.

God Personal Growth Reflections Change Seasons

brown home sweet home wall frame

Anchored to the Ground

Feeling at home right where we are

Jul 23, 2023

I was leaving the gym on a Wednesday afternoon, walking to my car in the parking lot when it hit me. That feeling that this is where we belong, where we’re supposed to lay down roots. “This” being the town my husband and I live in. It didn’t last very long, that pleasant, comforting feeling, but it lasted long enough for me to feel reassured in our decision to move here almost two years ago.

God Reflections Life Lessons Perspective Community

woman with long hair and long-sleeve floral shirt

A Salve on Wounded Hearts

Nurturing our gifts for a greater purpose

Jul 08, 2023

I feel too much. It’s a problem, really. But also, strangely, a gift. One I didn’t ask for. One I question more often than I should. Some days it takes the form of codependency. Other days it shapes into empathy and compassion. And frequently, it manifests as sensitivity. Whatever name I give it, its impact is the same—a heaviness in my chest, a strong desire to cry, a confinement of spirit, a disconnect from the present moment.

Feelings Emotions Self-Acceptance Reflections Identity

group of people walking on stairs in a building

Witnesses to Each Other’s Existing

Seeing secondhand stress in a new light

Apr 23, 2023

It happens often when I’m “out in the world.” Grocery shopping, waiting at intersections, working out at the gym, eating in restaurants. Sometimes it even seeps through my laptop screen while working with my colleagues and sitting in on video calls. It’s palpable, some days stronger than others. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels it. What am I referring to?

Stress Perspective Mental Health Reflections God

close up of flowering bush with icicles

Enveloped in a Layer of Gratitude

Reflections on an ice storm

Mar 24, 2023

The weather forecast called it ‘freezing rain,’ warning of an ice storm in effect for our county. Essentially, this meant that the rain was going to be accompanied by temperatures at or just below freezing, leading to ice accumulations. I had never heard of or witnessed this weather pattern before moving to Illinois. Now, in my fifth year here, I was more than familiar with it.

Reflections Hope Contemplation Nature Beauty

data zeros and ones with a heart

A Light That Shines in the Darkness

Using technology in service of a better world

Mar 18, 2023

Lately I’m finding myself more addicted to my phone than usual. Taking it with me from room to room while walking about the house. Checking it frequently, for no reason other than boredom or a craving for distraction. It’s become more than a habit, nearing addiction, and frankly, I don’t like it.

Technology Reflections Humanity Perspective Mindset

painting of two human hands reaching

The Alchemy of the Written Word

The sacred unity of writer and reader

Mar 11, 2023

I’ve been thinking a lot about “writer identity” lately. How we come to see ourselves as writers. What type of writers we think we are or are not. As much as I don’t want to be boxed in, I also understand that the whole point of branding and self-marketing is, by definition, putting ourselves into some type of recognizable box that readers can connect with.

Writing Artist Art Personal Growth Reflections

lit white candle in a room

Way, Way Grander Than Myself

Thoughts on life’s impermanence and leaving an impact

Feb 18, 2023

It was my first shiva gathering. Thursday night, 9 pm my time, on Zoom. I had no idea what to expect. A traditional ritual of Judaism, it is a mourning period for close relatives and friends where they come by and bring food, comfort the mourner, discuss the loss, and share memories.

Spirituality Life Reflections Perspective Time

thistle seed bush

Think About Such Things

Transforming our destructive thoughts one seed at a time

Jul 26, 2022

They are everywhere. Stuck on the garden gnome, the backyard furniture, in-between the patio steps, caught in the Emerald Cedar trees. A few had the unfortunate luck of getting stuck in the citronella candle wax before it hardened. Floating thistle seeds, thousands of them. We found out they’re coming from a field behind the houses across the street.

Personal Development Growth Reflections

image of cup with tea and a pen on top of an open journal

To Sit Quietly In A Room

Spiritual reflections on COVID-19

Mar 14, 2020

Even without stepping outside, I can feel the eerie quiet of the city. The dust is not even close to settling, but there is a feeling of culmination in the air. Of something ending, making way for a new type of living. If ever we were asked to take stock of our lives and all the precious things and people in them, it is now.

Spirituality Life Lessons Reflections Self-Awareness

candles lit on a wooden fence

The Long Lost Art of Digging Deeper

Sep 19, 2016

Whatever happened to depth? To profundity? Where have all the deep people gone? Buried beneath all the superficiality I imagine. (Pun intended). I love the way Mr. Foster phrases the above quote. It is indeed a “desperate need” of our times. Perhaps it’s the introvert in me that feels this way.

Time Reflections Slowing Down Contemplation