May this Christmas meet you right where you are in the quiet corners of your life, where longing, gratitude, grief, and hope all sit side by side. May the story of God choosing to dwell among us remind you that you are never alone, especially in the ordinary, the unfinished, and the tender places. May peace settle into your body like a deep exhale.May joy find you in small and surprising ways.And may love feel close enough to touch. As this season unfolds, may you trust that the light born in...
18 days ago • 1 min read
"What do you think about enchiladas?" That was the question I dropped into my family group chat as my siblings and I were planning our Christmas gathering. We were talking through the usual details, including the assumption that we would do the traditional meal with turkey. No one objected, exactly, but no one sounded excited either. It was familiar. It was fine. It was what we had always done. When I typed the enchiladas question and added, “What if our get-together is more "Feliz Navidad"...
25 days ago • 2 min read
I saw a saying this past week that has stayed with me. I first saw it on a bumper sticker, then unbelievably, I heard it said on an episode of Shark Tank. (Ok, God, I see you...) Just a few simple words: Do good, be kind, share what you can. The wisdom and simplicity of it nestled in my heart. Good wisdom is like that. It doesn’t overwhelm us with rules or demand heroic effort. It slips in quietly, looks us in the eye, and asks something both beautifully clear to understand and surprisingly...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
This week I found myself in a conversation about the liturgical calendar; why we follow it, why we mark seasons like Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and even the long stretch of Ordinary Time. It can seem like a peculiar rhythm to people outside the church. But the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the calendar is one of the best tools we have for faith formation. It shapes us slowly. It gives us language, patterns, and rituals that help us grow into the kind of...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
I stepped outside this morning and heard the crunch of leaves under my feet. The air still smelled like fall. You know that scent; a little earthy, sunny and brisk, and filled with the last notes of a season that is quickly slipping away. It feels almost impossible to imagine that by the weekend we will be staring at blowing snow and frigid temperatures. My mind has a hard time holding both realities at once. Fall all around me. Winter barreling toward me, not even asking for permission. Life...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
“How can I be thankful for this?” I hear that question every time we bump into those verses about giving thanks for all things. And honestly? I get it. Who wants to give thanks for the crummy stuff that keep us awake at night, the things we’d trade away in a heartbeat if we could. I’m not thankful for awful things. Even when walking through them has stretched me, toughened me, or brought me closer to the God I seek, I still wouldn’t call the awful things themselves a gift. What I am thankful...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Remember when fifty sounded ancient? I used to look at people in their fifties and think they had it all figured out: steady, wise, settled. Now here I am, and I’m still wondering where the time went and how on earth I got here so quickly. My husband and I have been talking lately about retirement. We've always planned for it, but now the conversations have more substance to them. What was once far in the future is approaching the doorstep. I new I would age, I just thought it would take...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
My husband and I are doing some financial planning for 2026, and I have to tell ya, right now it feels a little frightening. I wish I knew everything would work out okay. I think it will, but I don’t know that. Prices are up and insurance premiums are astronomical. We don’t know what we’re going to do about insurance. I’ve been tempted to panic, but instead I’m trying to focus on what’s right in front of me. Even though the trigger for all this anxiety is financial, I’m realizing that the...
2 months ago • 1 min read
“Every time I hear this song, I think about God,” she said. We were having a conversation about how different pop songs evoke spiritual themes. Soon the conversation branched out from music to movies, family time, and other things altogether. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised,” I added, “since the whole idea of Jesus is that God is incarnate, always showing up in tangible ways.” Our conversation reminded me of a the Celtic concept of "thin places." Thin places are those moments and locations...
2 months ago • 2 min read