A story about the link between perception and connection.

"It Is Finished."

A Good Friday reflection.

Sarah WestfallApril 2, 2021Good Friday, Easter, suffering, questions, death, new life, connection with God, hope Comment

The World through Two Eyes

Perception is a tricky thing. With only two eyes on the front of our heads, our lens on the world is limited—skewed to a very slim slice of reality.

There's More to the Story

The more space I made for other’s stories, the less room I had for comparison and assumption.

3 Ways to Cultivate Quiet in a Noisy World

A few principles for turning down our internal volume in everyday life.

Solitude, Silence, and Jesus

Slowing down is about not only pace but also presence. And while we know that it is not good for man to be alone—sometimes, it is.

What Is Waiting in the Quiet?

“It’s amazing what we find when the clang and clamor falls away. The quiet waits, patiently nestled beneath our busyness and distractions and ready to divulge its secrets.”

A Few(ish) Thoughts on Paradox

“Lately I’ve been struck by the paradoxes we face when following Jesus—how concepts that don’t seem to play well with each other somehow hold hands in God’s kingdom.”

Sarah WestfallFebruary 25, 2021communion, life with God, life of presence, spiritual formation Comments

God is Not in a Hurry

“We want the effects of new spiritual habits to be immediate and change to be permanent. But what we so easily forget in our microwave-it culture is that change is rarely instantaneous.”

Sarah WestfallFebruary 22, 2021slow living, spiritual growth, transformation, change Comments

The Something of Nothing

“There is a sense that the un-rushed now unravels what has been left behind and girds us for what is ahead. Sitting still—that time void of measurable activity—is not lazy or useless. Rather, the nothingness becomes an invitation into more.”

Sarah WestfallFebruary 15, 2021slow living, silence, quiet, liturgy of the little things, paying attention Comments

On Being Left Behind

Slowing down has had its advantages, but over the last two weeks, I’ve had a nagging feeling that I am falling behind.

Sarah WestfallFebruary 8, 2021slow living, slowness, pace of life, comparison, presence, life of presence Comments

Ground Only God Can Make Holy

“All five boys were together for the first time—but never where I had imagined. They ran around in circles on the cemetery grass, dashing in and out of headstones, their footprints sinking into the damp earth. The youngest two drove Matchbox cars along the top of the marker bearing their brother’s name.”

Sarah WestfallFebruary 1, 2021grief, grace, child loss, loss, Carter Comments

Sustainable First Steps

Change that lasts can’t come all at once. Here are a few ways we are moving toward a slower-paced lifestyle—a beginning, but certainly not the end.

Sarah WestfallJanuary 29, 2021slow living, life of presence, presence, connection Comments

A Slower Way

How our family is recalibrating in the new year, adjusting our lives to a slower way.

Sarah WestfallJanuary 25, 2021slowness, pace of life, presence, family Comment

The Uncommon Stranger

I fought back tears as I watched him in the restaurant. The man couldn’t have been any older than fifty or sixty at most, and yet his body curved like a much-older man. His back was stooped over, his shoulders tight, his knees looked like they might buckle beneath him. It appeared as if even standing caused him pain.

Sarah WestfallJanuary 19, 2021liturgy of the little things, connection, presence, life of presence, hope Comment

Naming Good in the Face of Fear

Last night I awoke to the sound of a door opening down the hall. Bare feet made their way toward our bedroom. My head lifted off the pillow to see our eight-year-old son at the end of our bed.

Sarah WestfallJanuary 18, 2021fear, liturgy of the little things, presence, parenting Comments