My Everyday Runway

hey friends. i'm so glad you're here.  it's been a while, i know. but tonight, i think i've found my words again.  ---- after the messiest few months of my life, i know more than ever before what it feels like to be fully, painfully and wonderfully alive.  the truth is, the beauty and love and pain and heartbreak that have come along with that simple yet profound truth have taken my breath away at times. the very things that have never changed for me, changed. my words, which used to be a solace, turned into something i couldn't even write without second-guessing every one of them. my heart turned from filled with butterflies to shattered on the floor.  i made mistakes, i doubted myself. i took risks and experienced some of the sweetest moments of my life, along with ones that tore at the very core of who i am.  all along the way i would ask myself, why does this hurt so much? isn't love supposed to be simple? isn't summer supposed to be the time of my life?...

Today, my sweet friend Annika Richardson will be sharing her words as a guest blogger. Thank you, Annika, for sharing your heart and the good news of Jesus! Let's dive right in. --------------- When all of this corona craziness started, I wasn’t really sure what was actually happening and I surely had no idea that it could eventually come so close and affect my life. I first heard about COVID-19 in February when it was running rampant in China, but I did not notice the severity of what was happening nor did I consider the possibility that the U.S. could be affected in the same way.  Now, here I am, stuck at my house. In the past few weeks I have felt extreme disappointment, frustration, anger, bitterness, sadness, loneliness, fear, and isolation. These feelings aren’t bad, it is okay to feel these emotions, but what we do with them is so key. The first week or so of being home and practicing social distancing I was miserable. I moped around and did not ...

 to my fellow seniors --------- oh dear friends, i am weeping with you.  i feel the heartbreak of this season almost everyday.  and i too am weeping with you. i ache for my childhood best friends and my classmates from not only northfield, but from kennedy and holy angels too. i remember the schools that have shaped me and the first day feeling i had not once, but three times. each time thinking,  i am on the road to where i am meant to be.  i am on the road to where i am meant to be.  i think fondly of the friendships i cherished in ninth grade and the memories i made in 10th grade acting class. the waffle surprise half birthday party my sweet friends threw me as a junior and the first date i went on with my cute boy as a senior.  these things are on my heart more than ever.  i am cherishing the wonderful more than ever.  but i also know the pain here.  i know the heartbreak of this season, as it come...

oh the joy to be found in living each day to the fullest! leap day last weekend had me thinking about something that i actually think about a lot: the power and beauty a single day holds. it's truly incredible when you take a second and think about just how much life  you are able to live and just how much impact  you are able to make in one day. all of these little things happening each and every second that really aren't so little at all.  a hug in the hallway! a good song on the radio! texting someone 'i miss ya like crazy'! saying a prayer for a friend! having one second of courage to talk to someone or ask a hard question or tell someone you love them! these moments.  they're little, yes. but really, they're huge and they're important.  these   moments add up to a lot, even when they feel like nothing at all.  i can't tell you how happy it makes me to think about everyday like this. the fact that jesus offers so much meaning ...

happy twenty twenty, friends! i love new years because the writer in me suddenly has so much to write about. the year past, the year ahead, what to cherish and how to grow. my reflective brain starts to think and it can't seem to stop. so as you can imagine, that made narrowing this blog post down a little difficult for me. after many drafts and too many late nights staring at my computer, i think i've found what my heart wants to share most. twenty promises to 2020. i think there's so much joy in new years resolutions (believe me, i've made MANY this year), but something about the word promise has stuck out to me recently. making a promise to someone is a very dear thing. it's a commitment you give to someone you love. it shows respect and compassion to keep a promise. how sweet and special is that? so this year, in addition to my new years resolutions, i thought i would make a few important promises to myself. things that cannot be checked off of a t...