I’m pretty new to the whole idea of Lent. Growing up I remember hearing my catholic friends talk about it a little, but I didn’t understand it. The first time I saw someone with ashes on their forehead in college, I politely told them they had dirt on their face and might want to wash it off. (“You’ve got a little something righhhhhht there…”) Coming to faith in an evangelical…
By the end of today, tens of thousands of people will post a photo of a red X on their hand to raise awareness for the End It Movement. It’s easy to dismiss something so simple (psh, what is a red X on your hand going to do to end slavery?), but awareness is no small thing. “Nothing happens just because we are aware of modern–day slavery, but nothing will…
It’s easy to become cynical and jaded when leaders and celebrities disappoint us time and time again. When your spiritual leader is leading a double life of lies and affairs. When your favorite celebrity turns out to be a jerk behind closed doors. When every time the curtain is pulled back, reality is not what you thought it was. And so I think the joy of finding reality to be…
A few days ago I wrote about my hopes for the IF:Gathering. While I didn’t know what to expect as far as schedule, content, or anything else really, I had high hopes for the purpose of this gathering. I sit here tonight with mascara-stained cheeks inspired, humbled, challenged, filled up, and happily wiped out. I was looking for messy authenticity, and all around the music hall I found it. Women…
I’m traveling to Austin tomorrow for something called the IF:Gathering. A generation of women gathering together to ask the question, “If God is real, then what?” There has been something stirring in me for a few years now, and it all revolves around that important question. To be honest, I’m tired of comfortable Christianity. I’m frustrated with how my faith is portrayed in this social media let’s-all-blast-each-other-on-Facebook culture. I’m done…
Last night I couldn’t sleep. Tossing and turning, I just couldn’t seem to release the stress of the day. This morning I realized why – my work life and home life have no definable boundaries. Admittedly, yesterday was a catch-up day after being out of town, but it pointed out an underlying tension. As much as I am trying to simplify, as much as I am getting better at saying…
This quote is an excerpt from a letter that Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in a Birmingham jail on April 16, 1963. I probably read it in school at some point, although I don’t remember being so humbled and challenged as I was when I read it again last night. Whether you’ve read it before or not, I encourage you to take it in today with fresh eyes and an…