Something that was supposed to bring warmth and healing to your body literally left a bad taste in your mouth.

As you became an adult, you lived your life just fine without it. You saw others talk about it and obsess over eating it, but you could never understand why. Others would even invite you to have a taste of their soup, and the thought of it made you cringe.

That’s until one day you meet someone who starts to occupy space in your heart (platonically or romantically). You find out this person’s favorite meal is chicken soup. You don’t understand how such a wonderful person could love something so awful. But they brag about how their recipe is the best in the world. You can see with your own two eyes the joy it brings them; it’s almost palatable. You can attest to the strength the soup gives them when they’re sick; it brings them back to life in miraculous ways.

Slowly, you start to get curious and begin to entertain the idea of trying this chicken soup of theirs. And one day, against your better judgment, you decide to taste and see for yourself.

You realize it was nothing like the soup you grew up with. Their soup was full of flavor, making your taste buds dance at the first sip. Now it was all starting to make sense. You start to understand what people have been talking about all these years, and what you’ve been missing out on all along.

Its warmth reaches down to every cell in your body, and you want more. You want to know how it’s made, how the chicken is so tender, how the vegetables float around in harmony, and how the broth is perfectly seasoned. It’s nothing like the dry chicken, chewy vegetables, and salty broth you grew up on.

You later learn it wasn’t even your parents’ fault, because that was the recipe passed down to them, and they didn’t know better.

Now instead of chicken soup, let’s replace it with another “ch” word: church.

You see, some of the loveliest people I’ve met in my life felt that exact way about church, and consequently God. And I would scratch my head, trying to understand why church had left such a bad taste in their mouth. It turns out we weren’t eating the same chicken soup—we weren’t having the same Christian experience.

As young kids, we build our understanding of God by looking to those who are supposed to represent Him: priest/pastor, Sunday school teachers, church congregants, and even parents.

So if the leaders were rough on us in the name of “tough love,” if the church people gossiped about us, and if church was a place of judgment instead of refuge, then why in the world would we want to go back?!

But here is where there is hope… it’s in you!

You, who tasted and saw that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). That His church is good. That His people are good.

You, who developed a deep understanding of His word. Who grew up with rich traditions. Who depended on the sacraments as essential life-lines. You can make all the difference in someone’s life who experienced the opposite.

And this does not come by impersonal preaching or teaching. It comes by developing authentic relationships and by loving well without any superficial motives.

Christ sought out the outcasts and lost. He sat with them, dined with them, and gave them the love they desperately needed. Can you do the same? Can you be a living example to those who may never want to set foot in a church? Can you be a true Christ-bearer?

Remember this great command:

“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)

Something Worth Sharing

This Orthodox Sermons talk by Fr. Elijah Estafanous on being a star that points to Jesus is a perfect companion to this topic.

I hope you get to taste and see that the Lord is good for yourself, and become so in love with Him that you want others to also taste and see. I hope you’re bold enough to invite others to taste your chicken soup—to step into your church.

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Science will tell you the importance of getting enough sunlight. Your vitamin D levels impact your mood, health, and so much more. It’s how God designed us. From the beginning, our natural environment was a garden. Adam and Eve freely spent their time outdoors surrounded by lush plants, fruitful trees, and tamed animals.

After the fall, as the world advanced, we built spaces to protect ourselves from the unpredictable outside world. We traded in nature for comfort and control, putting a barrier between us and the natural elements in which we find God.

Don’t get me wrong, God is not confined to a place; we experience him in our homes and churches, both indoor places. But there is something about experiencing Him in nature.

Being in nature allows your senses to be overwhelmed by the beauty God has created. By seeing and experiencing creation, you get a glimpse of the Creator. David, the Psalmist, wrote:

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.”

(Psalms 19:1)

Immerse yourself in forests draped in a canopy of trees. Sit by a body of water where you cannot see beyond the horizon. Stand in a valley and gaze at the glacial mountaintop. Walk across hilltops covered by endless shades of green. And tell me you don’t feel closer to its Creator!

My challenge to you before this summer officially ends is to discover a new place, or revisit your favorite one. Spend time just soaking in the sun, feeling the wind, observing the clouds, and admiring the glorious landscape. Reflect, pray, and even bring a Bible to read and communicate with God is the most natural habitat you can find. And truly delight in it all.

Something Worth Sharing

Experience Jesus Really by John Eldredge is a great read to dive deeper into this topic of finding God in nature. Side note: it is a Protestant book, so read it with your Orthodox lenses on.

I hope you get to step outside as often as you would like, soaking in as much of nature as you can. I hope you encounter God in the beauty of the natural world around you and make it a habit to meet Him there.

Through the thin pages bound together, we enter a world entirely different than our own. Worlds we would never dream of joining, and other worlds we are thankful never found us.

No matter the society, time, or environment the pages take you to, you realize we are all alike more than we tend to admit. We are all driven by the core longing to love and be loved. We are in search of belonging and being seen. We all come up against fear while facing the unknown.

There is nothing like getting lost in a good story. The ability to pause reality for a few pages at a time, enter a different time and space, and see a new perspective will allow you to experience things beyond your own world—while gaining empathy and understanding along the way.

With reading fiction, your empathy grows, your imagination expands, and your curiosity deepens.

While some of us struggle to put emotions, events, and feelings into words, fiction authors form them with ease and eloquence, and we are lucky enough to step into their stories. They are gracious hosts, and we enter as grateful guests.

This summer I got to read Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. Although it’s not marketed as a Christian book, it shows you how to live out Matthew 25 without ever having to quote a Bible verse. Theo, the main character, has Christ-like characteristics that will make you smile.

With each character, the story reveals just how overlooked some people can be, and how a stranger can truly make them feel seen and valued. In the midst of the brokenness of each one’s humanity, hope enters the pages.

The book leaves you wanting to be a bit more generous, curious, and aware of the souls you encounter. I believe that a good fictional book can leave you a little softer, kinder, tender, and open your eyes to a new world by the end of it. And by those standards, Theo of Golden is a marvelous book!

What books have done this for you? Let me know in the comments below.

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Just do yourself a favor and get this book (I hear it’s equally great in audiobook format). And if I can’t convince you, maybe Oprah can. I loved this interview she did with the author. Knowing the author makes you love this book that much more.

I hope you get to find a book that you love and makes you dread the end of it. I hope that simple pages can open your imagination and edify your curiosity, leaving you a better human at the end of it.

