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Delight
Delight. Merriam-Webster defines delight as, “a strong feeling of happiness; great pleasure or satisfaction.” As I read this definition I really struggled with the first line, “a strong feeling of happiness.” All to often I find myself trapped inside of my feelings, with expectations that they are just going to be happy, or be better. And if I’m being honest over the past six months or so, it’s been extremely hard to say “I feel happy.” Although this is difficult to verbalize, I think it is a place we allow ourselves to get stuck all too often. Our feelings are strong indicators of deeply rooted thoughts and emotions we experience.…
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What if I Said No?
What if I said NO. Every day we get out of the bed with list, obligations, responsibilities and other tasks on our brains. We allow our first thoughts of the day to be centered around the expectations of the day and it can be defeating before we drink our first sip of coffee. It’s often I get up before daylight feeling just as defeated as I was when my head hit the pillow. Today I want you to ask yourself this simple question. What if I said no. The reality is that the world continues to turn, God is still in control and the world will not unravel if we don’t…
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What If I Said Yes?
I love to ride roller coasters. I love the speed, the anticipation of the drops, twist and flips that come from riding them. Some of my favorite memories in theme parks are the moments of standing in line waiting to get on the rides. When waiting in long lines the conversations usually at some point go to the ever dreaded, “what if this roller coaster crashes” convo and for a moment or two it takes the thrill away but then you go right back to excitement. Even if I have been on the same coaster more than once I still get the same amount of butterflies. As we continue our…
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What If
If you’ve been friends with me for over ten years then you had the distinct honor and privilege of encountering the middle school version of Sullivan. She loved sports, parted her hair WAY too far to the right, wore her letterman’s jacket even if it was 90 degrees outside, and she owned v necks with matching cami’s in nearly every color. Middle school Sullivan had so many moments of thriving, but also tied with humiliation. For example, Middle school Sullivan got baptized with her family there to celebrate her, but immediately found herself in the church bathroom naked and afraid because she forgot to bring her change of clothes in…
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Caught by Grace
When I was in high school, our student council hosted a leadership day for all the other student council groups in our area. The guest speaker encouraged us to be a team and to help each other. Then he instructed us to our next leadership promoting activity, the name of which still strikes no small amount of sheer terror in my heart. He wanted us to do trust falls. A trust fall involves a person falling backward into the arms of others who stand waiting with their arms stretched outward. Ideally, the person falling backward is caught in a poetic and symbolic action. Somehow, I ended up standing on the cafeteria…
