It was nauseating to listen to the high whine of the fly’s wings while I attempted to eat my breakfast. The sickening extension of each thick silence that stretched between moments of terror.
Trapped
Reflections on Psalm 102
I'm going through another one of those ugly, dark periods of my struggle with mental illness. Periods that seem more and more common. It's exhausting. I end so many days wondering why I keep trying. But this morning the LORD refreshed my spirit while reading Psalm 102. You can read the whole thing here, but... Continue Reading →
Haunted
I feel the dreams lurking in the corners of my room after I wake. They drain my day. This strange amalgam of fiction and reality...
Hope in I AM: Reflections on Exodus 3:14-15
Israel spent 430 years in Egypt. Once a refuge, it had become a prison. Their struggle was relentless, their pain exponential. …and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his... Continue Reading →
Welcome Home Little Pippi
This is the precious reason why I spent most of 2020 in bed. And this post is looooong overdue. Introducing Piper Joy Svendsen! Born on at 5:22am on October 2, 2020. 8lbs 4oz and 20 inches. She is now two months old and I am so thankful that God gifted her to us. I hate... Continue Reading →
A Mighty Fortress
For the last three years, Milford Bible Church has put together a Renaissance Faire based on the events surrounding the Protestant Reformation. We call it the Reformation Celebration or, more affectionately, Ref Cel. The amount of work that goes into this production would be difficult to overstate. Many talented people pour themselves into various projects... Continue Reading →
Today, I Went to the Movies
Today, I went to the movies. I went alone. I bought my ticket online and had the lady at the ticket counter help me figure out how to retrieve it. I bought myself popcorn and a cherry coke. I sat alone through an intense 2-hour movie. I drove myself to the theater and back. I... Continue Reading →
Seventy Times Seven: How Abuse Changes Forgiveness
“In white culture, forgiveness is synonymous with letting go. In my culture, I believe we carry pain until we can reconcile with it through ceremony. Pain is not framed like a problem with a solution. I don’t even know that white people see transcendence the way we do. I’m not sure that their dichotomies apply... Continue Reading →
Our Father…Why?
I used to question the way David approached God in the Psalms. He sounds almost accusatory. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Psalm 13:1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity and I have trusted in the LORD without... Continue Reading →
A Pastor’s Wife, A Millstone, and A Cup of Tea
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in... Continue Reading →
R. C. Svendsen 