Over the last few years I’ve been realizing that I have a real coping problem. I numb joy. The longer I live here, the more joy I encounter, and the more intense and destructive my coping has become.  I knew I had some coping problems, but in the last week I have had light after light… Read more »

The other day as I was finishing my last half hour of my shift at Starbucks, I wrung up the order for two young girls. They looked to be in their mid-late teens, and their frappaccino orders solidified suspicions. I noticed instantly that these girls were carrying large Bibles – not unlike the one I… Read more »

“Do you think this neighborhood is too rough to Christmas Carol?” This August, JUSTembrace hosted my small group for dinner. Joined by members from the JUSTembrace small group, we got a true glimpse into the kind of restorative joy and hope that true Community creates. It was such a treat to celebrate my birthday (and… Read more »

I’m going to turn 33 on September 29th. I will also be marking 6 years since my life took a drastic change. Naturally, I’m reflecting. 🙂 On September 28th, we will be celebrating the 6th anniversary of the birthday party we threw at Union Station. That day in late September of 2008, I saw a miracle… Read more »

(An update blog by Jamie White)   Marathon training is uncomfortable. My positive nature and our overly-filtered society push me to share a lot of the good I get from running (hitting new personal records for time or distance, beautiful pictures of sunrises or skylines) while suppressing the less glamorous realities. So, some real-talk for… Read more »

(An update blog by Jordan Kelly) Every Sunday afternoon the JUSTembrace house opens up their yard and house for the community to come and hang out. These “open houses” usually consist of food, games, and music, with the house becoming a place full of activity and life. People can be found in the yard playing… Read more »

Below is a reflection paper written by a DePaul student who volunteered at our monthly foot clinic in April, 2014.  It is a great privilege to be able to provide our foot clinic for our community but also for our volunteers – giving them a different kind of serving opportunity than they would find most… Read more »

On June 23, 1990 my 12-year-old sister, Stacia Cressa, lost a 5 month and 1 day battle with cancer.  At the age of 8 years old, my world shifted so traumatically that I believe the loss of Stacia has colored every relationship and life decision since. I’ve often wondered over the last 24 years what… Read more »

This morning I was reading in Matthew 13 a bunch of different ways Jesus was describing the Kingdom of God to his disciples. I have heard all of these parables before – but this morning I saw myself in them a little differently – particularly these two examples: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden… Read more »

The last haunting words of Jesus before he died in Matthew’s gospel were: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”. Taken from the first verse of Psalm 22, it is interesting that Jesus’ last words were the beginning of this psalm that modeled so much of what he was experiencing on the cross…. Read more »