Here’s to the class of 2021! #drseuss #graduation #movemountains #classof2021 
A word this morning about how yesterday unfolded... Divinely. Truly, I can think of no other word. I've never personally been very good at praying for myself. It's partially a by-product of growing up believing that my needs didn't matter and partially a fear of just not being heard. So prayer has always been especially hard for me. And coming to you was also hard for me. But I'm so grateful for the grace in which you held my heart. I woke up yesterday feeling more like myself than I have in weeks. Physically, mentally and emotionally. At 9am, the phone rang, sharing the first round of hopeful news. At 9:30am, I sat down to my desk to find an email sharing more news. And this just kept happening all day long. Breakthrough after breakthrough. Mountain after mountain. Prayer after prayer. My breath was taken away. I got to the end of the day with such an immense sense of peace in my heart and rest in my soul. Which is perhaps the greatest gift any human can have in this life. Peace and rest. I was beautifully reminded countless times by all of you that God isn't just found in a burning bush or a dream at night. God uses us. He uses people. And he used all of you in ways that I never could have imagined. I have been given renewed hope and strength and faith in something so much bigger than myself. All because you locked arms on my behalf. Thank you. Truly, those are the most meaningful words I can muster right now; thank you. And I'm realizing that, sometimes--maybe even most of the time--those are the most important words we can ever say. 🖤 #faithoverfear #community #grateful #fromwhereistand 
As the morning light rushes in through my office window and falls across the hardwood floor, I can feel the stillness of a world that hasn't quite woken up yet. Early summer mornings are some of my favourite. They make me think of traveling and reconnecting with old friends and watching the fog lift out in his distance. Even in the most challenging of times, I seem to find rest here. And rest can feel like a life preserver in seasons that feel overwhelming, making me forever grateful for the brief moments of relief when my mind is busy trying to build a cage around my heart. The Bible says "ask and you shall receive." I asked. And I received. This morning has been spent reading your beautiful messages of hope and love and reminders that faith is seldom a linear journey. Words that are breathing so much life into my soul. And while it's true that, externally, my circumstances are the same as they were yesterday, I'm also rising today with the reminder that, internally, I can choose a different path. I can choose the path that brings me closer to beauty rather than the path that brings me closer to darkness. I can choose the path that brings me closer to healing rather than the path that brings me closer to pain. I can choose the path that brings me closer to love rather than the path that brings me closer to fear. Of course, it may not be quite as easy as I'm making it sound. It seldom is. But it does only take one moment, one breath, one decision to start moving in that direction. And it helps when you have one gorgeous community that shines the brightest of lights through the cracked pieces of your beautifully broken heart. 🖤 #faith #writer #gratitude #community 
I used to sneak into churches when I was a little girl. My family seldom ever went to church, and I was never really sure if I was allowed to be there. So I would pull open the giant wooden doors, quietly peek inside, and if the space seemed empty, I would go sit in one of the immense wooden pews. I was looking for God. I was about seven years old the first time this happened, and I’ve been searching for Him ever since. Sometimes I feel like I was born into this world with fear in my heart. As though I came into being with a certain unease that I could never quite explain. I’ve never trusted my ability to cope as a human in this life without shattering to pieces. And it makes me feel afraid. I feel so deeply and hurt so profoundly and love so immensely. And it has made for some really challenging seasons in my life. Because it’s not always easy for me to know if I'm being guided by my intuition or misled by my trauma. I remember someone telling me one time that I was both the gifted and the cursed: gifted in the art of self-expression...but cursed with the experiences needed to create it. To be completely honest, I haven’t always known if one is worth the other. But I have always known that I wanted to find God. And I wanted Him to find me. The challenge though is that faith has often felt like one more place where I don’t really fit. I’ve met people before with unwavering faith, and when they tell me about it, a part of me aches. Because I’ve never been one of those people. Because sometimes I feel so lost, unseen, reaching my hand out in the darkness, but no one is there. And it often makes me wonder if He’s forgotten about me...or given up on me...or just doesn’t want to find me. Faith is not always an easy road to walk. But then there’s that little girl in me that keeps tugging at His pant leg, begging Him to notice me so He can wrap his arms around me and tell me that the monsters under my bed aren’t real. (continued below…) 
Make it weird. #mood #allthefeels #vibes