Beautiful Between

living fully in the now & not yet

How to make your home your refuge (it’s not what you think)

He was baffled at my tears, but of course, that made sense. I was just as confused. Stacks of boxes leaned precariously. Piles of linens flopped over the side of an armchair. Our kitchen table was half-covered in pots and pans. And we were trying to find our way through it all. I’d moved into […]

The simple truth about my restless heart: it’s not really about home

I don’t remember how home feels. There’s always just the longing and the missing. There are hints in place, in cities and countries where something gnaws at the inside of my heart. Even so, in those places there is no stability, no consistency, no home. Home is where the heart is, they say, and mine’s […]

How to live a richly beautiful life: 3 simple ingredients

There’s a painful space between what is and what should be, between hope’s conception and fulfillment. We live in this gap with the tension of unfulfilled dreams. The heartache of loss. The sickness of deferred hope. Life isn’t quite what we expected. We’re longing for wholeness or relationships or children, mending grief or marking time in kitchens and cubicles. Amidst soul […]

If you feel like you’re not enough, this is for you

I wanted to talk about when you feel like you’re not enough. I wanted to tell you how I cope and struggle against the innate sense of lack so many of us carry. But as I wrestled with the words, something inside pushed back. As a kid I thought about hiding on recess as a […]

I can’t thank you enough

My dear friend, I cannot thank you enough. Last week, I asked you to share your heart with me, and share you did. You overwhelmed me with your vulnerability, your courage and your stories. You opened up about hurts and fears, about the messes and secret dreams. My heart beat a bit faster, resonating with […]

My body wouldn’t break…so I couldn’t heal

girl sitting on curb

“I’m fine,” I say. I’m regaining consciousness. I feel the heat rising from the blacktop and the sun beating down. My head feels full of sloshing liquid. A panic starts to rise in my chest, a shuddering heartbeat and a trembling in my limbs, but I shut it out. I imagine a door slamming shut […]

How I Found Surprising Grace in Paris – Part 2

How I Found Surprising Grace in Paris Part 2

Chateau Chenonceau. Photo Credit: Jonathan Perrinet via Compfight cc I only had Him. And He met me there, sweetly and unexpectedly. (Note: This is the second part to the story I started last week about finding surprising grace in Paris. Click here to read part one.) Early April had left me lonely and longing for connection. Parts […]

How I Found Surprising Grace in Paris – Part 1

Dear friends, I want to tell you a story that’s sweet to my soul. Eight years ago, I was in Paris, having my heart and soul rearranged under the gracious hand of my Father. I had no idea what those ten weeks would do to me then, but now I know the lessons learned and […]