I wanted some time away from the noise of the internet, to be more present. I’d give myself a B- grade at most, as I was still getting distracted by that tricky little device we hold in our hands. But the extra free time was spent doing the things I love: writing, reading, being in nature, and allowing myself to get lost in my imagination. (More on those subjects in the weeks to come).

Now that we’ve caught up, I’d like to bring to your attention a fun fact I learned not too long ago. Do you know who was the first person in the Bible mentioned to be filled with the Spirit of God?

An artistic fella by the name of Bezalel, who was commissioned to work on building the Tabernacle.

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.” (Exodus 31:1-5)

Only through God’s Spirit residing in Bezalel was he able to create these beautiful things. The wisdom, understanding, and knowledge he was blessed with naturally overflowed into his handmade creations.

Made in the image of our Creator and filled with the Holy Spirit, we are also called to create. You and I are all little artists of our own. Because to create is to be like Him.

Before you dismiss my claim, allow me to broaden your definition of “artist.”

I believe art is anything that:

1. You make with your own two hands

2. Allows you to dialogue with God in the creation process

3. Edifies others

4. Displays the gifts God has given you

5. Brings you delight

This can look very different from person to person, from artist to artist:

For some it’s picking up a paintbrush, staring at an empty canvas, and watching colors form from their imagination.

For others, it’s blending ingredients and creating a delicious, memorable meal.

For a few, it’s curating a beautiful home that feels like a haven for everybody who steps foot in it.

For some people, it’s sitting at a piano, letting their fingers dance across the keys, forming melodies that soothe the soul.

For many others, it’s gardening, singing, crocheting, shooting videos, building, capturing photos, cake decorating, and anything else that hits those five points above (or any number of them).

For me, it’s putting pen to paper (or fingers to a keyboard) and trying to put into words what’s swirling around in my mind. As the creator, my eyes are the first to glance at these words, and there is an unexplainable satisfaction in that. Before anyone else can read them, it’s a dialogue between creator and Creator.

It’s a mystery to me how thoughts and feelings that are invisible by nature can take up physical space through writing. It’s a process that forces me to look inward and fish out what can make it outward. After many brain dumps, drafts, and edits, I’m proud of the sentences that form on the page, knowing that they were inspired by something or Someone bigger than me.

So my advice to you is to create! No matter what your day job is or what your pressing responsibilities are, create anyway!

Find what you delight in; maybe you already know it, or maybe you need to try a few things. Don’t deprive yourself of a beautiful experience you can have with your creator. And don’t deprive the rest of us from benefiting from it too.

Something Worth Sharing

There are many times I talk myself out of creating for many different reasons, i.e.: I don’t have time, it’s not good enough, it’s not really doing anything for anyone, it’s not worth the time and effort. (And maybe this entire blog post is really just a public pep talk for myself to keep creating.) But something that has really helped is this amazing book: The Artist Way. Think of the author as your spiritual guide along the creation process.

I hope you get to get your hands moving, creating, delighting, and getting closer to God in the process. Ask Him to fill you with wisdom and understanding to create in a way that would make Him proud. And know that anything you create in His name, regardless of the outcome, will indeed make Him proud.

I cringe at typing that out, but it is the reality of a typical work-from-home morning. Old me would have been proud of that level of productivity and multitasking. But current me wants to shake the world hard enough where it slows down like snow falling magically in a snow globe. Each moment of time landing peacefully where it belongs.

I no longer want to shuttle my mind and body from one station to another, changing multiple hats as I go through the day.

I want to linger and savor. I want to move slow enough to delight in the present.

But the world you and I live in doesn’t operate on that speed. We’ve been taught that time is money. But that’s not true. Money, you can waste and make again. Time escapes, and you can never catch it after it’s gone. Therefore, time is more precious than money. And I’m watching it waste away.

It’s death by a thousand cuts.

St. Paul wisely tells us, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16)

He continues in verse 17 with, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

This makes me question, what is the will of the Lord in how I spend my time? It can’t be rushing from one thing to another, always feeling behind. It can’t be keeping up with the world and all the accolades and accomplishments it tells us to chase after. So what is it then?

I know in a nutshell, it’s our sanctification, to become saint-like, and be with God for eternity. And the only way to do that is by getting close to the One who sanctifies us in the first place, and delighting in His creation.

So how does one do that with all the responsibilities on our plate? No idea. But I’m interested enough to do the work and find out.

And on that note, I want to let you know I’ll be taking a few weeks off from writing this newsletter to actually slow down, delight, and savor. My aim was to always share what I’ve learned or am currently learning in real-time, and this is one of those things that I need to learn more about before I share (and actually live it).

I’m also setting some boundaries for myself that will help me get the most out of being present this summer. I’ll be off of Instagram (only logging on for event announcements). I’ll be following my screen time limit for YouTube. And I’ll be silencing all notifications, except calls and texts, on my phone—this is a new one for me.

I’ll report back in the rest of this series and let you know what I discover. So stay tuned, friends.

Something Worth Sharing

I read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry a few years ago (technically listened to it on Audible), and I remember loving it. The book was brought up in a recent church meeting, and it made me want to go back and re-read it. It is a wonderful book on this topic, and John Mark Comer gives four key steps for living at a spiritually healthy pace.

I hope you get to reflect and examine the speed at which you’re living. And if you’re not happy with the results, I hope you’re bold enough to do something about it.

Announcement: Before I pause this newsletter for a few weeks, I want to tell you about an upcoming event for singles and those in relationships, taking place at the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Please see below, registration information will be posted soon.

Then, when they experience the love of God through ordinary Christians, their lives are transformed. Because for the first time, they are pointed to the love of the Father, and realize that’s what they’ve been missing all along.

Well, I have. And I can tell you that it’s the closest thing I’ve witnessed to a miracle. If you get a front row seat to see someone completely change the trajectory of their salvation, consider yourself lucky.

Oftentimes, we don’t see the entire journey, but God allows us to be one small part of it. Fr. Anthony Messeh has an analogy for this; he describes us as links in a long chain that leads someone to God. We may not see where we fit in the chain, but eventually each link comes together and forms a direct line to God.

To be an effective link in that chain, we must first be connected to Christ, constantly emptying ourselves, asking to be filled, and waiting to be used by Him.

