A Prayer for Those Who Hurt on Sundays

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A Prayer for Those Who Hurt on Sundays

“Easy like Sunday morning” are lyrics that can grate. Not because it’s hilariously difficult to get everyone ready and into the car on a Sunday (it is!) but because of something much deeper. Because church, for some, is a place of deep loneliness. Of profound wounds. Of rejection. Of distrust. Of having to stand next to offenders and hear their voices proclaim worship. Of realizing your own role as an offender and having to encounter those you’ve hurt.

Once, in a room full of people, we were asked the question, “Is it easy to love the Church?” Everyone around me nodded quickly and happily, saying, “ Yes! We love our church!” My jaw dropped.

This is not my experience. I am bloody from my attempts to love the Church.

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The Woman in the Wilderness

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The Woman in the Wilderness

I remember. 

I remember sitting in church on Mother’s Day. My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for a while, it wasn’t happening, and I was devastated. No one really knew. I didn’t know how to talk about it without a lump in my throat, so I didn’t talk about it. My arms physically ached for a baby, and the pain was changing me.

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Free Valentine's Day iPhone Wallpaper

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Free Valentine's Day iPhone Wallpaper

Regularly, I ignore my family in favor of doodling. My husband will ask me a question, and I'll say, "SHHH! I'm busy," and continue on in doodle heaven. Truly, writing and doodling are just about the only antidote for my obscenely high word count, and doodling, unlike writing, doesn't require my brain, which is struggling these days.

Anyway, in an attempt to make this doodle obsession productive, I created three free wallpapers that you can save and set up as a Valentine's Day themed background for your phone, if you so choose. Your support will further encourage me to stop talking to my husband so much, and for this, he is thankful.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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6 Podcast Episodes for the Hungry Soul

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6 Podcast Episodes for the Hungry Soul

Anyone else feeling a little frazzled? A friend and I were commiserating recently that though it's such a luxury to have access to so much incredible content (especially the free stuff!), it's easy to get overwhelmed. Especially if you're a greedy little content gobbler like me. I WANT TO READ AND LISTEN TO EVERYTHING.

My love it when friends do the filtering for me by sharing their favorite Instagram posts, blog posts, articles, sermons, and podcast episodes. So this is me, being a friend, and sharing some of the favorite podcast episodes I've listened to in the past month. Each of these fed my soul in their own way, and I'm hoping they'll do the same for you.

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Old Truths In A New Year

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Old Truths In A New Year

All our attempts to celebrate New Year’s Eve fell through, so a friend suggested we just celebrate later and call it “Happy Old Year" party. I am VERY into parties that have a dash of strangeness to them, and this excites me more than if our plans had worked out.

It also made me chuckle because it seemed like a nudge of God’s elbow, him once again, in a season of newness, drawing me back to oldness. In church New Year's Eve morning, I kept thinking over and over again how for me, in this season, I do not believe God is calling me to anything new. I think he’s calling me to something old, something eternal.

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