24. Ever since I was a child, I have always had a close friend with a "K" in her name. It started with Katie, my very first friend. Then came Karen in high school, two different Kates in college, and in adulthood — the Kates are still going strong, plus my last roommate in Boston was named Kyra. (I also had wonderful friends named Caroline, Liz, and Sarah along the way, but the K's are clearly a pattern.) Maybe "B" and "K" just go well together. I'm not questioning it — I'm just collecting them.
The Kates and I
25. 25. One truly stupid thing I did as a kid was staple my own thumb. In my defense, I had just received the most adorable Noah's Ark desk set, and the stapler was shaped like a hippopotamus. Naturally, the only logical way to test whether it had staples in it was to press my thumb down on it. It did. I pulled it out myself — without crying, I might add — because I didn't want to frighten my younger sister. I then went to find my parents via my older sister, who, unfortunately, cannot stand the sight of blood. Let's just say her reaction was... dramatic. (Or at least, that's how I remember it. 😄)
26. The first book I remember loving: Ella Enchanted... it is a retelling of Cinderella, but don't judge a book by its movie because the book is so much better.
27. Continuing my book theme- Favorite author (besides God), Kate Morton, Jane Austen. I have liked Susanna Kearsley, Fredrik Backman, Ann Vosscamp, and others.
28. If I could meet a fictional character: Emma M. Lion, Katniss Everdeen (though she would probably think I was weak), Mr. Knightley.
29. Submitted by a friend: What is your favorite book from the last 10 years? This is hard to answer... 1) because I can't remember every book I have read over the last 10 years, and 2) it is hard for me to choose a favorite.
Audio Book: Homecoming by Kate Morton, because it is narrated by Claire Foy, and she has a really great voice.
Christian non-fiction: Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund, The Broken Way by Ann Vosskamp, Seeking Allah Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi.
30. Favorite books of the Bible (if you are allowed to have favorites): John, Ephesians, Deuteronomy, Psalms (I mean, it just covers the wide range of emotions).
31. What Bible verse has shaped your life most? Can I list a few?
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. -Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:10 (NJKV)
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. -2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
And what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8b
For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. -Psalm 26:3 (ESV)
32. A favorite line from a TV show that I quote a lot: "Life's tough. Get a helmet." - Boy Meets World.
21. Submitted by my aunt: "Have you ever daydreamed about moving to Kansas?"
Sorry, I can't say that I have. Okay, maybe when I was a kid, and my cousin and I would play dress up and act out stories together — maybe then. In high school, I dreamt of becoming a writer in New York City, but I fell in love with Boston instead. And for a while, I dreamt about working at the Library of Congress, because the main building is so beautiful. But dreams have shifted. I am now fulfilling my dream of being used in God's kingdom, working with immigrants and refugees, and fulfilling a heart's desire to love on kids so they know they are loved — not only by me, but by God.
22. Submitted by my cousin: "Did you know about PLI before you moved to Houston?"
Simple answer: "No."
Long answer: I moved to Houston to be closer to my family. I loved Boston, but every time I visited my sister and her family, it was getting harder to get back on the plane and leave them (my niece and nephews have me wrapped around their little fingers — and they know it). Also, at the time, I had a roommate who was taking amazing trips by herself and with her best friend, and I was getting a little envious — okay, a lot envious — because she lived so close to family that she spent her vacation time and money traveling. And I would love to travel.* So I moved to Houston.
