We had our whole life mapped out in Arlington when God dropped Germany on our doorstep. Here's what I learned about trusting a path you never asked to walk.
Faith & Mental Health
Learning to Surrender Control: What Surgery Taught Me About Trust
I thought I knew what it meant to lean into someone I loved. Then shoulder surgery forced me to discover the difference between fierce independence and genuine vulnerability.
Snow Days Led to Wedding Dress Shopping—Then We Won the Honeymoon at OBX Wedding Expo
While school closures piled up, I finally got excited about wedding planning. Mom couldn't come dress shopping due to surgery, but Angel brought champagne and we Skyped her in. Then Charming and I collected nine stamps at the OBX expo and actually won the honeymoon drawing—after I'd just told him I never win anything.
Wedding Planning at Dunkin’—Two Divorced People Making #ANewThing
Hampton's snow trapped us for days, but at Dunkin' with Charming, we got stuck in wedding details. Two Type A Wheaton grads who've done this before, arguing over songs to avoid. Then we created #ANewThing—because that's what happens when God writes redemption stories with snow days and second chances.
Why I Skipped New Year’s Resolutions and Chose God’s New Thing Instead
Instead of making resolutions I'd already broken, I remembered my life verse from eighteen years ago. Here's what it means to trust God is doing something new when your future is uncharted territory.
Redefining Joy: What I Learned Writing in My Car at Christmas
At 35, spending Christmas at my childhood home, I felt like I'd failed the fearless girl I used to be. Then I discovered joy isn't a feeling—it's the source of all gladness.
Stuck in the Attic: When Depression Crashed My Christmas Engagement
Getting trapped in my attic while looking for Christmas boxes became the perfect metaphor for the depression I'd been hiding from my fiancé. Sometimes asking for help is the only way down.
Dr. Bogin Would Be Proud: How My Therapist’s Legacy Lives On in 987 Tuesday Nights
Dr. Bogin would smile behind his round black frames if he could meet Charming at our Thanksgiving party. He taught me that no day is wasted, even the 5,127 we spent apart. Now I see: God doesn't work in clean slates—He works in yearbook themes where everything connects.
When Students Write Bucket Lists and God Writes Mine: A Teacher’s November Rain
My sophomores wrote bucket lists while Bobby McFerrin sang "Don't Worry, Be Happy," but I couldn't stop thinking about my upcoming marriage and Paul's letter to the Philippians. Sometimes the best lesson plans teach the teacher.
My Student Anna: When God Answers Prayers with a Teenage Helper
I prayed for strength to survive losing my second yearbook class. God sent me Anna, a seventeen-year-old who thinks like me and holds up my arms like Moses at the Red Sea. Sometimes prayers are answered in INFJ teenagers.
Writer's Growth 