by Jeanni Shepherd | Dec 10, 2021 | Words for a Christmas Journey
In a slow reading of Luke 2, the words “She was thoroughly shaken” catch my attention. It might be because I feel compassion for a young girl who hasn’t experienced much in the way of sorrow and suffering. I wonder what that was like for her? But perhaps it’s because...
by Jeanni Shepherd | Dec 7, 2021 | Words for a Christmas Journey
About 10 years ago I really started struggling with the month of December, and Christmas in particular. Christmas songs didn’t spread joy in my heart, they created an ache. The sheer nostalgia of the words, the slight melancholy feel of the music over against the...
by Jeanni Shepherd | Dec 3, 2021 | Words for a Christmas Journey
Recently I joined a new prayer group. I committed for several reasons, the most passionate being I want to move beyond what I know into “more.” Prayer had begun to feel like tracks worn and hollowed from use. Something fresh was in order. At the close of the second...
by Jeanni Shepherd | Dec 25, 2020 | The Gift of Presence
It was finished. She felt His life leave her body. Waiting anxiously to hear Him cry, she could only take deep breaths, trying to come back to some sort of physical balance. There! Exhausted she lay back overwhelmed with relief. The birth was done. This part was over....
by Jeanni Shepherd | Nov 30, 2020 | Sacred Pause
Hello Everyone, Maybe you’re like us and find that when entering the Christmas season sometimes the pull of gifts, parties, connections, and caring for our communities creates some chaos and, of all things, disconnection. Of all the things we’re after in...
