Hello, welcome to my heart.

I’m not a brand. I’m a human who longs to share her heart with the world in hopes of helping others be free.

Free from what?

The need to be impressive.

The need to be perfect.

And the lie that achieving those two things will bring you insurmountable joy.

We’re running ourselves ragged.

It’s time to take the pressure off. You’re too young to be experiencing burnout.

And just in case you’re 75 years old and reading this — I’ll say it again — you’re too young to be experiencing burnout.

How this all started…

A couple of years ago I was on the brink of total burnout and I thought it was normal.

Some of the most successful people around me and on my screen wore busyness like it was a badge of honor. And I wanted to be successful, so I stayed busy until the stress manifested as numerous anxiety attacks.

I found out that you can ignore the pain of stress for a while, but panic can’t be overlooked.

I was broken.

I searched hard for a solution.

Some said do less. Get organized, take some breaks, quit some things.

Some said do more. Pray more. Read the Bible more. Show up to church more.

All different advice with the same implication — there is no cure for anxiety, only management.

All the advice only led me down a path to try to further perfect my life. 

But then I read in John 14 where Jesus said He gave me His peace. And then I read in John 16:33 that Jesus said we could have this peace even in the midst of broken, imperfect world.

I realized we were never promised a perfect life, but we were promised perfect peace.

To me, that sounded a lot more like success than the positions, possessions, and platforms I had originally pursued.

So I asked, “Jesus, where the heck did my peace go?”

He said, “I’m right here.”

Peace Himself is always closer than we think.

Our brokenness and our imperfection doesn’t define Jesus. Jesus’s wholeness and perfection defines us, and it can change us and mold us and upgrade us today.

You may have heard it said that Jesus doesn’t always cure things like anxiety, depression or any other kind of mental illness, but I’m living proof that Jesus isn’t broken, and He doesn’t break His promises.

Life is too precious to ever be discarded into the ditch of hustle and hurry.

So I offer you a haven instead. A space to breathe and to gain perspective and to be reminded that the very life you are living right now is treasure.

We need your life. 

My hope is that together we push back on all the comparison and perfectionism and burnout by exploring the depths of the perfect peace that never comes from doing more, but from trusting more.

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on You, because they trust in You. [Isaiah 26:3]

Our generation is currently flagged as the most stressed out and anxious, and we apparently don’t know what to do about it, which sounds very similar to the definition of drowning.

I’m throwing out a digital lifeboat here.

Perfect peace is possible. 

There will always be things to be done. And we’ll do them. But don’t you think it’s time you and I removed ourselves from the throes of never-ending busyness, and lived our lives from the shores of peace instead?

Do you want to live a life fueled by anxiety or one fueled by strength?

Peace is a driver, by the way.

I don’t believe that living a life of peace necessarily means we do less, but it sure as heck means we do less of the things we were never graced to do.

I think you’re called to do some pretty amazing things with your life. I don’t think a life of peace keeps you small or silent or protected from facing challenges that need to be overcome. However, my sense is that, thanks to the instant access and far reaches of technology, we are no longer satisfied with living our own lives, instead, we’re attempting to live all the lives…at once. It’s costing us our sanity. I’ve decided that’s a price too steep for me to pay.

I claim no expertise on this subject. I’m not a guru. I’m not a counselor. I’m not certified in life change, and I have no 5-step process to a healthier, happier you.

I’m a human who has been set free and is learning, just like you, how to live free.

I also don’t think my views are unique. I’m one of many who are drawing swords against the giants of anxiety, stress, and mental torment. Thank you, God, for the many! But just because there are many doesn’t mean there are enough. I’m unapologetically adding my voice to the chorus so it gets even louder.

And where it’s all going…

In 2019, I started writing a “pop-up” blog here as my husband and I were restoring an old house on a hill into a 21st century haven. As I was healing and rebuilding alongside the house, which we affectionatey call “Haven Hill,” a life message of perfect peace was being birthed in me.

At the start of 2020, the message transformed from written words into a daily podcast and vlog called Posture.

I have no 5 year plan of how this all unfolds (and that really upsets the marketer in me). I just plan to keep saying “yes” to the Prince of Peace.

If you’re interested, or just a little curious to see how this plays out, I invite you to follow along. If you need this, stick around. If you know people who may need this, please share it with them. If you wholeheartedly disagree with me, please pray for me — I need it.

I reserve the right to only give you what I got. I feel no pressure to post in order to meet a weekly quota or scramble for material to bulk up the amount of content on here. I won’t present a false persona or standard to add to your ever-growing list of “need-tos” and “must-haves.”

There will probably be some typos, and misplaced commas, and I may even overshare at times. But I’m not going to let what could go wrong hold me back.

Because I see us rising from this pit. I see an entire generation who have been stamped “most anxious” and “burned out” recanting on their current trajectory and instead creating a beautiful future filled with aliveness and peace and joy.

I see the generations before us sharing their strength and wisdom to help us fight against our reverence to restlessness.

I see the generations behind us not having to fight our same battles but living in our victories instead.

So I’m going to live my life. It may not always be impressive and it will never be perfect, but it’s going to be filled with peace. I want that for you too.

I hope you join me in stepping away from trying to live a perfect life and learning to live in perfect peace.