i’ve been walking a lot lately. before my surgery it was the one thing that helped best with my pain and after surgery it is part of my daily re-hab & makes me the happiest. at first i had to have friends go with me but now i can walk by myself (if someone can […]
Read Morehope is dangerous.
this saturday night marked the first week of advent leading up to christmas, a season we celebrate very intentionally at the refuge. it’s a hard time of year for a lot of people i know. it seems like loneliness, depression, fear, and shame seem to set in a little extra. in our community this year […]
Read Moregiving, receiving.
thanks, all, for the prayers and love. it’s been quite a week but i am happy to say that i am writing this blog post sitting at my kitchen table, yeah! i have a nifty little pillow & still can’t sit for more than 30 minutes at a time but after 7 full weeks of […]
Read Moremost of us aren't one sentence away from everything being better
we have a lovely group at the refuge called “advocates”. we started a few years ago and meet monthly for training-learning-practicing some of the issues related to journeying with people in hard places. we also have a smaller extension of advocates that meets more intentionally once a month to share the load together at the […]
Read Morebeing a better friend to ourselves
“love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: love your neighbor as yourself.” – Jesus * * * * * it’s always funny to me how we focus on the first parts of this […]
Read Moresitting at the rickety-card-table-in-the-family-room for thanksgiving dinner
this part of the monthly synchroblog i enjoy being a part of, bloggers writing on the same topic on the same day. november’s is a topic near & dear to my heart, seeing through the eyes of the marginalized. i encourage you to check out some of the other writers who participated, the link list […]
Read Morethis is what love looks like here
one of the things i have always tried to honor at the carnival (and facebook) is never exploiting my friends’ stories. it is hard sometimes because i want to share some of the wild & beautiful & hard & ugly & hopeful & hopeless moments that i experience each week with the people i intersect […]
Read Morebeing known for love
“they will know we are christians by our love, by our love. they will know we are christians by our love.” – peter scholtes when we started the refuge 4 1/2 years ago we said that we never wanted people to come to the refuge for the “great teaching, worship, or kids program.” i am […]
Read Moreout of the darkness: singleness & the church
one of my hopes on the carnival blog has always been to help people feel a little less alone on their journey, whatever that looks like. i have met so many great people along the way and am so thankful for the time you take each week to read my l-o-n-g posts. as part of […]
Read Moreout of the darkness: women struggle with sexual addictions, too
last summer i had a series of interviews on the carnival called “out of the darkness.“ i have been meaning to get a few more of these interviews up for a while and am finally getting around to it. if you are new here, you may have missed some of the series of interviews i’ve […]
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