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is daddy in heaven

Guest Post: I Can't Pray and That's O.K.

May 9, 2018 by Stephanie Leave a Comment

Please welcome Andrea Remke to my site! I am graeteful for Andrea’s offer to share her words here. This post was previously published on her blog as well as Today Parenting and the Kathy Lee and Hoda Facebook page. Her story is both heartbreaking yet affirming that God’s eyes are always on us. I can’t […]

Filed Under: Sacred Connections Tagged With: death of a spouse, fear, is daddy in heaven, miscarriage, parenting, praying, widow

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When my first child was born 20 plus years ago, I envisioned taking just a few years off from my role as Pastor of Youth and Family. While that didn’t exactly unfold as expected, God used my gifts and skills in other ways. Read More…

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  • How My Son's Comment Changed the Way I Saw Our Home
    How My Son's Comment Changed the Way I Saw Our Home

s2thomp

Instagram post 18019358134695000 Instagram post 18019358134695000
#metamorphosis #unknownterritory #metamorphosis #unknownterritory
My husband and I just celebrated a milestone weddi My husband and I just celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary. So much unfolded differently than expected. Job losses, illnesses, car accidents, and other unforseen circumstances felt like potholes as we navigated life’s moments.

But hope appears in unexpected ways.

One of our shower gifts came from my husband’s mother. It wasn’t a fancy crystal bowl or a requested item off our registry at a department store. It was a hand spiraled little book of all the favorite family recipes from my husband’s side of the family.

We never predicted the power of this gift. It nourished us in so many ways. Those recipes brought comfort, provision and sustenance when it felt like the earth was quaking beneath our feet.

In addition, they connect us to a bigger story. The one that includes generations of family who also faced unpredictable life events. Some of them we only know by name and through stories. Yet, their lives anchor us and shape our own families for generations. The ripples into the world are infinite.

As we prepare and eat these dishes, we remember the contexts of other times they were consumed. Sometimes during celebratory moments. Others during times of discomforting change. We think of those seated around various tables and the conversations that took place at them. We laugh and we cry.

Those recipes have filled bellies, shifted the mood, and reminded us that in the biggset and smallest moments, God is in the midst speaking into our lives. Sometimes that looks like sharing generational long recipes at a table.

#Redbudwriters #familydinner #giftoffood  #familystories #Herviewfromhome
I spotted her at the bimonthly Food Truck night in I spotted her at the bimonthly Food Truck night in our village’s small downtown. I wasn’t sure how to approach this student who I had come to know within the walls of the classrooms where I substitute teach. It’s a funny thing when we see people outside of our expected landscapes. We are reminded that we are all more than our labels: teacher, student, receptionist, doctor, coworker, etc. Despite our seemingly defined transactions, with each other, we are impacted more than we realize.

As a substitute teacher, I come in contact with many students on a daily basis. Some repeatedly. The blessing in repetition is the opportunity to build a relationship. Those brief interactions which can seem like shallow small talk make deep imprints on our beings.
Seeing me, she ran up to me, her voice speaking with an excited tone. But, in the midst of our interaction, the reality hung in the air-for both of us. She graduated. Our life together, as we knew it, had come to and end.

It wasn’t the first time, I encountered this moment of bittersweet human connections. Once, after a long term sub job for a class of seniors, we each bid each other well wishes of a good life.
I still grieve the loss of relationship with the nurses who sustained my very life during my hospitalization after my accident.

Those moments, cause us pause. We go about our season of life together without really thinking that the day will come when our paths diverge. But we leave changed.
We often take for granted those people we do life with in the ordinary moments of life. The staff at orthodontist appointments, regular servers at a restaurant, neighbors, and students. They provide opportunity for human connection, insight into different narratives, familiar rhythms to our days.

Then one day, we leave each other, knowing that we might never see each other again. Yet, we realize in some way, we were better for our interactions, regardless how brief.

Tim Quick, in the movie “About Time”, reminds us “”We‘re all travelling through time together every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride.”

