It was a warm Sunday in July when she asked me, “Would you consider going on the Italy short-term team this November?” Only the week prior had I listened to this fiery, warm-hearted lady and her husband share to our college group about their time as missionaries, and I had felt that stirring within me… Continue reading The Call to Go to Italy
The past few months have been fraught with political ads, campaign slogans, and headlines promising progress from one side and destruction from the other. Frankly, the rhetoric can feel overwhelming and draining at times. It can be tempting to want to push it aside and say, “I’ll just focus on other things.” That would be… Continue reading Election Season + Proverbs
The past month and a half have not been easy for me. The teacher life has a few extra challenges this year, and while I love getting to create new programs at a school I adore, I’ve been hitting the end of my physical and mental rope. The days sometimes blur together, the nights are… Continue reading His Daily Promise: He Will Sustain Me, Sanctify Me & Satisfy Me
Life is not a fairy tale. Wishes don’t come true on command. Princes don’t show up on cue. Happy endings aren’t guaranteed. And singing animals don’t flock About princesses in captivity. Life—real life—is messy and broken. Sometimes you’re weeping into your pillow, Staring out the window at bleak prospects, Praying the same tired prayers… Continue reading Life is Not a Fairy Tale
Do you ever get extremely annoyed by the extremes to which extremists overuse the word “extreme”? In our current cultural rhetoric, it seems like any time something happens that the other side doesn’t like, it’s blamed on “the extreme right” or “the extreme left.” Do the extreme right and extreme left exist? Yes, unfortunately they… Continue reading If Everything is Extreme, Then Nothing is Extreme
It’s been almost a month since I’ve posted a blog post or written anything meaningful. Granted, last month was filled with putting up the show I was directing all summer, The Sound of Music, as well as prepping for the start of a new school year. But I knew that wasn’t the real reason I… Continue reading Writing My Way Through This Drought
Deny not these tears, My sweet one. Deny not the ache in your heart That whispers a fragile song With a broken melody. For with each tear, Gently bottled by the Father, You reveal your humanity And the love woven Strand by strand into your soul. And every tired longing Whispers that this… Continue reading Deny Not These Tears
In a season of hoping in my life, I wrote the following prayer. And if you are in a season of hoping right now—praying—longing—wondering—I pray these words would encourage your heart and help you center your hoping in Christ himself. He hears all our prayers. His sovereign love and grace are guiding our lives. We… Continue reading A Prayer for Those Hoping for Love
I’m not about the nightclubs with pulsing lights and loud music. I’d rather not do crowded restaurants and noisy chatter. Crowds of people I don’t know overwhelm me. And a packed day with no rests can break me down. Do you know what I love instead? A perfect cup of steaming tea with a… Continue reading Why the Artist Must Spend Time Alone
I ask you, oh Lord, To shape my desires According to the cross. Let me not demand That my desires Be met according To my ways and my time. Rather, take these desires— Sweet as they may be— And make of them Something far sweeter As I learn to trust you In the… Continue reading Shape My Desires According to the Cross
The Vintage Girl 