I recently watched the newly released documentary on Discovery+, “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed,” and also binge listened to several hours of “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” podcast. Both of these hit soooo close to home. It was as if they read my journals about the things I experienced for 8 years, and there... Continue Reading →
Results of Embracing Fear: Solo Travel
A few months ago I brought in my 35th birthday on my first solo international trip! Going solo wasn’t my original plan, but I asked over 10 people and things just weren’t working out, so I went ahead & booked the trip. Some people were nervous & wondering how I got to this point. (My... Continue Reading →
“Friends” & “Followers”: Balance in the Exposure
Were we humans created to be exposed to so much? For centuries, we could only really stay in constant communication with approximately 50-150 people, depending on our roles in society. We had our household members, classmates, coworkers, the people in our places of worship, extended family members, and neighbors. If someone moved away, we bid... Continue Reading →
It’s Been a While
Writing has been my go to way of processing since I was a teenager. I don’t write everyday, but definitely at least once a month for the past 17 years (minus a year & a half at the end of high school/beginning college). But I’ve been so exhausted & worn out these past few months... Continue Reading →
Hidden No More
Each year for the last 8 years, I’ve prayed about and had a word or phrase for the upcoming year. It’s usually not until the end of that next year, that the word(s) make sense. So, when I felt like the phrase for 2020 was “hidden no more,” I was excited and nervous, not knowing... Continue Reading →
Courage to Hope
https://youtu.be/diNpnXE7k-A We can courageously hope in a faithful God who keeps his promises. It takes courage to hope in the midst of despair, or when we don’t see change happening. But like the persistent widow, we can plead our case to a God who hears our cries, and will liberate us. It may not be... Continue Reading →
Suffering and Scars
https://youtu.be/FkwFHkrWUo4 God’s presence in the midst of suffering gives us hope in days to come. What we see is someone’s journey is not always the full story, and even the seemingly unscathed life is filled with scars. When we don’t have answers for why pain occurs in our lives or in the lives of our... Continue Reading →
Hope
As written for the Life in Practice Blog. When we think about hope, it can feel like this intangible figment of our imagination that is sometimes hard to grasp. Where does hope come from, and what’s the point of hoping when things look so bleak and unchanging? The dictionary defines hope as “a feeling of... Continue Reading →
Covid Observations
Many of you don’t know this, but I have now known 10 people who have or had covid, including 7 people close to me that got it 2 weeks ago. I have seen and learned a lot these past few weeks, and wanted to share some things. Almost 160,000 people in the United States alone... Continue Reading →
American (USA) Christians, Who is Jesus?
What would American Christianity have turned out to be if this picture of Jesus was hung in churches? Forensic scientists believe this is what Jesus would have looked like. A few weeks ago, I heard someone on a podcast say that we’ve focused so much on Jesus’s deity and resurrection (as we should), but we’ve... Continue Reading →