Please note this is not a "come to Jesus to be saved" blog; it's the opposite. I mention this, being aware that religious trauma is real and can affect the way we hear. This blog offers context to the word Grace and notices how its meaning has shifted over the years. It is not a blog to sway you into believing a certain way. 

As the dream began, I was in the cell, but the door was cracked open. The entrance to the sheriff's department was also ajar. Oddly, I was free to leave but chose to stay.

I invite you to come with me as I explore a question that bubbled up in a supervision session. The question was: what does freedom look like or feel like when I trust the unfolding of a directee’s story? It’s fascinating, eventually there was a shift where the question became about the unfolding of my own story while on a walk during my silent retreat.

2022 has begun. A lot of things bubble up for me whenever a new year begins. There’s a sense of hopefulness, skepticism, delight, fear, and numbness. They are felt in my current experience, but they do not define who I am or who I am made to be. When I investigate their edges, they become invitations to grow in greater awareness. They beckon me to live fully and freely.

I noticed the other day that consolation and desolation are always dancing together in our human experience. Noticing our emotions, shame and experiences within the dance brings solace and clarity. Accepting their presence in our life affirms our humanity.

As the layers were overexposed through the lengthy deconstruction, my soul was invited to consider three guiding whispers from the Spirit: “Gentleness is as much a pursuit as it is a value”, “Trust yourself and the Spirit inside you,” and “In the Spirit’s Grip”. I needed care to accept the pain and trauma of deconstruction while also resting in the ever-present safety and love of the Divine.

As the season of change approaches, I am invited to consider how I traverse life’s complexities (divorce crisis with COVID-19 crisis) as Divine Love is with us. Especially as my girls and I, prepare for school, routines and bustling productivity.

Sometimes we need more help than what I have offered in this blog. This blog is a starting point and it is an invitation to continue to seek the help you need when you need it. Our American culture would have us believe that we should be able to do life on our own and if we ask for help we are less than. It is not true and it is unrealistic.

Every week we end our time with a Contemplative Prayer (communing with the Divine to listen).

Several weeks back, it was suggested that we go outside and ask an object of nature what the Divine may say to us. This is an intimate reflection of my communing with the Spirit.