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This has been quite the year to walk through, hasn’t it? I know it can be so discouraging, burdensome, and confusing as we each continue to face more and more challenges. All these things are very real, and there is a place for mourning and grieving the loss of...

My two best friends greatly inspired me last weekend. I’m always inspired by their passion, but I observed a new element of their love and ability to communicate that love that captured my heart’s attention and made me desire to champion them even more. Love...

Everything is broken... Trees. Roofs. Windows. Buildings. Cars. Relationships. Hearts. Dreams. Demand is high, Supply is low….and expensive. Marriages are strained. Children are insecure. People are easily triggered. For some, the loss feels unbearable. For others,...

I was in a good friend’s wedding a number of years ago and received a bracelet with a charm on it as a bridesmaid gift. It is somewhat modern in styling, simplistic without great detail or definition. I easily recognize the charm represents a tree, but I’ve never been...

"...Let the beauty we love be what we do." excerpt from “A Great Wagon” by Rumi In my neighborhood, I have been delighted by painted rocks that are strategically placed along the tree line of the sidewalk with messages of encouragement, or pictures, or sometimes a...

I wish I knew… Even if I’m not saying it out loud, my heart echoes this cry several times throughout my days. Over the past few months and weeks my soul has grown weary. I’m sure I’m speaking to the choir at this point, and so many of us are wishing and hoping for a...

Decision-making is not my forte. Anyone who knows me well knows how challenging it can be for me to make a decision sometimes. I desire more for others around me to be happy with the final decision when it comes to where we will pick to eat, what plans we should make...

Last week in Client Support we celebrated leadership and adaptability demonstrated in our clients. With so many adjustments in Client Support, we wanted to properly recognize those who have helped lead their classmates through the learning curve of online classes....

“A little thing comforts us because a little thing afflicts us.”  -Pascal  I bounded out of my car and excitedly made my way to the basement of Bridgehaven. I felt like a little kid who had just been handed a gift she couldn’t wait to open. I’m a lover of beauty. I...

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them…” -Genesis 1:27 Human dignity. Value. Worth. Life. These are a few of the words which keep coming to the forefront of my mind time and time again as I continue to reflect on recent events in...

“In their hearts… the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9 I vowed to never do it. It didn’t interest me. I didn’t study it (I double majored in French and History, after all). It actually really confused me. I did not want a career in it. So, in 2009, fresh...

“Reproach has broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I look for pity, but there was none, and for comforters but I found none.” Psalm 69:20 We are broken. Broken by sin. This shouldn’t be news to anyone and yet the response from a broken world continues to catch us...

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Psalm 150:6 Abba Father, I am so grateful for all of my senses that allow me to take in all of Your glorious creation. To see, with my own eyes the new life emerging in all of nature; to hear the return...

I’ve been a leader now for most of my career. It’s hard to make sense of how I got here being that my journey begun with a degree in vocal performance, but that’s a story for a different day (or blog). My point is, I really didn’t strive this calling; it called me. I...

This Saturday, my husband and I will celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. (Fun fact, Chelsey - our executive director - and her husband, Don, are celebrating 15 years today!) While I’m not sure five years really qualifies me to give solid marriage advice, I have...

The book of 1 Corinthians is a letter from Paul to the church in Corinth addressing truth that stabilize us for overcoming earthly pressures, lies, and sin. Just for fun, let’s review a few points from Paul’s letter: The full structure of the Church working in love...

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”  2 Corinthians 5:1 Like many of you, we are making the most of every opportunity to connect with each other. Twice a...

I cried the other day. It kinda caught me off guard. It came out of nowhere after another productive day of working from home, homeschooling, and family time, all meshed together since COVID-19 changed so much for so many. Discipline, focus, and love is a combination...

These last few weeks have made me realize how tightly I hold onto things. I’ve never thought of myself as particularly tied to the things of this world, but my work at Bridgehaven and how we thought this year would go changed overnight. I couldn’t celebrate my...

