Journey of Faith

Growing up, Lent was essentially a foreign concept to me. I don’t think I really knew what it was until high school, and even then, didn’t really pay much attention to it. In my mind, Lent was something for Catholics, not for me. As a nondenominational Christian, I didn’t need to submit myself to a tradition such as Lent. Like anything, Lent can easily become another ritualistic “faith experience.” We can partake in it simply because we think we are supposed to, or because we need an excuse to give up junk food and go on a diet. Because of this easily construed mindset, I see many opting out of Lent all together, deeming it unnecessary and legalistic. There seems to be a lot of push back against such practices, and presented in the wrong light, I clearly understand how Lent falls into the “throw away” list of Christianity. Until a few days ago, my heart was not properly positioned towards Lent. While I’ve recently come to love the church’s liturgical history, I was approaching L...

Let me tell you right now; I am one of those  people who loves New Years. I get it. All of you cynical people out there would shun me for my optimistic aspirations and yearly planning. But I don't give you a hard time for playing your Christmas music while it's still flip flop weather, so let me have my moment. There's something about the space for pausing, reflecting, and looking ahead that I absolutely love. Maybe it's just the shift to something different which appeals so strongly. 2018 has been a year for the books, to say the least. Our year started out wonderfully, with the husband and I coming into 2018 as new members of a wonderful church family after months of being out of community. We bought our first (and hopefully last) home in the month of February, which was so exciting, but for those of you in Northeast Ohio, I don't recommend moving in the dead of winter. We celebrated our first anniversary and rejoiced over how absolutely fun our marriage has b...

I've been trying to formulate my thoughts into coherent paragraphs for almost a month now. Lately, life has just been so heavy. I've lost a family member, faced the declining health of loved ones, watched friends battle horrible situations, and dealt with deceit from people I care for. All I want to do is come up for air and stop diving deeper into the mess of life. The betrayal I faced this past month was almost enough to do me in. I started planning through what I was going to say to this person I used to call family next time I saw them. My thoughts were swirling as I cried and contemplated how our relationship was never going to be the same. I had played the part of the fool and was feeling particularly justified in the walls I would be putting up and avenues through which I would distance myself. Then through a serious of events, God pulled me back to reality and back to Himself. I don't get to wash my hands of people and leave them high and dry, just because they ...

Growing up, the churches I was involved in participated in communion on a monthly or quarterly basis. I think the thought behind this was not to create a tradition in which we lost the special meaning of communion. And I appreciate the heart behind wanting everything we do as Christians to have a meaning and purpose.  Recently, my husband and I became members of a new church and I soon realized communion is done every week. At first, I was worried about the possibilities of this becoming just another ritual to check off my list on Sunday mornings. I thought surely I would soon no longer recognize the depth of this beautiful picture of Jesus sacrificing His body and shedding His blood so I could have freedom in Him.  Friends, I could not have been more wrong. In fact, I don’t think I appreciated communion enough before. You see, I am not a perfect person. Mom, if you’re reading this, I know you’re shocked, but it’s true. I screw up sometimes, a lot of times, and occasio...

As some of you may know, I just did a social media-less month. It wasn't a super thought-out and analyzed decision. However, I found myself in an unhealthy place and knew I needed to do something about it. Maybe you can relate to where I was. Maybe not. I was spending a ton of unnecessary time scrolling through feeds and agonizing over what to post. I couldn't go somewhere without trying to find the perfect place and perfect angle for the perfect post. It's honestly ridiculous thinking about it. My life is interesting to me, regardless of whether or not social media validates that. And to be honest, I found myself with an unneeded level of anxiety and opted for a month away to alleviate it. So a couple of observations. This wasn't particularly a more spiritual time in my life than others. I still found ways to kill time (Netflix. Duh). I downloaded a dumb game on my phone and threw away some time playing it. I don't find myself a much holier version because ...

Today, my husband and I celebrated one whole year of marriage. Without an ounce of irony, we were married on April 1, 2017. But for real. Yes, everyone I spoke with had to make sure we were aware it was April Fool's Day. Just in case I didn't know. Anyways, I wanted to take a moment and share some observations I have on marriage. This has truly been the most fun year of my life. My husband is a gem AND he can cook. I hit the jackpot and I know it. So many people talk about how difficult the first year of marriage is, but if you ask me, dating is way worse. I love going to bed at 9:30 on a Friday night after eating apple crisp for dinner and watching 2 hours of Netflix. There is no shame in my game. Don't get me wrong. It's not all sunshine and roses. Marriage has shown me just how completely bonkers I really am. One time, I picked up every single item my wonderful husband left laying around the house and placed it all perfectly lined up on his side of the bed. Every...