We are meant to be the hands and feet of our Lord, walking in this world glorifying Him and pointing others to Him. The Holy Spirit in us guides us along that path, counseling us and helping us along the way.

Realize that you have the same Holy Spirit in you that descended on the apostles and moved St. Peter to preach and baptize three thousand souls at once (Acts 2). During this Apostle’s Fast, ask the Holy Spirit to move in you as it did in the apostles.

We’re not all called to preach and baptize; God has given us all different gifts (1 Corinthians 12). But we are all called to love one another. It doesn’t get simpler than that!

1 Corinthians chapter 13, the famous love chapter, starts out with this passage:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” (verses 1-3)

This is a warning not to get lost in our mission and being used by God, that we forget that love was always the point. So in everything you do, do it from love and with love.

For many of us, we will never speak in tongues, prophesy, move mountains, or face martyrdom, but we can love our neighbor, our coworker, and our classmate. We can allow them to experience a loving Christianity they might have never experienced before.

Love those who have no one to love them. Carry out small acts of kindness everywhere you go. In the face of mistreatment, when the world expects you to react one way, surprise them and act in love and kindness.

That is how saints move through the world. They love beyond measure, and the light of Christ is radiating brightly through them. And this is my hope for all of us.

Something Worth Sharing

This is a great podcast episode where Fr. Daniel Fanous, author of A Silent Patriarch and many other books, talks about what practical mission looks like in our churches and our lives. And how we can show up to love others well.

I hope you get to keep praying the prayer from Mother Olga that we started three weeks ago: “Lord, empty me, fill me, use me.” I hope you bring yourself to submit to God’s will, and watch what He does with you.

Of course, God is everywhere, but the Holy Spirit puts Him right inside of me. He is the Helper, the Comforter, the Counselor, the Advocate, and the Spirit of Truth who is always ready to convict us (in a good way)! And this Sunday, we celebrate Him descending on the Apostles.

Last week, we talked about emptying ourselves to make room to be filled with God. Our saints knew how to do this very well. St. Antony left his earthly riches and went into the desert seeking heavenly riches. St. Mary of Egypt left a lustful life and went into the desert seeking a life of repentance. A rich man and a harlot wanted to empty themselves of the world and be filled with God, and that is exactly what they accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For the majority of us, we’re most likely not going to abandon everything for a life in the desert. But we can consecrate our everyday life, taking the ordinary and turning it into the sacred (hence the title of this entire newsletter).

You and I are called to empty ourselves of the world so that we can be filled with God. St. Isaac the Syrian said, “Therefore, the more one removes vainglory and pleasure, the more our heart is filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit with the working of His commandments.”

We can yearn, ask, and invite the Holy Spirit to fully dwell in us. We have been gifted Him in the scarement of Christmation, don’t let Him be a gift we forget about. I don’t think we realize how much untapped power we have through Him, right within us.

Let’s make room for Him in our hearts, in our lives, and even in our calendars. We must be intentional and dedicate sacred time to God in our busy lives, where we go in empty asking to be filled.

Go sit at Christ’s feet and allow Him to fill you up. The hustle and bustle of life will always be there, but the moments at His feet we let slip by will never return.

Go and meet Him at the altar and let the Eucharist fill you with Him. And ask the Holy Spirit to make you worthy to receive His body and His blood.

And as we are continually being filled with Him, we become more like Him, reaching the sainthood we are after.

Something Worth Sharing

If you can’t tell by now, I’m a big St. Mark’s DC fan. This lecture by Fr. Paul Girgis will prepare you to be filled with the Holy Spirit and convicted by Him. Enjoy!

I hope you get to become empty enough to be filled. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill you and dwell in you. I hope you experience His power and conviction, and He becomes tangible in your everyday life.

So when I was younger (and a bit naive) and really zealous about serving God, I would pray this prayer: “Lord, use me.” It wasn’t until a few months ago that I heard a similar prayer that would complete my prayer.

This past Lent, I learned about Mother Olga. She’s an Iraqi Catholic nun known for serving the poor and sick. She started her ministry in the Middle East, living through four wars and eventually coming to the USA to continue her service. She’s often referred to as a modern-day Mother Teresa.

Mother Olga is a great example of how someone can live out Mathew 25:34-36 (see for yourself here, a true saint-in-the-making). Now, why am I introducing you to her? Because she is the one who shared the prayer that transformed how I thought and prayed about service. She simply prays:

“Lord, empty me, fill me, use me.”

Over the next few weeks, I will write about each part of the prayer as we continue our saints series, because saints know this cycle intimately. They were living examples of being the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), coming close to the true Light and allowing others to see Him through them.

Before we can meet God, we have to empty ourselves of all that is worldly. We have to make room for Him in our lives, hearts, and spirits. This is one reason the Church has us fasting before communion, before experiencing His birth (Advent), before celebrating the Resurrection (Lent), and many other times. It is a practice of turning away from our fleshly desires and asking to be filled with Him alone.

It’s crucial to stand before the Lord and ask Him to empty us and fill us before He can use us. Because if we miss those first two fundamental steps, then we are just filling people with whatever we’ve accomplished with our own hands. And eventually it will either fill our ego or leave us empty and burnt out, or all of the above.

I imagine this is what God was doing with Moses in the 40 years he spent in the land of Midian shepherding sheep. Moses was stripped of any power he had in Pharaoh’s palace. God was emptying Moses, making him realize he can do nothing without Him. Moses could not save the Israelites by his hand, killing the Egyptian as he did. But by God’s hand, he would lead them out of Egypt for good.

This emptying is not just a one-time thing; it is a continuous cycle. It is practicing, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30) over and over again.

This is sanctification, to become saint-like. And it does not come by comfort and ease, it comes from refinement by fire (1 Peter 1:6-7). Because once all our impurities are burnt away by God’s purifying fire, then we become an empty vessel ready to be filled with Him.

Something Worth Sharing

This is the video I watched to learn about Mother Olga, so it is only fitting to share it with you (the video on the Hallow app, but if you don’t have a subscription, there is a similar one on YouTube). Hear her story directly and her prayer, “Lord, empty me, fill me, use me.”

I hope you get to feel humble enough to ask the Lord to empty you. Empty you of anything that stands in the way of your sainthood. Empty you of yourself to make room for Him. And I hope that over time, you get to experience the fruit of that emptying.

