by Lori Wilson I was recently visiting my youngest daughter when we needed a tool to fix something in her home. "It's in my toolbag in the closet," she said. When I pulled it out, I was surprised by its size - much larger than mine. "We should trade toolbags," I suggested. "Mine is about a quarter this size, and I have to use a basket for the overflow." She laughed. "No thanks! I'm collecting the tools I need. I might need all that space someday." She's right, I realized. Why

by Lori Wilson There's a prayer I return to most evenings, one that helps me close my day by looking back with God's eyes rather than my own. It's called the Ignatian Examen, and it's become less of a spiritual exercise and more of a sacred conversation—a way of letting God show me what matters in the hours I've just lived. The beauty of this prayer is that I'm not alone in it. I don't sit down and force myself to replay my day like rewinding a movie, cataloging every moment

by Lori Wilson At times, we can all find ourselves focusing on the negative. We see what is wrong with the world, how disagreeable it all is, how we miss the mark and don't love the way we are invited to love. And we can get very down on ourselves. We begin to see through a set of glasses with only one perspective. And that perspective is negative, harsh, and cup-half-empty-ish. Sometimes, these glasses we put on can block God out. We find ourselves way out of balance. The ne

by Lori Wilson Turning the calendar from one year to the next has become sacred time for me—a threshold moment to pause and see where God has been moving in my life. As I stand at this turning point, I ask God to help me see both where I've been and where I need to grow. I'm not looking for a to-do list or a self-improvement plan. I'm listening for an invitation. For the past seven years, I've asked God to help me hear a single word—my high-level invitation for the year ahead