When I had TikTok, I used to become so frustrated seeing people post videos of them giving money to homeless people. To me, they are the loudest person in the room who dominate the conversation and always find a way to bring the topics back to them. While I read stories of influencers who had Read More
Dependence through the Mountains of Life
Throughout college, I depended on weightlifting. I went to the gym twice a day, planned my weeks around it, and thought about it when I wasn’t there. It was a space where I could relieve stress and better myself, but unconsciously, I also depended on it to sustain me. If I had a bad day, Read More
Friends in Real Life: The Necessity of Biblical Community
Like a lot of people, I went through a period where I was obsessed with the show Friends. I can tell myself all day long that it’s because Joey was so funny or Monica made me feel seen as a lovable control freak, but looking back I know it was because I couldn’t believe how Read More
Ordinary…Or Extraordinary?
DREAMING OF SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY My husband and I used to watch the t.v. show Fixer Upper. We watched as Chip and Joanna Gaines worked with different people to build the houses of their dreams. It was amazing to see how they could transform an ordinary or run-down house into something dreamy and extraordinary. It appeared Read More
A Note on Steadfastness and a Burgeoning Mustard Seed
In my profession, you must prove you can research to prove you are apt to teach. What I mean by this is that many colleges that hire graduate students who complete their doctoral programs look for candidates who have demonstrated their research capabilities in the form of journal publications. Until recently, I was dismayed by Read More
A Brief Return to The Lost Art of Agreeing to Disagree
As election season nears, our country is reminded once again how unable we are to disagree peacefully with one another. I have been thinking about how this polarization manifests itself in the church while looking to scripture. The greatest hurdle the church has to overcome is its own members. We are all looking for the Read More
Compassion Over Judgment
Compassion over judgment is a phrase that I started repeating over and over in this past Lenten season because my priest’s homilies continuously centered on compassion and judgment. You see the thing I have learned recently is that judgment causes you to see someone in a narrow-minded way. It does not allow your brain to Read More
Gentle and Lowly: The Character of Christ
Jesus often spoke about Himself in metaphorical and absolute language throughout the Gospel of John. A few examples of this: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). “I am the door” (John 10:9). “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25) “I am the bread of life” (6:35) But Read More
Making Sense of Rhetorical Choices in Scripture and Leaving the Rest
Someone who read my blog in response to Jonah recently asked me if I believed that he really lived in the fish for three days. Questions like these seem to trouble as many seasoned believers as they do people new to the faith who are trying to reconcile the supernatural. “Did Job really happen as Read More
A Reminder to Remember: The Necessity for Fidelity in All Seasons
My girlfriend’s grandmother said something recently that has been present on my mind: “You can’t out-give God.” Whether it is time, money, energy, or lately, remembrance, you can never outmatch the everlasting love of our heavenly Father. I came to a verse in Jonah that spoke to this idea of remembering the free-flowing gifts of Read More