here's to (twenty six).

here's to quiet mornings and fresh brewed coffee

to wet puppy kisses and soft clean fur

to deep conversations and playful banter

here's to silhouettes of mountain ranges

to homemade pasta and olive oil and parmesan

to crackling fires and fuzzy blankets

here's to hello's after it's-been-too-long's

to popcorn and late night movies

to steep hikes and breathtaking views

here's to belly-laughter and happy tears

to holiday spices and giant snowflakes

to clacking keyboards and brand new paintbrushes

here's to sunset beaches and sandy toes

to empty airports and used book stores

to sloppy kisses and children's games

here's to favorite playlists and horseback rides

to inside jokes and nicknames

to sore muscles and deep stretches

here's to road-trips and waterfalls

to much-needed hugs and encouraging words

to brunch and grapefruit mimosas 

here's to sparkles and streamers

to hot tubs and heaping bowls of ice cream

to new tattoos and old hoodies

here's to wisdom (from hard earned lessons)

to kindness, and joy, and connection

here's to twenty six.

twenty five.

1.     Food past the expiration date isn't worth it. 

2.     Spiritual, emotional, and physical connection with others is vital to life.

3.     Questioning what you believe requires integrity.

4.     Friendships/relationships are allowed to grow, change, and disappoint without devaluing the individuals involved.

5.     Cat urine is the worst smell in the world.

6.     There is absolutely no sense in keeping (or wearing) clothes that no longer fit.

7.      Nobody has all the answers.

8.     Sometimes self-care just looks like survival.

9.     Persistent, domineering self-talk can still be completely false.

10. Buy the non-slip shoes.

11. Just because you can stay up past midnight doesn’t make it a good idea.

12. It’s perfectly ok and healthy to change your mind.

13. To-do lists are a magical game-changer.

14. Debt is not the end of the world.

15. Pray bigger prayers.

16. Life is harsh. Cherish the beauty.

17. Humans in the church are just as messy as humans outside the church.

18. Being ignorant when you are young is not a failure – it’s normal.

19. Don’t get drunk…but if you must, do it around sober, safe people.

20. Seeking professional help is underrated.

21. Advocate for yourself in the doctor’s office.

22. Gaining weight is not the end of the world.

23. You are allowed to let go of harmful beliefs,

24. There is tremendous healing potential in vulnerability…There is also tremendous potential for wounding.

25. Art is underrated in the adult world. Do it. Share it. Celebrate it.

because it matters (be kind).

It's been a hell of a season, hasn't it? 

In conversations over zoom, in person, through face masks and over copious cups of hot beverages I have heard it again and again. We are weary. We are struggling. We are aching.

We got the proverbial wind knocked out of us. We have been repeatedly kicked while down. We have absorbed multiple "last straw" moments and yet we are still standing...Or crawling...Or at least, breathing. 

God only knows the details of my hard season and I don't know yours. The struggle has taken many different shapes, colors, and sizes. No two of us share the exact pain, and yet we can share a collective sigh that somehow sums up the experience.

And so here we are. 

And yet, in a season where so many are feeling different shades of the same struggle, we find ourselves increasingly divided and hostile. As a natural-born peacemaker, it's exhausting to watch. I have dear friends and family that span a vast range of opinions regarding political, religious (or non-religious), economic, and scientific worldviews (to name a few). It seems that I know people on all extreme ends of the spectrum of opinions. 

This is what I have concluded...

Nobody has all the answers... if any. 

Most people are doing the best that they can with the resources that they have. 

We are not all that different.

...And if ever there was a time to be kind, it's now. 

2021 was hands down the most difficult year I have lived yet. The perfect storm of circumstances collided during the pandemic for me resulting in the loss of so many precious things. One of those precious things was certainty. 

Things like my purpose, my faith, and my passion feel shaken to the core. 

I have been questioning so much and so often that some days it feels as if  I will wake up and realize I have been unknowingly cast as a supporting character in a satirical TV show. So often I have felt as if nothing matters anymore. As if life is a meaningless and cruel joke. In the chaos of everything that has happened and is happening in the world and in my personal life, is there meaning to be found? 

In the ashes of everything I thought I knew, I have discovered something that I believe does matter.

It's love.  

See, we humans are so messy, so awful, and so desperately beautiful that it takes my breath away. To experience love is so painful and so necessary that we will stop at nothing to obtain some version of it. We each carry the ability to love and be loved and yet for whatever reasons we withhold it, extinguish it, or abuse it. 

This is my plea. 

Be kind. 

You have no idea the pain that another human is carrying in their soul. 

You are no better and no greater than your neighbor that you mock. We are all simply human. You cannot begin to boast of knowing the why behind someone else's behavior. You can speculate, you can guess, you can even puzzle together the handful of facts you hold. But it is not yours to know or to judge another soul. It is yours to love. 

That's what makes your life beautiful. Not your opinions, not your knowledge, not your certainty. It's your love. 

We are all tired. We are all struggling. We are all aching.

Please, be kind. 

Be defined by the one thing that makes humanity beautiful, that makes human life worth living. Be defined by love. 

Because it matters.

At the end of the day when everything else has burned to ashes, love matters. 

Be kind. 

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13