I have been following Christ for almost six years now. While it seems like a sliver in comparison to those who are ten, twenty, thirty years in, to me it feels like forever. To reflect on my life before Christ is to see grainy images of decisions that still leave me in question if those… Continue reading “The Night of the Senses” →

After seeing buds on trees this morning, I'm thinking of what Heaven must be like. I wonder if it's the first day of spring every single day there. Where trees are beginning their bloom and flowers from the depths of soil hear the Heavenly call to come forth. As one who lives more winter than… Continue reading The Sweetest Hellos →

I am not sure what is to be grieved more: the lack of writing because of the lack of inspiration or the lack of writing when inspiration hits? What I have come to learn about myself is that I can write if it feels like my heart will lurch out of my chest if I… Continue reading Living In The Drafts →

I am currently taking a Principles and Practices in Substance Abuse Counseling class, and it hasn't exactly been awe-inspiring or helped maintain the passion I once had for this field. But something last night helped me find that passion again. A woman presenting on a counseling method referred to as "Solution-Centered Therapy" had the entire… Continue reading Five Minutes of Direct Eye Contact →

Have you ever had a season where it felt like the lights were dim on the inside? Where there is a passing car now and then, only to remind you that life is still in gear and it is still out there? I guess this can also be described as a spiritually dry season. I… Continue reading When the Light Goes Dim →

February is known as the shortest month of the year, so why does it feel like the longest, most emotionally taxing month of the year to those of us who experience winter? February is what everyone does not look forward to in Chicago. We all walk around with our hands stuffed deep in our coats,… Continue reading Sunny Sarasota →

Have you ever had nostalgia hit so hard you swear you could taste it? I feel that when I listen to Ben Howard's "Old Pine," especially when it's bone cold outside. "Old Pine" brings me to a place where spontaneous car rides took friends and me to a random, already-harvested cornfield to watch an invisible Northern… Continue reading “Old Pine” & The Memories In Between →

Before last week, I had not finished a book from cover to last sentence in well over six months. I have this odd faithfulness to my semesters ... reading anything other than my material felt like I was cheating. I was eyeballs deep in other literature on the brain, the central nervous system and all-things… Continue reading Fiction, I’ve missed you. Like, a lot. →

In the heaviness of all that has happened in Paris, France, it is only natural that our physiological reaction be fight-or-flight. How is it that another mundane day rounds a corner to find terrorism at its front steps? While any act of terrorism is horrific in its own kind, this form came ready with a… Continue reading Divided Differences →

"There is a shift in the landscape of Heaven happening right now."  My pastor said these words today as people stood to confess their belief in and commitment to the life Jesus. The power in that moment caused an inevitable lump in my throat, and I am sobbing by the end of it. People are coming home.… Continue reading Through and Through →