My high school English teacher showed Dead Poets Society at the end of every fall semester. As trees grew bare, Robin Williams inspired our impressionable young minds as John Keating by getting on top of his desk, reciting poetry, and encouraging his students to write their verse. My worldview shifted, though not for the better, when Keating…
Category: Chara Donahue
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
It was Christmas eve, impregnated with an importance that thankfully, didn’t visit annually. We all knew next Christmas one of us would not be there, so we held tight to the time gifted to us as we celebrated the birth of my Grandma’s Savior, who she would be meeting…soon. We gathered around the hospice bed…
Braving Summer’s Heat
Summer is waning, but the sun is still beckoning us out into the great outdoors while concurrently threatening to burn and blister the skin. Thunderstorms periodically shake the skies reminding that tension forms when opposites collide. Warm nights and long days usher in a sense of restlessness and the temptation to throw off responsibility. When…
Wandering Through an Unknown Tomorrow
I love to learn. The process of asking questions and finding answers exhilarates me. However, the speculation surrounding the pandemic paired with constant outrage from every side has been the catalyst for overwhelming societal confusion. Personally, one lesson has been louder than all the others—get comfortable with mystery. Make conclusions, and walk in wisdom, but…
Old Testament Comfort for Current Times
Too often we forget how much the Old Testament can minister to our desperate hearts, and we miss out if we don’t sit with the truths it brings. In times when it is clear that man cannot save himself, I am comforted to know that the serpent’s head will be crushed, that God works what…
The Cost of New Life
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 I have moved across the country twice. Both times with no job in sight. I just figured I would find one when I got there….
Yuletide Truth
Here is my confession: I believed in Santa until I was eleven. I had suspicions, but as far as I could see I had a good thing going on, and asking questions might mess with the quantity of wrapped bounty strewn beneath the tree Christmas morning. Whether it was Santa or Mom, I didn’t care,…
Survival of the Silent
Her head so high, not quite in vain, The truth inside, a bit arcane. She hides it tight to cloak the pain; The price of peace becomes a strain. The sin has left behind a stain, The scar, the mark—her life, her bane. To drag along this weighted chain She builds to fall and grow…
Breathing Faith
Sacred romance embrace my heart. Desire ignite the flame. No fear of being hurt. A love affair, silent and bare. Inhale to stand alive. I run to play with fire. Untamed, so wild, the danger tempts, I come to You oh Lord. Embrace my spirit, I’ll taste the life You died to give. I will…
3 Scripture-based Tools to Help You Persevere through Anxiety
We sat at a stoplight as the children engaged in trivial debate behind me when dizziness invaded. I tried to shake it off, but the adrenaline had already been released. My pulse quickened; looking for the danger my sub-conscience had decided was imminent. Breath was hard to catch, ache diffused across my chest, and my…
Anchored Voices 