Category Archives: Uncategorized

There’s a funny video of me as a kid on a serious mission to collect all the rocks on a trail in Oregon. I stuffed so many rocks in the pockets of my overalls that I eventually fell over. In my shock, I started to cry and my mom picked me up to comfort me.Continue reading “Too Much to Carry”

A common symptom for people like me with fibromyalgia is something called costochondritis — inflammation between the upper rib cage and breast bone that causes chest pain. I have had this before and know now not to be too alarmed, but, given my family history of heart failure and breast cancer, my doctors take chestContinue reading “If the worst happens…”

One of my most romantic memories was on our honeymoon in Kauai. Mike had planned a road trip to a certain spot on the island that was filled with waterfalls. He was giddy about it. But a couple hours into our drive, pain escalated for me. (I later found out I had a decayed wisdomContinue reading “Worth More than the Perfect Honeymoon”

I remember as a kid watching USC football games with my parents and praying for our team to win, and then wondering: What if the other team is praying too? Whose side will God choose? I know now that God is always on the side of the Bruins, but I still sometimes find myself theologicallyContinue reading “Whose Side is God on?”

We are not our best selves right now. We are navigating a pandemic, anticipating an election, living in isolation, learning to do everything online…anxiety is skyrocketing. If you find yourself a little more short-tempered, annoyed, defensive, avoidant, or paranoid in your friendships, it’s not surprising. Conflict is to be expected. We are experts in conflictContinue reading “Friendships in Conflict”

In eighth grade, my friend, Keyanna, picked a flower out of the grass during gym class and said, “For as long as you keep this, we will be friends.” I finally got rid of the dead flower when I moved away to college, but thankfully our friendship is still as strong as ever, twenty yearsContinue reading “Friendships that Endure”

In my last post, I gave a few ideas for how I am trying to develop some healthier habits in my use of social media. One of those habits is learning to pause and pray before I turn on my phone each day. Here’s my prayer. Feel free to use this as an idea andContinue reading “A Prayer for Social Media Use”

I love social media. It’s a great tool to connect, create, learn, mobilize, and to enjoy beautiful things. But it also causes anxiety if not used well. Fifteen hundred years ago a group of monastic Christian mystics created the concept of a “rule of life,” or commitments to ways of living. Here is my currentContinue reading “Healthy Habits for Social Media”

“The key to moving forward is what we do with our discomfort.” Robin Diangelo, in “White Fragility” (Loc. 442). In my last post, I talked about doing inner work with Jesus in order to overcome white fragility and be catalyzed into action. Here is one other tool for deepening our prayer lives with Jesus inContinue reading “A Prayer for Lingering in Racial Discomfort”

The pursuit of racial justice requires selflessness. Following in the way of Jesus means amplifying the voices of Black people and choosing to receive correction with humility and responsiveness. But this is impossible to do when the voices of shame and fear inside of us are screaming to be heard. Instead of leading out ofContinue reading “3 things we need from Jesus to overcome white fragility”