Calling is where the inside drive meets the outside need. “Vocation does not come from a voice out there calling me to be something I am not. It comes from a voice in here calling me to be the person I was born to be.” Thomas Merton The aerodynamics of an airplane...
“You have to carry the fire.” “I don’t know how to.” “Yes, you do.” “Is the fire real?” “The fire? Yes it is.” “Where is it? I don’t know where it is.” “Yes you do. It’s inside you. It always was there. I can see it.” The Road, Cormac McCarthy The novel The Road by...
“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being...
“Trust that which gives you meaning and accept it as your guide.” C.G. Jung Calling is the path to meaning, purpose, and significance. The iconic 1985 movie The Goonies tells the story of Mickey, Chunk, Data, and Mouth (the Goonies); a group of young misfits who...
It takes time, effort, and attention to develop clarity on your calling. Rarely if ever do the heavens part and a voice bursts forth telling us what to do when. What’s the fun in that anyway? And if it did, would we really listen? Would we even believe or trust it?...
Each of us has been launched into being by the cosmic slingshot of Providence. We are authored by forces outside of us and cast into an amazing ancient story. We are constrained by our limited awareness of the past, present, or future. We did not pick the time and...
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who...
A few months ago, for the first time in my adult life, I planted a garden. I watched YouTube videos and read articles and consulted with friends about how to prepare the soil, when to plant, what to plant, and how to maintain it all. I was PUMPED. I talked to each...
My daughter recently had her braces taken off. After two years of nightly headgear and metal on her mouth, she was finally free. Since she had them put on, she would talk about how much she missed her “freedom”. Yes, the freedom of eating sticky candy, whole apples,...
Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I could just know the future, then everything would be ok.” This kind of magical thinking troubles a lot of us. It’s called anxiety, and thoughts like this carry the potential for a lot of wasted energy. Anxiety is a powerful...
Max’s eyes grew big and his arms flung in the air in frustration as he said, “But Dad, I don’t have any memories there!” You see, my family just made a big move from Jackson, TN to Murfreesboro, and my six year old son was trying to tell me he was scared because he...
“Scarcity is like a pair of glasses we do not know we have on, but they interfere with everything we see.” – Lynn Twist The word scarcity derives its meaning from medieval Latin denoting a sense of diminishment or being reduced. In today’s language, it always...
Perhaps you’ve heard the stories of canaries in coal mines. Miners would take these yellow birds down into the depths of the earth because of their sensitivity to harmful elements – these birds would sound the proverbial alarm that would signal danger to the...
I’ve been helping couples in the context of marriage counseling for about a decade and a half. In that time, I’ve noticed something: the prime number years of relationships are often the hardest (i.e. 1, 3. 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29…) Often, it seems these years...
“When I refer to ‘Creative living,’ I am speaking more broadly. I am talking about a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear.” – Liz Gilbert (Big Magic) When you think of the word CREATE do you judge yourself? Maybe thinking about how you aren’t a...
“It seems we have this inborn need to love and to create. At their deepest, these drives of spirit appear to be the same. For through her love, wasn’t Grandma creating me? Don’t we help birth another the instant we encourage them to see with their heart? Don’t we help...
This season I have been counting down every day until Christmas. Knowing that in a few short days all of the hope, longing, and waiting will be over. Done. Then it’s 364 days until the next Christmas. I try every year to hold on to the magic by playing all of the...
Please join us in helping refugees stay warm & keep heart this Christmas. Legacy Mission Village is in need of hats, gloves & coats for their refugees. All sizes accepted (kids and adults). Brand new or gently used condition preferred. Drop them unwrapped in...
The Enneagram was mentioned in grad school, but I never looked much into it. When I started interviewing for positions in Nashville, I had several interviewers talk about how Enneagram being a language for many Nashville clients and had a friend from here recommend I...
I learned about the Enneagram while in graduate school. A professor brought in an “Enneagram specialist” that reviewed the model and processed the myths around what it is and isn’t. From there, reading from various books and articles mixed with bringing it into my own...
I first learned about the Enneagram by going to my church’s small group. One of the leaders was studying and we often discussed it and took the test together. Since then I have read several books, follow several Instagram pages, and enjoy listening to podcasts. I am...
I learned about the Enneagram when I was studying in seminary. Although I had heard of many different personality inventories and tests when studying psychology in college, I had never truly understood its power until graduate school. After taking a great deal of time...
It was a warm summer afternoon, and the sun was streaming through my bedroom window. I woke up from a nap and had this resounding sense of peace. I thought, My life is perfect! My performance has paid off! I have a husband in full-time ministry, a nursing job I love,...
Sweaty and thirsty from my newspaper route, I propped my bike against the front of the building and went inside. The neighborhood grocery was air-conditioned, making it one of the only cool places in town. I selected a grape soda from the pop machine and a Baby Ruth...
I grew up in a family of prestige because my father was a significant figure in our city. We lived on over one hundred acres, raised cattle, and had a pool and a tennis court. My father grew up on a farm outside of town, made it through graduate school, was asked to...
