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2 Months Away!

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  I loved the time with you both on the Camino, and I am so grateful to be on the journey with you.  In light of the pilgrim beatitudes above, here are some beatitudes for you in your pilgrimage together. Blessed are you, Keagan and Erika, if the Camino has opened your eyes not only to the beauty around you and in humanity (thanks Rex for those words!), but also to the sacred gift you see in one another. Blessed are you, if you discover that the goal is not simply arriving at your wedding day, but learning how to walk together through every season that follows. Blessed are you, when you look back on this summer and remember not only the miles you walked, but the laughter, conversations, prayers, and meals you shared.  Blessed are you, because you have discovered that your real Camino begins not in Spain, nor at the altar, but in the ordinary days of married life that follow. Blessed are you, if your backpacks have grown lighter while your hearts have grown fuller—with m...
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3 Months Away!

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  This is one of my favorite quotes from the beloved Father Gregory Boyle who founded Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world.  When asked what keeps him going when he was interviewed on a podcast (listen to it  here  on your next commute- it's SO good!), he shared that  he anchors himself in the present moment and delights in the person in front of him . This is not just a nice quote; i t’s a profound way of being that he has practiced over his 35 years of working with gang members—an intentional way of seeing and being in the world. This mindset has become a guiding mantra for me.  It's certainly easier said than done given the many distractions in my life, but it's a posture I aspire to.  It grounds me as I step into patient rooms as a chaplain, welcome guests into our home, connect with family, talk with our kids in college, work with students, spend time with Jason, and so much more....
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4 Months Away!

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Keagan and Erika - First of all, HAPPY 28th!! Can you believe you will be married 4 months from today?!  I am not sure if you all grew up with a beloved children's bible called  The Jesus Storybook Bible , but if not, it's still a great read at any age you are!  One of my favorite pictures from that bible is below. (Erika has heard me share this story in our small group, but it bears repeating)  This picture came alive to me through my daughter Anna’s eyes when she was only five years old.  On our last day of an incredible trip to Kenya in 2008, we were on a mountain known as “Prayer Mountain” overlooking Lodwar and the surrounding villages.  She was looking through  The Jesus Storybook Bible  that she had heard me read countless times when she zeroed in on this picture.  She told me that she felt she was the little girl who was running toward God the Father in the picture.  Not only was this a defining moment in her own faith, but ...
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5 months away!

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  Erika and Keagan, this is one of my favorite blessings and I come back to it again and again and again in so many situations. (Erika, this is the one I used with one of the patients when we ran into each other at Harborview).  May you both return often to this truth that YOU ARE BELOVED. May you know deep in your bones that YOU ARE BELOVED. May you draw on God's love to know your worth and may your marriage be a place where you remind each other of this truth each day.    Beloved Is Where We Begin If you would enter into the wilderness, do not begin without a blessing. Do not leave without hearing who you are: Beloved, named by the One who has traveled this path before you. Do not go without letting it echo in your ears, and if you find it is hard to let it into your heart, do not despair. That is what this journey is for. I cannot promise this blessing will free you from danger, from fear, from hunger or thirst, from the scorching of sun or the fall of the night. ...
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6 months away!

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   Dear Erika and Keagan,  I was thinking about how I could come alongside you as you prepare for your wedding, and I thought I'd make a little wedding countdown blog sending you something each month to come alongside you all in this exciting but very busy time. This will also be a reminder to write a letter to each other on the 28th of each month in the notebook I gave you all.  So, welcome to the "Celebrating August 28th" blog for you where I'll be sharing a poem or a quote or a verse for you each month before your wedding (and then as part of your wedding gift, I'll keep it up once a month until your one-year anniversary in 2027!)  a prayer for love, love, love -  Kate Bowler  Lord, the shadowed world  is full of troubles. So give me the good,  inconvenient work of love. Link my life to others  so that their worries  become my own. Give me errands I don’t want  which ease the burdens of others. Divert me from the plans I’ve ...
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