As a Christian grieving the death of another Christian, the view of her loss doesn’t feel as defeating. It has given me a chance to rethink my world. Specifically, the things that I give space in my life and the things that I need to limit.
Author: Deborah Pauli
The Apostasy of Church: Abandoning the Faith
People are leaving the Church in droves. With the whirlwind of COVID restrictions over the past few years, a topic resurfaced in Church conversations: church attendance. Many of us could not attend church in person, not necessarily by choice. When our choice was given back, we didn’t always choose to go back. Some of us… Continue reading
Post-graduation problems: Anhedonia
I finished a doctoral program in December, which marked an exciting moment in my life. I’m no longer in school for the first time since I was six. After each degree, I jumped into the next one, the only break being certifications. It was a blessing to work towards my education, knowing that so many… Continue reading
California: Rock Climbing & Redwoods
Giles and I recently trekked out to California, a trip I had postponed for far too long. Every year, we mean to go out and visit and every year, we didn’t. Granted, the past few years were fairly easy to excuse. We had several rounds of visits to make, and we weren’t sure what to expect from any of them.
It’s in the Waiting
I am an unabashedly impatient person when it comes to waiting for God to move. From what I see of the characters within the Bible, I am not alone in this struggle. There is a realness in the biblical narrative that make my own struggles ‘fit’ within the context of my faith. Impatience does not seem to disqualify anyone.
Untying Yourself From the Past: Unforgiveness
I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately, which of course means that I have been trying to have greater forgiveness in my own life. For the most part, it takes a lot to make me angry and I forgive easily. While my pride is so powerful that it’s almost tangible, forgiveness is not something that I struggle with on a regular basis. With that being said, when I do get angry or struggle with unforgiveness, I find myself completely ignorant on how to move forward. So, I hold onto it and wallow in the emotions, hoping that it will magically resolve itself. So far, this has not been a successful solution.
Fruits of the Spirit & Personality
Let me start off by saying that personality tests are one of my favorite pastimes (and forms of procrastination). I’m always eager to learn which character from the Big Bang Theory encapsulates my personality (sigh…. Leonard’s mom with a dash of Bernadette). However, the obsession with personality tests have resulted in some unfortunate outcomes. While self-awareness can be a powerful practice, this is not always the underlying goal we hold.
All the Things I Don’t Know
In ‘the old days’, politics, social issues, and religion were all avoided topics of conversation. The result was that friendships could only be surface-level and discuss the weather. Any societal issues were also left unattended and unresolved. As is typical, society has over-corrected itself with the introduction of social media (not that social media was designed to remedy this problem). While the world of social media is a fairly new addition to society, the collective seems to struggle with the same character flaws as myself.
Inactivity is not Always Rest: Seeking True Refreshment
Weariness has reached global proportions, yet no amount of sleeping in has been able to get us the rest we need.
Harnessing Fear to Drive Prayers
We cannot change the crises facing the world, but our response is solely our responsibility. These are not petty issues driving our fears, and certainly ‘worthy’ of a response. The question then becomes, “If the global crises are driving our fears, what are our fears driving?” And what is our response to our fears?
The Privilege of Having Been Born White
My first memory of having heard of the concept “white privilege” happened after a wealthy, white politician was blatantly guilty of having committed a crime, but rubbed elbows with the right person and was barely slapped on the wrist. I couldn’t tell you who it was or what he had done (a white politician doing… Continue reading
Homemade Apple Cider
The fall weather is finally here and it has brought the comfort food and warm beverages that I’ve waited for! This year, I tried my hand at homemade apple cider, instead of store bought. This required a lot more work than I had anticipated, but it did not disappoint. Prep time 10 mins Cook time… Continue reading
Staying Grounded : When your personal values conflict with those in your field
In today’s world, it seems that we are all surrounded by dilemmas– having to choose between different values. It’s everywhere we turn–it can be difficult to navigate the competing values and even more so when it seems to be pervasive in your field. International Psychology I have just spent a little over a week in… Continue reading
Tolerance v Challenging: The Commitment of Restoring Society
Society always corrects itself, but it always overcorrects. It was not that long ago that discrimination was blatantly praised. It’s undeniable that inequalities still thrive in the US, and I am certainly not going to make light of just how powerfully intolerance has seemed to seep through. But our society has seemed to transition to… Continue reading
To All My Former Friends: An open apology to half the people I’ve met
Have you ever cut people out of your life because they were toxic during that season? Have friendships ended because you didn’t want to be inconvenienced? Was that the right decision at the time? Is it still the right decision?
Peru Part One: My First Transcontinental Trip
After half a year after my trip to Peru, I find myself losing connection with my experiences. While I would love to share, there were too many aspects to do it justice in a single post. In this first post, I will be sharing the reasons for my travel to Peru and what it was… Continue reading
Case Study on Cystic Fibrosis :The Value of Feeling Overwhelmed
We each have our own issues that seem to demand all of our emotional energy, in the form of stress. Adulthood was not accurately described– it is not fun at all. We all have our own unique set of struggles that we face. Financial strain, marital conflict, family tensions, grieving, job insecurity, doubts in our… Continue reading
Teen Selfishness: What the Classroom Has Taught Me
The idea that teenagers can be self-absorbed isn’t the most revolutionary idea to share. This is something that every teacher sees happen just during the 5 minutes of passing period. If you are the parent of a teen (my heart goes out to you), or you’ve had the pleasure of encountering a teen in passing,… Continue reading
Social Support: Creating Your LifeLine
College ends so quickly and you realize that so do many of your friendships. Adulthood smacks you in the face and friendships become… work. Everyone has a full schedule and trying to collaborate to meet up for coffee is a great feat. Then, life happens and you get blind-sided. You realize that you never made… Continue reading
Hangman’s Daughter: Book Review
As a social studies teacher, I can appreciate historical literature. Unfortunately, most historians don’t present the story as a narrative, but as a slew of dates with difficult-to-follow information. They read like a dull textbook and I can begin to understand what my students mean when they say they hate history. All of that to… Continue reading