Overcoming fear, and other things that can feel impossible

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These past couple of weeks have been difficult. Two weeks ago, I had a plan. I had finally reached a “life stage” I had been anticipating for about a decade. Now, I’m back to where I started – no plan and no idea of what the future holds [if it’s not clear already, I went through a breakup].

What I found in the midst of feeling like “the bottom fell through” on my hopes and dreams were things I didn’t expect: security, faith, some courage.

Continue reading “Overcoming fear, and other things that can feel impossible”

5 things I am [unexpectedly] grateful for today

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1 . Hard things. I am still trying to claim this piece fully, but I am grateful for the hard things. When I want to see my deepest desires and goals fulfilled and delivered to me now, Amazon prime, two-day shipping-style, God is preparing me to receive those things with grace and patience. Meaning: He allows me to go through a sometimes-challenging and character-building process before I receive what I want. Thank you, God.

Continue reading “5 things I am [unexpectedly] grateful for today”

God in the details

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I just spent two weeks in Paris. I saw – on a near-daily basis – things of extraordinary beauty: the surprising sight of the Eiffel Tower, backlit in pink and orange at sundown or bristling in sparkle late at night; humans memorialized in stone and gold and marble, expressionless and majestic at the center of squares and parks; miles of grey and cream apartment buildings from another century, with delicate molding and tiny wrought-iron balconies.

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Why you were made to take risks

 

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I believe you and I were made to take risks: long, scary leaps into the unknown.

Risks like: being vulnerable with another person; starting your own business; starting a conversation; believing in the impossible; aiming for a goal that no one said was attainable; moving to a new city; speaking up, and speaking out.

A true risk doesn’t rely on what is known or seen. A true risk overlooks what has been experienced in favor of imagining what could be. Continue reading “Why you were made to take risks”

Morning is coming: on faith and anticipation

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Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear. (Isaiah 58:8)

If it’s the case that you usually wake up after dawn, you wake up in the morning to a blue (or maybe white or gray) sky. The sun streams into your room, or at the very least, you are not groping for your phone in the darkness. The day goes on, becomes brighter, then finally fades into purple before going black. Then the pattern repeats. Light becomes darkness every day, signifying closure, ending, a wind-down.

But if you wake up before dawn, you find a different pattern: you wake up to darkness and wait for the sky to pale and the sun to appear. You wait for the light to break forth.

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3 reasons why journaling will help you to stay motivated + empowered

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Do you ever feel like you’re in a funk? Like…you had goals and vision for your life, but somewhere in between 10 hour workdays, fighting off the flu (again), and unexpected personal drama, you lost sight of where you were at?

Do you ever think, is this really where Im supposed to be?

Or worse… Continue reading “3 reasons why journaling will help you to stay motivated + empowered”

When the outcome is unclear

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Today was uncharacteristically foggy in Southern California. Where I live, there’s often a morning mist that breaks by mid-day. But today was different. The haze remained into dusk, drifting across parking lots and tree tops, clouding the landscape in white. The sunlight never broke and the hot orange-pink sunset never showed up.

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Savory sweet potato + chicken bowl with yogurt & toasted walnuts

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Being a child of the 90’s, I grew up knowing yogurt only as syrupy-pink and sickly-sweet, poured out of a plastic Yoplait cup, or worse – squeezed out of a packet (remember “GoGurt”?) I was never a fan of the stuff, preferring a bowl of crunchy kix soaked in milk for breakfast or a stack of crumbly oreos for a snack.

And then, somewhere around my freshman year in college, Chobani greek yogurt was introduced to the American market. Creamy, tangy, and satisfying, this was a distant cousin to the snack I had known as a kid. All of a sudden, yogurt became my perfect food. It’s high in protein, versatile, and pairs with all my favorite foods: jam, granola, nuts, nut butter. Heck, I think it works with chocolate.

But yogurt has a different, more savory application as well. Continue reading “Savory sweet potato + chicken bowl with yogurt & toasted walnuts”

7 God moments in 2017

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 If you don’t know what I mean by “God moment” that doesn’t mean you’ve never had one.

I define a “God moment” as a moment when God reveals Himself to us through Creation…and that’s not necessarily limited to nature. Creation includes anything created: other people, art, words spoken.

A God moment can be a single moment, or a pattern that emerges. It usually takes us by surprise, and breaks what we believe to be routine, logical, or “normal.”

Continue reading “7 God moments in 2017”