• Life,  Think

    Sasha

    Our family feels more complete, now. These last 15+ months have been hard, to say the least. With everything medical, emotional, spiritual…it’s been overwhelming and painful. When Justin got home at the end of October, we knew Harper was old and getting sick. We did not expect that we would be letting her go the first full day Justin was home. Our hearts never fully recovered, and probably won’t. She was our first “child,” and who helped us in ways that are inexplainable. She gave us joy, connection, pushed us to get outside, gave us structure to our day-to just say a mention a few things. We always knew we…

  • Faith,  Think

    mood.

    I didn’t grow up celebrating Advent. I vaguely remember getting things around Christmas where I could punch things out of cardboard and there would be prizes or candy inside, so I’m assuming that is what that was. I usually just opened them all at once, though. My understanding of Advent didn’t really surface until I was in Seminary.  Now that I am a mom, my husband, Justin, and I want to implement Advent as something that our daughter, Lucy, looks forward to every year. This is the build up to the celebration of the birth of our Savior. Now, of course we can take a deep dive into how Jesus…

  • Life,  Think,  Travel

    Swim

    In 2009, I went touched down in Austin, Texas for the first time. Walking across the campus of UT Austin for the Hell Froze Over Tournament, I entered the classroom where I was to compete in Poetry along with a group of other collegiate forensics members.  I saw a man walk up and give tribute to his brother who had passed away and was also well known on the speech circuit. One of the key words he used in his performance was from “Swim” by Jack’s Mannequin, a song I was familiar with, but never fully listened to. The words stuck with me starting on that day, though. You gotta…

  • Life,  Think

    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…