Summer Rest

By Danielle Germaine

Somewhere, buried deep in the snowy winter months of huddling over textbooks and furiously producing papers, was this beacon of hope that promised sunshine and empty agendas. Here, dreams could be dreamt and sandy beaches envisioned, but only for so long before the blast of the icy wind tunnel woke fantasies wide awake. Steamy Starbucks cups would be replaced with ice-cold glasses of lemonade and that five-hundred pager on Macroeconomics be exchanged for a softback novel.

Self Care and Spiritual Formation

By Duane Sherman

One thing God keeps reminding me about  is the idea of self-care/nurture.  Over the years I’ve found that caring for one’s soul–making time to connect with God and to find refreshment–is foundational in spiritual formation. 

I was such an activist in college: student government, starting a business, aviation fraternity, and volunteering here and there–all good things, but they left me so worn out.  Then, after I graduated and began my first job at a large aerospace conglomerate, all I wanted to do was catch up on sleep and recover from college.  I even fell asleep in the bathroom at work one time (I know, that was bad)!