How does my family’s word for the year connect with what many of us are experiencing as we enter 2023? Read the story here or join me as a guest on Jackie Roese’s podcast where we get curious about cultivating friendships in life transitions.

When a lonely fig tree reminds me that I am seen and known and that being rooted in Christ is the source of my identity and a resting place for my need to belong.

As a new year gets underway, we press in to choosing to celebrate everything from the smallest achievement to life itself.

When a sudden case of déjà vu stirs the grief of not being able to return home, I’m left to face the fog of despair. Yet, even here I am reminded that I am both seen and known.

A summer of rowing teaches me valuable lessons that help establish a new rhythm as we transition into fall.

When a halfway-through-summer transition feels like an opportunity to reflect on the hard lessons learned, the adventure that awaits, and the moments within our reach to recapture joy.

We have hugged, reassured, championed, and consoled, but we are tired. With May being national Mental Health Awareness month, I want to acknowledge this difficult season and encourage families to seek support.

As we remember and celebrate mothers this Mother’s Day, there is one mother I don’t want to neglect. The land of our birth, the country that charmed our childhoods, and for some the place we’re watching helplessly from a world away.

After writing the last blog post, I accepted that I have been languishing, set aside some uninterrupted time to find my flow, and took my own advice to set a small goal: just one poem.

Here it is, title inspired by my youngest daughter.

Many of us are feeling an internal sense of joylessness, even as outward signs of returning to pre-pandemic normalcy abound. Could the dominant emotion of 2021 be languishing? And what can we do about it?

When a tornado follows hot on the heels of a devastating winter storm, it takes working in the garden to find the signs of resurrection life I need to persevere.

As we come up to the one year anniversary since our lives were directly impacted by a global pandemic, we can expect to feel the reverberations of a world shaken to its core. Take time to reflect, lean into the discomfort, and share stories so we can continue to weave this past year into our life’s narrative.

Sipping a cup of tea at the end of seven days snowed in by Winter Storm Uri, gives me the perfect opportunity to pause and reflect on seven years without mum.

As the new year stretches out in front of us, I am pondering how to move from a place of mere acceptance to one of embrace.

Holidays look different in the midst of a pandemic. However, if we see traditions as anchors in these tumultuous times, perhaps we can find the stability and connection we crave even by celebrating just a few.

As we head in to the holiday season in the midst of a pandemic, we may need to consider how to let go of expectations and instead let love in.

With no end to the pandemic in sight, we may all be feeling a little stretched. Self-care and self-compassion are still two superpowers we can draw on to keep us fighting the good fight.

A court-side reverie reminds me that memories may be the very things to help us move through hard times.

As we continue to grapple with a world changed by a pandemic, I find myself longing for home.

As school-from-home starts across the country, we are finding ourselves needing to employ patience, empathy, and grace - skills I learned fishing.