Teach Us to Number Our Days
I used to play that game kids play where you hold your breath when you drive past a cemetery. Then when I was in elementary school, on a trip to West Virginia, mom took me to the carved out space in the holler where my grandmother is buried. It was jarring to see her headstone, bought by my mom’s brother when he received his first-ever paycheck. I never played that breath-holding game again.
How Do I Know My Calling?
The space you are in right now – the job, the classes, the life you’re living – your current season is not an obstacle to your real calling. It is where you are called right now.
We Said It Enough
There are those families that reserve their I love you’s like expensive candy in a jar, bought overseas, limited and finite. When it’s gone, it’s gone. There’s not enough for us to eat it anytime we want. There are those parents who have a hard time saying it to their kids or to each other.
Your Body Matters
Your body is not just a carrying case for your soul. Your body is your soul. Of course we know that our bodies can get sick and break and we wait in hope for the resurrection and the perfect bodies we will have then. But your body now is not just a shell. Your body is sacred. And it matters.
I Failed Speech Class. Twice.
I, who now speak every weekend and am minorly sought after for other events, failed speech class. Twice.
No One is Brave
Everyone is so much braver than I am. I don’t feel brave at all. I feel scared most of the time. I feel like a faker – like if people really knew me, the real me, they wouldn’t think I was capable of anything.
What You Wear to Your Mom's Funeral
I had made so many decisions over the previous days. How was I going to sum up the life of my incredible, larger-than-life mother?
And the Spirit Hovered.
Creation is happening as the Spirit hovers. You may not see it or feel it. But the Spirit is hovering.
You Should Grow Your Hair
You should grow your hair out, he told her. I like girls with long hair.
Moving Abroad is Not Like Flying
Moving abroad doesn't feel like spreading your wings or flying at all. It's nice to think of it that way. But it actually feels a lot more like climbing a mountain.
If She'd Been Healed...
If she'd been healed, we would have had a great story. A great testimony. But the thing is, sometimes the testimony isn't that God gave you what you wanted - it's that He made you into the person you couldn't become without the tragedy.