“This isn’t easy, this isn’t clear…” -“When A Heart Breaks” by Ben Rector This song came on this morning when I was getting ready, and the lyrics reminded me so much of this time we are all in right now together. It’s not easy. And it’s not clear. We don’t have...

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. -1 John 4:4 Definition of overcome: succeed in dealing with a problem or difficulty; defeat an opponent; prevail. No, in all these...

But they need you to be okay, too. “Life on lockdown is hard, but it is also an exercise in humility. Our collective well-being makes our little individual wishes look a bit whimsical and small-minded.” I am 63, and according to all of the new health guidelines, my...

Back in January, my husband and I traveled to Southeast Asia for a wedding. When we returned to Chicago O’Hare, U.S. Customs was just starting to ask travelers to disclose if they had been to Wuhan. In the days that followed, some of my husband’s co-workers implied...

I have always appreciated the Lenten season as a time to refocus, reevaluate, and have deeper reflection on how I am living my life. It allows for time to gain new perspectives and reveals the ways in which I may have been putting other things before God. Lent is a...

I’ve been studying and reflecting on Ephesians 4. I love learning about, exploring, and placing myself in the context and culture of Ephesus. Ephesus sounds busy and sought after: There were animals, spices, different languages, ships, fabrics, business and...

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James 4:14 I’ve been considering the deeper meaning of this verse over the past few days. I think that life moves so quickly - there...

Those who know me well will get a chuckle out of this one, but I am a person who really doesn’t like abruptness. I like to know what to expect and what to prepare for. I know this probably sounds like quite a few of us in one way or another, especially those of us who...

As we start 2020, we have designated a space for community and connection for all of those in the Earn While You Learn program. This community space is located in the area that held the Care Closet. We now have a fresh, inviting space for relationship building,...

Is it horrible that conversational prayer, talking directly with God, communing with Him in the quiet beginnings of my day, is so difficult for me? That my best strategy for now is writing (typing) my prayers? Somehow putting words on “paper”, seeing the words leap...

I have been struggling quite a bit with worry lately. It’s popped up in multiple ways in both my personal and professional life recently, and it has been especially prevalent as we have walked through some challenging and difficult conversations and circumstances with...

Monday night we got together. We put our hands to wood signs, frames, and boxes. We suited up with gloves to stain and paint. We picked up our hammers and created beautiful and intricate markings on our wood. There was a creative spirit that pulled us to transform the...

              ‘Twas the Night before Christmas Room and all through the Center Were busy preparations for the clients who would enter. The Bridgehaven volunteers had been stocking and sorting, And stacking and moving, endless boxes,...

It’s become commonplace to see cliché sayings about thanksgiving and a grateful heart this time of year leading up to Thanksgiving celebrations. As these banners become more and more fluid in our worlds, it’s easy to brush them off, put them off for later, or we may...

I have been reflecting a lot recently and have come to an even deeper realization of how much we need each other in this world. In my professional life, my personal life, and just witnessing the needs of those around me in our community, it is abundantly clear to me...

It is so sweet (and luxurious) to spend time in prayer each morning at Bridgehaven as we offer God the first fruits of our day. Last week I snapped this picture and thought how delighted our Heavenly Father must be when we gather together with open (sometimes digital)...

This past weekend, we hosted our seventh Take Courage Abortion Recovery Retreat. We met seven courageous women eagerly seeking a deeper healing and truth. But two of these women weren’t sure why they were there, noting their attendance was a sheer act of obedience....

Loss. Grief. Mourning. Sorrow. These are some topics that are challenging for me to talk about, to share in with others, to even think about at times. I don’t think I’m alone in this. But these are some of the most important issues to enter into with one another, no...

I’ve set time aside to seek the Lord heartily on a matter this week. I have the honor of speaking at a local artist retreat this weekend to encourage others to explore more of their creative design. I love and seek after diversity and to see people learning about...

I was passively listening to an interview with Demi Moore on Good Morning America this week and something I heard has been lingering in my thoughts: “...when you decide who someone is, you take away the opportunity for them to be anything else." I did a quick...

