- I Want to Run Fast Once upon a time, I hated running. I thought people who said they enjoyed running were slightly deranged and masochistic. At one point in my twenties, I started to approach running as more of a coping mechanism. Ahh, the early twenties, when everything felt impossible and wonderful and horrible, simultaneously. (I think Taylor Swift calls […]
- It Does Not Force its Sap; Ripening Like the Tree I have been driving around Pasadena this last week with a vague echo in my mind of this excerpt. It’s uncanny how I’ve heard this phrase over and again: “She does not force her sap in summer.” It took me quite a while to realize that the phrase was from Rilke. It almost felt […]
- Holga I Did Not Take: Paz [ Holga by juan_carrasco ]
- Dear God, Keep My Heart Soft Sometimes we don’t see the state of things until we feel the splitting. (And we will embrace it.)
- Stepping Stones I may never be able to define what exactly is my "life ministry," though people are particularly into these sort of bizarre titles. If you ask me, those stepping stones in the canyon creek are words enough. I want to help inspire confidence in hesitant feet, and urge them to laugh and keep going when our shoes get soaked in the water.
- Screams in the Dark This weekend I went to see Bella the movie at the indie theater. Great film. I cried happy tears. A little Christiany-idealistic, but beautiful, nonetheless. It won loads of awards. Just go see it. (There’s my paltry movie review of the day.) I had the best parking spot in town: about three steps outside the […]
- The Majors: God’s Theater I’ve been reading through the major and minor prophets since summertime. I have some observations on the bigguns, the majors. I’ve scribbled them in my journal. (Feel free to add or subtract.) What I Notice in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel: 1. God is willing to put the prophets on a stage and write them rated-R […]
- Just as Far as the Lighthouse, Girl Yesterday I was walking up the stoney streets of Cascais, on my way to run along my most favorite path in the globe: from Boca do Inferno (lit. “mouth of hell”) to Guincho beach, overlooking the Atlantic. I was intercepted by a phone call that my presence was requested in Sao Joao for Indian food […]
- Home, a Definition; or Home is Where the Obedie Dances I’m writing from London Heathrow, en route to Lisbon, and then on to Christian Associates’ annual staff conference. I can’t wait to return to Portugal. I have that excited/exhausted nausea from skipping across time zones during the night. I feel a bit like a little girl on those groggy mornings when I knew I was […]
- Our Stories Are Currency I’ve spent the last few days in upstate New York with family. My parents met in this town at age 17. The story goes that Dad fell in love when he first watched Mama walk out of Five Corners Pizzeria. But an amazing thing happened when they married: their two Italian families really became one. […]
- “Little girl, I say to you, get up” Last night I dreamt that I was in a European square near a riverfront. There were loads of people around and live musicians playing happy music. I was sitting down, looking bored, and just trying to blend into the scenery. All of a sudden, Arianna emerged, and she insisted that I get up and dance. […]
- A School House I had a pleasant trip up north to see Mates of State. Wish I could’ve encouraged the crowd at Messiah College to bounce a little more, though. (Maybe they think Jesus doesn’t dance. I dunno.) Turns out the show was a benefit for Invisible Children in Uganda. That made me happy. Since I was in […]