Maybe our hungers show us more of who we are and they are an invitation to let Christ dwell in us richly. But first we must come out of hiding and feel the hunger pains.
I’m Starving and So Are You
Author: Ashley Hales
5 Ways to Make it through Covid-19 Still Married
It’s easy to neglect our spouses during the crazy that is COVID-19. Join Ashley Hales as she suggests 5 ways to stay married. They’re gentle reminders to lovingly tend and care for your spouse and marriage.
On Younger Self Epiphanies and The Goodness of Limits
Epiphanies in my 20s looked like deep thought and deep feeling, unattached from the tethering forces of family, place, role, or life stage. They were found in the misty ocean air walking alone, contemplating the state of the world and the state of my soul. It all felt a bit more tumultuous then and that […]
Coffee Jitters of the Soul
Missing a plane, coffee, and spiritual growth all go hand in hand — from dread to belonging. But first there’s the journey through the wall.
I’m Starving and So Are You
Maybe our hungers show us more of who we are and they are an invitation to let Christ dwell in us richly. But first we must come out of hiding and feel the hunger pains.
When Hospitality is Radical
She pauses, the doorbell’s eerie reverberations beat a note of panic through her veins. She wipes her hands on the linen apron wrapped around her and hurries to tell them to hide themselves in the basement or attic. She breathes deeply, realizes this is the moment she and her husband have talked about, […]
To the Pastors’ Wives Whose Marriages are Quietly Falling Apart
I’m a pastor’s wife. And sister, I know how it is. You smile for the family pictures. You corral your children Sunday after Sunday; just getting out the door in time for church feels like you’ve already run a marathon. Maybe you, like me, can feel resentment for this life bubble up now and again. […]
I’m done with resolutions
Each time the calendar turns to January, we’re inundated with new ways to eat clean, organize our drawers according to what we love or find useful, start a new workout routine, or figure out how best to get our goals met. We pick new rhythms, routines, a word of the year, or a new intention. […]
Tasting Beauty in the Suburbs
Flashback Friday: This post was originally published on May 10, 2016. It had been a string of days with too much noise—me, children, politics, social media—so I took to the neighborhood walking paths to work things out in my body, while my husband constructed things out of wood (his own way of working things out). I […]
Fears of Writing Books and Belonging to a Place
“Religion starts, as Frost said poems do, with a lump in the throat, to put it mildly, or with the bush going up in flames, the rain of flowers, the dove coming down out to the sky.” “Each of them responds to Something for which words like shalom, oneness, God even, are only pallid souvenirs” […]
Your zip code won’t make you holy
The in-between moments I fill with podcasts and Voxer conversations with writer friends as I circle the suburbs in my minivan. One conversation with a friend about moving to a city or the suburbs, lead her to write down this encouragement: your place doesn’t make you holy. Friend, I’m hear to tell you the same […]
Prayers in Wingback Chairs
I sat in our green wingback chair, my legs curled under me, my hands outstretched to the ceiling. I prayed for God to show up, my fingertips flying through space, willing him to do something. I was bred on “praying the sinner’s prayer,” and extemporaneous prayer overflowing with all the big feelings in youth group. […]
You are Woman: You Belong
We sat on the curb at the edge of the elementary school playground. Five friends huddled around me, my white plastic three-ring binder with the words “Mon Amis” written on it. We were starting an exclusive club — a club where we had things like codes and friendship pledges and anything I could use to […]
A Soul Bare Interview: Sex, Love, and Belovedness with Jennifer Camp
I hope you’ve been following along with our Soul Bare journey. Our regular writers, Tammy Perlmutter and Tanya Marlow, are featured in the new essay collection, Soul Bare: Stories of Redemption, published by InterVarsity Press. Tammy gave away a copy (hooray! But if you missed it, order one here), and last week we interviewed the […]
Can You Say “I’m Sorry” in the Church Parking Lot?
We were walking in to church: my brood of children and I. I’d actually managed the impossible trifecta: hair done, makeup done, dressed appropriately (usually only one or two gets checked off the list daily). My three younger children were already hanging by their fingernails off of the plastic slide, but my eldest walked away […]
How Not to Lose Your Footing on a Tilt-a-Whirl
I admit to being a bit spoiled: my husband hardly travels much for work anymore. Now, as a church planter, we practice staying put, putting down roots, being placed. (How else, can we plant an outpost for God’s kingdom if we’re always moving on?) But over the holidays, I sent him off on a plane […]
Coffee Cups and Emmanuel
I knew now… why I could feel homesick at home. — G.K. Chesterton O Come O Come Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear Coffee cups I don’t remember much of the particulars of that conversation. I remember fumbling around for words as my […]
Learning to Dwell in a World of Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
“Dwell.” The word hit my ears in a wooden classroom nestled amongst a wooded college campus and mansions of the uber-rich. Then, it seemed, I had all the time in the world to dwell. The words from novels and poetry uncurled, sinking directly into my poet’s heart. Words were the quickest way to dwell in […]