Christ Kept His Scars–And We Can Too

Christ Kept His Scars–And We Can Too

“How beautiful you are he said a tapestry of scars.” -Atticus When I was in college, I flew home for the summer. I packed up everything I owned into my luggage and when I arrived at the airport, my bag was over the weight requirements, forcing me to remove...
Is Being Headstrong And Unruly A Bad Thing?

Is Being Headstrong And Unruly A Bad Thing?

Three years ago. It happened. I have replayed the events in my mind a thousand times. Even doing trauma work (a lot of it) to disentangle them from the gray space where they seem to be stuck, bouncing around like ping pong balls that never stop. I was injured, harmed....
Who Mary Is To Me: A Survivor’s Story

Who Mary Is To Me: A Survivor’s Story

“Mother is the name for God in the lips and heart of little children.” -W.M. Thackeray Mary. Her story triggering to me year after year. Lack of consent in the name of a man’s will is triggering for any survivor of assault and abuse. You see, to survivors, it...
Dear Church: Stop The Trauma And Start The Healing

Dear Church: Stop The Trauma And Start The Healing

You may have heard of Trauma-Informed Care. It is all the rage right now and for good reason. More organizations and even faith communities are adopting trauma-informed policies in order to ensure the health and well-being of their members. But it left me thinking: Do...

The Meaning of Life

A Father’s Question My dad used to always ask, “What’s the meaning of life?” I felt he just wanted to start an interesting conversation. But when I was a kid, I never came up with any good answers; I would mostly repeat back what I had heard someone else say. He...
We Like Our Heaven Better

We Like Our Heaven Better

I have a family. We are a family. I bore these children, made from my own flesh and blood. I labor for them. I love them. I nursed them. I nourish them. But, when I listened to President’s Nelson’s talk on the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference,...