#Redbudwriters #humanity #loveyourneighbors #stephaniejthompson
Instagram post 17989545140023480 Instagram post 17989545140023480
Instagram post 18006243952883856 Instagram post 18006243952883856
Things are changing in our home and I’m here for Things are changing in our home and I’m here for it.

Upon waking up in the middle of the night, I heard noises above my head. I could hear interaction between two of my big kids. But they weren’t fighting. They were chatting.

In the past two years, I’ve witnessed a transformation in the relationships between my three young adult children. They see each other in new ways. It brings me joy because healing took a long time.

Our family experieced its share of hard things. Every family does. They can pull us together as well as pull us apart.

As a parent, I longed for my kids to be close to one another. My eyes looked around for those emerging moments. But I learned that sometimes they appear as small intimate ones rather than big, movie worthy scenes.

Watching them incorporate the gift of presence into daily routines.

Listening to them laugh together over a private joke.

Hearing one kid’s voice on one end of the phone ask to speak to another

Showing concern about the wellbeing of another

Asking each other for help

The longings for healing may appear long reaching when we are in the trenches of hard seasons of family life. Imagining what the fruits of our prayers may look like and when we will see them can make us feel restless. However, those little moments that begin to emerge along the way are worth celebrating. They are flickers of hope.

#Redbudwriters #Parentingyoungadults #siblings #Herviewfromhome
I had no idea how transforming this book would be I had no idea how transforming this book would be when I joined the launch team for it. Social Justice happens through the diverse gifting and personalities of God’s creation. So much insight into the significant roles we each play in order to work towards a place of equity for our neighbors. #Redbudwriters #socialjusticewarrior #loveyourneighbors
I never realized how much my picture wall could te I never realized how much my picture wall could tether me.

I lay in my recliner feeling emotionally and physically drained. It has been a long season of mixed emotions- gratefulness, joy, grief, and uncertainty. I recognize that life is like that. But today feels so heavy. I can do nothing but be still and lament. Life can push against the human frame and sometimes that is breathtakingly beautiful and exhilarating yet other times it fells absolutely gut wrenching.

As I sit in the silence, I glance over at the wall in front of me. In a moment, glimpses of the past twenty five years reveal themselves to me. The pictures on the wall and on top of the piano tell a story that I know in my bones but have forgotten in my current mindset.

I see moments of my life. So many of them. Children, now grown, in their single digits throwing leaves with abandon in the air. The joy and wonder of a sandy beach. My older son lifting my younger son up to a branch on a tree in a beloved grandmother’s back yard. An impromptu portrait I took of my daughter in our driveway which captured her soul. And graduation pictures. They all have backstories of their own that are worthy of their own blog posts.

So much life is captured on that wall.

I don’t dismiss my grief. That is part of the healing process that is sacred to the intricate way we are created. However, I am reminded that it doesn’t have the final voice. A new day awaits. As my son observed one morning long ago as he looked out the window upon waking up, “Look mom, the world is new.”

I sit in this paradox of feeling grateful yet knowing that painful circumstances in this life are inevitable. But they don’t capture the entirety of my life. Sometimes I need the picture wall to remind me of the bigger story.

#Parentingyoungadults #lifegoesfast #pictures #it'sanewday #stephaniejthompson #Redbudwriters #Herviewfromhome
#youcandothis #stephaniejthompson #redbudwriters # #youcandothis #stephaniejthompson #redbudwriters #godhasthis
#Easter #lifeisunpredictable #stephaniejthompson #Easter #lifeisunpredictable #stephaniejthompson
#Christmas #Humanity #incarnation #allpeople #god #Christmas #Humanity  #incarnation #allpeople #godwithus #Immanuel
#Jesus #Christmas #hopes #fears #Christmaseve #Jesus #Christmas #hopes #fears #Christmaseve
Recently, I realized I’ve done a lot of travelin Recently, I realized I’ve done a lot of traveling with my young adult children. However, I’m not referring to family vacations or even the multiple trips back and forth to their current homes. The traveling I am invited to occurs via phone calls initiated by my big kids as they go about errands and work on homework.

