Dear Grief, Thank you.And we hate you.And thank you again. For waking us from a mundane comfortable slumber,Turning the lights on and shouting, ‘Get up!Get up and look around at your life.See this stuff laying around?What do you want to do with it?Or, maybe, you just want to sit down in the mess and cry?That’s okay.’ You have a way …

Dear Son or Daughter, I offer you room to explore. I trust that in raising you to be an independent soul who is invited to know that God is always with you, you will wrestle. Wrestle on. Ask the big and minute questions. Shake up the boxes – the ones your dad and I, the church, your external influences hand you- …

Just be how you are. I sensed the Spirit assure that my sadness was accepted. But I felt embarrassed. I’d returned from an incredibly special weekend retreat. So much beauty and soul-restoration and yet, I couldn’t mistake, there at the core was deep, unshakable sadness. So, I surrendered – not to my feelings- but to how God was inviting me …

I’m nervous, he squishes his face to my side. I’m nervous about tomorrow. I pull him close and tussle his middle school boy hair- still smells like freshly picked wish-flowers. Tell me everything you’re nervous about. Out they tumble. Fears about class and where to go. What if the locker doesn’t work? What if I get lost, or am late? …

Thank you for bringing us back to the basics. Winnowing our days toward what matters.Family walks and watching strawberries grow.Baking banana bread and enjoying Tanner’s first dinner made from scratch: turkey bean enchiladas.Noticing anxiety surfacing. How long can this go on? When will it end? How do I persevere in the overwhelming unknown? Being forced to stay in it; whether boredom, hard conversations, …

New light. This phrase woke me from my sleep and continued rolling around in my mind and spirit as the days went on. New light? What does this mean? Days later, I dreamt of a familiar faces who greeted while the sun rose, bright bubblegum pinks and vivid violet, in the background. The light offered a sense of joy and …

For 15+ years I was a pastor’s wife, a small group leader, a life group inviter, a camp counselor alongside my husband. When you’re in a church, you begin to speak the language, you adapt to the rhythms of serving and leading and taking on “we” language. It’s easy for the church to become the driving force, rather than being …

Growing up can tell us to worry about what others think, to stay paralyzed with fear of being rejected if we’re too honest, ask too many questions, are too curious, are too drawn toward beauty and wonder. Growing up can tell us to hustle for our worth, to make our names great. To stay in our pain and look through cynical eyes, and an untrusting lens.  Growing down. This …

Ooooookay I’ve been bursting to share this news with you because it’s literally a dream-of-a-gift-come-true!!!! I was gifted a podcast- yes GIFTED- studio time, production, editing, marketing- the whole humble shabang by souls who believe in Pasture Experience and want you to be able to journey this listening path, inspired by Psalm 23, from wherever you are. The most beautiful …