Tag Archives: to showing up

Jan 01 2026
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it’s been a year…

Driving to my friend’s house last night for a NYE hangtime, I was listening to Emily Ann Roberts radio on Spotify when a song by Ashley Cooke came on:

“It’s been a year…

And I ain’t sayin’ it ain’t been a good one
It’s been a “did a lot more than I thought I could” one
It’s been 365 of record lows and record highs
Loving and losing, fun and confusing, praying and shifting gears
For the minutes you got, it’s probably a lot, more than you wanna hear
So all I’ll say is, it’s been a year…”

And boy oh boy did I feel that in the deeps of me.

For the last 12 years, on New Year’s Day, I’ve come to your internet screens with a prose of some sort — the start of a writing journey, a year in review recap, an introduction to my first book — and here I am again. It’s New Year’s Day 2026 and I’m sitting in my favorite coffee shop next to my favorite fire doing what I’ve done year after year, looking back and looking ahead.

And truly, the best way I can sum up 2025 is that it has been a year. It feels like it lasted 3 days and 30 years all in the same breath. I celebrated the release of my first book in January 2025. I got to do a signing in my hometown in February. I had my annual Galentine’s sleepover in March. In April I had the honor of speaking at a women’s retreat for a local church. May brought baseball with my favorite boys on elementary diamonds. In June I got to take a deep, deep breath and enter into a 40 day sabbatical where I retreated to the dessert, spent time in Missouri rivers, played with my niece and nephew, and was reminded by my Grandma not to get any more tattoos where people could see them.

July had the honor of welcoming me into my next year of life with a few of my favorite people, as well as welcoming be back to work refreshed and renewed in my belovedness with Jesus. In August my parents and I got to visit Colorado — a trip cut short by my Grandma entering the hospital back home in Missouri.

Side note: shoutout to my sister for the way she cared for Grandma in those couple of days it took us to get home. She’s an MVP.

September started with our matriarch slipping from our arms to Jesus. And the rest of the year has been what some would call a blur. It has been fast and slow all at the same time.

I got the tattoo Grandma told me not to get, and it features her handwriting reminding me to “be faithful.”

And when I really think back on 2025, all of the moments — the record lows and record highs — have all been held by that commission. Be faithful.

The faithfulness of God and His people is draped over all of 2025. From the tears of celebration to the sobs of heartache, faithfulness has been the theme.

When I think about my friends — faithful.
When I think about my family, and the way we showed up for my grandma and for each other over the last 5 months — faithful.
When I think about my grandma and the way she lived and died — faithful.
When I think about myself and the way I worked, played, prayed, confessed, lamented, rested, got curious, laughed, grieved — faithful.

2026 has some showing up to do. Mostly because 2025 ended in a haze. But what I know I can count on 2026 for is more faithfulness. More connection. Deeper roots that form delicious fruit and nourish the soul.

I can count on this because of the faithfulness that has carried me through thus far. Because God is who He says He is. The experience we have had together has proven to me that He is trustworthy. He will be what I need Him to be. He will remain, and He will give me grace to do the same.

So, 2025, “I ain’t sayin it ain’t been a good one, it’s been a ‘did a lot more than I thought I could’ one…365 of record lows and record highs…”

What a year it has been.

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Jun 16 2021
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Identity

graphs on twitter

Scrolling Twitter is one of my guilty pleasures. Except I don’t really feel that guilty about it. I find it to be the place where I am my truest internet self. It’s also a fun way to connect with people and find out fun new information from sources you get to curate yourself – not sources you feel obligated to follow/friend because they were your VBS teacher in 3rd grade. Hypothetically speaking.

Last week during a scrolling sesh, I came across a very colorful graph with some commentary by the son of one of my favorite humans IRL. Here’s the image:

And the commentary quoted along with it: “If this data is true, the Church needs to do a much, MUCH better job loving/encouraging/walking alongside single and unmarried young adults.”

(Side note: everyone should follow @CalebABobo on Twitter. His only flaw is that he’s a Patriots fan.)

And he’s not wrong. Take an actual look at those numbers. This data (to my knowledge – and I did not work very hard to verify that) has nothing to do with Christians. It has everything to do with marital status. Across the board, men and women that are non-married are sad, dissatisfied, and are drinking a lot. **she types as she puts her glass down on a coaster…**

And according to these numbers, women aren’t blowing the men out of the water on this. This is not a “women are just too eager to get married and put too much weight on that institution” situation. We are all struggling with not being married. Even those that are living with their partner are still sad, dissatisfied, and are drinking a lot.

So, where does the Church come in? Why would Caleb say such a thing? And why would I get so fired up and only be able to reply tweet with: “I have so many thoughts to say about this, but I think it would require a longer format and a beer. Which kind of proves the point.”

Because my guess is that these numbers wouldn’t be that different if all adults surveyed also said they were followers of Jesus.

