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Christians Gave Me Unrealistic Expectations of Love
From when I was young, I had a dream where I would be whisked away by Prince Charming. He would be tall, and muscular, rough around the edges, with a soft spot for me. I could depend on him for anything, and would never have to question his actions, motives, ideas…we would have a perfect life. When I started a relationship with Christ when I was a freshman in high school, this mentality didn’t change. Instead, it became wrapped in the theology I was attempting to understand. If I am x amount devoted to God, then God will provide me with a man (described above). A few years later, I…
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That Time I Was On A Podcast
The following post includes a HUGE shout out to Ashley and Allen Mowers, and Kyle Stainbrook. Check out Min-Max Podcast Min-Max Definition (via Urban Dictionary): Usually used in the context of roleplaying games, to min/max refers to the act of designing a character in such a way that one minimizes its weaknesses and maximizes its strengths. When I first moved to my current apartment, I was a bit jumpy. It was my first time living alone, without a roommate and any little noise I heard, I was convinced someone was breaking in to murder me. One night, I was making dinner when I heard a knock at my door. I…
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My Friend, Barack
Before we get into today’s post, I want to preface with this is not a political post. I ask and pray you read this with the lens of it being a story of two friends meeting. A lot of you have been asking about my brother, Zach, and if he would be appearing again sometime soon. Well, today is your day. When Zach was in his late elementary school year or early middle school years, one of his favorite things was going to parades. Being in the suburbs of Chicago, we have the treat of hosting some pretty cool floats, and guests. Over the years, as most of you have…
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Inspirational Women
Y’all, I just spent the majority of my morning writing a post about a guy I used to date and was so embarrassed that I had to delete it. Don’t worry, once I swallow my pride a bit, you’ll hear all about it. Instead, today, we are taking a trip to one of my favorite brunch places. Weird, right? I spent the majority of my time in Waco so concerned about community. I had an insanely amazing community in undergrad and I so wanted that community in Texas. The thing is, when you go for a professional degree, you forget that people have full time, or at least a few…
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Going Back to K-Vegas
A few months ago I was notified that one of the professors I was closest with from TSU was retiring, which of course means a mini reunion and a trip to Kirksville, Missouri. This place, where I spent a chunk of my formative years, is somewhere I very regularly joke about. I knew it as a place in the middle of nowhere fixed with a Walmart, Pancake City and a train bridge (it is exactly what it sounds like…a bridge that is suspended over train tracks where we would go and sit for fun). Once I graduated from Truman, I didn’t think I would miss it as much as I…
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I Am Not A Tree
“If you don’t like where you are, MOVE. You are not a tree.” -Jim Rohn This quote has always spoke to me. Travel is something that intrigues so many, driving them to start something new, see something new, experience something new. At this point in my life, in my late 20’s, many of my friends are going through what you might call a quarter-life-crisis, not being happy where they are, not liking their job or living situation. For me, I couldn’t wait to get out of the suburbs of Chicago when I was 18 and experience…Kirksville, Missouri. Though some might go somewhere more exciting for college, I loved K-Vegas and…
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That Time I Hung Out with Monks
Christ in the Desert Monestary is possibly one of the most unique places I have been. While in seminary, I had the chance to spend about a week with Benedictine Monks, my professor Dr. Gloer, and a handful of my colleagues. Daily prayers beginning at 4 a.m. and meals in complete silence were all apart of our schedule, along with work either in the office or in the garden, class, reading, and exploring. Without going into a ton of detail, I made frienimies with Father Christian. Now, Father Christian was a no noncence man of God who lived tried and true to Ora Et Labora. He was a man of…
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Little Bubby
I have the privilege of hanging out with my little bubby all week, just me and him. Since I have him here, I thought what better way to intro Zach than him giving the basics about himself. “I have dystonia. I have muscles in my body that is not working really well, and eyes that aren’t working really well, and a brain that isn’t working really well. My brain has a thing called agenesis corpus callosum. It means my brain isn’t functioning. I only have part of my brain. I have had a lot of friends die. It’s hard for me. I think about them a lot. But when I…
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6 Love Languages: Quality Time, Acts of Service, Giving Gifts, Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, and Chucking Snickers Bars
I don’t know what it is about being sick that makes me automatically curl up on the couch and watch terrible daytime T.V. but that is what I find myself doing today. It has been amusing to me over the years how this automatic response to a stuffed nose, plugged ears, sore throat, and swollen eyes that has me nostalgically make me watch to call my mom to bring me treats that I won’t be able to taste and extra blankets, even though I am sweating like crazy. When I woke up at 4:30 this morning, after finally going in and out of restless sleep starting around midnight, I finally…
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Rest?
“You look tired,” a normal greeting from my beautiful and Australian accented mentor, Meegan, from my campus ministry. It was true. I looked tired, pretty much all of the time. I have developed this habit of investing too much into everything. While I was in college, I was taking full course loads, as well as being in at least 10 clubs, societies, groups…whatever. Most days I would wake up, at the latest, 7 a.m., charging through the day and getting home around 1 or 2 in the morning. You can ask my roommate in college, Gretchen. She will tell you that unless I scheduled you in somewhere, I would always…
