I’m turning 24 this week. No one is more surprised than me that I’ve made it this far. About this time last year, I was simultaneously relearning what it felt like to be happy and trying to sort out my own wobbly compass.
I had a litany of struggles. I was burdened with immense sadness and experiencing mysterious, painful temporary paralysis of my legs and arms coupled with extreme fatigue that my doctors theorized were lesions in my brain. I collapsed at work due to lung problems and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. I had pneumonia. I was in a nearly fatal car accident. I…
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For me, the hardest commandment in the Bible is Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” During the poorest portion of my life, I experienced bloody nail bed-grade levels of anxiety. I worried about where will I stay, what will I eat, how will I live. However, I was never left alone or helpless because God was with me and I had a community of people around me who loved me.
Where will I stay?
One day over a five-minute conversation before a poetry class, I was told I would have to…
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Bonjour!
"I’m headed to France for two years.” That statement seems like a miracle in itself. Since graduating in December from John Brown University with a degree in English, I’ve been preparing for the move, and before that, God was preparing me. I had made the usual plans for an English major en route to teach as a university professor. I planned on going to grad school and beyond (possibly infinity and beyond only I would be in school forever). Even though I love learning and college, I wasn’t at peace. I had this inescapable urge to do good without any specific direction. In part, I…
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