If you go back to the start of this blog – all the way back to the dark ages of 2014 – you will see that it started as a way for me to offer some new conversations around singleness in the Church. I got (and still get) so fed up with churches and Christians making the point of everyone’s life to be married. It grieves my heart that so many ‘fringe people’ (those that don’t really know me) can only have a conversation about my dating life, or what it’s like to be single in my 30s (CAUSE I’M A UNICORN APPARENTLY).

Marriage = value. Perceived and projected.

And when we’re not married, we get forgotten about.

Sermons aren’t preached with us in mind.
Dinners aren’t hosted with us in mind.
Bible studies aren’t written with us in mind.
Summer vacations aren’t planned with bringing us along in mind.

So, instead of burdening others with our “neediness” we stay home. We subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, HBOMax, AND Disney+. We have 6 different types of alcohol at our disposal at all times cause, well, it’s a hobby and it tastes good, and it’s really not a problem, promise.

And no one knows because we’re alone.
And no one knows because they don’t ask.
And no one knows because they don’t show up.

So what’s a Church to do?!

Don’t forget about us.

I often forget that I am, actually, a bit of a unicorn. I write emails to elders reminding them to teach about singleness just as much as they teach about marriage. I co-lead a small group at my church and have a lot of things to say about being the family of God, not just a group of ‘individual’ families. I have soul-friends that I weep with because I am just so sad, and they weep along with me.

From my experience, loving/encouraging/walking alongside single and unmarried young adults is not hard. You just have to show up and remind them that they bring just as much to the table as any other image bearer of God in your circle does.

And if you’re a single/unmarried young adult, put yourself in other people’s way. YOU show up too!

There’s no formula to apply that will take these stats in a healthy direction, but there is a slow, steady, faithful process that we can all enter in to, that would hopefully, by God’s grace cause an upward turn – see God in others and show up.

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Jan 17 2018
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The Psalms

psalm 32

psalm 32.png

Here I go, here I go, here I go again….gurls what’s my weakness?

Getting back in the rhythm of writing.

But, here we are, writing again in the psalms.

Once again I find myself in the middle of David’s writing. Although, if I’m honest with myself, I am more prone to skip over the first 2 sentences.

I often skip the blessing and go straight to the groaning.

I feel the heaviness of my sin and the withering of my soul when I let my iniquity keep me away from God for too long.

But the beauty of this psalm – and many psalms – is that we aren’t left in the heat of summer. We are reminded that God is still God and He is still good. He is still the One that forgives the iniquity of my sin and all He asks of me is to come to Him.

That’s it.

Just show up.

And in the showing up I can be glad because His steadfast, never-ending, unconditional love is not only offered to me, it surrounds me. Like…I can’t get away from it.

So, instead of hiding from my great Savior, I will choose, like David, to make Him my hiding place – the great Light of the world where darkness cannot be found.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Be no like horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

 

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Jan 07 2015
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Friendship, Relationships

to showing up

tina-fey-amy-poehler-bush-twins

I’m a huge Sophia Bush fan. I fell in love with her as Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill, I deeply admire her desire to change the world and people’s lives through her ‘activist’ efforts (she’s involved with Pencils of Promise, I Am That Girl, etc.), and I love her voice. Seriously. I’d just like to have her read a book on tape for me to listen to all the time.

I also follow her on instagram. Truthfully, I follow her on every platform of social media the two of us share. Follow may not be the word. If there were a word for “I wonder what Sophia’s doing today, I’m going to go check all the things,” then that would be the right word.

Recently she’s been posting pictures on Instagram with the hashtag #toshowingup. It’s typically in correlation with something she’s done with her close friends, or an adventure she’s been on recently. And it got me thinking.

Do I show up?
Am I present with people?
Am I available when it’s inconvenient to me?
Do I live life in such a way that makes it worth showing up to?

And as a Christian, what does this mean? Does showing up in Gospel rhythm matter in people’s lives?

I think it means that we rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, bear one another’s burdens, call out sin in people’s lives, allow people to call out sin in our lives, go on big adventures to see God in the unknown places of the world and in our hearts. I think it means just that – we show up. We show up with one another, we show up with ourselves, and most importantly, we show up with God.

We go to God and say, “Here I am, Lord. Forgive me, change me, send me, use me.”

We open our selves up and say, “Today is not about me. Today is about loving God and loving others. Love Him and let Him love you, now go and do likewise.”

We be with others and say, “I’m with you, you aren’t alone, now let’s go have an adventure.”

We show up.

So here’s to that. Here’s to newness, and livelihood, and joy. To showing up.

*Sophia hasn’t been on SNL that I know of, so this hilarious throwback of Tina & Amy as the Bush twins (not related to Sophia) will have to suffice. ALSO, my ladies are hosting the Globes this Sunday so it’s appropriate. And ALSO again, Chicago P.D. makes it’s winter premier tonight so it’s timely that I write about Sophia 🙂 Okay. That’s all for now. I think.

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