Learning Response-ability: Setting Boundaries to Respond in Love, not React to Triggers

The ride home from middle school pick up was filled with angst, yelling, manipulating and arguing. My eleven-year-old daughter Quinn wants to sign up for tackle football but the rule in our house—one we held her older brother Zaiden to—is no tackle football until you turn twelve. Because of Zaiden’s May birthday, he was able

Think Before you Shrink: A Contemplative look at our most Common Resolutions

We turned the page on 2022 nearly two months ago and since then, my socials have been flooded with commitments to weight loss and fitness pursuits. For decades, I was one of these. Every New Years, I’d renew my goal of losing 10, 20 or 30 pounds and employ harsh methods to get the job

Alone or Unloved?

I never felt loved growing up, despite having wonderful parents who loved me fiercely and did the very best they could. That truth has always haunted me as a parent: Not feeling loved as a young teen led me to make a lot of self-destructive decisions. Because of this, I carry so much fear that

Leaning into Letting Go

The day came barging in—expected and inevitable but neither welcomed nor invited. He laid out a new shirt with sunshines all over it. He picked a pair of his brother’s hand-me-down khaki shorts and bright yellow sandals to go with. His space-themed bookbag and lunch box were packed and ready to go. This was a

Self-Aware is the New Skinny

It’s been three months since we turned the page on 2021 and welcomed 2022 to the scene—reluctantly hopeful this new year would bring growth as a result of the collective heartache we’ve endured in ‘20 and ‘21. As we begin to coast into the spring and summer months, I’d like to share some benchmarks I

In You Alone, My Joy is Found

A short piece inspired by Steffany Gretzinger’s song “No One Ever Cared for me Like Jesus.” I looked everywhere for my joy. As a little girl, I looked for it in connection with my parents and family, but I couldn’t find it. Buried in their own pain, their hearts were hidden from mine. As an

Thirty-five and Rocking: Three ways to thrive during hard times

It was an unusually hot fall afternoon and I sat in one of my new porch rockers, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face. It was my 35th birthday and my husband surprised me with the rockers as a gift. They were the perfect spot to sit and reflect and as I did,

What Simone Biles taught me about my body

It was a warm Wednesday night and I was all alone in our living room, finishing off the bottle of wine my friend and I shared earlier in the evening. My husband was out of town and my kids were spending the night with my sister. The house was unusually quiet, giving birth to contemplative

When I Stopped Running: Facing Denial and Breaking Cycles

I was in second grade when I thought I was fat for the first time. At eight years old, the societal pressure and overemphasis on appearance had already began framing my opinions of myself. Now, at 34 years old, I’m starting to pick off the scab of denial to address the woundedness festering below. The

Semisonic, Ski Lifts and Spiritual Truths: How Being Chosen Changes Things

Michael and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on March 21 with an overnight trip to a ski resort called Peek’n Peak. I had never snow skied before, but picked it up fast and decided it was one of my new favorite things to do. What I picked up quickly skiing-wise, I lacked terribly when it