No longer my source of income, student loans were now my source of debt. I needed to quickly find a job. I signed up with an employment agency despite limited secretarial skills, having opted out of typing class in high school. (I’m still paying for that shortsighted decision. Like a chicken—um, rooster—I hunt and peck […]
Category Archives: Weekly Reflections
15
Nov
Nov
In the fall of 2019, we noticed Mozzer’s health was declining. Prior to this, he had been a very healthy cat. Vet appointments consisted of routine vaccines, routine dental care, and no prescriptions. We knew he had been born with a heart murmur and that as a breed the Sphynx’s lifespan is considerably shorter than […]
08
Nov
Nov
When I was sixteen going on seventeen, our church youth group learned about the Appalachia Service Project (ASP), a Christian nonprofit ministry focused on the “eradication of substandard housing in Central Appalachia.” Growing up, I was aware that there were families who didn’t have the same standard of living we did, but participating in ASP […]
01
Nov
Nov
I spent almost every summer while in college as a camp counselor at Imago Dei, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) camp in Wisconsin. Youth ministry had become my passion and purpose, one so personally fulfilling that I justified the fact that I was attempting to love God and others without loving myself. A […]
25
Oct
Oct
I loved Scouting as a teenager, and it absolutely made me a better human. I still draw on the skills and knowledge I developed in Scouts, and I look back with fondness on the many friends I made and the experiences I had with them during this time when I was endeavoring to find my […]
18
Oct
Oct
Monday, October 20, begins another work week for millions of people after a weekend of football games and preparation for a Halloween that falls on a Friday this year. Monday is also my father’s birthday and Wednesday marks two years since he left this world. Life truly is both bitter and sweet. Tears and laughter; […]
11
Oct
Oct
During those late childhood instances when I found myself alone at home, I would secretly live out my alter ego as a famous artist. Performing for my introvert-friendly audience that resided safely within my own imagination. My family in absentia, I would began to prepare for my prepubescent performance by opening the lid on our […]
04
Oct
Oct
As I began to write about my story, I realized not only my deep devotion to the material world but the lies that I believed to sustain my faith in stuff. Lies that sustain the modern world, particularly in the west. Lies that have always deceived us.
27
Sep
Sep
I’m days away from celebrating my fifty-ninth birthday. Ready to take my final stroll (running seems so unnecessary), across a decade that’s been less than fabulous. My fifties have been tumultuous, terrifying and troubling. A decade of distress marked by being laid-off twice (something I’ve never experienced prior in my life). The death of my […]
20
Sep
Sep
We live in a myopic binary world trapped in a malicious belief that other humans are either the oppressed or the oppressor but never both. There is no grey rainbow, only a black and white ideology of identity; victim and villain. An “us versus them” worldview predicated solely on my judgement or the soulless judgements […]