My heart has been heavy lately. This year had already been marked by personal loss, and this past month I’ve watched and walked with people I love and care about as they walk through losses of their own. And it feels like these losses just keep coming, piling one on...

One may take a look at this picture and glance over it. What do you see? On its surface, it’s a picture of three of my staff members one evening after a long day of learning at Care Net’s annual conference. They’re just hanging out in a hotel room, doing...

I have the privilege and honor of getting to be a listening ear and a compassionate presence for many of the clients who come through our doors every day. I have been allowed to be a part of intimate parts of their lives, and I am grateful to have their...

The 2019-2020 school year has kicked off, and we again have the beautiful opportunity to provide hope and encouragement for a good future for families through a scholarship from a Kirkwood foundation. During the summer, I met with several women who are...

As I write this, there is a violent storm flashing and thundering and cracking outside my window. It is before dawn, so the sky illuminates the landscape in shadows each time lightning breaks through the darkness. The boisterous thunder shakes the ground...

“Long ago I came to the total assurance that God loves me, God knows where I am every second of every day, and God is bigger than any problem life’s circumstances can throw at me.”~ Charles Stanley  My hand gripped the handle of the gray door and part of...

Greetings!Many of you know we launched a new program called Abortion Pill Reversal in June. This is an awesome opportunity to give women a second chance when regretting the start of a chemical abortion.For more information on this service, please visit our...

I have been asked two questions this week that I will, in turn, ask you: Who do you believe God has created you to be? How does God see you and how do you see yourself?  My wise counselor friend had me draw a frame, and inside the frame she asked me to...

Happy Birthday America! This day has always been a party. The cookouts, city-wide activities, and of course the beautiful firework displays. These celebrations bear fruit of the freedom we as Americans have been gifted. As I reflect on my own celebrations...

Change: to make or become different. Typically, I like everything to remain as consistent and stable as possible with minimal interruptions (or change) when something works well. But I have come to see in these past couple months some up close examples of how not all...

“I’m convinced You can do anything and everything.Nothing and no one can upset Your plans.You asked, ‘Who is muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issues, second- guessing My purposes?’I admit it. I was the one.I babbled on about things beyond me,...

I was up early and feeling very pleased with myself that I didn’t hit the snooze button even once. I had time to sit and have coffee and devotion time with the Lord. And then I did other responsible things, too: I emptied the dishwasher and packed my...

It’s not goodbye; it is see you later. My sister taught me that. Her husband serves in the Air Force so they move frequently and it is hard. To make it easier, they never say goodbye. See you later is much more casual, and the implication is there is a...

You know that feeling? When you are sitting across from someone (a family member, close friend, even someone you met recently) having a conversation together, and you are overcome with a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose because you are reminded that...

Fear paved my way to Bridgehaven. I know that sounds weird, but it’s true. The first time I walked through these doors, I was just plain scared. I was 17 weeks pregnant and across the country from everything and everyone familiar.   At first, I came here...

Bridgehaven is often synonymous with pregnant ladies and babies. Don’t get me wrong….we love both around here. There is nothing better than equipping women to be moms or snuggling newborn babies, but our purpose is so much bigger. The mission of Bridgehaven is to...

The volunteers at Bridgehaven fill my heart. Because of what they give and how faithfully they serve our ministry every day, my heart cannot help but overflow with gratitude and wonder. I desire, more than anything, for each of our volunteers to experience God through...

“I’m young but not so young… I’m at that place in life when wisdom, youth and experience meet… youth is put off with youthful beauty and replaced with wisdom wrought through experience… there is a different kind of beauty in that too. A type of beauty that...

Chaperoning your child’s school trip feels like a rite of passage, an experience every parent should volunteer for at least once. It grounds you, gives perspective, and, in my case, makes you very thankful for those who chose to be fourth grade teachers....

Last week, Haley encouraged us all to run towards those who need help. I don’t know about you but I’m not sure that is always my natural inclination. I think it is even more difficult when those who need help are strangers. In the big, scary world we live...

