Am I a Christian? That word is so loaded these days. It can mean very different things to different people. There are Christians out on the forefront of suffering, serving their brothers and sisters in Christ around the world through solidarity and support, and there are people holding “Jesus Saves” flags while storming the US …
Category Archives: life
Open to Chaos
Recently, I read that some Native cultures celebrate the Spring Equinox the way white Americans celebrate New Year’s, with resolutions and goals and new beginnings. It makes much more sense to me. Let January be the worst month of the year as it is, dark and cold with winter nowhere close to ending. Not exactly …
Weary
The sky has been gray, gray, gray this past week in the PNW, and I always forget how much that affects me. I have been feeling glum, anxious, restless, and undone. I feel this mounting pressure of Christmas on the way, and knowing how different it will be this year makes me feel even more …
Fate vs Manifestation
I just finished the phenomenal The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. It tells the story of Ana, a Middle Eastern woman from 2,000 years ago with a voice, a vision, and a powerful drive inside her to live her own life and story. There are many pieces of the book that are going …
Faith Like a Child
The other night, we were saying a prayer together and my daughter, who is 4, demanded quite firmly to God to “take the sickness away and take away all problems.” It made me think of the verse in the book of Matthew in the Bible where Jesus is talking and says, “if you don’t turn …
My Best Life
I’m periodically checking in to this online faith conference that is live this weekend. I got to hear Jeff Chu ask a question along the lines of: “Have our imaginations also fallen victim to the evils and suffering present in the world?” He was asking, what are we living for? What good thing do we …
Fighting for Optimism
Something good did happen this year, in this cursed 2020. In fact, several good things happened and to save myself from giving up on humanity, I have decided to list them. These are all my own personal joys; I’m sure there are some societal positives out there, but I don’t have the energy to go …
Look Up
My family went camping this past weekend. Far away from the city’s lights, the night sky was inky black. We got lucky with a cloudless night, and the stars were popping out of the sky. The kids had (finally) fallen asleep in the camper, and my husband and I got to sit out by the …
Strength in Numbers
{Sigh} 2020 is the actual worst. We all know this. I don’t need to list the reasons why, but one of them is that I have been laid off (again!) Never in my wildest thoughts did I think that I, as a physical therapist, would be laid off twice in the span of 8 months. …
Faith, hope, and love
Our living room has seen a lot of sacred moments. My husband and I got legally married in front of the fireplace, with our pastor, my best friend and future brother-in-law as witnesses (our wedding itself was in another state that wouldn’t allow us to use an out-of-state pastor). We’ve broken bread and drank bottles …