Sometimes, I go to Target and virtually keep them company as they shop for items. Once in a while, I accompany them on a drive through line to their favorite fast food restaurant. Other times, I walk with them back from class to the dorm. There is no agenda outside of simply connecting and listening. And then there are moments where I am put on speaker mode and I sit in silence while homework is worked on. The reason? To simply sit in their presence.

These moments could easily be perceived as inconvenient and mundane. Truthfully, the calls sometimes interrupt my agenda. However, it is a blessing when your big kid initiates connection. It is something I never want to take for granted.

I wish we could have done more traveling together on vacations when my kids were young. Yet, traveling together and building bonding moments can look like a lot of things. I am learning to be thankful for all of them.

#herviewfromhome #Redbudwriters #parentingyoungadults
#Delicatedanceofparenting #parentingyoungadults #p #Delicatedanceofparenting #parentingyoungadults #parentingcollegekids #parentingteens
As I sit in the quiet with the windows open, the s As I sit in the quiet with the windows open, the sounds outside remind me of the changes in my sphere. My neighbor plays her recorder with abandon on this first day of the school year. Suddenly, my mind jumps back to several years ago in this same house. I listened to each of my kids happily discover the joy of exploring this instrument. They fidgeted around, like she does, trying to create familiar tunes and listening to the way their breath helpes create sound.

This is the second time the landscape changed next door since our family planted roots here twenty four years ago. Each time, the new life sprouts up in different ways. Currently, the sights and sounds of young children remind me of where I once was and where I am now.

The seasons of parenting all have their variety of days. There were moments that felt long and dark. Sometimes the idea of getting up the next morning to experience another one felt overwhelming. But scattered throughout the years, were moments of joyful collaborative discoveries of the beauty of this life. Watching your child explore the world around them through their senses is magical. It refreshes any of our own that have grown stagnant.

I love living in an intergenerational neighborhood. Because I need it. Revisiting the seasons of life through new narratives brings me joy. I share in the excitement of the neighbor girl losing her tooth and laugh at her story about the tooth fairy forgetting her tooth. That happened in our house too.

My children are now young adults. People say “the days are long and the years are short.” That feels true. But I am thankful to have the opportunity to relive some of those days with a new generation. It reminds me of the welcoming spaces created for life to bloom, theirs and mine.

#neighborhood #parentingyoungadults #herviewfromhome #Redbudwriters #stephaniejthompson
#humanity #compassion #imagodei #stephaniejthompso #humanity #compassion #imagodei #stephaniejthompson
Recently, I retraced the steps of my childhood. Ho Recently, I retraced the steps of my childhood. However, walking the territory with my young adult children by my side became a whole new experience. Something profound happens when your kids see, taste, and feel the places that shape your life.

This wasn’t the first time, we ventured into the town of my paternal roots When my children were young, we occassionally drove through the town. We drove past relative’s homes and I pointed out favorite destination spots. However, the questions grew deeper and the curiosity expanded as they grew older. Connections to itheir story have been formed.

We enjoyed stomping around the nostalgic grounds together while recognizing how our family’s story fits into a bigger one. I whirled around with my kids on the same carnival ride seats that I once shared with my parents and siblings. We munched on the same tasty comfort food that I delighted in as a child. And watched, with wonder, the twinkly lights of a magical place, lighting up a dusky hot summer night. We walked in the footsteps of those in their personal narrative.

The deeper thoughts and questions came as we winded through the small town, retracing the paths of my youth. However, this time around, their ears longed to know more. How is this person related? Who was the relative that was known for…..? The visual unfolding of a story gives you a context for understanding what has shaped you. It is both formative and yet allows for questions and discerning what you will do with it. What will you embrace and how will you respond to it’s influences?

These are the moments that I do not want to take for granted. Navigating our story together is a gift.

