That’s what I felt in my heart as it sank…realizing this week is prep for the Passion.
I didn’t want to go through all that again, Lord. Please. Not now. I’m barely keeping it all together —I have so much to do — not this, too. …not this, too.
Shaken: Palm Sunday
Even at the moment of triumphal entry, I think Jesus looks out at the crowds and prays for us, saying, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”
Dan's Advice for living in unprecedented times
For me, I sensed that God wants me to think about this related to how I work and how I interact with my students. They don’t need me to recede into myself. They don’t need me to disappear. They don’t need me to come up with a thousand new ways of doing things. They also don’t need me to KNOW ALL THE THINGS - which sometimes I think they do, and that is my greatest source of insecurity as an advisor or teacher when I feel like I’m letting them down because I’m not ‘all the things’ for them…. However, they do need ME.
The real Lenten fast
The point of Lenten fasts is to move us beyond ourselves. While “none of us expected to give up this much for Lent,” if we only focus on what we’ve given up - we have missed the point. If I only focus on doing better for me, then I have missed God in this lesson.
CoVID19 Response: What It Feels Like
I was fine while I was talking with students, advising others. Two hours later as I was eating lunch, I experienced a feeling of panic. I suddenly felt unmoored. Drifting. Scared. I felt actual waves of anxiety distancing me farther and farther away from what I knew, what was safe…what was secure.
I hadn’t felt that in 18.5 years. I recognized that this was the exact way I felt on 9/11 and those days after. …and my heart goes out to my students even more.
A Sacrifice of Praise
So, let me say it again for the people in the back: Marriage is a gift for this life only - as long as we have it. Our marriage vows reach fulfillment when our spouse attains full union with Jesus.
Callings: to become and to do
What stands out to me the most is that John didn’t know everything at the beginning of his ministry or his calling. If John the Baptist had to be faithful with little, so that he could be entrusted with much – how much more is this the pattern for all of us?
Reeds & Wicks
I love these two examples because they show how gentle God is with His people and those He calls into service (which is all of us). He does not quench the wick smoldering - barely putting forth a flame. He sends his minister to tend it - to call forth life and usefulness.
It came.
Welcoming Christmas in the midst of loss
The courage to press on
This might feel like the darkest year you’ve yet to endure…you are a seed. Press into the earth and let yourself be planted. You will grow.
Keep going - so that you can keep growing.
Wedding Dreams, Dances - and the magic in Round 2
Balancing your love for your deceased spouse…with the new love…these are hard things to do, you guys. …because either way, feels a little like betrayal. Like you’re leaving behind your first love to embrace the second.
A Sabbath Summer
My past summer was … fine. It was fine. It wasn’t spectacular. It wasn’t life changing. …to be honest, I’d almost call it boring. …and you know what? It was exactly what I needed. I needed a summer of rest - and that’s what I enjoyed. A Sabbath Summer
As we look on the timeline of our life: where are your pivot points? Those times where your life changed dramatically - what was the event? Who played an instrumental role during that pivot?
Finding My Voice
As I have been learning to embrace my strengths (talent themes) as gifts instilled by my loving Father, this division I have felt for most of the past 25 years slowly is dissipating. My true self doesn’t lie entirely in “loud Jessica” nor is it solely in a deep pondering soul Jessica. I am both.