It has happened twice in twenty years. Twice. The first time was in Florence, Italy, on a 30th Anniversary trip with my husband. We were tired, trying to find a legal parking space for our rented car, and then staggering uphill, in an unfamiliar place, searching for a Rick Steves’ suggested hotel amid the confusion […]
Shame Is The Great Presence-Killer
by on December 2, 2019 Leave a Comment
Why have I heard from God? Why have I not heard from God? *** I was eight. Each night I got out a book of children’s prayers and tried to connect to God after my parents turned out the lights at bedtime. My family was falling apart that year in spectacular ways—in a few months, […]
Women of the Renovation
by on September 10, 2019 Leave a Comment
Remember that day when you touched the edge of Jesus’ garment? Remember when you took that long journey, first within yourself—because you had to walk that long, lonely journey within first—and then all the way from the edges of the crowd right to the feet of Jesus? You believed if you could just get there, […]
Cultivating A Holy Curiosity
by on February 27, 2019 1 Comment
Every day I stand and watch this intersection of four roads that is such a symbolic intersection of all of life. I look out over my current little corner of the world through a smudged floor-to-ceiling window. From the time I pull back the paisley curtain, blinking at the light pouring in my room, to […]
A Travel Fail and Cambodian Breakfast Angels
by on March 18, 2018 7 Comments
By Natalie Toon Patton | Instagram For Christmas this year, my husband and I decide to forego getting gifts for each other and instead gifted our family a post-Christmas trip to Cambodia. Google maps estimates the drive to be six hours from our home in Bangkok to Siem Reap. Google maps is out of touch in […]
