A Letter to Future Goers
Future Goer, The advice I want to give you is this: Break. Break as you go, saying goodbye to your loved ones who will be living their lives for the next two years without you. You don’t have to act strong and unaffected by your own pain of leaving. You can and should let your heart hurt, cry with your family and friends, mourn the time you are missing with them. Your sadness in leaving does not compromise your confidence in Going. Break as you choose and are forced to let go of pieces of yourself. As you release the many roles you’ve played in your life thus far, where you have… Read more >>
acknowledgment
“What things?” This is the question risen Jesus asked two of his disciples as they were walking along the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) after a heavy three days of grieving the loss of Jesus, their teacher, their hope for redemption, their go-to for all of their questions. The disciples, appalled that he doesn’t know what just happened recount all they’ve experienced. And Jesus walks with them and listens to all of it, then opens their eyes to truths of Scripture all while they continue to listen but still not understand who is really speaking to them. During our annual spiritual retreat,… Read more >>
The long way 'round.
When God gives a vision, He makes a way. But it’s not always the romantic-picture-feeling the whole time through. It’s often mundane and ordinary and looks like sitting and learning a language and then laughing at jokes you really don’t get because you only understood half of it. It looks like discouragement when the girls still don’t understand the reality of who Jesus is. It looks like continuing to pray when you're not hearing anything loud and clear. It looks like perseverance and endurance to continue when you just don’t want to get out of bed. It also looks like staying in bed every… Read more >>
when the loneliness is real
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about loneliness and in it I have also been discovering a loveliness that exists. It’s not the loveliness of a girl in a summer dress twirling through an open meadow blooming with wildflowers. Which is honestly usually what I think of when I think of the word “lovely.” This lovely is deeper. It can be found anywhere, but in order to see it, I’ve had to experience loneliness in ways that I haven’t before. There is a loneliness that I’ve experienced here that comes from the reality of life at home going on without me, the belief that I do not measure up… Read more >>