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Comus in August

 So I wanna know what the seasons know There’s a time to reap, and a time to sow A time to hold on, and a time to let go  Teach me to trust when I don’t see.|| Holly Arrowsmith  I love August. I love the months between seasons. They remind me that change is inevitable, purposeful, beautiful, necessary, and consistent. Everyday is new. Even between seasons, there is beauty. We all live in “the tension of the in-between” - between who we are and who we will be, between creation and the new earth, between the first coming of Christ and the second, between birth and death, between home and sugarloaf mountain, between sunset and sunrise, between summer and fall. We can still find rest in the tension, like a hammock swaying from two tight lines between the trees.  There is beauty here, on the road between today and eternity. There is grace here, in the fear yet thrill of the unknown. There is so much joy here, in the pursuit of God in the details. So, linger a little while in the tension. As
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Grace Over Guilt

In this quarantine season, God has been so kind to give me moments of pause. I used to love letting my mind wander, but it seems the ability to philosophize is the luxury of the untraumatized. With the combination of time, rest, prayer, and therapy, my mind is beginning to wander to wonderful places again. I also am able to be more passively self-reflective into the way that I interact with the world and it interacts with me. A key step in this reflective journey has been the enneagram. I have tested as a two in the past (the "helper" personality), but this spring on the official test I was labeled a seven (the "enthusiast") with a wing, or sub personality, of an eight (the "challenger"). If somehow you have managed to avoid the enneagram in your social medial scrolling, I encourage you to do some research into the process and product. I am loving learning my natural strength and weaknesses. Self-awareness is the first step in growth.  One of the things I
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Update: March 20,2018 - May 2, 2020

On February 14, 2018, a student opened fire in the hallways of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida killing 14 students and 3 faculty. As a student teacher at the time, I was very aware that this school shooting was one in a line of others that seemed to be happening daily in that season across our country. I took some time to reflect on my role in that kind of scenario- not fully student, not fully teacher, yet fully adult. I started reflecting, not knowing a month and six days following Parkland what would come. That post was written and published on March 19,2018, the day before I lived through a school shooting.  On March 20, 2018, a student killed his ex girlfriend with a handgun in the halls of Great Mills High School early in the morning before the bell had rung, the bullet passed through her brain and into the leg of another student (who recovered), the shooter walked down the hall, and then took his own life as a resource officer fired simultaneously, d
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The Appointed Portion

This past Sunday, I heard a sermon that mentioned we need not go in search of new, grand revelations about God. We need to open our Bible and revel in what has already been given to us. I need to put that into practice. So, this early evening, as I lazily and finally opened my Bible app to get some truth in me, like a spiritual vitamin to boost my health, I wondered how God could use 1 Samuel to speak to me. I'm listening and reading through the Bible cover to cover, and it can often feel like reading a work of history in these early books and not the divine truth of God Almighty. Here, sceptical as I came, God spoke. Normally, I encourage more than I quote in this blog, but then again, it has been a long time. Things have changed. I have changed. So, the following section of scripture will speak for itself, and I will tack on my reflection as if it were a patchy, red "Betsy Approved" stamp on the back of a stunning Monet. The word speaks. I am just so freshly aware of
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Just One Person's Reflection on February 14, 2018

*Update: This was post was published the day before I lived through a school shooting as a student teacher. On March 20, 2018, a student killed his ex girlfriend with a handgun in the halls of the school, and then took his own life as a resource officer fired. The shooter walked by my open classroom door, gun in hand. I did not see him. My co-teacher did. We were able to escape through connecting doors to an outside exit, into the parking lot, with a handful of students. There is more I could say. I found it sickening to think I had thought through this all before living it first-hand, but now I find it awe inspiring that God allowed me preparation in this way. With time, trauma therapy, and healing, I am able to reflect again. I can feel my mental capacity increasing again, and it is a breathtaking thing to experience. Expect more encouragement and reflections from me on this blog in the coming days and years, especially in this season of global pandemic. What extraordinary times I am
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Human Nature & Divine Creator: Provision, Power, and Pride

A snowday Luke 4 reflection-- When Jesus goes into the wilderness, after John baptizes him, he is full of the Holy Spirit. As he is in the wilderness, the devil tempts him by targeting 3 specific things that we all as humans are drawn to: provision, power, and pride. Jesus, the same man who as a boy ran to the temple of his Father to learn the scriptures, now full of the Spirit too, combats each temptation with scripture. What struck me most were those 3 temptations: provision, power, and pride. 1. We as people have a desire to have provisions, for survival and beyond that for comfort. Jesus counters by pointing himself (and throigh reading, us) back to God as the source for humanity's deepest need. 2. We want control- of our lives, of our surpundings, of others even. We want money, power, security, respect, even dominion in our world. Jesus counters by calling himself first and foremost a servant of God, not a king of peoples. Furthermore, he (by extension, we) is to adore in
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Christmas Pep-Talk

Tomorrow is December 1 and I realize I have come to a place in life where I know I have a relationship with God, but seem to have forgotten how I have that relationship to begin with. I, in my history brain, have subconsciously locked the person of Jesus to the past. Sure, he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, but silly Betsy, he is still alive! Who is he, really, not just who was he? If he is the only way to the Father, he is worth knowing deeply as an individual member of the trinity. The father I know. The spirit calls to me in nature and worship and ties me through prayer to the father. But what about Jesus? Anyways, this may seem like a "duh" situation, but for me it is hitting hard, especially at the beginning of the advent season. My point is, this season, I want to fall deeply in love with Jesus for all he was, is, and will be forever. He is more than a bridge to the father, and more than a role model. He is my savior, my brother, and my dear friend.
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