When You're Wrestling With Winter
“But what is wrestling / if not an embrace?”
Slowly making my way through the latest issue of Comment on The Restoration of the Human and it’s worth your savoring. Start here (Who Do You Say That I Am?) and check out Kate Bowler’s essay, too (The Roof Always Caves In).
I loved the chance to join Katie McGrady for her Like A Mother podcast. Listen to our conversation here: Creativity from Grief.
The National Catholic Register recently featured the book I wrote with my husband—Grieving Together: A Couple’s Journey through Miscarriage—in this article where I shared our story: “Grieving Miscarriage as a Catholic.”
Enjoyed the first episode of the new I Kid You Not series from The Bible Binge on ways to break open the Genesis creation story for kids at different developmental stages. Clever, creative, and eye-opening for me as a person of faith and a parent.
Speaking of Genesis, I got to lead a virtual retreat for SoulCore leaders this week on the creation story & our own callings. An absolute joy to learn about their ministry.
The Porter’s Gate just released the first track off their new album, Worship for Workers (the collaborative project that brought me to Nashville last year) and it’s gorgeous. If you’re weary these days, may it be balm to your soul as it was for mine: Slow Me Down.
Here’s one of the prayers I wrote for Worship for Workers: A Prayer for Futility.
Spent last weekend writing with friends at a cabin up north; heavenly to hunker down together and dwell in creative space uninterrupted. Jacob’s wrestling with God is woven throughout the book I’m writing (!), so I loved the poem “Godwrestling” by Jessica Jacobs in Image Journal. “But what is wrestling / if not an embrace?”
Last night one of my kids (a voracious reader after my own heart) and I burrowed down to read in silence for hours, and it was my favorite part of the week. My brain needed a deep dive into a great story, and Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility did not disappoint. Currently halfway through and if you’ve finished it, please don’t spoil this plot-twister—but also promise me it won’t go off the rails because I’m counting down the hours till I can pick it up again tonight.
Question for you
We’re staring down a week of sub-zero temps, so I need your best wintering practices. A good book, a delicious recipe, a ray of hygge hope—share something that’s keeping you going through this season?
Merci beaucoup from the frozen north.
We got an Advent tea calendar from David’s Tea. Due to shipping delays, it came after Christmas…so we have been making some new kind of tea every afternoon between the after school and dinner prep rushes and sitting down for 20 minutes to read, all together. For some people in our family, it’s a homework requirement. The rest of us are being supportive- but it’s easily my favorite moment in the day.
"This stranger / does not give you a new name, just dippers up / the true one you tender in your chest." Augh! Such gorgeous words.
My new schtick this winter is LED candles. My sweet husband struggles with chronic headaches and is very sensitive to both scents and candle smoke, but I really missed the ambience of candle light. I picked up a few tapered ones and wooden candlestick holders, some tealights, and a stubby one and they make such a huge difference in our family room. The cozy lofi and fireplace streams have made regular appearances on the family room TV as well. ☺️