Hello friends!
It’s been awhile since I’ve shared anything on this platform. I didn’t intend to take such a long break, but life has been full of transition over the past few months and I’m still finding my way into new rhythms. I haven’t been sure how to fit writing into the midst of it all and I’ve been giving myself the grace to not force it. Still, I feel the pull once more to create space for this sacred discipline of putting my heart into words and sharing it with this lovely community.
But first let me first catch you up on the last few months…
In January, I officially started my two-year program to become certified as a spiritual director through San Francisco Theological Seminary! Spiritual direction has been such a sweet space of soul care and restoration for me, and I am so excited to learn how to cultivate that same type of space for others as I come alongside them in their spiritual journey and bear witness to glimmers of grace in their lives. I was drawn to this specific program at SFTS because of their integration of spiritual formation, critical thinking, and social justice, and so far, it has felt like such a good fit. After several months of pre-course work, I spent two weeks in intensive classes - one week online and one week in person in the bay area. I’m now in the midst of my practicum and I’ve started meeting with my first directee! I can’t wait to see what these next two years will hold.
Following those two weeks of classes, I started a new job as a Business Manager, overseeing the finances and back-end operations for a company called Formation Community. This job came along in an unexpected way, but it felt like a good meeting point for my past, present, and future. Previous work experience and relationships are co-mingling with potential opportunities for the future within a context that meets my current needs. There has been so much to learn, and it’s felt a bit overwhelming at times, but I’m grateful for this new role and eager to see where it leads.
I’ve also been working with a team from my church to create a small group resource that looks at gospel stories through the lens of trauma. We’re learning from the ways that Jesus experienced and engaged with trauma in order to discover how we can create communities of care and healing. We’re hoping to pilot the resource some time this year within our church community and then eventually make it available on a larger scale. The process of creating this resource has sparked some beautiful and insightful conversations among our team of collaborators, and I hope that it will help to cultivate similar conversations in other communities as well.
This new year has been both a whirlwind and a breath of fresh air for me at the same time. It feels like a new season after a long stretch of feeling lost in the wilderness. For so long, I’ve been seeking discernment on where I’m heading and how to get there. There still may not be a straight path ahead, but there’s movement in what feels like a good direction. For that, I am so very grateful.
I’m just a weary pilgrim trying to find what feels like home. - Dolly Parton
I hope to share more of my writing soon, but for now, I want to share a resource for Holy Week (which starts tomorrow). Two organizations that I deeply respect - Global Immersion and Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) - have partnered together to create these Holy Week Devotionals. This resource includes beautiful artwork created by a member of my Journey of Hope cohort that I participated in a couple years ago, reflections written by peacemakers from around the world, and breath prayers written by one of my favorite peacemakers, Osheta Moore. I’ll be going through this resource next week as a way to engage with the story of Jesus’s death and resurrection and the hope that story provides for our hurting world today. I invite you to join me.