Announcement: Although this newsletter is about encouraging you in your spiritual walk, I also want to offer guidance in other walks you might be journeying. I’ve recently unpause my coaching sessions. If you’re looking for coaching around dating, relationships, or even career, please check out my coaching page and contact me. Thank you.

Memories of watching him on CYC (Coptic Youth Channel) during my college years came flooding in. There was something so striking about him. His initial refusal of God turned into an audacious quest to pursue Him. From a motherless atheist to a holy monk, we all tuned in to hear his transformative story and were left inspired.

We’re blessed to have Fr. Lazarus’ story and teachings documented for us to learn from. Many men and women leave everything behind and become monks and nuns to pursue a life of devotion to God alone. But we don’t have to live in a monastery, convent, or a cave in the wilderness to pursue a holy life. We can cultivate a life of holiness right where we’ve been planted.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to leave everything behind and pursue God, but know you’re not built for a monastic life (or already have a family of your own), then let’s imagine what that might look like.

If we’re after a life of sainthood, then we ought to set our gaze on the heavenly and not the earthly. Our thoughts, desires, and actions can most likely fall into two categories: heavenbound or earthbound. Things will either bring us closer to Christ or further away from Him.

And if we’re honest with ourselves, those earthbound things are ultimately hellbound. When we tie ourselves to the earthly, we are engulfed with loving the things of the world, and that leaves little room left to love God. And that’s not to say that all earthly things are evil in themselves, but if our focus becomes streamlined on them, then we miss the opportunity to focus on the heavenly. If things don’t bring us closer to God, they are most likely separating us from Him.

Only you know what is keeping you earthbound. Only you know what you need to leave behind to pursue God.

For some, it’s leaving the addictive screens of our modern age, flooding our minds with nonsense, and returning to the pages of Scripture.

It’s not obsessing over our physical appearance, but paying more attention to our spiritual demeanor. Spending less time in front of the mirror and more time in front of icons.

It’s not about chasing the money, fame, or status, but about offering our time, talents, and resources to glorifying our Lord.

It’s not about keeping up with every trend, but practicing every virtue with diligence and perseverance.

It’s not worrying about the future or wasting time regretting the past, but focusing on the present moment that we can offer God.

In a nutshell, although we might be in the world, we do not have to be of the world. Christ says it plainly as He is praying to the Father for His disciples:

“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:15-16).

Fr. Lazarus ends his interview by recommending two things for us mere laypeople: always keep an icon with us and partake of holy communion. Icons are a window to heaven, and we can seek help from heaven anytime we look at one. And the eucharist is a way we can touch Jesus and be close to Him, reaching for that union we long for.

Start with those two simple, yet deeply profound things, and the rest will follow on your journey to becoming saintly.

Something Worth Sharing

While we all love the stories of monks and nuns, sainthood is not only for them. If you want evidence that ordinary people like us can become holy, read this book by Fr. Louka Sidarous, The Fragrance of Christ, in which he recounts stories of ordinary people living extraordinary spiritual lives.

They may not be formally canonized by the church as saints (yet), but they lived highly virtuous lives we can all try to emulate.

I hope you get to recognize what is standing in the way of you becoming a saint and do your very best to eliminate it from your life, by the grace of God. I hope you set your gaze on the heavenly and not be tied down by the earthly so that you can attain holiness.

She went on to explain how she wants to get as close as she can to the throne of God in the afterlife. She wants to be among the heroes of our faith, worshiping the true King “up in the front, and not far in the back,” as she put it.

Many of us giggled and reasoned that we would be thankful to just make it in; it didn’t matter where we were or how big our heavenly mansion was (John 14:2). But she had a point. St. John and St. James asked the same thing of our Lord, saying, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory” (Mark 10:37).

Growing up in the Coptic faith, known for its humility and meekness, such aspirations were not spoken of. The more common mindset was that we are not worthy. And that is true too.

But what if I told you both things can be true? We can aspire to be saints, while truly knowing we are not worthy. Only by God’s grace can we attain such closeness to Him.

Wanting to become a saint is not for the intention of fame or possessing miracle powers. If that’s our intention, then we’re missing the point entirely, and we’ll never get there. Sainthood is simply living in a way where we draw near to God as much as humanly possible.

It is about facing every trial and tribulation while holding onto Christ for dear life and never letting go. And if we do let go in moments of weakness, we come back with a tighter grip.

This does not come by chance; it comes from serious intentionality. And often from refinement by fire. A life close to Christ is not the wide path; it’s the narrow and difficult path.

Christ responded to the Zebedee brothers, trying to warn them about the gravity of what they were asking by saying, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38)

It is no easy feat setting out to be near the throne of God for eternity, for eternity starts now! But it is possible. Sainthood is not just for martyrs, monks, and nuns. Many ordinary people like you and me have set out on that path and have lived holy lives.

So how do we do that, too?

Tune in over the next couple of weeks to dive deeper as I try to answer that question.

Something Worth Sharing

If you’re looking for a great example of someone who lived in our time and walked in our shoes while living a holy life, please allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite tants (aunties): Tant Samira. She was a simple wife and mother who moved from Egypt to California and recently passed away. Listen to Fr. Kyrillos Ibrahim talk about her miraculous life here (scroll down to talk # 7). Her stories are transcribed here as well.

I hope you get to become bold enough to ask and strive for a seat near the throne of God, and be ready for the life that it entails. Challenge yourself to live your life differently from everyone else around and dare to be a saint!

I don’t know about you, but David has always been a character that fascinated me. A nobody in everyone’s eye, but God’s; a shepherd boy anointed to be king of Israel. A fighter and commander, but also a poet and musician. A man who fell into adultery but is called a man after God’s own heart. Quite paradoxical if you’re just looking at the facts and events of his life.

But aren’t we all more complicated than just our attributes, talents, and key events that took place in our lives? Don’t our thoughts, emotions, prayers, and feelings make us into the complexly beautiful humans we all are? They sure did for David, and luckily, we have proof of what that was like for him.

If you flip through the book of Psalms, written by David and others (the Sons of Korah, Asaph, etc.), you’ll see how David reacted to every hurt, victory, betrayal, blessing, sin, and so much more.

We might not be kings leading armies against our enemies, but we sure do wrestle in our own ways: “not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). And in that wrestling we can lean on the words of the Psalmist.

When we’re at a loss for words, overwhelmed by what is happening, unsure of how to steer the ship of our intense emotions, we can turn to the Psalms. There is not one emotion that I’ve experienced that has not been found in those pages.

