The sunrise exists because blue and yellow remain who they are, yet hang out together. Together they create a gradient. Go make a sunrise.
go make a sunrise
Lessons: Special Weekend Edition
Not all lessons occur Monday-Friday. Sometimes they explode all over the counter in a cloud of orange dust on a Saturday night.
Two Weeks of Lessons
Every day God is trying to teach me something. The question is whether or not I’m paying enough attention to notice it, reflect on it, and do something with it. The past two weeks a few new things came to light: serrated knives and fingertips don’t go well together, water is more important than coffee... Continue Reading →
My Top 9: Week 3
People say the devil is in the details. I disagree. Beauty is in the details. Insight is in the details. God is in the details. So this week I cut down my list from 20 to 9 and I went deeper.
it’s easy
Sometimes it is helpful to admit that being an adult is hard. Self-control is hard. Choosing to respond with kindness is hard. Choosing to be silent when the world shouts, is hard. Choosing God’s way is hard. But the hard stuff? That is often where the world needs you to be. Where God asks me to be.
My Top 20 : Week 2
If you slow down just enough, and look up you might notice a few things. Like someone turned off the light in the restroom while you were still in the restroom, the water delivery guy does not want a water, a determined child on a big wheel can keep up with the big bikes, and homemade ranch with a side of hugs are what the Midwest is made of.
My Top 20 : Week 1
This is my top 20 list of what I learned this week from observing the people and world around me. Coming in hot at #15... Pigeons do not scare easily. Especially Steve.
fear
I quit my job. But I wasn’t unhappy. I wasn’t running away from anything. I was running toward something.
my feet
Today I am thankful for... my feet. And the grass I was able to walk on. And the memories of jumping, of grandparents, of all that has been gifted to me.
you’re the one
You’re the one the world has been waiting for. In the rain. In the sun. Take the chance. Make the move. God gave you a purpose. Love.
the we
I tried writing so many times today and nothing stuck. It felt like a ramble of so many disconnected thoughts. Until one photo, with one post, from an old friend, reminded me of how powerful words can be.
the secret
In a moment, in the rain, I heard more, I saw more, and found joy.
until the bubbles end
Some things never seem to have an end. Work. Email. Information. It's overwhelming. So I stepped away, and remembered it's possible. I remembered it's okay. And I stayed.
salt
Today I am thankful for a little salt shaker. A little reminder that not only should I not be salty, and not pour salt in a wound, but that we are called to something more. We are a key ingredient in every interaction in this life. We can bring out the best in each other.
responding
We often miss how much control we have in our response. We claim "we had no choice," but it's our response to their words, no matter what those words are, that reveals our character. We have an opportunity, you and I. To receive feedback with curiosity and compassion. To choose a better way.
planning meeting
Meeting Notes: It's been a long time since we had a planning meeting. They were scheduled but I wasn't showing up because "I had a conflict." I was the conflict. So we met and we started at the beginning.
the art of the thank you
Thank you notes are not required. But your words are powerful and meaningful and have the ability to change someone's moment, day and even life.
funk
It’s a weird thing to read something you’ve written and not recognize your own voice. To wonder where that person went and how to find her again.
break through
the sun breaks through the clouds like waves the lure breaks through the water makes waves the birds break through the silence in waves how can I break through to reduce the waves --- the water can’t create a new image, it reflectswhat’s around, the outline of trees, the light of sun, it revealsa hint... Continue Reading →
sometimes
most times social media ruins me. annihilates me. into a spiral of zombie behavior and destructive comparison. but sometimes it makes me cry in a good way. a healthy way. that reminds me of humanity and love and strength and compassion. That reminds me not everyone is selfish and self centered and tone deaf. Not... Continue Reading →
boiling
I don’t want to be perpetually agitated... quick to anger, easily set off by poorly timed red lights, political posts, rearranged super market aisles, incomplete reporting, the wrong kind of ranch dressing… I want to try something different. With you.
porch swing
If I had a porch swing someone could sit with me, and in that moment we could be a blessing to each other. But I don't need to wait for a porch swing for that. It's my excuse. I don't know what your porch swing is. But stop waiting for it. You are enough as you are right now.
influence
You don’t get to decide what will or won’t leave an impression on someone else. You don’t get to decide what will or won’t leave an impression on you. You do get to decide whether to care. Whether to try. Whether to be better.
