Each morning during Lent this year, I'm writing new poetry using prompts from two different books. Here's how it's going so far: open.substack.com/pub/stillmou...
28.02.2026 14:02
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Each morning during Lent this year, I'm writing new poetry using prompts from two different books. Here's how it's going so far: open.substack.com/pub/stillmou...
I wrote this poem during my sabbatical in 2024 and published it on Ash Wednesday of 2025. Reading again today, I still feel that “New every morning is my need to repent.”
open.substack.com/pub/stillmou...
Henri Nouwen said, “Writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us.” In today’s post, I share what I discovered by writing a collection of essays about spiritual practices and the outdoors. stillmountain.substack.com/p/a-broad-pl...
Today I completed a draft of a writing project that I've been working on for over a year. Now it's time to edit and revise. What advice and tips about revision do the writers out there have?
#writing #amwriting #revision
Are you clear on your true purpose, or do distractions keep pulling you away? I reflected on this with help from a hawk and Thomas Merton in my latest essay on inner simplicity:
open.substack.com/pub/stillmou...
I bet I am the only parent at this swim meet who's reading Julian of Norwich between events.
A month ago, I ran a 55k trail race in Western Colorado. Today, I wrote about that experience and how it illustrates the power the people around us have to shape our lives: open.substack.com/pub/stillmou...
Thank you, friend. I appreciate you.
All that training is designed to deepen both my self-awareness so I can serve my clients with greater presence, clarity, and care. I'm grateful for the opportunity to come alongside Christian leaders as a coach and spiritual director, and look forward to continuing this ministry.
In a field that isn’t formally regulated, an ICF credential represents a commitment to excellence, ethical standards, and accountability. Renewing an ICF credential requires at least forty hours of continuing education, including supervision by a mentor coach.
This feels satisfying: My ACC credential from @icfheadquarters.bsky.social was just renewed. 🙂
Would you rather have a happy, meaningful, or "psychologically rich" life? I think the three pursuits can overlap, but seeking to be psychologically rich seems to add depth to the search for happiness and playfulness to the search for meaning. www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...
With a half day retreat, I would start by journaling to clear my mind, then rotate between silence and scripture and more journaling. Leave other books behind. Also, is the anxiety from worrying about what you're stepping away from for the day, or about what you might encounter through the retreat?
How much time do you have? It's ironically tempting to try to accomplish a lot in retreats like this. I would emphasize silence, solitude, and rest, trusting the Spirit to plant seeds for the strategy work as you show down and get quiet.
I had a dozen things on my to-do list today. Only a few got done. But what happened was better: I got to sit with several different individuals and hear sacred stories from their lives. I will take listening to faith journeys over crossing off to-do lists any day.
If the cost of coaching is a burden for a fledgling church, then sponsoring coaching is a great way for partner churches or regional denominational bodies to support new churches. It's an investment in the health and sustainability of leaders who are willing to take big risks and start new things.
Coaches aren't consultants who are paid to provide strategies. We have experience, but don't lead by giving advice. Instead, we use intentional questions to help our clients listen to the Spirit and discern the best ways to move forward in their unique ministry contexts.
Coaches provide accountability, encouragement, and assistance in discernment for new worshiping community leaders. This support can make the difference in whether or not a new church thrives.
I was asked today to write to a group of church leaders about the value of #coaching for leaders of new worshiping communities and church plants. Here's what I shared:
Amen.
(3) Rewrote my introduction to make it clear to myself what I am trying to accomplish with this project. Now all the parts are clearly connected and working toward the same end.
(2) Siezed the moment: One daughter was having her allotted screen time and the other was listening to a podcast. I had an unexpected free hour and chose to write instead of busying myself with chores, scrolling, or other distractions.
(1) Moved everything out of Word and into a single Google Doc, using the tabs function to separate the chapters. So much easier to navigate and toggle between chapters.
Made significant progress on my sabbatical writing project today. It feels good to get unstuck. #amwriting
Here are three things that helped me regain my momentum:
Growing Through Accountability: How Structure and Community Promote Real Change: open.substack.com/pub/stillmou...
In my latest Substack post, I share how systems of accountability—from a program at my seminary, to a local writing group, to registering for a 55k trail race—are enabling real growth in my life. If you’re seeking progress, don’t go it alone. Read more at the link below:
Finding our way forward is going to involve listening deeply to our contexts and discerning how God is moving around us. We can begin this work by listening closely to our own neighbors and neighborhoods.
Yet those who are doing this work face a soteriological crisis, meaning they don’t know how to talk about salvation and Christology in ways that relate to our culture.
In other post-Christian contexts, like Europe, churches are finding ways to make experiences that feel sacred available in settings that mix churched and unchurched people: pop-up confessionals, spiritual retreats, Evensong services attended by secular crowds.
In our modern secular world, faith is increasingly implausible. Where the burden of proof once fell upon those who didn’t believe, it now falls on those who do believe. But rational apologetics won’t convince skeptics.