That is why the church, being the caring and wise mother, she is, has instructed us to pray these Psalms throughout the day in the Agpeya (the book of hours).

I’m a writer and writing something down is one of the best ways I can connect with it. When I remembered the assignment my husband had, I decided to challenge myself to it. For the past few months I’ve been hand writing the psalms in my own journal. Some days I write an entire Psalm, some days just a few verses.

Focusing on the words on the page and transferring it in my own handwriting does something to the soul. I’ve found it to be cathartic in a way. When I can’t find the right words to express what is happening in my heart, I find them right there in the Psalms. (Plus all the scientific benefits of handwriting as well).

There is nothing more touching than using the words of the Lord, found in scripture, to pray them back to Him. Even Christ Himself spoke the words of the prophetic Psalms while He was on the cross (Psalm 22).

Now here is my challenge to you: write down the Psalms for yourself! Get a new notebook or journal and dedicate it just to this. Make it a habit, a daily one if you’re able.

And if you want to elevate this practice, engage another one of your senses by listening to some instrumental music or these renditions of the psalms in Hebrew as you write.

Even put reminders all around your house of your favorite Psalms. It could be as simple as writing it down on sticky notes, or on canvas to hang up (like this one my friend gifted me for Christmas).

Something Worth Sharing

I love anything the bible project produces. I think it’s such a great educational tool to understand the context, breakdown, and historical frame of the books of the Bible. Watch/read this one on the Psalms to learn more about the poetic book.

I Hope you get to experience the transformative power of the Psalms. Write them on paper and on your heart. And watch the grace of God fill your mind and soul.

Then a little rambling began in my little-miss-know-it-all mind: “Don’t they remember the 10 plagues they just witnessed in Egypt and how God saved them from it?! Didn’t they see how the Egyptians suffered sores, hail, darkness, death, and so much more while they remained untouched?! Why are they failing to remember the goodness of God?”

Then I quickly remembered... this is me too. How many times do I forget the goodness of God when I’m stuck in a hard place? It’s like I have spiritual amnesia and can’t recall all the times God showed up and delivered me in times of trouble.

When I’m pressed on every side, sulking in my own agony, I forget how I was in a similar place not too long before. And that I made it out, many times stronger on the other side.

The story in that chapter ends with Moses assuring them that the Lord will fight for them and to just stand still. A promise not to take lightly. Then God proceeds to do the impossible: He splits the Red Sea and closes it on the Egyptians, destroying them all. Something they have never heard of yet alone imagined!

How many times does the Lord do the impossible in our lives? We praise Him for it, feel extremely relieved, but shortly after, forget it.

So what are we doing to remember God’s power and mercy in our personal lives?

Many times throughout Genesis and the Old Testament, whenever God delivered someone or established a covenant with them, they built an altar in remembrance. Often as a memorial of the significant event that took place. Noah built an altar after exiting the ark (Gen. 8:20), Abraham built an altar when the Lord made a covenant with him and promised him a great lineage (Gen. 12:7), and Jacob built an altar to remember how God appeared to him (Gen. 35:1).

We may not be walking around building physical altars, but there are ways to mark how God has carried you. One way I remind myself is by journaling. Writing down the feelings, experiences, and events I walked through and how God showed up is the way I remember His goodness.

It’s hard to make sense of the pain when you’re in it, but looking back can give you a clear picture of God’s hand in it all. And it is crucial to remember it for next time the trials and tribulations come knocking at your door.

I have journals tracking back to my college days and early adulthood. When I go back to reread some of those entries, I’m dumbfounded by the way God was always there. He has stretched me over the years to grow me into the person I am today. And in every hard season, I see how He mysteriously worked it all out for good. This is how our relationship with God is tried and tested, and how it ultimately grows.

I urge you to find a way to build altars of remembrance in your life. Mark the seasons by pen or other creative ways. Some keep pictures or artwork hung up in their home that remind them of that season in their life. Some make a pilgrimage to a holy place.

Document how the Lord has walked with you through the darkness and guided you to the light. So next time you find yourself walking through a valley, you can remember that the mountain top is right around the corner.

Something Worth Sharing

When I find myself struggling through a hard time, I love turning to songs that give me comfort. Here are just two of the many I like listening to:

Goodness of God by Bethel Music

Flowers by Samantha Ebert

I Hope you Get to notice how God walks you through hard seasons and how He delivers you from them. I hope you find a rhythm of remembrance and don’t allow yourself to forget all that He has done for you. This is how strong relationships are built.

Note: Can I kindly ask you to leave a comment on this post or share it on Subtack if it has resonated with you? It helps other people find it!

Our spirits now filled, and the growl of our fasting stomachs quieted. Kids are fighting to stay awake and everyone greets one another with “Christ is Risen.” Because, indeed, He is Risen!

The Gospel read in the liturgy tells the story of Mary Magdalene searching for Christ (John 20:1-18). Still filled with anguish and despair from witnessing His gruesome death on the cross, Mary Magdalene shows up only to find an empty tomb. The groanings of her grieving spirit burst out in weeping. Searching for her missing Lord, she turned to the supposed gardener and inquired if he had any knowledge of what had transpired at the tomb. And as soon as He uttered her name, she recognized her Beloved.

Right there, in another garden, a turning point in humanity took place. Our Lord came for this purpose. To redeem the grave turning point that scarred His creation in the first garden.

Where one woman’s fall led to a path of destruction, another woman fell to her knees, and witnessed the fulfillment of salvation.

She is then instructed to go and tell His disciples the good news (John 20:17). A woman had been the first to introduce death to a man, and a woman was the first to announce life to men. That is redemption in its most beautiful form.

St. Augustine reflected on this and said, “Because mankind fell through the female sex, mankind was restored through the female sex; because a virgin gave birth to Christ, a woman proclaimed that He had risen again. Through a woman death, through a woman life.” (Sermon 232)

What a gift it is that our Lord comes to redeem that which is broken in us. In the place of our wounds He heals and restores. Be bold enough to search for the Risen Lord just as Mary Magdalene searched for Him at the tomb. Cling to Him. Invite Him in to heal and restore any part of your heart and life that need resurrection.

Don’t let the good news of the resurrection just be words on a page. Let its power be a living force in your life. He came to make all things new.

Christ is Risen, friends!