There have been quite a few circumstances which have arisen lately I want to say to God, “oh no, Lord, you don’t want me to be the one to do this.” Or, “shoot God, I think you meant to have someone else more equipped doing this.” Or even, “okay Lord, I...

Wow. January was quite a busy month for me! Full of lots of change, new beginnings, and learning the meaning of words I have never heard in my life. I bought a condo, the process started December 29, and I closed on it January 31. Talk about a huge, crazy...

Anyone else worn out from the holidays?  Not from the holiness of the holidays- the miracle of the Messiah, the wonder of the Wise Men and their gifts, the sovereignty of the star placed above our Savior’s crèche—no, never tired of that.  But so worn out...

It’s not very often I am left speechless, but that’s exactly what happened as I listened on the other end of the line to my Development Director reporting a rich blessing bestowed upon Bridgehaven this Christmas season. In an instant, my fears and worries,...

I’ve always had to find “my spot” anywhere I have lived. At my parents, it’s an old recliner looking over the living room. In Cedar Falls, it’s a coffee shop filled with college students working on homework, building relationships with each other, and, of...

To be honest, I haven’t felt very jolly this month. My heart has been broken a lot.  As I drive to various community organizations to lead groups and educate women, I pass by colorful Christmas lights and smiling yard inflatables of Rudolph, and the...

“…God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is...

My heart is full of thankfulness today. As the financial assistant at Bridgehaven, part of my job is to process all of the monetary gifts that we receive to support our ministry. As I do this, I encounter many names (maybe yours!) that are very familiar to...

A couple days ago during our staff prayer time here at Bridgehaven, one of our staff members handed out a blank list to all of us with the title, “Ways I have seen God work”. The list had 100 different lines numbered on it, and we were challenged during...

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11  You and I have never met. There’s a good chance you’re not aware that I exist. But you changed my...

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! Psalm 42:11 We have so many reasons to feel hopeless. To feel deep discouragement and a sad heart. The finalization of a divorce that wasn’t wanted, a devastating diagnosis for a...

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. I have this prayer sitting on a card in my room, and I glance at it almost every day. Sometimes, when I glance at...

Do you love new things? Do you like change? If you answered yes, we can’t be friends unless you are talking about new planners or new jeans. Not shopping for jeans, just the actual having of a great-fitting pair of jeans. Anyway, new things are scary and...

Sometimes, we face seemingly impossible situations. We come face to face with something we didn’t plan for, we didn’t necessarily desire, or didn’t feel like we could handle. At times, our mind and heart take us through every emotion, and other times, we...

Imagine with me. You see a little girl, possibly just six years old. She has long, blonde hair pulled into tight ringlets. She’s wearing a little dress that has just the right amount of poofiness, with a pair of white pumps, perfect for going to church....

Dance like no one is watching (even though the whole world is watching via Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat…) This is Havi. She is barely two. She has no idea that she has just danced before the world. No inhibitions. Just the admiration of her parents, a...

Some mornings for me are harder than others. Some mornings, or should I say very few mornings, I wake up feeling energized and ready. But most times I argue with God about getting out of bed, and He lovingly reminds me of His mercy and the new things He...

As I was growing up, I always dreamed of being a teacher. Just like my mom. I saw and heard stories of how she impacted people’s lives every day, how she inspired youth, and how she was filled to the brim with passion for seeing others succeed. I thought,...

A couple weeks ago, my little girl walked up to a mannequin in the men’s department at Younkers, threw her arms around its legs, and smiled up at me. “Look! It’s my daddy! Is it my daddy?” she asked. I froze. My heart shriveled in fear as I stood looking...

If your summer is anything like mine, the tops of your legs are sunburned and you probably should have invested in stock for Fels-Naptha. For those of you who do not know what in the world I am talking about, you are most likely not a baseball mom....

Yesterday morning in our staff prayer time at Bridgehaven, Rachel Pheasant, our Marketing Coordinator, shared a very touching and convicting blog she wrote a few years back about an experience she had during a trip to Rwanda. It sparked great conversation...