This past week has been heavy and noisy and hard, and so I’ve been quiet. Putting my phone down and being present with my words and my thoughts and my family, I didn’t post on Instagram. But tonight, I received an email with a prompt of lament. And I wanted to share the prompt with […]
poem: the advent of our joy
based on advent week 3 post: do we deserve joy? the advent of joycomes with a baby’s womb-leapingand a once-barren woman, familiar with shame,rejoicing over a pregnancy others called shameful;she calls out blessing instead:she names Mary blessed,and her words spark joy: in a woman fleeing a whispery hometown,full of those thinking they are better than […]
poem: the advent of our shame
a poem for Advent 2020, week 2 The advent of our shame was in the garden where we hid ourselves, clothed ourselves: Shame was our garment. God’s advent to meet us in that shame was to call out, “Where are you?” not— “What have you done?” Grace wanted to meet us, not shame us further. […]
Fearless, a poem
#fromthejournalfridays continues with a poem on being fearless from church last year; before leaving for London, before meeting Chris (my now husband), these were the words on my heart: May 5, 2019 you’re calling me out of fear into safety, not just courage not just conquering because those aren’t for me to do or be […]
The Fears I Hold
A year ago it was good Friday, and I wrote a small poem in the dimly lit sanctuary of the Anchor Fellowship in downtown Nashville. I was staring at a picture (below) representing the 13th station of the cross, where Jesus’ body is taken down from the cross. The hands holding the soil of barely-begun-new-life […]
Advent Songs, part 4: peace
This hasn’t exactly been a year of peace for me. Or, as the Hebrew word shalom describes it, it hasn’t been a year of flourishing or wholeness. It’s been the opposite, actually. A year of a lot of brokenness, stripping, disappointment. A year full of fear, anxiety, depression, a floundering of questions: why am I […]