Something Worth Sharing

This Lent I downloaded the Hallow app for their Lent Challenge and I absolutely fell in love with it (side note: someone should create a Coptic Orthodox prayer/meditation app of this caliber). They just released a short 7-day Easter Challenge, and I’ve been enjoying listening to it. It’s daily scripture readings (by Lauren Daigle) followed by a few minutes of contemplation and encouragement (by Fr. John Burns). Try their free trial, or if your budget allows, sign up for the entire year.

I Hope you get to live in the resurrection of the Lord. That you don’t just celebrate it one day of the year, but every single day. Every time we fall, we shall rise, remembering that the Lord has paid the price of our undeserving freedom.

I was telling a coworker about how I’m taking off next week, and joked about how Holy Week is like the super bowl for us Orthodox Christians. We practice all year for the showdown that’s about to happen: the spirit vs. the flesh.

The Orthodox Church follows the events Christ walked through each day leading up to His resurrection. Every reading, hymn, and contemplation points back to the event of each day, allowing us to get as close as we can to experiencing them 2000 years later.

The church takes down the red altar veil/curtains and puts up black ones, symbolizing mourning. The hymns are sung and the readings are chanted in a solemn, mournful, and slow tune–unlike the rest of the year. Forcing us to slow down our racing rhythms and redirect our attention to what is happening in the steps leading to our salvation.

It’s an intense week of 60+ hours of church services, more than a full-time job. Does it feel extremely hard and almost impossible to do? Yes? Good, it’s supposed to feel like that. It’s not meant to be a walk in the garden. And no one can do it alone. We are forced to rely on the grace of God, pulling from His strength.

Don’t try to lean on yourself to make it through Holy Week. Even the disciples, who physically walked with Christ each day, struggled. Take a look at what happened during His final hours with them in the garden of Gathesmane:

“Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” (Matthew 26:40-41)

Do your best to set your intentions for the week. What do you want to gain from it? What do you want to offer up during it? You know the weakness of your own flesh, so you know how you will struggle. Pray for God to strengthen your spirit so you can overcome your flesh.

We may never truly understand what it was like for Christ to carry the weight of the world’s sins all the way to the cross, but we can be thankful that He loved us enough to do it. I don’t think my human brain will ever comprehend that level of love and suffering, but the least I can do is show up during Holy Week ready to offer up myself as a living sacrifice out of the love I have for Him.

We all must experience death before we can taste the resurrection.

Something Worth Sharing

This newsletter was inspired from this talk I listened to recently. I love when a priest isn’t afraid to call us out and challenge us to holiness, and Fr. Elijah does exactly that. Take a listen for yourself, learn about the week to come, make a plan, and put it into action.

I Hope you Get to really experience holy refinement during Holy Week. Pray for God to help you push your limits and for the spirit to defeat the flesh. I hope you choose to walk with Christ this week over walking with the world.

I would spend the morning hours watching the sun rise above the water by the serene lake bordering the property. I’d bring my Bible, spiritual book, and journal to read, write, and communicate with God in a way I can easily grasp. I have memories of writing some of my very first spiritual reflections while sitting on the benches facing that lake.

The day would continue with volunteer work around the abbey, a liturgy, a Bible study, and lots of fellowship. It was a trip full of core memories I look back on fondly.

Fast forward many years later, in a much different looking life, and one of my favorite places to still retreat is at a convent, also with a lake. A few weeks ago, I attended Her First Love retreat, a women’s retreat hosted in St. Mary and St. Demiana’s Convent in Georgia. It’s probably the only retreat I show up to just receive, rather than the usual giving I’m used to when running retreats for others.

It’s a special time to be able to leave all my responsibilities behind for a few days and just focus on the One who truly matters. We had a schedule packed with 4AM praises, Lent Liturgies, edifying talks, and fruitful fellowship. There were also pockets of treasured quiet time we could spend as we pleased.

It does something to our souls when we step away from a world steeped in worries, never-ending to-do lists, and overwhelmingly busy schedules. The silence found in the place of retreating can almost become deafening to our overstimulated spirits.

We were never meant to live like this. We were made to co-exist with God in His beautiful creation, savoring every moment of it. And retreating allows us to do just that: savor our time with God and grow our relationship with Him.

Retreats provide the perfect opportunity to spend prolonged time with God in prayer and meditation. The noise of the world is silenced, and you can hear the soft whispers of God’s voice. It’s the chance to bring all your troubles and lay them down at His feet, knowing you will draw strength from that time.

We see Christ retreating many times in the gospels. He would draw away from the crowds and his disciples to be with the Father in prayer and solitude. He did this when He was getting ready for ministry (Luke 6:12), when He just finished performing miracles (Mark 6:46), when the crowds were getting too much for Him (Luke 5:15-16), and many other times.

So retreating doesn’t just have to happen on rare trips to a monastery or convent. It can happen daily when we carve out time to meet with God in prayer. Weekly or monthly, when we set aside a few hours to get lost in Him (I personally love spending those hours with Him in nature: by a lake, near a mountain top, or at the local park, immersed in the beauty of God’s creation). And yearly, on a local spiritual retreat.

In a world full of Marthas, let us retreat from the cares of the world and be a Mary, and intentionally sit at His feet.

Something Worth Sharing

If you have the means to travel to one of these holy places: St. Mary & St. Demiana Convent (for women) or St. Mary & St. Moses Abbey (for men), I highly encourage you to do so (or go as far as one of the many monasteries in Egypt). Go alone, with a friend, or in a group; go one way or another. You can simply contact the convent or monastery directly on their website to set up a time to go.

I hope you get to experience the rest your soul receives in times of retreating. I hope when you get the chance to shut out the world and tune into God alone, that you take it!

How many of us struggle to show up and appreciate the Liturgy, even when we understand the language it’s prayed in? Or how many of us complain when parts are prayed in another language (i.e. Arabic or Coptic)?

That encounter with the Spanish-speaking grandmother reminded me of something I sometimes forget: that the divine essence of the liturgy transcends any language, space, or time.

As soon as your foot presses into the red carpet at the entrance of the church, every one of your senses is met with engaging gifts. You immediately smell the incense rising to the heavens. You see the body of Christ in those who gather, being held in the elaborate architecture of a salvific church. You hear the beautiful melodies being sung in one voice by all those worshiping. You get to touch every icon you reach for in veneration. And if you’re ready at the end of liturgy, you get to taste the body and blood of our Lord.

