Grace and Grit

Just over two years ago I said "I Do" to my husband Joshua. The journey leading to that day was a stressful one, as I imagine it is for most people who are blending two separate lives into one. It felt especially crazy for me since I was job hunting and house hunting along with planning our wedding, working, and being in grad school...hard to believe I didn't drive Josh insane with all the unknowns we had going on at once. God definitely gave us some extra grace through all that... and being in premarital counseling certainly helped. It still feels very new to be married and living in our home in the Antelope Valley. It's weird to come home after work to a husband, the dogs, and a *real* house with a yard and garden (I lived in an apartment for 7 years). Don't get me wrong, it's a GOOD weird but weird none the less. :-) I also still feel like a newlywed...when does that go away?  For our anniversary this year we said our vows to each other again and it w...

 " Little children, let us not  love in word or talk but in deed and  in truth." - 1 John 3:18 It's been awhile since I have mentioned a truly fantastic part of what I get to see at The Sheepfold and that is our volunteers! I know I have posted (several times) about our amazing Christmases and some crazy specific donations like canned smoked oysters  and people showing up with dinner when there was no food to put on the table, but that's only a teeny tiny part of the awesomeness that I get to see on a regular basis. The Sheepfold is going strong because of the support from thousands of really awesome individuals and groups. This past Saturday I had the privilege of receiving a group of volunteers at the shelter. It was a local small group from a church and as part of their community building and spiritual growth they decided they wanted to participate in some kind of service project. Lucky us, they looked up The Sheepfold! They showed up early on a Saturday...

Confession: This post has been sitting as a draft for almost six months because I haven't had the emotional energy to dwell on this subject (goodbyes). Although I've known I wanted to tackle it for some time, I also wanted to write it from a peaceful frame of mind and it's taken awhile to get there. With the recent passing of The Sheepfold's founder, Fran Lundquist, I have been spending more time thinking of the thousands of women who must have walked through The Sheepfold's doors over the past 30+ years. Just in my short time working here I have known, loved, guided, served, and been blessed by at least 30 women and 50+ children. Some stayed just a few weeks, others months, and some even a year. That's just at my house, not including the hundreds of women I've met at the Sheepfold's other shelter houses and alumni gatherings. As I have written here before, domestic violence does not effect one demographic more than another. We have young women and ol...

Last year I shared my first impressions of a Sheepfold Christmas. If you haven't read that post you can read it here . This Christmas was a little less chaotic because my house wasn't quite as full, but it was every bit as precious as last year. Rather than share my experiences I thought I'd let you read one of our moms' thoughts on Christmas at the Sheepfold. But first, a little bit of background on this mom. :-) Last Christmas our mom (who I will call Beth*) was homeless and staying at an emergency shelter. Emergency shelters are short-term, usually co-ed places where you can sleep, take a shower, and have a hot meal. If you've seen the film The Pursuit of Happynes s it is the kind of shelter where you have to wait in line hoping they'll have a bed for you each night. They can be scary places for someone like Beth with two children under the age of 4. She was hopeful however that this would be a blessed first Christmas for her little ones. The shelter she w...

WARNING: This post is for my Christian readers. You may be offended, angered, sobered, convicted, or indifferent. My hope is that, whatever your initial reaction, you will see yourself for what you are and what you would be if not for the grace of God (and by you I mean WE). Specks of dirt, beautiful wretches, and scandalous grace. One day a young woman entered a church... Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke doesn't it? Let's call her Grace... Grace had a lot of baggage. In her 30-ish years of life she had already experienced more pain, loss, abuse, and numbness than she knew what to do with. Her abuse began when she was a young child at the hands of her father, uncle, and brother. Each of them were responsible for stripping away her innocence, dignity, and hope. After years of unimaginable torment that became her daily reality she met a man. This man was better than any of the men she had ever known or loved. He could take her away ...

So I have not posted in awhile and there are a couple reasons for that. First, a lot has been happening in my life lately and in the lives of those who are near and dear to me. Some of these are good things, some bad, some confusing, and some that are just difficult. It's crazy how messy things get when when I'm striving to be genuine and vulnerable.  If there's no current conflict to work through in your life let me challenge you to ask yourself whether or not you are really willing to change. Wait, what did I just say? If you're looking for growth, then how you deal with conflict (within yourself or interpersonally) will show you a lot about where you need to focus. :-) Second, I want to make sure that I am not posting something just because I want to speak and be heard. I've mostly enjoyed this blog. There have been so many cool experiences over the past six months that I haven't shared yet! I don't think I'll run out of things to talk about for dec...

I had the privilege of working Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at the shelter last week. Rather than switch shifts out Sunday at 7am like we managers usually do, we decided to wait until 9am so that the early morning craziness would be over and the transition would be easier. I had mixed feelings at first when I saw my schedule would fall on Christmas eve and morning. Christmas is one of those holidays that is full of tradition. Christmas Eve was always (ALWAYS) spent with my mom's side of the family at my Grandma's house. It is my favorite gathering of the season. Singing carols, opening gifts, eating Mexican food...ahh the song "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof comes to mind. :-) My cousin Kim and I have a running tradition of filling an old pringle can with mementos and notes each year as a make-shift mini time capsule. It's a great opportunity to catch up on the extended family's lives and encourage each other. Not to be a part of that, among other...

Personally, Christmas is my favorite holiday and I love that the season seems to stretch from Thanksgiving to New Years. The longer the better! I'm always the last one to throw out the tree. :-) I've already spent weeks listening to Christmas songs and developing a strategy of how best to string up my lights. But for many of the women and children that enter The Sheepfold's doors Christmas has not been something they have looked forward to each year. Christmas has been just another day to feel alone, neglected, wounded, and broken. Last Saturday a group of 5 adults came to the shelter for a couple hours. That's not unusual as there are frequent volunteers and interns who sacrifice their time to invest in the lives of our moms and their children. But this group brought a little something extra with their hearts full of love. They brought our house a live Christmas tree, lights, a cake, carols, and the Christmas story. They spent their time jumping right in and ...