#familystories #parentingyoungadults
#whoami #ancestorsspeak
#familyroots #stephaniejthompson
#Redbudwriters
"Sometimes Jesus’s interruptions mean a reorient "Sometimes Jesus’s interruptions mean a reorienting with our whole being. Surrendering vocational plans and expectations. Using our finances,time and talents in ways that take us out of our comfort zones. Letting go of previously held assumptions about who Jesus is."

#Redbudwriters #Jesusinterrupts #Luke5 #followingjesus #discipleship
I love my shoes. My eyes initially spotted them i I love my shoes.

My eyes initially spotted them in an advertisement in my social media feed. Truthfully, it wasn’t completely a coinicidence that they showed up in the midst of my scrolling. My buying habits are not secretive to the bots monitoring my digital life. I can’t hide from the reminders of my sketchers sandals shoe fascination. Both the ads and my daughter’s laughing comments make me confront my guilty pleasure.

This pair intrigued me. Both function and style appealed to me. Specifically, the ancient sparkly design made me think of a different time and civilation. That may sound silly. However, I am always on a quest to recognize my identity within the contexts of those who came before me and those who live different narratives from myself. In a sense, the sandals are a visible reminder to keep walking into those paths.

Most recently, they waded into the Caribbean Ocean, paddled my body through Cenotes in Mexico, and walked the sacred ground of encounters with people who don’t live in my native country. My sandals witnessed to my wonder at new smells, the beauty of creation and attempts to engage with human companions in ways that don’t require words.

Before walking into very different places across the globe, I encountered new narratives in familiar territory. Some of them included my own. My sandals comforted my feet as I walked into doctor’s offices, my insides quivering at updates from a yearlong of health battles. They accompanied me to conversations, some silly and others more serious with my young adult children.

And somewhere, in the midst of moving around doing seemingly mundane activities, I connected with people I never met. We exchanged laughs, shared insights, and simply acknowledged presence with an “excuse me” as we passed in aisles.

Someday, my sparkly shoes will wear out. I will be sad because of the sacred places I have tread with them adorning my feet. The stories they hold are way more fascinating than their decoration. So when they wear out, I can cling to the pictures and be reminded of the places I have seen the face of God as I navigate my days. 

#Redbudwriters #sacredplaces #imagodei #humanitymatters #ifshoescouldtalk
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Instagram post 18019358134695000 Instagram post 18019358134695000
#metamorphosis #unknownterritory #metamorphosis #unknownterritory
My husband and I just celebrated a milestone weddi My husband and I just celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary. So much unfolded differently than expected. Job losses, illnesses, car accidents, and other unforseen circumstances felt like potholes as we navigated life’s moments.

But hope appears in unexpected ways.

One of our shower gifts came from my husband’s mother. It wasn’t a fancy crystal bowl or a requested item off our registry at a department store. It was a hand spiraled little book of all the favorite family recipes from my husband’s side of the family.

We never predicted the power of this gift. It nourished us in so many ways. Those recipes brought comfort, provision and sustenance when it felt like the earth was quaking beneath our feet.

In addition, they connect us to a bigger story. The one that includes generations of family who also faced unpredictable life events. Some of them we only know by name and through stories. Yet, their lives anchor us and shape our own families for generations. The ripples into the world are infinite.

As we prepare and eat these dishes, we remember the contexts of other times they were consumed. Sometimes during celebratory moments. Others during times of discomforting change. We think of those seated around various tables and the conversations that took place at them. We laugh and we cry.

Those recipes have filled bellies, shifted the mood, and reminded us that in the biggset and smallest moments, God is in the midst speaking into our lives. Sometimes that looks like sharing generational long recipes at a table.