Although we know that no eye has seen, nor ear has heard the things God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9), I like to imagine that we can get a very tiny glimpse into heaven when we quiet our spirits and lift up our hearts to the Lord in liturgy. It can be a spiritual vehicle to transport us out of the earthly into the heavenly.

Liturgical services are not something we check off a list to make ourselves feel better about completing another “obligation.” It is a deep well of spiritual treasures that we are privileged to draw from. The liturgy is a life line. We are missing the entire point if we think we are showing up to give God something. It’s the contrary. We are showing up to receive God Himself!

As Lent continues in the next few weeks, do yourself a favor and try to attend as many liturgies as you can (you can thank me later). Take a morning off of work or skip an afternoon activity and go to meet Him in the quietness of a mid-week liturgy (and don’t skip Sunday, of course). There is a different sweetness to those liturgies, a more intimate and less-distracting setting.

And get ready as Holy Week is right around the corner. Go to as many services as you can and participate in the passions of Christ.

P.S. This message is for my parent friends:

I know how hard it is to bring your little ones to the divine services. They squirm, complain, cry, and scream at times–bring them anyway. Those hard seasons will pass and you will one day witness their awe of the liturgy as they begin to understand it. You might not see it now, but the fruit of your labor will be evident one day when the church begins to feel like their second home.

I recently asked my youngest child where she wants to have her upcoming fourth birthday, and she simply said “church.” That put such a smile on my face, because this was the kid who would throw a loud tantrum mid liturgy. Her scream would escalate to 100% volume in a matter of two seconds, and countless Sundays I would quickly walk out with her over my shoulder.

Cultivate within your family the love of liturgical services, and the Lord will bless your obedience and commitment.

Something Worth Sharing

Last week (March 9th) was the feast of the beloved St. Pope Kyrillos VI. He was a man of few words, not known for his sermons or homilies, but known for his prayer and liturgical life. He was deeply dedicated to the sacramental life– known to pray the Divine Liturgy daily! That’s no small feat. With the endless responsibilities he had as the Patriarch of the See of Alexandria, he took the time daily to meet with God at the altar. To abide in Him and be in a sacramental union with Him. I highly recommend you read or listen to this beautiful book to learn more about his unique life.

I Hope you get to really taste and see the Lord through the mystery of the sacraments we partake of during the divine liturgy. I hope that you get to experience the comfort of being in His presence in His house. And to truly appreciate the liturgical services our church has instituted for us. I hope we can all sincerely say: “Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up” (Psalm 69:9a)

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon this verse from Malachi 3:

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it’” (vs. 10, NIV)

Read that again. Did it blow your mind, like it did mine?! No other time in the Bible are we told to “test” God (the NKJV reads “try Me”).

That passage (Malachi 3:8-12) starts with God accusing the people of robbing Him because they withheld their tithes and offerings. But instead of God punishing them, He actually does the opposite; He tells them to just watch how He will bless them if they obey.

Now, we can point the finger and judge the Israelites for not offering their tithes to the Lord. But let’s be honest, how many of us do the same?

Many of us (myself included) work really hard, chasing our own definition of success and wealth. And every time we think we’ve almost reached the finish line, we move it farther ahead. We hold on tight to every dollar earned, afraid to let it go. Yet, we forget it was the God who blessed us in the first place. No matter how hard we hustled and worked, it was God who gave us the increase.

We risk falling into a dangerous trap when we assume our riches were earned purely by our own merit. Of course we work hard and do our part, but it is God who allows for it all. You are giving back to Him from what He gave you.

And even if you don’t feel like you have much, you always have just enough to give. Look at how the widow with the two mites gave from the little she had (Mark 12:41-44). It was the generosity of her heart that reached the greatest height, not the amount she put down.

Give and test Him, as He says. I have no doubt that He will open the floodgates of heaven to pour so many blessings that you won’t be able to hold it all!

Something Worth Sharing

Last week I attended an event hosted by Coptic Orphans (this is how we got to meet Jonathan Roumie, a.k.a Jesus in The Chosen—can’t help but to share the picture below he took with our table). The event focused on sharing the story of the 21 Martyrs of Libya, and how Coptic Orphans stepped in to provide for the children of the martyrs after their death. Coptic Orphans has had a great impact on more than 100,000 children in Egypt over the course of 37 years. Check out this video talking about their work, and consider donating to them.

I love reflecting on this promise in Psalm 41 about giving to the poor:

“Blessed is he who considers the poor;

The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,

And he will be blessed on the earth;

You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;

You will sustain him on his sickbed.”

(Psalm 41:1-3)

I Hope you Get to experience the joy of almsgiving and take the blessing of sharing from the abundance that the Lord has granted you. I hope you don’t hold back, and only hold God to His promises.

Luckily, prayer is an intimate and private exchange, where you can’t see my flailing splashes. In the Gospel we are told “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” (Matthew 6:6)

Praying is a sacred place where you can bring your heart, raw and vulnerable, before the Lord. Bring Him your prayers of gratitude (Psalm 100), prayers of angst (Psalm 142), prayers of adoration (Psalm 139), or prayers of love and praise (Psalm 92).

Allow your spirit to meet His in prayer, and don’t leave without receiving His Spirit of peace. There is no better feeling than going into prayer worn and heavy-hearted, and coming out lighter, carrying the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).

If showing up for prayers is a struggle for you, you are not alone. I can only imagine the fight the enemy put up to separate us from communicating with our Creator. Sometimes the distractions and noise he throws at us work, and sometimes we are enticed by our own desires, and can’t really put the blame on him.

At one point in my life I felt like prayer was another thing on my to-do list that I had to check off. At times it would even take me quite a bit of effort to just get into a praying posture. Man, was I missing out!

Instead of feeling like it was an obligation I had to fulfill, I shifted my perspective and looked at it for what it really is: a time to meet the Lord. And who doesn’t want to meet the Lord?!

I showed up asking Him to fill my heart. I wanted to know more about Him. I wanted Him to reveal Himself to me. And after I was done with my prayers, I fought the urge to walk away and continue on with my day, but rather just stay there in silence.

It is in the silence that God’s voice can be heard.

These days, I don’t want my prayer time to end. I’m bothered when I have to carry on with my day (sometimes I can understand why monks and nuns leave this world to live a life of prayer).

