Endeavors

A lot has unfolded in the 14 years I’ve held this blog account (14 years!). What a life to look back upon! In the past two years I’ve been in the process of training to become a Spiritual Director. I took one year to pray, find a program and then begin the enrollment process for it, and now I am one year in as I begin year two of my training this September of 2021.

Many have asked me what Spiritual Direction is or they have shrugged up their faces in confusion or suspicion as to what the term Spiritual Direction even means! While it might sound “new age” or strange, it is actually an ancient practice that was born in and for the Church. Spiritual Direction has it’s roots in the Catholic church but has gained wider visibility within Protestant churches as more of God’s people have sought out deeper spiritual experiences in the past 50 + years especially.

Spiritual Direction is “holy listening”. A trained Director sits with a Directee once a month and “listens” with them for movements and experiences of holy things. Together we spiritually companion once a month as we pay attention to God’s loving movement in and through a person’s life. These movements happen in ordinary daily living so we explore together God’s presence and the responses the individual directee experiences in our times together.

My casual way of explaining it would be to say that there are all sorts of places in this world to discuss things in our lives. While historically the Church would be a place where people bring their spiritual questions and curiosities or shared experiences, this has declined here in North America. So when you come and explore Spiritual Direction with me, you explore your spiritual experiences, bring your questions, your thoughts, your prayers and frustrations, your losses and gains and together, we walk and pay attention to the movements of God in your life.

“Everyone is looking for someone who is looking for them.“ -Dr. Curt Thompson, Anatomy of the Soul

In my practice of SD, I specifically focus on the Christian experience, but there are Spiritual Directors for almost every faith practice you can find. (And the roots of SD are Christian.) My goal is to practice SD as an LLC once I graduate in May. I do currently meet with people as part of my training and this has been an enriching and encouraging experience as I more deeply lean into the art of SD.

As I continue in my training, I plan to refresh this blog along the way with Spiritual Practices, insights and thoughts along the way. I am learning so much that my brain could use a space to share it in my own voice. My hope is to spark some curiosity within my audience as to what God might be up to in your own life.

Subscribe now if you feel a tinge of curiosity rising within you.

If you would like to find a Spiritual Director in your area, check out http://www.graftedlife.org and under Spiritual Direction click Find A Director. If you would like to find a Spiritual Director of a different faith, check out Spiritual Directors International and under Find click Find a Spiritual Companion.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job-Part 3

Welcome! This is my final post in a series about how I decided to become a stay at home mom (SAHM) and the new adventure I’m on as I wrestle with school-age children 10 years after quitting my day job. Join me in my new adventure by reading Part 1  and Part 2 of my story and then follow along as my path is uncovered and discovered in future posts in 2017.

I used to hate the question that inevitably follows whenever I share that my youngest child is starting Kindergarten this fall; “What are you going to do Tiffany?”

Initially, I hated the question because I felt tremendous pressure from myself to go out and get a job. I felt like that is what I was expected to do. The pressure I felt wasn’t even need generated. Our family had made it for 10 years on one income plus whatever little extra I could pull in on the side. But the idea of a societal expectation and my perception that I was unprepared to meet it; That idea made me feel completely inadequate and worthless. Who would have me?!

Don’t Quit Your Day Job” Part 1

2017 marks a big milestone for me: it’s been 10 years since I had a M-F, 8-5 job and career. This year my first baby starts junior high and my last baby starts kindergarten. I have been thinking about this year for five years! But as it is now ACTUALLY here, I’ve been all over the place in my thoughts and emotions. At first I panicked-but God has led me to some beautiful shores as a result of my questions. Let’s take a walk down memory lane to get the whole story.

Glorious Spring has Sprung!

The birds are making nests in every nook and cranny in our house;the chimney with it’s lousy bird cage (that they can still squeeze into…), the beams under the porch, the gutter elbows of the down spouts. Get lost birdies!

My peonies and daisies have peaked their heads through the thick clay of my yard (miracle!), my hostas have shoved past the rocks in the front flower bed and sprouted, my hydrangea, azalea and roses are all showing signs of life. New this year are some giant allium in purple and white and about 150/200 yellow and red fluffy petal tulips! It’s a reminder to myself that I should really invest in fall bulbs, even though at the time it’s so blah to think of planting them. The spring payoff is totally worth it. Now if only my back flower bed would show some signs of life…I’m a little worried about it.

The Nevil Crew is in serious work mode around here lately. We have a few big projects underway right now in the yard. Specifically speaking, we had a giant truck load of top soil brought in a few weeks ago. We are filling in and grading the back yard where there was once an above-ground pool. It’s grueling work loading the dirt one wheel-barrow at a time and dumping it in the back, then repeating. Our kind new neighbors lent us their wheelbarrow so that I could at least get a faster assembly line going. I filled them full of dirt and Jeremy rolled them and dumped them in the back while I filled the next load. SHEW! All this rain we’ve had in St. Louis has put a big damper on our work. We are hoping for a few dry weekends so we can get it all down and off the driveway! Then it can rain and feed the grass seed we’ll have down.

Additionally, we are taking bids for finally painting the house. That’s even more exciting (for me) than the yard renovation! We are pouring some serious blood, sweat, tears and cash into this house. If it wasn’t so much fun I’d just buy a perfect house. But it’s seriously fun. Our goal is to be “done” with the major projects within the next year or two so that we can just enjoy it for a while. Who knows after that!

I’ve been very busy lately with my little munchkins and managing things at home. I’m grateful everyday for the opportunity to be here and challenged by how much it takes to not just be physically present with your family but mentally and emotionally present as well. Too many times I’m looking down at my phone, answering text messages and emails when my family is right there needing me.

Jeremy and I have declared 2014 as the year of the Active Nevil Family. (Not that we weren’t active before.) We’ve decided to be highly intentional about going out into nature and enjoying it as a family. This weekend Jeremy is scouting out a big sale at the Alpine Shop to see if he can snag a good deal on bikes for us. We are so close to the Katy Trail that it seems like such a shame not to take advantage of it. (click that link to learn more about the Katy Trail in MO!) With the addition of our crazy dog we’ve also felt the need to be more active so that he gets the exercise that he needs too.

This fall, Jeremy will be running a marathon! He signed up for the Rock n Roll marathon going on in October. I’m so proud of him for signing up for this big commitment and I tell him all the time that I would have nightmares about a task so daunting. He is either really great about hiding it or really confidant! (We’ll go with confidant) In June, Jeremy will finally have his long-worked for BS in Business! It has been a long journey getting to this point. He is very happy at his new job and we are all very happy with how close he is to home. I’ve said many times that it has revolutionized our family life and already brought us a lot of joy. There’s not much better than seeing your husband happy at his job and good at it!

There are only about 6 weeks of the school year left and both the kids and me are really happy about this mile marker. For one, Chase is finally old enough to go to VBS with Cooper. The promise of him going to Kindergarten in the fall is really exciting too. The staff at the school have been so excited for 2 whole years as they’ve waited for Chase to join the ranks of Sammy the Sting Ray proud kiddos. He is totally pumped about going to school with his big brother. Cecelia and I are excited for whatever that means for us too, though we don’t even know what we’ll do with each other all day long. (I mean, other than have lots of fun!)

2014 is such a big year. We are excited for all that is ahead and we are putting ourselves in some new positions that are stretching us physically, emotionally and spiritually. I’m so grateful for all that has happened in just the 4 short months we’ve had so far. The last few years have been hard work. The peace that we feel is gratefully received.