Day 6 of Advent 2024: Thwarting the Danger of the Spotlight

Maybe you are their Rudolph… Rudolph could have stayed in the spotlight. He had earned his place, hadn’t he? After years of rejection and mockery, he was leading Santa’s sleigh, the hero of Christmas Eve, with the world finally seeing what he’d known all...

Day 5 of Advent 2024: What kind of nurse are you?

Rudolph had every reason to nurse a grudge. The teasing and rejection weren’t just minor slights—they were relentless. His bright red nose, his gift, became the thing that made him the target of mockery and exclusion. The other reindeer made sure he knew he wasn’t one...

Day 4 of Advent 2024: Seen and Being Seen

Do you remember your first crush? You liked them soooooo much, yet it remained to be seen if you were actually “seen.”  That’s a difficult space to live in. Waiting to be seen. Not just waiting to be physically noticed or seen in passing. But truly seen – valued for...

Day 3 of Advent 2024: Where’s your wilderness?

What if the wilderness you are wandering is one of the mind? As you probably know, I am fresh off a trip to Iceland. It was a “bucket list” kind of thing. Tom and I were going to plan it ourselves, but in trying to do so I quickly realized, regardless of how many...

Day 2 of Advent 2024: Finding Hope in Rejection

Haven’t we all been there? Misunderstood. Rejected. Feeling like the parts of us that make us “us” are the parts that others turn away from. We are faced with that uncomfortable junction . . . discerning whether we lean in strongly to who we are or changing to fit the...

Day 1 of Advent 2024 – The Anticipation of Expectations

Today is the first day of Advent. Advent is nothing if not a season of anticipation—leaning forward into the story of God’s arrival in the world, wondering anew how heaven and earth might collide. Anticipation is a kind of magic, isn’t it? It keeps us leaning forward,...