It can still be a struggle for me when my routine is thrown off, or when I’m just plainly exhausted. But it’s a thirst I have. A thirst I want to quench. Sometimes I show up in my exhaustion and don’t say much. I kneel before my icons and let out a few sighs.

Whichever way you find your heart, just show up, and say:

“Let my prayer be set before You as incense,

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (Ps. 141:2)

Something Worth Sharing

I got this beautiful Agpeya (The Coptic Book of Hours) that St. Demiana’s Convent bookstore recently released. The Agpeya is a wonderful tool the church has given us to aid in our prayers. Don’t feel overwhelmed by it, but talk to your spiritual father (Priest) and he will instruct you how to use it—like a doctor prescribes medication for his patients.

I discovered a new prayer in the back of it that wasn’t in my previous Agpeya, which I’m loving these days: Prayer for God’s Accompaniment. Here it is for you in case it’s new to you too.

I Hope you Get to really experience the beauty and depth that is found in prayer. I hope you don’t stand in your own way of being in union with Christ. Even if you’ve missed a lot of opportunities, it doesn’t matter, it’s never too late to start.

If you asked me a few years ago, I would have told you that I’m more of a Holy Fifties girl (in the Coptic church there is a period of 50 days after Easter where there is no fasting). The Holy Fifties are marked with the joy and celebration of the Risen Christ. Fifty straight days of eating whatever I want? Sign me up!

But I’ve come to appreciate Lent and the holiness it fosters. It’s a different type of holiness that’s gained through self-control and practicing spiritual disciplines. Lent is a period of fasting, praying, and almsgiving. (I’ll be covering those topics in the weeks to come, along with other spiritual practices such as writing, reading, retreating, and attending church services.)

Fasting is not a new thing the church invented. As a matter of fact, the first time God told humans not to do something, it was about fasting. God strictly told Adam: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:16-17)

We see the power of fasting and prayer all throughout the Bible. Moses fasted before he received the ten commandments, the Ninevites fasted to offer repentance, Esther declared a fast in order to save her people, the disciples fasted to cast out demons, and Christ Himself also fasted before beginning His ministry.

We often pray to hear God’s voice and to discern His will. We want to feel His real presence in our life. We grasp at anything that can help us get closer to Him. So our church, in her wisdom, has outlined certain fasts for us to partake of, allowing us to receive the blessings that come from them.

It is evident that God is always present, but it is only when our spiritual senses become sharpened that we can see, hear, and feel Him. One of the fastest ways to arrive there is through fasting. St. Isaac the Syrian said, “There can be no knowledge of the mysteries of God on a full stomach.”

If my mind is occupied with how, what, and when I will eat, it leaves little room to meditate on the spiritual things. Yet, when I’m fasting and I feel the hunger in my body, I am reminded that there is a reason for this hunger. A simple sacrifice I offer to God to show my love for Him. A testament that I can give up something I love for Someone I love even more.

Fasting is not just about giving up food, but any other distractions that stand in between me and God. Media consumption, ungodly activities, and even certain friendships–just to name a few. If you’ve never tried a media fast (social media, tv, movies, etc.), I urge you to try it, even for a short time. The clarity you get from cutting out all the noise is mindblowing. You’ll be able to hear God’s voice so crisp and clear.

Fasting is a time of deep reflection inward and zealous gazing upward.

Fasting is a time of giving up distracting habits and adding edifying practices.

Fasting is a battle of flesh against spirit. Which one will you feed?

Something Worth Sharing

There’s nothing like a good motivating talk to get you started for Lent. Did I feel called out by it? You bet I did, but in a good way. It challenged me to rethink my assumptions about fasting and specifically how I think it might be too hard at times. I encourage you to listen to Fr. Paul with an open heart.

I Hope you Get to experience God in a new way this Lent. I hope you figure out how to turn the volume down on the food noise in your life, and tune into the tender whispers of God. Sacrifice the things of this world in order to receive the things of the heavens.

Those are some of the things we experience in new love.

We daydream about the life we’ll build together, plan all the destinations we’ll travel to, wonder how we’ll decorate our future home, and what we’ll name our adorable kids.

But those things barely scratch the surface of what it’s like to do life with someone, the roll-up-your-sleeves-and-grind-your-elbows-in-the-mud kinda life.

Now I can’t quite capture what real love and partnership looks like, but allow me to give you a small glimpse of what I can fit into a short newsletter.

God will often ask you to do hard things, for His glory and your growth. He will stretch you and refine you for your betterment. He will ask you to step out in faith without knowing where the final destination is. But isn’t it kind of God to allow us a partner and a helper through all of that?

When life knocks you down and you can’t figure out which way is up, your partner is there with hands stretched out, pulling you to your feet.

When you feel like you can’t do anything right, the love your partner has does not stand there to judge, but to cover your shortcomings, and meet you with grace.

When you’re treading through a hazy path, your partner holds your hand until the fog clears and you’re on solid ground.

(If you’re single, know that your friends can help you carry a lot of that weight, just read last week’s newsletter if you don’t believe me).

There are many difficult seasons I’ve had to personally walk through. There were hard situations my husband found himself in. And there were periods where we both had to navigate turbulent waters together.

We’ve often had to discern hard things and make decisions that would change the course of our life. Twelve years ago we stood before the altar and allowed God to make us one. Ten years ago we said yes to ordination and moving to wherever God called us. Since then we’ve moved five times across three states and served in various places. I’ve switched jobs quite a few times and had some beautiful children along the way.

Those are just the highlights, and it sounds like a fun adventure– and it certainly was (and still is). But, man did we have to lean on each other through thick and thin. We had to remind each other of God’s faithfulness when we found ourselves at dead ends. We obeyed things we felt called to even when everyone else questioned if it made sense.

That’s the beauty of having the right partner. God will give you assignments only you can complete together. A little mission of sorts (think of Aquila and Priscilla in Act 18). I pray you find and cherish this kind of love, and recognize this partnership is not just for yourselves, but for all the good that God will do to it and through it.

Something Worth Sharing

Enjoy this beautiful new song by one of my favorite bands: for King and Country. If you have no idea who they are, you have to check out their movie Unsung Hero. The brother duo perform this love song with their wives, and it makes it all the more special.

I Hope you Get to find this kind of love, so keep praying until it finds you one way or another. I hope if you’re living in this kind of love, that you hold on to it and show up for it even when it’s hard. When life feels too heavy remember that the One who gave you the assignment, didn’t intend for you to do it alone.