celebrating Year Two Walking alongside You
Angela is the spiritual director and heart of this space. She begins the season after a restful encounter with God’s Presence on the beach.
Heartbeat Formation, LLC, celebrates a two-year milestone in the spiritual direction ministry business.
Thank you for being a part of Heartbeat Formation, LLC. Heartbeat Formation, LLC (HBF) celebrates a two-year milestone in the spiritual direction ministry business. In year two, Heartbeat continues to build on its foundation, connecting our heartbeat to the heartbeat of God, listening together, and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us.
I am grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside more than one dozen spiritual directees in individual and group sessions, as well as Diary Scribblers WORDshops. Each of you has trusted me with your heart, sorrows, joys, and the messiness of life. I am grateful to God for choosing me to stand at the crossroads with you, while we drink from the deep well of God’s goodness, even when God seems absent.
In the words of Carmella, "Meeting with Angela for spiritual direction has felt like ‘divine couples counseling.’ Our sessions of the past year have become a sacred space where I reconnect with God's movement in my life in deeper, more intimate ways. Her thoughtful questions and gentle presence have helped me listen for God’s voice in seasons when it’s felt hardest to hear. I’m so grateful for her guidance on this journey."
In April, the PTS Center of Contemplative Leadership hosted a weekend retreat at the Holy Cross Monastery in Kingston. My intention began with a quote from theologian mystic Howard Thurman, “I must learn the new song for the new needs. I must fashion new words born of all the new growth of my life, of my mind, of my spirit.”
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Evolution of being a spiritual director
I, too, am grateful. I am filled with gratitude when invited to the pulpit as spiritual director to a congregation, in which “preaching is a formative, sacramental act of spiritual direction.” Leaning into my calling as a spiritual director from the pulpit is never easy, but as Shauna said in an email, “I didn’t know what to expect, but was excited to hear you again! You never cease to amaze. It [Wednesday night revival] was not what I expected, but it was JUST WHAT I NEEDED. There were words you spoke that came from God through you to me. And I heard each one. Thank you, my preaching sister! I plan to listen again & again! God is using you. And we are the better for it!”
“Not what I expected, but it was JUST WHAT I NEEDED. There were words you spoke that came from God through you to me.”
I am better for it as well. My understanding of the vocation as a spiritual companion has evolved over the past two years. It has been a period of deeper stillness and listening to the Holy Spirit on behalf of those I “sojourn” with as well as for myself —a period of waiting, and not rushing, and not comparing my call to that of someone else. My practice and what I bring to spiritual direction mirror my thirty-year faith journey with the Lord: hopeful, sometimes doubtful, straightforward, occasionally messy, and practical, yet theoretical. I am dependent on God as my source of strength in all that I do, working with God, as God works with me.
In silent moments, whether writing in my diary, taking a 20-minute meditative walk, or sitting in the brown leather chair in my office, I ask the Lord, “Am I capable? Is this where YOU have called me? What do you want me to say? What do they need?” Like so many of us seeking a mystical and spiritual experience that transcends our doctrinal roots and church traditions, I wrestle with God about the vocation of being a spiritual director, with caring for souls.
Even the 19th-century mystic preacher Zilpha Elaw wrestled with her internal struggle over God’s calling. In her 1846 autobiography, Memoirs of the Life, Religious Experience, Ministerial Travels and Labours of Mrs. Zilpha Elaw, she confesses:
“I felt an unwillingness to engage in the work to which I was called, and a shrinking from the cross... but the Spirit of the Lord was stronger than my fears, and I could not forbear.” [paraphrased]
Stumbling blocks. Race. Gender. Social challenges. Age. Education. Yet, she, like me, couldn’t ignore what she believed God was calling her to do. Many biblical ancestors stand in this stream of wrestling with the call and their faith. Mary and Martha wrestled with their faith. Jeremiah and Sarah did too. Yet, when they were honest with the Lord, God empowered them to do exactly what they were called to do. Faith increased. My favorite moment in the story of Jeremiah, “Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth, You will know what to say now, for you will be My voice.’” (Jeremiah 1:9 NRSV, The Voice).
During one of the roundtable discussions at the 2025 Spiritual Director International Conference, the SDI council asked us, “How are you being a spiritual director?” I said, “I am leaning in.” I am fully embracing, engaging in, and actively pursuing what it means to be a soul companion, spiritual friend, an elder, Anam Cara, a spiritual midwife, a Sherpa, an artist, and a guide on Jesus' path.
As a spiritual director caring for souls in heart formation, I am:
• Walking alongside you on your journey, listening deeply and holding space for your joys, sorrows, struggles, and hopes.
• Helping carry your “baggage,” offering gentle guidance as you process experiences, discern God’s movements, and explore your spiritual path.
• Creating a safe, sacred space, where you can encounter God’s presence, ask honest questions, and rest from the demands of life.
• Nurturing beauty, creativity, and reflection, inviting you to practices—like diary writing, contemplative prayer, sacred art, and silence—that awaken the heart to love, transformation, and growth.
• Supporting the “birthing” of newness, as you discover deeper relationships with God, self, and others, and find the courage to embrace change and new callings.
• Tending my own soul, modeling the work-rest-rhythm, openness, humility, and authenticity I encourage in others. Out of my own formation flows the care I offer.
• Actively pursuing spiritual growth, continually leaning in, listening, and learning—so I can walk beside others as an Anam Cara, a soulful companion, spiritual midwife, and guide on the Christ path.
To be a spiritual director in heart formation is to be entrusted with sacred stories and to help others see God’s handprints in their lives. It’s about feeding souls with encouragement, wisdom, and presence—tending to what matters most: the heart’s capacity to love, to rest, to hope, and to trust God’s transforming presence in all seasons.
Your heart matters, and it’s an honor to care for it.
Designer Shares Inspiration for Heartbeat Formation, LLC, Logo
Inspired by the words “flow “and “nurture,” I was drawn to this illustration of a woman’s melting head. I replicated the melt but replaced the head with a heart; when combined, the heartmelt created a unique organic shape. And this new form reminded me of rock formations that take shape after centuries of erosion from wind and rivers. Rock structures also symbolize the divine and the eternal in many religions and cultures—a perfect symbol for the growth that one experiences in spiritual direction.
-Foxee Design on Substack
