Category Archives: Just Being Real

The Future of This Blog – A Goodbye

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Just Stephanie

…As I navigate the rubble of my almost complete demise, I realize I’m a tiny part of a massive thing. When there’s nothing left, God, I find that You Are. thoughts, awakening moments, October 24, 2022 In many ways, my … Continue reading →

Posted in A Thankful Heart, Just Being Real, The Year True (2022) | Tagged chapter ending, closing the book, goodbye, grateful, naming my life, naming the year, true, yellow hearts all day long | 8 Comments

Photograph – Death of a Hero

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Just Stephanie

No one can stand for long on the slippery slope of a pedestal. And I am the one who put Dad there. Continue reading →

Posted in Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, Parent Stories, The Year True (2022) | Tagged beauty, death, death of a hero, Ed Sheeran, father, heroes, lessons, our dad, pain, photograph, when the dumpster fire is an honor | 2 Comments

Last Night

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Just Stephanie

Last night (metaphorically speaking) the earth rumbled. I felt it in my body. My heart cracked. Through it all, I prayed. I sat, staring. I hurt. I cried. I relaxed. I went through some motions. I lay awake. I slept. … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Being Real, The Year True (2022) | 2 Comments

Marlon

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Just Stephanie

The kitten appeared on my woodpile, after I saw The Godfather for the first time. So, I dubbed him (or her), Marlon. The little thing scurried away, startled, as I dug roots nearby on that soggy, gray afternoon, and my … Continue reading →

Posted in A Thankful Heart, Just Being Real, The Year Higher (2021) | Tagged birds, bugs, cats, death, Don Vito Corleone, free, freedom, gardening, grubs, hunters, kittens, life, Marlon Brando, medical freedom, pets, plants, The Godfather, wild | 5 Comments

I’m Still Here. 💛

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Just Stephanie

There are people who don’t believe I deserve to be here, or to be near them. There are those who blame me for bad treatment I receive. They tend to deny facts. I’m amazed at how prevalent this is. If … Continue reading →

Posted in A Thankful Heart, Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, My Church Story, The Year Called New (2020) | Tagged fight of my life, God carries me., God is here., God with me, heart's cry, I'm still here., louder than cancer, louder than death, louder than divorce, louder than loss, Nichole Nordeman, seems impossible, Sound of Surviving, still here, unclimbable hill, unthinkable, warrior, warrior's cry | Leave a comment

Free ✨

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Just Stephanie

Others can refuse to hear the truth, acknowledge the truth, or address the truth, but I can still live into the truth, and that’s freeing. People are free to be who they are. I am free to be who I … Continue reading →

Posted in Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real | Tagged artist molding me, as his creation, balance, being a mess, being loved, being loved anyway, cemetery, Creature, creature only, Daylight, death by suicide, Flying Free Now, Flying Free Sisterhood, free, freedom, freeing myself, freeing myself and others, freeing others, God, God's love, golden light, grateful, Half Alive, half•alive, haunted and holy, Jesus/Truth, John 8:32, life verse, live into the truth, made in glory, mess, moving on, mutual, mutuality, other truths, painful, process, processing, reciprocal, recriprocity, self truths, sister, suicide, Taylor Swift, terrifying, trusting the creator, truth, truth about oneself, truth about others, walking dead, walking out alive | Leave a comment

One Piece at a Time

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Just Stephanie

Yesterday, I moved some things out of my house. They were heavy, and I got it done all by myself. It was a big, ugly job, and the prep took almost two weeks. I wear literal wounds on my body … Continue reading →

Posted in Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real | Tagged authenticity, being authentic, being real, Bethel Music, bleeding, broken heart, cleaning, dirty work, downsizing, dumbfounded, finding a voice, hard, hard work, healed heart, hope, hurts, King of Anything, life explosion, love of Jesus, music, no clue, organizing, personal work, pieces, Pieces song, pushback, rubble, Sarah Bareilles, shards on floor, sorting through, squeamish, Steffany Gretzinger, ugly, ugly work, uncomfortable, warts and all, whole heart | Leave a comment

A Thousand Cuts 🔪

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Just Stephanie

A draft I wrote last Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, is published below, in quotes. From this vantage point, nearly to the other side of a painful parting, I want to add that living a protracted goodbye can feel like … Continue reading →

Posted in Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real | Tagged A Thousand Cuts, Death By a Thousand Cuts, death by a thousand pin pricks, farewell, farewell at hello, feelings, just about anything, live, Live in Paris, Memorial Day, Memorial Day weekend, metaphors, miles and years, painful parting, poetry, protracted goodbye, relationships, rough terrain, sunrises, sunsets, Taylor Swift | 2 Comments

A Hidden Life

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Just Stephanie

Sometimes the most courageous acts are done when nobody sees. Franz Jägerstätter was an obscure Austrian farmer who died by guillotine knowing that the stand he took against Hitler in 1943 would not change the course of things. He also … Continue reading →

Posted in Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, People Stories, The Year Called New (2020) | Tagged 1943, A Hidden Life, acts of courage, Austria, Austrian farmer, Catholic church, death, death by guillotine, Franz Jagerstatter, God knows, God sees, heroes, heroes rest in unvisited tombs, Heroism, Hitler, nobody sees, principles, Ralph Waldo Emerson, stand against Hitler, standing alone, standing firm, standing on principle, Terrence Malik, tussle with Nazi idealogy, unvisited tombs, World War II | Leave a comment

What’s Your Superpower?

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Just Stephanie

While I’m on the subject of superheroes, I might as well discuss my superpowers, which are a tender heart, a desire for healing, and inflatability. Perhaps I should explain. One of the biggest spiritual battles of my life was in … Continue reading →

Posted in Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, The Year Called New (2020) | Tagged Baymax, Big Hero 6, Champion of the World, Disney, Disney movies, God is able, God is present, Hero, superheroes, superpowers, the Man in the fire, UPPERROOM Dallas | Leave a comment