Posts: Reflections
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.