church talk & vulnerability

I haven’t listened to a sermon in months. My younger self – from even just a few years ago – would be flabbergasted by this. I was in church for years. I loved church; I threw my whole self into it. The music, the scriptures, the sermons: all of it brought me so much comfort,

Loss and Chronic Pain

Earlier this week, on August 2, 2022, my cat Frodo was euthanized. Similar to our other cat Snowflake – who died on May 8, 2020 – he had blood work done which showed he was starting to have kidney failure. He had lived a good long life, and we didn’t want things to get worse

More Thoughts on Easter & Resurrection

I know we’re past Easter 2022, but the following words from J.S. Park about Easter and resurrection keep coming to mind for me: “For so many of us, there is simply no resurrection. It can be painful to see in Scripture how the sick were healed and the dead were raised— all while so many

A Poem for Holy Week

if the pain the grief the ache the loss the longing  associated with death  like on Friday and Saturday  feel far more present and real than the hope the joy the beauty  the goodness of life and resurrection  like on Sunday  you are not alone you are loved may you one day find love  grace

When Love Feels Like A Waste

“Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” -Alfred Lord Tennyson “But what is grief, if not love persevering?” -from WandaVision (I haven’t watched it, I just really love this quote) Throughout my life, but especially over the last year or so, I’ve at times felt like my love

Christians Have Made an Idol out of Being Anti-Abortion

Okay, so, I imagine that title alone probably ruffled some feathers, and I’m sure the contents of this article may as well. There may be some who would call me blasphemous or a heretic, or a fake Christian, or say that I’ve been brainwashed by liberals, or any number of other things because they do

An Observation

Something that I noticed in the 2016 election is happening again now. As people share their thoughts and opinions on the Republican and Democrat candidates, I’ve noticed that a significant number of the moderates and liberals in my life are able to both critique and praise various political figures (including but not limited to the

Ten Years

Being chronically ill impacts every area of life. It has touched my productivity levels and involvement in school, in jobs, in volunteer work, in churchgoing, in family gatherings, just to name a few things. There are a lot of feelings wrapped up in this day & this month for me. There were definitely times I

Some Things I Wrote This Week

It’s not uncommon for me to draw from things I and others write on social media to include in my blog or to spur some more thoughts on. So, today, I’ll share some things I’ve shared on social media over the past week.   tw/cw/cn – pet death [about Snowflake, my 14-year-old cat who was

When Rest Is Elusive

I have been exhausted lately. It’s not like it’s unexpected or unusual for me. Fatigue has often been a part of my life since I became chronically ill as a 7th grader. Some days I’m more tired than others, but it’s always there, as with my other chronic illnesses/chronic illness symptoms. I don’t always have