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the apostasy of church: Abandoning the faith

People are leaving the Church in droves. With the whirlwind of COVID restrictions over the past few years, a topic resurfaced in Church conversations: church attendance. Many of us could not attend church in person, not necessarily by choice. When our choice was given back, we didn’t always choose to go back. Some of us were leery of church members being sensible about COVID guidelines. Or…

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#abandoning the faith #apostasy #atheism #church attendance #faith

Post-graduation problems: Anhedonia

I finished a doctoral program in December, which marked an exciting moment in my life. I’m no longer in school for the first time since I was six. After each degree, I jumped into the next one, the only break being certifications. It was a blessing to work towards my education, knowing that so many cannot pursue higher education. Honestly, I also enjoy being a student and working towards…

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#anhedonia #graduation #mental health #postgrad #stigma

California: Rock Climbing & Redwoods

Giles and I recently trekked out to California, a trip I had postponed for far too long. Every year, we mean to go out and visit and every year, we didn’t. Granted, the past few years were fairly easy to excuse. We had several rounds of visits to make, and we weren’t sure what to expect from any of them. Round One: Southern California After an hour and a half at the car rental, we finally made…

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#california #family #friends #mountains #travel

It's in the Waiting

My latest blog on waiting

I am an unabashedly impatient person when it comes to waiting for God to move. From what I see of the characters within the Bible, I am not alone in this struggle. There is a realness in the biblical narrative that make my own struggles ‘fit’ within the context of my faith. Impatience does not seem to disqualify anyone. On the other hand, there seems to be a difficulty in taking a bold move to…

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#Bible #fear #horeb #impatience #patience #trust #waiting

Untying Yourself From the Past: Forgiveness

I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately, which of course means that I have been trying to have greater forgiveness in my own life. There are certain Unforgiveness for a Past Event Discuss how the unforgiveness is rooted in the past Unforgiveness Regurgitates the Past Unforgiveness brings you back to that place– the trigger and the context of the trigger Unforgiveness Grounds us…

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#emotional release #forgiveness #past #unforgiveness

Fruits of the Spirit & Personality

Let me start off by saying that personality tests are one of my favorite pastimes (and forms of procrastination). I’m always eager to learn which character from the Big Bang Theory encapsulates my personality (sigh…. Leonard’s mom with a dash of Bernadette). However, the obsession with personality tests have resulted in some unfortunate outcomes. While self-awareness can be a powerful practice,…

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#excuses #gifts of the spirit #personality

All the Things I Don't Know

All the Things I Don’t Know

It’s no secret that I have a problem with pride. I cut people off mid-sentence, I always seem to respond to people sharing with, “yeah, I know”, and when people ask me if I know about something, I of course must claim to be at least familiar with the topic. This makes me essentially no different than the casual Facebook user, which is the mark of an area for personal growth. Changes in the…

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#education #pride #social media

All the Things I Don't Know

All the Things I Don’t Know

It’s no secret that I have a problem with pride. I cut people off mid-sentence, I always seem to respond to people sharing with, “yeah, I know”, and when people ask me if I know about something, I of course must claim to be at least familiar with the topic. This makes me essentially no different than the casual Facebook user, which is the mark of an area for personal growth. Changes in the…

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#education #opinion #pride #social media

Inactivity is not Always Rest: Seeking True Refreshment

We find ourselves in a season of global exhaustion, in which all seem attacked by fatigue. Despite the claims of ‘forced rest’ in the consequences of COVID, many of us are maintaining our workloads, but with additional constraints. Regardless of whether we are able to continue work or not, there are fewer events in our planners. Events are being cancelled or moving online, and ‘going out’ has…

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Harnessing Fear to Drive Prayers

Regardless of where you stand on current issues, there is no denying the heavy role that fear is playing within our current society. No matter which nation or community, there seems to be one crisis after the next, without a moment to breathe between. My church is addressing a series of attacks people seem to be facing during this season, with the first of these being fear.

“Avoiding danger…

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The Privilege of Having Been Born White

My first memory of having heard of the concept “white privilege” happened after a wealthy, white politician was blatantly guilty of having committed a crime, but rubbed elbows with the right person and was barely slapped on the wrist. I couldn’t tell you who it was or what he had done (a white politician doing something scandalous is beyond commonplace), but I remember the response of those…

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#culture #race #white privilege

Homemade Apple Cider

The fall weather is finally here and it has brought the comfort food and warm beverages that I’ve waited for! This year, I tried my hand at homemade apple cider, instead of store bought. This required a lot more work than I had anticipated, but it did not disappoint.

Prep time 10 mins Cook time 8 hours Total time 8 hours 10 mins

Ingredients

5 LBS Apples, Sliced (I used half…

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#apple cider #autumn #fall #thanksgiving

Staying Grounded : When your personal values conflict with those in your field

In today’s world, it seems that we are all surrounded by dilemmas– having to choose between different values. It’s everywhere we turn–it can be difficult to navigate the competing values and even more so when it seems to be pervasive in your field.

International Psychology

I have just spent a little over a week in South Africa, as part of my doctoral program. I am currently working on my…

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#controversy #grounded #international psychology #values

Tolerance v Challenging: The Commitment of Restoring Society

Society always corrects itself, but it always overcorrects. It was not that long ago that discrimination was blatantly praised. It’s undeniable that inequalities still thrive in the US, and I am certainly not going to make light of just how powerfully intolerance has seemed to seep through. But our society has seemed to transition to at least an attempt towards justice. Specifically, there is at…

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#homeless #social improvement #social responsibility #tolerance

To All My Former Friends: An open apology to half the people I've met

To All My Former Friends: An open apology to half the people I’ve met

When New Years comes around, I never create resolutions. As someone who has never stopped attending or teaching school, I will always see August as the beginning of the year. No, this is the time for reflection and for cleaning house. Speaking of which, I’m getting ready to move into a new house. This provides me the opportunity to reconnect with former friends. Friends that were a significant…

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#confessions #forgiveness #grace #Health #interelational #new year #relationships #self-improvement #toxic people

Peru Part Two: Non-Profit Organizations

While I never got a chance to see Machu Picchu, my purpose in visiting Peru was for my doctorate. We learned of the culture, and how to interact as professionals. I loved learning of the history of Peru and being able to see how it has directly related to their lives, today. But all that aside, it was not the intended purpose. We mainly visited nonprofit organizations, which showed a powerful…

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Peru Part One: My First Transcontinental Trip

After half a year after my trip to Peru, I find myself losing connection with my experiences. While I would love to share, there were too many aspects to do it justice in a single post. In this first post, I will be sharing the reasons for my travel to Peru and what it was like to travel to another continent for the first time. And yes, there will be kitties.

Why Peru

As some of you may know, I…

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#international trip #Latim #Latin America #Peru #phd #TCSPP #travel

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