BOOKS
As a spiritual director, I walk with people as they journey with Jesus. Part of that journey is a longing to take time away with God to rest, whether a practice of sabbath, retreat or sabbatical. While many might agree on the necessity of rest, even extended retreats in solitude, few practice this rhythm in their day-to-day lives. I noticed that many of my directees, when faced with time alone with God, wrestled with how to use their time, and often left their retreats feeling discouraged, dismayed, and disillusioned. I began writing retreat guides for directees and friends as a way to offer step-by-step instructions for their time away with God. Come Away and Rest closes the gap between hearing God’s invitation to rest and putting it into practice in a sustainable, life-giving rhythm.
In Come Away and Rest, you will find:
- Guidance for how to prepare for a personal spiritual retreat
- Step-by-step instructions for crafting six personal retreats, ranging between six hours to several days
- Wisdom for re-entering life after a retreat
REVIEWS
- 320 topical devotions,
- Contributions written by women of diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and vocations,
- Special Biblical section introductions highlighting the needs and interests of women,
- 52 profiles on important figures in the Bible,
- Space and sensitivity for women to engage difficult Bible passages,
- Fresh and candid insights into often-neglected Biblical passages and personalities.
WRITING
The musings you will find here are often about nothing at all but about everything that matters to me. It is about having too much: 5 kids, 3 cars, one over-active husband, and one lazy dog. I nod along with the old ladies observing me in Target with five kids in tow. “You’ve got your hands full!” they love to say, and I agree since I know they mean it in the best way. I like, especially, when they ask if they are all mine, as though for fun, I pick up my friend’s kids on a Saturday morning for a sweaty, maniacal jaunt to Target.
In another sense, I write about not having enough: time, energy, money, faith. I feel as though I could be a lot more spiritual if I was not interrupted every 5 minutes by people who have lost their reading log, or are just wondering how whales sleep or would like to know for the 15th time when dinner will be ready. (Spoiler: it is at the same time every day.) I’m trying to find God in this tension of abundance and lack; trying to find Him in the chaos and noise and demands. If the little I know about Him is true, He is out there finding me too, snagging my attention with neon sunsets and perfectly risen loaves of bread. I’m beginning to see how He can be found, not only outside of, or before, but within the messy, the mundane, and the ordinary.
Along with essays here, I’ve written for several online and print publications, including (in)Courage Magazine, Homefront Magazine, Just Between Us, MomCo Magazine and many others. I contributed six essays to The Message Women’s Devotional Bible (Navpress, 2025). I am a proud member of the Redbud Writers Guild, a group of diverse writers seeking to influence faith and culture by expanding the feminine, theological voice. My first book, Come Away and Rest: A Guide to Personal, Spiritual Retreats, will be available at all major retailers in January 2026. If you like what you read here, I think you’ll like that too.
In the beginning, we are told, God created the heavens and the earth. Before this moment, the earth was formless and void, a chaotic nothingness.
This retreat guide is intended for the person who is curious about an individual retreat but unsure where to start. Included are practical tools, things
NOTE: This is the first installment of a series available only through email. Sign up for the rest of the series here: A few weeks
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