Striving to live an ordinary life with extraordinary impact.
I walk into our house and look at all the things that we love about it. I look at the hardwood floors, the fireplace, the tall ceilings, the cozy backyard. I think about all the dreams I have for this house, all the things I hope it will hold for me and Stu, I think …
Being young and married taught me that every single one of my dreams is nothing compared to the plans that God has for me. I was audacious enough to think that my plans might be better than His. I wanted freedom and independence and adventure and I wanted it my way, without thinking that God could give me His own kind of freedom and independence and adventure in a different way.
The world is messy, so messy, it makes my skin crawl sometimes. I am messy, too, maybe even messier. But the best part, I am being redeemed, and I am loved even, especially, when I am most desperately broken -- and so are you.
This year has been a stepping-away season in a lot of ways. For a variety of reasons, it’s required us to step away from church-related ministry and other kinds of services sorts of things in our community. This was very disconcerting for me. I’ve never lived my life this way. I’ve always had lots and lots of items on my Christian Resume. I thought that with such a lack of regular “service” opportunities I’d have all kinds of time on my hands, but actually I realized eyes shifted from everyone far away and realized the gaping needs of the people right in front of me. I’m realizing that loving my neighbor means the people outside my context, yes, but it also definitely means the people very closest to me.
Growing up, I had the deep privilege of consistently hearing who Jesus is. I heard Bible stories everyday and was branded with an identifier: you are a Christian. You are a child of God. I have no doubt that the greatest gift of my development was being taught the truth about the Bible. This was …
Your dreams will change as you change. What you believe your purpose to be shifts as you learn more about who you are supposed to be. To think that you are certain of what you should do, the path you should be on, also assumes that the person you are right now will think the same way as the person you will be in 20 years. I don't know about you, but I do not want that. I want to continue to grow and learn and as I mature my sense of purpose will adjust and deepen as well. What I believe my purpose to be shifts as I learn more about who I am supposed to be.
There’s this song, “Suit and Jacket,” by Judah & the Lion. I heard it first almost two years ago, at a time when life seemed to be going pretty darn well and I felt like I had my stuff together. It’s a good song, catchy, but the lyrics confused me: “'Cause everybody I know, everybody …
My mornings go something like this: My alarm buzzes at 6:00. I hate this part of my day -- that moment where I know the bliss of sleep is over and what comes next is just cold, groggy, darkness. I contemplate this and hit snooze. My alarm buzzes again at 6:02. I burrow further into …
I can vividly remember the day, even the moment, Stu and I met. I remember what I was wearing (white shirt tucked into navy shorts). I remember what I was doing (ordering a veggie wrap in the student union of Grove City College) and why I was there (returning from babysitting and dashing for food …
Continue reading My Marriage Isn’t Enough: Valentine’s Day Realness Part Two
Looking at February 14th in your calendar and seeing “Valentine’s Day” in tiny print at the bottom of the box either gets you giddy excited and has your heart fluttering, or it has you sifting through your contacts to text your dwindling number of single friends to ask them to join you on your endeavor …
Days after Stu and I got married I picked up my life and moved to a place I’d hardly given a passing thought to until it was my destiny. We moved for the job, a fresh start, adventure, independence, a place to establish ourselves as husband and wife, to leave and cleave. No one expected …
My best and worst quality can be described something like this: I have high expectations of myself and others. On my good days this looks like waking up on time, throwing all of my effort at my job, believing in other people, cooking healthy meals and keeping a clean and tidy home. On my worst …
