“when we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. the friend who can be silent with us […]
Read Morethere are lots of ways to mother.
it’s mother’s day weekend in the USA, the time where a bunch of women feel special and extra-loved, and another group of women often don’t. like so many other holidays, many who feel great about it sometimes forget that there are others who really struggle this particular weekend. church is extra sucky if they make […]
Read Morehealing shame & division
a few weeks ago at the bold boundaries sacred friendship gathering, hugo schwyzer, an amazing writer & speaker & professor from LA, shared this little gem: “the church’s witness is to heal shame and division.” that is what we are meant to do: heal shame, heal division in this crazy mixed up world. for the […]
Read Morethank someone today.
this past weekend i was part of a beautiful conversation in chicago centered on friendship between men & women. i always say that while i don’t wake up every morning thinking about cross-gender friendships, i do wake up every morning thinking about people & relationships and ways we can participate in healing the shame and […]
Read Moreadvocate: standing up for those who can't say it themselves (yet)
a few weeks ago i was asked a question on twitter by a lovely blogger friend about a scripture that pointed to “a voice for the voiceless”, which is so often used in a lot of justice-y language. i wrote recently how there is no such thing as voiceless, just people whose voices have been […]
Read Morelosing beliefs, not faith.
it’s been a wild and sad week around here. i’ve been around some pretty amazing open broken hearts and i am grateful. thanks, too, for all your love & prayers for our little community; they mean more than you know. sometimes what happens when it comes to blogging is that i get an idea, know […]
Read Morethe open-broken heart
* i wrote this post earlier this week but hadn’t posted it yet when i received word yesterday morning that we lost a dear refuge family member who had been struggling with a long season of not wanting to live. right now we are aching, struck by the painful realities of life. broken-hearted. and trying […]
Read Moreresurrecting.
some synonyms for “resurrecting”: awakening, bouncing back, breathing new life into, brightening, coming to life, making whole, overcoming, reawakening, recovering, rekindling, renewing, renovating, restoring, resuscitating, snapping out of it, springing up, strengthening, waking up. yesterday was resurrection sunday. a day where we tell the easter story and Jesus risen from the tomb and remember that […]
Read Moreeaster hope(less)
it’s easter week. a little hard to believe because it seems like yesterday we were talking about christmas and how hard it can be. i am one of those people who like easter. even though my faith has shifted in all kinds of ways, the beauty and power of the resurrection story resonates deeply in […]
Read Moreformation friday: forgiveness
it’s been a few weeks since i’ve posted a formation friday. this is a crazy month for us at the refuge & my kids home for spring break & getting moving on the book & all kinds of other typical chaos. it’s been a really good lent at the refuge focused on “hunger.” one of the things […]
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