Reflections on Another Semester Past

The semester isn’t entirely over – I still have three more finals to take (Curse you, finals schedule, for making me have two finals on Friday). Yet it pretty much is done, and with the minimal time that I have not spent studying, I’ve been sitting around and thinking about how much has changed since …

A Visit from Lauren Taylor: Becoming a Community Centered in Christ

This past Thursday night, my sorority had the opportunity to spend an hour discussing being a Christ-filled community with our new Hope College chaplain, Lauren Taylor. Lauren comes from Wheaton, Illinois, where she attended college and then took to Princeton, New Jersey, for seminary school. She has a lot of stories to tell and words …

Be Still, My Ever-Wandering Heart.

I quickly find that in the midst of my daily life, there is an insurmountable peace that exceeds understanding running upon a parallel path. There’s a lot I know; but even more, I do not. And I believe that is okay. As humans I think we spend a lot of time thinking that if we …

A Letter on Faith, Part One

Over the past few weeks I’ve been throwing the word “trust” around in my head, but it makes my mind swirl. I’ve been busy with difficult classes and work and Bible studies and friends and God, trying to figure out how it all fits together. And the truth is, I don’t know. But what’s been …

Bible Journaling

I believe that there are many languages in life. Of course there’s the spoken one- English, French, Chinese, Spanish, Dutch, etc. In my mind I see many other languages too: love languages, the language in actions, and different learning languages; these are all different ways that we go about life. They’re a part of who …

This Feels Like Home

I arrived home on Friday; I’ll be here for a week and two days. It feels different being home, even though most things have remained the same. There’s one building on the downtown strip that’s been demolished and there’s different pillows on the chairs on my front porch. There are many more things that have …

Ambiguous Clockwork

We’re good at forgetting, but we’re better at remembering. I’ve heard people say time changes us, but I can’t say I agree. I don’t really think it’s time that changes us – I think it’s us who change the time. We sometimes say we want things to never change. It comes mostly during the nights …

We Hope for Certainty, But We Stand in Fear

There are times we wait for courage, but it never really comes. Sometimes we wait for peace, or pure knowledge, or steadfast trust, but we lack the capacity with our mind and heart to accept it. We’re hoping for certainty while stand in fear, our knees knocking, teeth chattering, stress pumping through our veins. There’s …

I Found You at 5,000 Feet

We explored the world from a mile high. We free climbed giant rocks, learned to love like Jesus, met a professional fighter, obtained a free t-shirt, slept on air mattresses that didn’t inflate, took partially cold showers, and ate a lot of PB&J. We swept sidewalks, talked a lot, and learned the truth behind what …

Why Drinking a Slushie in 7 Degree Weather Was Good For My Ego

I was drinking a slushie today in the parking lot of Holland State Park. I know that sounds kind of weird, but it’s actually an experience I take part in on a semi-regular basis. It was a 20 oz ICEE, to be exact, and it was one sale for only $1 from the Meijer convenient …