#Redbudwriters #familydinner #giftoffood  #familystories #Herviewfromhome
I spotted her at the bimonthly Food Truck night in I spotted her at the bimonthly Food Truck night in our village’s small downtown. I wasn’t sure how to approach this student who I had come to know within the walls of the classrooms where I substitute teach. It’s a funny thing when we see people outside of our expected landscapes. We are reminded that we are all more than our labels: teacher, student, receptionist, doctor, coworker, etc. Despite our seemingly defined transactions, with each other, we are impacted more than we realize.

As a substitute teacher, I come in contact with many students on a daily basis. Some repeatedly. The blessing in repetition is the opportunity to build a relationship. Those brief interactions which can seem like shallow small talk make deep imprints on our beings.
Seeing me, she ran up to me, her voice speaking with an excited tone. But, in the midst of our interaction, the reality hung in the air-for both of us. She graduated. Our life together, as we knew it, had come to and end.

It wasn’t the first time, I encountered this moment of bittersweet human connections. Once, after a long term sub job for a class of seniors, we each bid each other well wishes of a good life.
I still grieve the loss of relationship with the nurses who sustained my very life during my hospitalization after my accident.

Those moments, cause us pause. We go about our season of life together without really thinking that the day will come when our paths diverge. But we leave changed.
We often take for granted those people we do life with in the ordinary moments of life. The staff at orthodontist appointments, regular servers at a restaurant, neighbors, and students. They provide opportunity for human connection, insight into different narratives, familiar rhythms to our days.

Then one day, we leave each other, knowing that we might never see each other again. Yet, we realize in some way, we were better for our interactions, regardless how brief.

Tim Quick, in the movie “About Time”, reminds us “”We‘re all travelling through time together every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride.”

#Redbudwriters #humanity #loveyourneighbors #stephaniejthompson
Instagram post 17989545140023480 Instagram post 17989545140023480
Instagram post 18006243952883856 Instagram post 18006243952883856
Things are changing in our home and I’m here for Things are changing in our home and I’m here for it.

Upon waking up in the middle of the night, I heard noises above my head. I could hear interaction between two of my big kids. But they weren’t fighting. They were chatting.

In the past two years, I’ve witnessed a transformation in the relationships between my three young adult children. They see each other in new ways. It brings me joy because healing took a long time.

Our family experieced its share of hard things. Every family does. They can pull us together as well as pull us apart.

As a parent, I longed for my kids to be close to one another. My eyes looked around for those emerging moments. But I learned that sometimes they appear as small intimate ones rather than big, movie worthy scenes.

Watching them incorporate the gift of presence into daily routines.

Listening to them laugh together over a private joke.

Hearing one kid’s voice on one end of the phone ask to speak to another

Showing concern about the wellbeing of another

Asking each other for help

The longings for healing may appear long reaching when we are in the trenches of hard seasons of family life. Imagining what the fruits of our prayers may look like and when we will see them can make us feel restless. However, those little moments that begin to emerge along the way are worth celebrating. They are flickers of hope.

#Redbudwriters #Parentingyoungadults #siblings #Herviewfromhome
I had no idea how transforming this book would be I had no idea how transforming this book would be when I joined the launch team for it. Social Justice happens through the diverse gifting and personalities of God’s creation. So much insight into the significant roles we each play in order to work towards a place of equity for our neighbors. #Redbudwriters #socialjusticewarrior #loveyourneighbors
I never realized how much my picture wall could te I never realized how much my picture wall could tether me.

I lay in my recliner feeling emotionally and physically drained. It has been a long season of mixed emotions- gratefulness, joy, grief, and uncertainty. I recognize that life is like that. But today feels so heavy. I can do nothing but be still and lament. Life can push against the human frame and sometimes that is breathtakingly beautiful and exhilarating yet other times it fells absolutely gut wrenching.

As I sit in the silence, I glance over at the wall in front of me. In a moment, glimpses of the past twenty five years reveal themselves to me. The pictures on the wall and on top of the piano tell a story that I know in my bones but have forgotten in my current mindset.

