Each season welcomes a time to reflect on what we are learning, becoming, and where God is inviting us into as we are being shaped in this wonderful gift of life. I love pausing occasionally, taking a deep breath, and doing the spiritual practice of remembering, reviewing, and savoring life’s lessons and sacred moments in our lives. I gather these tidbits of wisdom into what I call my Four Somethings: Something Wise Henri Nouwen explains clearly why writing helps me/us express our deepest desire/emotions. This is why I find writing in my journal so helpful. He says it so well: “Writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals to us what is alive in us. The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know. Thus, writing requires a real act of trust. We have to say to ourselves: … [Read more...]

“Well” is my word of the year.  I have prayed, journaled, studied, played, and walked with this word for nine months so far in 2024. I have wrestled, laughed, and wrung about every ounce of wisdom from its substance I could squeeze out. I sat here this morning and thought, “I think I am done. My word just doesn’t have enough juice to make it until the end of the year.”  Then I laughed, “My well has gone dry.” One of the most valuable and powerful spiritual practices I participate in is seeing a spiritual director. About once a month she and I meet. I share with her what is stirring my soul and she listens deeply – what a gift it is to have someone listen with such love and with the Spirit. Last week I told her about how I wanted to grow more devoted, more in love with the Lord and we talked about this invitation, this desire.  (mmm, thinking now perhaps this was a thirst from a dry well?). I asked her what spiritual practice would she recommend I focus on the … [Read more...]

Do you have sacred spots in your home? I was thinking about this last week and noticed I have quite a few special cozy places where I like to sit quietly, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend and just be. A space that becomes sacred, holy, peaceful. A corner to connect – with myself, with another, with God. Deep in my heart I believe God is everywhere but I find it hard to experience the Divine in many places – some spots seem more sacred than others.  Do you have those spots in your home? Here are a few of mine. My backyard swing. My backyard is seasonal though I do try to enjoy the outside year-round, I am not a winter person. Sitting on my swing, especially in the cool morning air of the warmer months, with a cup of coffee and my morning devotional starts the day off so wonderful.  I sway on the swing with Jesus and we talk and giggle and lift others up.  I raise my feet up like a child, close my eyes, and feel the motion back and forth as if Jesus were … [Read more...]

Four Somethings is a regular blog post where I feature four fun bits of wisdom. I love this practice as it collects moments for reflection and growth. These “somethings” become markers in our spiritual journey. With so much pivoting and uncertainty in our lives right now, being grounded in a simple practice like this guides my way.  Sometimes simple is best, right? I listened to my heart and to God and narrowed down my four categories and to see what they will teach me this year Something Wise “You look me in the eyes, Father, And give me Your full attention. Teach me how to do the same with You, And to live life more present to my Maker.” Beholding: Deepening Our Experience in God by Strahan Coleman Something Wonderful I attended my annual silent retreat this year at the Lady of the Pines Retreat Center in Fremont Ohio – a wonderful time of renewal and time with God. Walking the labyrinth is always a wonderful practice for me. Listening to what God is … [Read more...]

What does it mean to live well? With “well” being my word of the year, I have been thinking about this question: what does it mean to live well? So of course, I was intrigued to find a book by a great author, Eugene Peterson, On Living Well, Brief Reflections on Wisdom for Walking in the Way of Jesus. Doesn’t just that subtitle say it all? Each chapter contains gems of wisdom on different aspects of life on themes such as beginnings, simplicity, prayers, mercies and glories. Here are a few quotes that teach us how to live well: “We ought to cultivate the skills that equips us to live in cheerful anticipation of what God will do tomorrow. Will we live anxiously complaining and querulous, because we don’t have all we want or because we don’t know what is coming next? Or will we live in confident joy, sure that God’s next move will be a good one? The expectant command is for us to rejoice.” “God invites us to leap, to live, and to love: to leap from the visible uncertainties … [Read more...]

I mentioned last week I would write about my experiences at my retreat with creativity and Soul Collage. I have attended a weekend with Soul Collage, but this was the first time I combined an 8-day silent retreat with a creative activity like this. I wondered what would happen. I really enjoy Soul Collage. First, you must know a quirk about me – I failed scissors in kindergarten. God did NOT sprinkle many fine motor talents into my DNA into my soul when I was created so being artsy isn’t not a strength BUT Soul Collage is something I and really anyone can do. Creating a collage is of course putting together a picture using photos from various sources to create a new photo as a form of self-expression.  Soul Collage goes much deeper. This trademarked process was created by founder Seena Frost who was a trained marriage counselor and held a Masters degree in psychology and theology. It is way of seeing an aspect of who you are in a new way. The only rule is we can’t publish on … [Read more...]

Emily P Freeman taught me these words: makers and managers. She writes: “There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule. The manager's schedule is for bosses. It's embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you're doing every hour.” She shares on her podcast, you can listen to it here, “That brings us down to one reason why all this matters so much. Because whether you’re someone who keeps a maker’s schedule or a manager’s schedule, the truth is we all have a need to create space to make…” I am naturally a manager. I love my calendar. My to-do list. My get it done checklist. Accomplish this and that. Focus goals sheets. I excel at finishing!  My left brain is so tired at times that my right brain wanders off into the garden to play with the birds by itself. I do need to create. To … [Read more...]

I thought I was clever. I decided that I will write this week about space - something I haven’t really explored on this blog much before. I put space into the search bar located on the left side here and a whole bunch of posts came up.  Surprise to me! I had written about space before. Oops! Space has been taking space in the spaces of my heart and mind for many spaces of time. I reread this quote from 2011 from Henri Nouwen: In the spiritual life, the word ‘discipline’ means ‘the effort to create some space in which God can act’. Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you’re not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied… to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn’t planned or counted on. Creating space for God to act.  I like that. Then there is physical spaces that create environments conducive to our spiritual growth – places of quiet, inviting reflection, where nature … [Read more...]