During a Yosemite photography workshop in 2013, two fellow participants and I spent an unguided afternoon in search of new landscapes. We ended up by a slow-moving stretch of the Merced River, and my companions set up their tripods facing it. I wandered further downstream and happened...
“Jesse, you have a choice. You can use your time and energy in having a bad attitude and being upset that you have homework and you’ll still have to do the homework. Or, you can use your time and energy to get it done and when it’s done, you’ll probably be in a...
“I think you should face the facts—you just don’t have a green thumb.” Those were the words of my husband to me as we stood in Trader Joe’s deciding whether or not to get a few more herb plants. At that point, I had already killed three herb plants...
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14 NKJV) My biennial reading of The Lord of the Rings trilogy has coincided with Advent this year. In October, three...
Just over two years ago, I wrote a post for Estuaries revealing that I had burned out, big time, after my three-year stint on staff at The River. At the time I wrote that post, I was only barely beginning to scratch the surface of what was really going on for me. I only understood that I...
“So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them” ...
Something about the changing of the season makes me want to be home—although not in my loud, messy home full of boys having sword fights and dishes piled in the sink. I want to be home in some magazine version of home, drinking a mug full of cider and reading a book by the...
I lived in a world where a rock was not the symbol of the relationship I desired with God. I wanted a relationship symbolic of the burning bush, for the light that it would shine upon me, rather than God. Over time, I realized that what I desired in my relationship with God was a...
I got engaged a little over a month ago and, in the midst of all the excitement, I found my soul craving a spiritual practice I’d put on the shelf for a while—hiking. Since Monday is one of my days off, it can be an ideal time to go hiking because the trails are...
In my last Estuaries blog, I wrote about preparing for my Senior Professional in Human Resources certification, SPHR. I have since completed the prep class, passed the test, and have a fancy electronic badge. When people ask what it means, I explain that it affirms my competency and...