Welcome to the blog!
Snuggle up with your favorite blanket and stay awhile.
Don’t know where to start?
Search topics or browse the categories tab to find what you’re looking for!
The Note I Kept For Over A Year
When I returned to work, I wrote that quote my friend shared on a sticky note and kept it in my agenda as a reminder. A mini pep-talk to remind me that this, too, was not in vain. I looked at it daily for over a year.
Love is For the Ones Who Love the Work
I do not remember my counselor from that 2005 camp weekend long ago. I do not remember the speaker or their messages. I don’t remember any of my tent mates, or the food we ate, or any games we played. But what I do remember is that little pinto horse.
On the Work God Does in the Background
… After another hopeless tug, the desperate truth dawned on me: I had locked my keys in my car. At the gas station. My phone taunted me from the passenger seat.
the best road name of all time
We were driving on the left side of the road when I saw it—the sign I’d been waiting for my whole life.
In Process: How Renos Parallel Life
In 2022, Lars and I bought a small fixer-upper.
Correction: our house is small, but the fixer-upper aspect of it is vast. When we first stepped into the carpeted kitchen, the musty smell of mildew assaulted us. I may have imagined it, but every step left puffs of dust in its wake. The drop ceiling poorly hid fifteen rows of fluorescent lightbulbs.
time around the table
Every time we are sitting at this table, I feel the crushing weight of how precious time is—how fleeting. Both Gran and Pap share yarns from their lives and ask questions about ours. Five years is a long time to catch up on and I find myself hungry to sop up every last bit of the stories they share.
Replacement is Easier
We had issues over this time, yes, but I couldn’t see them becoming big enough to cause irreparable fissures and cracks. I was used to long-distance relationships. I was used to low-maintenance relationships, too.
When Prayer Became More Than Words
I never doubted my faith, but what I did doubt was myself—whether I was good enough or whether I was doing enough to earn God's love. I treated my relationship with God like a checklist for many years. Read this guest post from writer Krista Krahn.
The Way God Gets My Attention + A Promise
Just before Enoch went to the ER, when my stress levels were peaking, Lars and I hopped out of the car after church. I glanced down. It was on one of the branches of a dying plant that I noticed it.
A Little Change That Makes a BIG Difference
So often in life we’re focused on the big picture, the huge goals that will revolutionize our lives and change our circumstances, when in reality, it’s the tiniest things that are the most helpful. Not only are small adjustments more sustainable, they are easier, gentler, and all in all, more likely to get done.
But First, Rootedness: Abiding in Christ Before Striving for Fruitfulness
Fruitfulness always springs from rootedness. You don’t have to dredge up good works in your own strength. Three tips for abiding in Christ instead of striving.
it is finished
Usually when someone says that something is finished, that means it’s as good as it’s going to get. But God’s finishing is a point of beginning for us. We can have a new life, new hopes, and new desires because God has completed the work we couldn’t do on our own!
when your progress feels invisible
Sourdough is a process. I can’t quite remember what day I started. All I remember is that it was a quiet, unassuming Tuesday. The leaves were yellowing on the branches, and I’d thrown open all the curtains in our home to let in as much of the dwindling fall light as possible.
This Changes Everything
“After meeting with El Roi (You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees), Hagar knew that if God could be with her in the wilderness, He would be with her in having to submit to Sarai also. It’s as if Hagar said to God, “You have looked upon me, and now I can look upon You.” That face-to-face relationship with God transforms.”
my favourite construction sign
For the past three years in a row I’ve had to take detours to work during the summer, as the routes I habitually used were taken over by construction. And while I generally don’t love the signs that announce construction, there is one sign that has become somewhat of a dear friend, a good reminder.
a new song to sing
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or general feelings of despair are not uncommon this time of year. Read this when you need a reminder that there is hope on the horizon.
what happens when you hate your word for the year?
At the start of the year, in the throes of goal-setting, I chose a word for the year. However, as I mused on what my word would be, the one that surfaced displeased me...
on a quest for something meaningful
When we traveled to Norway, I didn’t want that experience to only be about us. Read on for what an unexpected prayer taught me about God, community, and my imagination!
Unknown Needs, Known Saviour
Have you felt it at all lately, a subtle (or maybe not subtle at all) shift in your relationship with God? Read this for some wise words from guest writer Rebekah Branson as she discusses what to do when you don’t know what you need.
here in the love of Christ I stand
Part 4 of 4 in a series delving into the hymn In Christ Alone.
Standing in the love of Christ is always about God’s goodness, not your own. God isn’t finished with you yet! Read part of my story here.
