September flew right past me. When I realized I had no time to write and publish the first Friday newsletter, I let it go. No guilt. No shame. I had underestimated the time my commitments would take, and deadline upon deadline stacked up like the mattresses in The Princess and the Pea. The pea was the smallest thing, buried under all that stacking, and it kept me from ever settling. Sometimes you can't rest because something is always pressing up from below.

The past days have been filled with “Let Us Pray.” Two words and a door that swings open. Doesn’t seem to matter where I am in the pulpit, at a restaurant table, in the Pilates studio, or at an amusement park; each space is holy ground where heaven leans in close.

A soft return is returning to a practice. Whether returning to prayer, silence, journaling, Scripture, or simply the practice of noticing God's presence, a soft return reminds us that the sacred is patient. It’s not about being perfect, getting it right, saying the right things; the soft return is our willingness to be present again. 

What happens when you wake up in the morning and ask, “God, surprise me today?”

This edition arrives later than usual, as I find myself in the midst of the grinding season—a time when it feels as though there is never enough time to accomplish everything.

That thing called silence is not empty. It is full. Just being. And after holding silence, “the time to speak comes from the burning of our heart.”

Heartbeat Formation, LLC, celebrates a two-year milestone in the spiritual direction ministry business, walking alongside more than one dozen spiritual directees in individual and group sessions. "Meeting with Angela for spiritual direction has felt like ‘divine couples counseling.’”

Intentional Time with God through the art of collaging and junk journaling. Angela reflects on her season of conferencing, how God step in, and memorial stones of gratitude.

Angela shares moments of practicing stillness from her back porch with a chipmunk, to listening to ocean waves whispers and jazz in the park.