I see moments of my life. So many of them. Children, now grown, in their single digits throwing leaves with abandon in the air. The joy and wonder of a sandy beach. My older son lifting my younger son up to a branch on a tree in a beloved grandmother’s back yard. An impromptu portrait I took of my daughter in our driveway which captured her soul. And graduation pictures. They all have backstories of their own that are worthy of their own blog posts.

So much life is captured on that wall.

I don’t dismiss my grief. That is part of the healing process that is sacred to the intricate way we are created. However, I am reminded that it doesn’t have the final voice. A new day awaits. As my son observed one morning long ago as he looked out the window upon waking up, “Look mom, the world is new.”

I sit in this paradox of feeling grateful yet knowing that painful circumstances in this life are inevitable. But they don’t capture the entirety of my life. Sometimes I need the picture wall to remind me of the bigger story.

#Parentingyoungadults #lifegoesfast #pictures #it'sanewday #stephaniejthompson #Redbudwriters #Herviewfromhome
#youcandothis #stephaniejthompson #redbudwriters # #youcandothis #stephaniejthompson #redbudwriters #godhasthis
#Easter #lifeisunpredictable #stephaniejthompson #Easter #lifeisunpredictable #stephaniejthompson
#Christmas #Humanity #incarnation #allpeople #god #Christmas #Humanity  #incarnation #allpeople #godwithus #Immanuel
#Jesus #Christmas #hopes #fears #Christmaseve #Jesus #Christmas #hopes #fears #Christmaseve
Recently, I realized I’ve done a lot of travelin Recently, I realized I’ve done a lot of traveling with my young adult children. However, I’m not referring to family vacations or even the multiple trips back and forth to their current homes. The traveling I am invited to occurs via phone calls initiated by my big kids as they go about errands and work on homework.

Sometimes, I go to Target and virtually keep them company as they shop for items. Once in a while, I accompany them on a drive through line to their favorite fast food restaurant. Other times, I walk with them back from class to the dorm. There is no agenda outside of simply connecting and listening. And then there are moments where I am put on speaker mode and I sit in silence while homework is worked on. The reason? To simply sit in their presence.

These moments could easily be perceived as inconvenient and mundane. Truthfully, the calls sometimes interrupt my agenda. However, it is a blessing when your big kid initiates connection. It is something I never want to take for granted.

I wish we could have done more traveling together on vacations when my kids were young. Yet, traveling together and building bonding moments can look like a lot of things. I am learning to be thankful for all of them.

#herviewfromhome #Redbudwriters #parentingyoungadults
#Delicatedanceofparenting #parentingyoungadults #p #Delicatedanceofparenting #parentingyoungadults #parentingcollegekids #parentingteens
As I sit in the quiet with the windows open, the s As I sit in the quiet with the windows open, the sounds outside remind me of the changes in my sphere. My neighbor plays her recorder with abandon on this first day of the school year. Suddenly, my mind jumps back to several years ago in this same house. I listened to each of my kids happily discover the joy of exploring this instrument. They fidgeted around, like she does, trying to create familiar tunes and listening to the way their breath helpes create sound.

This is the second time the landscape changed next door since our family planted roots here twenty four years ago. Each time, the new life sprouts up in different ways. Currently, the sights and sounds of young children remind me of where I once was and where I am now.

The seasons of parenting all have their variety of days. There were moments that felt long and dark. Sometimes the idea of getting up the next morning to experience another one felt overwhelming. But scattered throughout the years, were moments of joyful collaborative discoveries of the beauty of this life. Watching your child explore the world around them through their senses is magical. It refreshes any of our own that have grown stagnant.

I love living in an intergenerational neighborhood. Because I need it. Revisiting the seasons of life through new narratives brings me joy. I share in the excitement of the neighbor girl losing her tooth and laugh at her story about the tooth fairy forgetting her tooth. That happened in our house too.

My children are now young adults. People say “the days are long and the years are short.” That feels true. But I am thankful to have the opportunity to relive some of those days with a new generation. It reminds me of the welcoming spaces created for life to bloom, theirs and mine.

