BY MARY DEMUTH:

To surrender the healing journey is to let go of the expectations for how the pathway will look. It means looking realistically at what happened back then, then giving God permission to do something new.

BY MARY DEMUTH:

With anxiety reigning, it’s no wonder we believe if that one conundrum was solved, our lives would sing. And yet, our minds naively hang our hopes on an outcome, and we forget that God is working in and through every circumstance, even when things don’t go the way we wanted or planned.

ART + REFLECTION BY SOFIA RECTOR: It takes chosen silence—solitude—to trace the shape of a tree, to follow the movement of its growth

POEM BY KAREN ABEYTA:No body breathless or casket to cradle the weight of death. No funeral or tombstone to mark the passing when death dies unseen.

BY CHRISTY BOULWARE:Loneliness thrives when we don’t know who belongs where or when we keep everyone at a distance to stay “safe.” We were not meant to walk alone. Even Jesus had a Mary.

ART + REFLECTION BY SOFIA RECTOR: You give me a picture that signifies flowers, with bold lines that don't waver, uncompromising angles, controlled geometries, And I point, saying with you, "Flowers."

REFLECTION BY CHRISTINE CRAWFORD: When you came to understand she was worthy of safety, dignity, and kindness, you would return to her. Because you believed her, and loved her, and celebrated her. Because she was not invisible. And she was not nothin’.

REFLECTION BY CHRISTINE CRAWFORD: What if our hurts, questions, and doubts are the very thresholds where we are most tenderly met, deeply known, carefully held, gently stretched, and finally made whole?

ART + REFLECTION BY SOFIA RECTOR: Leaves fall in the late autumn to reveal bare branches--but also hope: furry buds tightly curled, awaiting spring warmth.

DRAW NEAR DWELL WELL PLAYLIST: A cross-genre collection to calm anxiety and inspire connection with God.

A BLESSING BY EMILY P. FREEMAN: I will hold you in the Light honors the imago Dei, the Divine image-bearing identity of every human. It reminds us that we don’t have to say perfectly eloquent words or make elaborate requests of God.

I remember, too, the sunrise. The miracleof dawn just when I deemed myselfdestined to dwell darkened forever

REFLECTION BY JENNIFER CAMP: It might be time to let go. It might be time to empty your hands. It might be time to stop grasping.

If you have ever wondered what in the world we are talking about when we reference “The Upside-Down Kingdom of God,” watch this video from BibleProject to discover how the cross and crown collide to create a very upside-down kingdom indeed.

Easter Sunday is a day of holy celebration, an opportunity to reflect on humanity's need for redemption and rejoice in the provision of Jesus' resurrection. Watch this short video from BibleProject to gain a better understanding of the resurrection and the events surrounding it.

Good Friday is a day of holy grief, an opportunity to lament the depth of humanity's brokenness and mourn the brutality of Jesus' crucifixion. Watch this short video from BibleProject to gain a better understanding of the crucifixion and the events leading up to it.

MUSIC BY ELIZABETH STEWART: Musician Elizabeth Stewart shares her heart and story of struggling with hope and faith after loss.

READING BY ELIZABETH STEWART: How lovely is the place where you live, O Lord who rules over all! I desperately want to be in the courts of the Lord’s temple. My heart and my entire being shout for joy to the living God.

READING BY ELIZABETH STEWART: A favorite prayer from The Valley of Vision (Authur Bennett, Editor) for those suffering from loss or struggling with faith.

A POETIC REFLECTIONOnce we separate God from our own misconceptions and stop trying to confine him to our own categories, he is bound to surprise us, guaranteed to challenge us, and certain to change us.