anthem
The concept of an anthem, a personal musical anthem, first surfaced in college. When I had to choose what song would play when I came out on stage for the date auction. Yes, a date auction. Men and women were auctioned off to the highest bidder for one date night, and all of the proceeds... Continue Reading →
high five
When you’re having a no good very bad day, can you still praise someone else for a job well done? When you’re having a no good very bad week? Very bad month? Very bad season? Can you still praise someone else for who they are? What they’ve done? For delivering a stellar presentation? For making a... Continue Reading →
choose
I cried this weekend. I experienced envy. In envy I longed for the clarity of direction from God. In envy I wanted to be pursued to participate in something bigger than myself with Him at the center. In one of the moments where this shade of green took over my emotions, I did what any... Continue Reading →
start slow
I chose to sit in the dark. Sometimes darkness is not a bad thing. It slows things down. In the evening after the sun sets and the sky darkens, your body prepares for sleep. For rest. It slows down. So I chose to sit in the dark. To listen to the rain. To start slow.... Continue Reading →
buffering
I stepped back into my life. Parts of it. My head swells. My jaw aches. I clench when stressed. The rest of me doesn’t feel stressed though. But my teeth hurt. So I must be. I’m buffering. Awkwardly meandering through familiar people and places. Using phrases I stamped out years ago. Hearing them leave my... Continue Reading →
layover
I people watch at the airport. With enough distance that I can't hear; I can only see and I write poems, imagining their stories and their lives based on body language. I. I look for you in between the pages of the novel how novel you never write back II. the secrets pile on layers... Continue Reading →
if i choose
not for work or for the store or for church or dinner or date night or plans with friends not for insta or snap not for you not for them not for me If I choose. no more researching and picking and buying and returning and putting on and taking off and irritation and fading... Continue Reading →
fixture
watching them watching love they’re watching they stop to observe to capture to smell to see to be if they would stop talking for a moment they would hear the sound of the music in the background building filling the bass bass slowly rumbles in the sound of the fountain goes on without their notice... Continue Reading →
rare
She smiles With all of her face With all of her heart She chooses to give Something rare I see you. You matter. You are valuable. Thank you. They smile back and blush They don’t know How to receive Something rare A pause between smiles Leaves just enough space An awkward compliment Wedges itself inside... Continue Reading →
the excess
walking in the sun. no trees around. we can’t pay the sky for clouds or bribe the sun to hide. around the corner a spot emerges owned by a cat. I shared my water he shared his shade we each shared our excess not out of requirement or obligation we simply chose to share what... Continue Reading →
a fighter
It was better because I had to fight for it. An early alarm clock though I hardly slept. A too tiny cup of hotel room coffee. Two hundred and fifteen stairs. Alone at a table with a wet chair. I sat down. I fought for this moment. The sun.
pose
Everyone wants to be a super model Orchestrated poses, scarves in the wind standing in dangerous places so the wind blows our hair just so Retakes and retakes and retakes by husbands and boyfriends also trying to hold our purse Filters and photoshop for contrast and saturation and the elimination of everything we wish we... Continue Reading →
a listening hug
It was over a year ago. And it was a bad day at work. I still remember. I felt inadequate, anxious and not quite smart enough to do what was being asked of me. There did not seem to be enough hours for meetings and email and people and the work I was supposed to... Continue Reading →
your roots
Digging around the internet trying to piece together my family tree has been a scavenger hunt like no other. Deciphering handwritten census lines, attempting to translate Danish baptism records, and sheepishly reaching out to strangers to ask if we just might be related somewhere down the line. Finding your roots can be a challenge. As... Continue Reading →
i listened
Dear Busia, I listened to you tonight. Backing up the files on my laptop I found you and one of our conversations that I just happened to audio record several years ago. You told me about the old house in Chicago, your dogs… the way you took care of me while I was really little,... Continue Reading →
Today I am thankful for… fat birds
There is a fat little bird on the railing of my deck, singing at the top of her lungs. As I watch her sitting there content, and safe and using all of the power from the little lungs she's been gifted, a thought drifts back into my mind. A thought from a post of a... Continue Reading →
hold hands
On Saturday February 25, 2017, family and friends gathered to hold hands and celebrate the life of my amazing polish grandmother, whom many of us called Busia. I was honored and privileged to give the eulogy at her funeral. What follows are the words I shared, which only give a small glimpse into the immense love... Continue Reading →
in spite of
This is about focus. In spite of the bad things. In spite of the loss. In spite of lost opportunities. In spite of the things that slipped through your fingers. Because in between those “in spite of” moments, were good moments too. Moments worth recalling, worth remembering and being thankful for.
clutter
Today I am thankful for... clutter My home office had devolved into a life size junk drawer. It became the destination for random pieces of paper, bills, boxes, cards, decorations, pictures, notes, "ooh I should save this" type items I couldn't be bothered to better assess in the moment. And so the piles grew and... Continue Reading →
blank slate
Today I am thankful for... a blank slate. I love a brand new journal. A new stack of post-it notes. A new legal pad at work. An empty word doc on my computer. I love the blank slate. There are no existing patterns I have to follow. No scribbles or scratches or mistakes yet. I can... Continue Reading →
i don’t know
I don’t know what it’s like to be you. Something about us is different. So I don’t fear the same things you do in the same way. I don’t take the same precautions that you do. Something about us is different. So I don’t see opportunities or limitations in the same way. I don’t make... Continue Reading →
connected layers
I love this little hut over the ocean. We dubbed it our coffee hut, the spot we claimed each morning after a walk on the beach. And the roof of this little hut is rather impressive. A patchwork providing shade. One branch would not have been enough. But connected tightly and layered multiple times, it... Continue Reading →
well & good
Some of you are grammar nerds. No judgment, honestly, I love you all. There their they're... you are keeping us from spiraling into lazy language. But I must ask you... Did you do good? (I can hear you cringing) or... Did you do well? My college president felt it was possible to do both and... Continue Reading →
radiant gradient
It started to spit. I looked up at the cloudy sky and started to place my bets. Should I pack up and run to a covered shelter or wait it out... I chose the former and watched as the soft rain fell all around me. And then the sun came out and I smiled. A... Continue Reading →
pay attention
Listen when I'm talking to you. Serious sentence with serious undertones. You're in big trouble mister... You have either heard and/or uttered this phrase countless times. Why? Maybe there was something that needed to be done, or not done, in the moments to come... and without this verbal instruction the recipient was sure to suffer... Continue Reading →
love fights
Have you ever had someone fight for you? Not the "step in and beat someone up for teasing you" kind of fighting... rather the kind of fight where someone pursues you and your love because despite whatever is going on, you are that worth it. This is the kind where someone chases you, (not in... Continue Reading →
no filter
I wanted to use a filter. To brighten the shadows, bump up the contrast, enhance the saturation. I wanted to click edit and adjust the tint on my face to better match the lack of color on my neck. To shrink my nose. To make my eyes more blue and my face more smooth. I wanted... Continue Reading →
jessica lynn shull 
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