Kristy is a Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation graduate (2018-2021), has a Ph.D. in chemistry, and is a contract scientific technical editor. She lives in central Ohio with Rob, her husband of 18 years, and their three children, 14 year-old girl/boy twins and a 12 year-old boy.
She's a fiction writer, hoping to publish her first novel soon. Actually, it's the second one she has written, but her first one—a Christian forensic mystery—needs to be rewritten. Since an agent is interested, she really should focus on it; however, she's currently writing a Christian supernatural women's fiction trilogy (i.e., magic realism) and believes this is what God wants her to write at this time. She has completed the first of the trilogy and is beginning the second.
Kristy struggled with anorexia off and on over the course of twenty-three years. Her last bout with the mental illness came when her third child was less than a year old. Her last battle was the first time she ever sought out professional help, and it took over four years to conquer. Shortly after she entered counseling, she felt called to write a novel with anorexia recovery as the theme. To fully overcome this insidious disorder, it took a team (counselors, doctor, and dietician), much effort and pain on her part, and even more of God's grace. Since she knows the healing power of the Holy Spirit and fantasy is her favorite genre, she wrote a supernatural fiction for women. The series is about a healing journey that becomes a transformational journey into Christlikeness.
I've had ample opportunity to practice Welcoming Prayer. A few months ago, I sinned against a friend, unintentionally hurting her. As sin often does, it propagated. Losing her friendship wasn’t the worst of it. Unfortunately, the ripples spread to our children.
I’ll be honest. When I first learned about welcoming prayer, it sounded like a New Age philosophy to me. I imagine my initial resistance was similar to those who think that spiritual disciplines and spiritual formation aren’t Christian but rather some sort of Eastern philosophy.
Have you ever noticed how we’ve grown so used to a certain way of viewing common objects in our world that we’ve stopped really seeing their wonder?
Have you ever noticed how frequently patterns repeat? Our world is filled with them. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Fibonacci Sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 … Any number in the sequence is calculated by summing the preceding two values: 1 + 1 = 2 (which gives the third Fibonacci number in the sequence), 1 + 2 = 3, 2 + 3 = 5, 5 + 8 = 13, and so on. When the Fibonacci numbers are calculated in terms of areas of rectangles, a Fibonacci spiral is formed by connecting opposite diagonals of the rectangles. You’ve seen this spiral pattern in nature.
I was raised by a single mom with meager means. During my childhood, my mom experienced several layoffs. For over ten years it was just her, me, and my five-year younger sister. I don’t recall my mom ever making a big deal about our limited means, but I was aware.
Simplicity seems simple, in fact, even childlike. Most children are content to play with boxes rather than complex toys. But if simplicity is simple, why is it that for most of us it is something we have to live into far along on our journey into Christlikeness? I don’t know about you, but I spent a large portion of my childhood excited to become an adult. Don’t get me wrong. I certainly enjoyed being a kid and played hard, but I also longed to be mature. And now that I’m in my mid-40s and technically considered middle aged, I’m finding the scriptures ringing true—Jesus calls us to come full circle and like a child once again.
In Evangelical circles, Christians talk about discipleship. Perhaps it's a word that has become so familiar that we don’t even reflect on its meaning anymore. Discipleship means to follow Jesus—to be his disciple. As his disciple, I learn from him and then live out what I learn.
The word spiritual formation is never mentioned in the Bible, so how can we know it's biblical and not just a New Age concept that has worked its way into Christian thought, understanding, and practice?
