When I started seminary in 2007, my professor shocked me. He started the first day of the first class with this warning: “Some of you will not get an A in this class, and that will be a sin because it will mean that you didn’t take the class material seriously or work heartily as…
Writers Write… And Publish!
I am a writer. I have been for decades. I chronicled the triumphs and pitfalls of our family vacations as a teen. I am verbose and never have trouble meeting my word counts for assignments. Words are my friends and a large part of my story. Because I am a writer. I truly do think best…
Grit with Grace
Rhythms in life feel familiar and welcomed. Newness awaits. 2017 was the year of Wonder(Full). It was intended to be full of wonder, full of busyness, and wonderful. And it lived up to its name. In 2017, I ran a marathon, got published, taught a course, completed a year of doctoral work, survived a…
Winner!
November is over. December is here! While most people’s focus is turned toward Christmas, mine is captured reflecting on the accomplishments of November. I completed the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) — admittedly with some modifications. Instead of writing 50,000 words of a novel in November, I kept track of all the words I wrote…
Seeking Thanksgiving
Hospitals don’t get holidays. Sickness doesn’t take a break, so hospitals have to keep working to promote wellness and health — no matter what date the calendar says. I was thankful to have the weekend before Thanksgiving off this year to celebrate with my family. We’ve come to expect this “modified Thanksgiving” since I often…
NaNoWriMo
Yes, that is not gibberish and is a correct title. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Every November, writers from around the world start pecking away at keyboards everywhere at a pace of exactly 1,667 words a day. The goal is just to write. The organizers of this challenge do not worry about…
What’s my age again?
I have no age. My driver’s license boasts a birthdate, but my life experience varies widely. This discussion has little to do with what I see when I look in the mirror, but more about the age I feel in my heart. In the past two months, I’ve had experiences that have made me feel…
My Three-Year Pregnancy
Before you ask, I am not really pregnant. But I feel pregnant. I am in my second year of a three-year doctoral program and I’ve begun to think of each year like a trimester. Perhaps this is just because I’m surrounded by little ones all day long, but the analogy works in my mind! Each…
Level Up!
Do you anticipate or dread birthdays? For me, birthdays bring up such mixed emotions. I often feel grateful for another year of life, adventures, and sanctification. But some years bring up feelings of ennui. I ask myself, “What do I have to show for myself this year?” or “Why doesn’t my life feel like I…
The Mercy of Confusion
I have been co-leading a Sunday School class this semester on hermeneutics, or the interpretation of scripture. It has been a delight to read theological material again, discuss ideas in the Bible, and basically getting my mind blown weekly by our analyzation. Last week we were diagramming Genesis 11:1-9, the Tower of Babel scene, which…