I use words to help people get connected to their own gifts, passion, and purpose.
This is where I walk barefoot through my life, finding God present. It is personal and honest. I write about hope, grief, healing, parenting, family life, friendship, and the quiet ways grace keeps showing up in ordinary days.
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On being barefoot...
Before the burning bush, God asks Moses to take off his sandals, to notice and reverence that he walks on holy land. This holy land continues to burn before me, before us, signaling God’s presence before we arrived rather than because we did. This life we are living was holy before we existed in it. This land and creation we call home is the first book of revelation, God’s love letter to us, bearing witness to the Creator of it all.
Our lives and the moments that make them up are the stuff of sainthood, our invitations to participate in Divine life to be swallowed up and fulfilled by God. At the grocery store, in the false solitude of our cars and commutes, in our laundry rooms, and over text messages.
My shoes run the risk of “protecting” me from the sacredness of this naked moment. And how I love shoes, and how my sensitive toes resist the prickles of grass and the mess of sand. But barefoot is how my spirituality works, daring to live an embodied and earthy love of Jesus who took on flesh. I’m wandering through this life, yearning to let go of my shoes, to walk reverently and with deep attention to what passes under my feet and to what isn’t yet my path.
Barefoot is how I write, how I speak, how I work. Experience shored up against an insatiable thirst for knowledge; direct honesty honed by sensitivity; and vulnerability chained to a commitment to competency. And an unapologetically barefoot tendency to speak it as I feel it, which leads me to…
& preaching...
I’m a preacher without a pulpit, with words that burn until they are spoken ~ aloud or on a page.
My ministry is one of colliding words and ideas, reaching out to find a connection with God’s amazing people.
The world seems to me to be spilling over with grace and we seem to be people who, all too quickly forget that all of this is pure gift.
When I’m driving, eating, visiting, resting, cleaning, working, playing, and almost everything else, I’m frequently stunned by the pure miracle of what simply is.
It’s not all promised joy and ease, but it is all presenced and remembered by the One who gives it. And I can’t stop talking about it, proclaiming it, preaching this good news that we have not been forgotten or forsaken in any moment of this life.
For reasons I don’t quite understand, my words seem to be given to encourage and inspire. In a world where women and girls are still too-often silenced or secondary, I’m barefoot and preaching because my soul won’t rest any other way. If my words can be a gift to you, then that is a gift for me.
Read more from Barefoot & Preaching
Barefoot & Preaching is a syndicated monthly column in The Catholic Register.
Sinking deep into where we are right now
O Holy Night proclaims at Christmas that a “weary world rejoices”; the implication is that Advent might find us worse for wear. Dear baby Jesus, I am weary. And I am feeling the invitation to sink deep here.
Holding tension with the God who waits…
When I sit under the stars, I feel my relative smallness in the universe and a simultaneous gratitude that God saw fit to have a place for me in it. I feel called to step into this massive work of creation and place my tiny hands in God’s eternal hands and hold the tension alongside the Spirit.
Being here and waiting with the heart of God
When I posted about being here on social media, a friend posted in response: Hearts are so so much bigger than places. He is so right. My heart could sort through back packs and listen to competing stories over pizza, let an ordination live stream in the background and facetime with Dad. I felt connected to all the people and deeply satisfied with being here in one.
Keynotes Speaker & Retreats for
Real-Life Growth
Whether you’re looking for a keynote speaker, a breakout facilitator or retreat, I’ve got you covered. I love to work with your theme and needs to deliver an inspiring message that will leave you feeling encouraged and empowered to be powerful agents of compassion and change in the world.
You’ll find sample session options below. If you’re seeking something specific, reach out and we can shape a custom talk that fits your community perfectly.
Carrying the Weight of our World with Compassion
Looking for – and Being – the Helpers
I Changed My Mind, & It Changed My World