#neighborhood #parentingyoungadults #herviewfromhome #Redbudwriters #stephaniejthompson
#humanity #compassion #imagodei #stephaniejthompso #humanity #compassion #imagodei #stephaniejthompson
Recently, I retraced the steps of my childhood. Ho Recently, I retraced the steps of my childhood. However, walking the territory with my young adult children by my side became a whole new experience. Something profound happens when your kids see, taste, and feel the places that shape your life.

This wasn’t the first time, we ventured into the town of my paternal roots When my children were young, we occassionally drove through the town. We drove past relative’s homes and I pointed out favorite destination spots. However, the questions grew deeper and the curiosity expanded as they grew older. Connections to itheir story have been formed.

We enjoyed stomping around the nostalgic grounds together while recognizing how our family’s story fits into a bigger one. I whirled around with my kids on the same carnival ride seats that I once shared with my parents and siblings. We munched on the same tasty comfort food that I delighted in as a child. And watched, with wonder, the twinkly lights of a magical place, lighting up a dusky hot summer night. We walked in the footsteps of those in their personal narrative.

The deeper thoughts and questions came as we winded through the small town, retracing the paths of my youth. However, this time around, their ears longed to know more. How is this person related? Who was the relative that was known for…..? The visual unfolding of a story gives you a context for understanding what has shaped you. It is both formative and yet allows for questions and discerning what you will do with it. What will you embrace and how will you respond to it’s influences?

These are the moments that I do not want to take for granted. Navigating our story together is a gift.

#familystories #parentingyoungadults
#whoami #ancestorsspeak
#familyroots #stephaniejthompson
#Redbudwriters
"Sometimes Jesus’s interruptions mean a reorient "Sometimes Jesus’s interruptions mean a reorienting with our whole being. Surrendering vocational plans and expectations. Using our finances,time and talents in ways that take us out of our comfort zones. Letting go of previously held assumptions about who Jesus is."

#Redbudwriters #Jesusinterrupts #Luke5 #followingjesus #discipleship
I love my shoes. My eyes initially spotted them i I love my shoes.

My eyes initially spotted them in an advertisement in my social media feed. Truthfully, it wasn’t completely a coinicidence that they showed up in the midst of my scrolling. My buying habits are not secretive to the bots monitoring my digital life. I can’t hide from the reminders of my sketchers sandals shoe fascination. Both the ads and my daughter’s laughing comments make me confront my guilty pleasure.

This pair intrigued me. Both function and style appealed to me. Specifically, the ancient sparkly design made me think of a different time and civilation. That may sound silly. However, I am always on a quest to recognize my identity within the contexts of those who came before me and those who live different narratives from myself. In a sense, the sandals are a visible reminder to keep walking into those paths.

Most recently, they waded into the Caribbean Ocean, paddled my body through Cenotes in Mexico, and walked the sacred ground of encounters with people who don’t live in my native country. My sandals witnessed to my wonder at new smells, the beauty of creation and attempts to engage with human companions in ways that don’t require words.

Before walking into very different places across the globe, I encountered new narratives in familiar territory. Some of them included my own. My sandals comforted my feet as I walked into doctor’s offices, my insides quivering at updates from a yearlong of health battles. They accompanied me to conversations, some silly and others more serious with my young adult children.

And somewhere, in the midst of moving around doing seemingly mundane activities, I connected with people I never met. We exchanged laughs, shared insights, and simply acknowledged presence with an “excuse me” as we passed in aisles.

Someday, my sparkly shoes will wear out. I will be sad because of the sacred places I have tread with them adorning my feet. The stories they hold are way more fascinating than their decoration. So when they wear out, I can cling to the pictures and be reminded of the places I have seen the face of God as I navigate my days. 

#Redbudwriters #sacredplaces #imagodei #humanitymatters #ifshoescouldtalk
Load More Follow on Instagram

Categories

  • Advent/Christmas
  • Easter
  • five minute friday
  • Mental Health
  • Parenting
  • Sacred Connections

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