The kids and I, the fall after I moved here
In the winter/early spring of 2020 (before the world fell apart), I joined a Bible study focused on sharing your faith — something I really struggle with. I had done some campus ministry in college, but most of my grad school and adult years were spent with people simply knowing I was a Christian and hoping that if they had questions, they would ask. I especially struggle to share my faith with those closest to me without getting on a soapbox, so I felt convicted to join. Through that Bible study, I heard about the nations in Houston. Did you know Houston is one of the most diverse cities in America?"Houston is the 2nd most diverse major American city in 2025"
After the Bible study ended, one of the group's leaders and I went for a walk. She was trying to pull me into another Bible study, gearing people up for overseas missions. I couldn't imagine doing that. 1) In my head, I thought overseas missions were for the "Super Christians." 2) I didn't have a specific people group my heart yearned to reach — I had a heart for children and vulnerable populations, but I hadn't found a people group I wanted to invest in. 3) And probably most importantly at the time: I had just moved to Houston to be close to my family. I told her as much, so she pivoted and told me about PLI. After about the third mention, I had to stop her and ask what those letters stood for — Prestige Learning Institute.
It was COVID, and I wasn't quite ready to leave my house, but by January 2021, I was done with my life being just working from home, going for walks, and watching TV. I needed to do something. I looked up PLI again, applied to volunteer, and got completely sucked into the After-School Program 😃.
When the world opened up a little more, I started looking for full-time work — but I didn't want a full-time job that would take me away from the kids I had come to love. Around that time, one of the women I'd connected with noticed that PLI had an admin position open. I applied, and my now-friend in HR pointed me toward a communications position in development — but it required support raising. As an introvert who wrestles with insecurity, that gave me serious pause. I brought it up with my therapist, and she asked, "Would you do it if it wasn't for the support raising?" I said yes. And I think that was my answer. So I applied — and that's what brought me to PLI. I'm sure there are more details I'm leaving out.
*If I could do anything (other than what I'm doing right now), I would turn this blog into a travel/Bible study/lifestyle blog and somehow make enough money from it to live, save, and get by. Not that money is a driving factor — but enough is enough.
23. If I had a superpower, it would be: teleporting or speaking any language.
24. TV series I have watched all the way through more than once: Gilmore Girls, MASH, The West Wing,Ugly Betty, Downton Abbey, The Office, Parks & Rec, Crash Landing on You.
I don't know how many times I have said it on here, but one of my dreams is to use this blog as a Bible study that maybe one day will become a book (dream upon dream) — but if I don't start somewhere, I will probably never start. So here I go.
First, let me explain that I go through something like a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) (to learn more, click here). In this, I go through questions:
What does it say? Or what happened? Who, when, where?
What does it say about God? His character or His promises?
What stood out or made me question something?
What does it say about people/me?
I write out the verse, and if it's cross-referenced, I look it up. So it can take me days to go through a section, or weeks to go through a chapter… but I don't mind. I had a friend tell me once that it took her 10 years to do an inductive study of the whole Bible. And I figure the time is going to pass anyway, so I might as well use it to get deeper into the Word.
This post is dedicated to my boyfriend. A few days ago, I was really struggling, and I couldn't stop crying, so I called him and asked him to read a Psalm to me. He pulled out his favorite — Psalm 8 — and read it over me.
📖 The Passage: Psalm 8
v.1 — "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who has set Your glory above the heavens."
v.2 — "Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger."
v.3 — "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained..."
v.4–5 — "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor."
v.6 — "You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet."
v.9 — "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!"
What Does It Say? (Observation)
Psalm 8 is a song of praise — a bookend psalm, opening and closing with the same declaration: "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth." It begins and ends in worship, and everything in between is wonder.
A quick note on the very first verse that stood out in my study: the first word is the divine name Yahweh. The second Hebrew word, translated "our Lord," carries the meaning of "Our Sovereign." So right from the start, David is not just praising a faraway deity — he is crying out to the God who is both transcendent (above all the heavens) and intimately personal (our Lord, our Sovereign).
Does it stop you, too — that He is both the God of the universe and somehow, personally, yours?
💖 What Does It Say About God?
God's glory surpasses the heavens (v.1). Cross-referencing with Psalm 148:13: "Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above all the earth and heavens." And Psalm 113:4: "The LORD is high above all nations, His glory is above the heavens." His name and His glory are inseparable — and both are incomprehensibly vast.
God uses the weak to silence the proud (v.2). The cross-references here are fascinating. In Matthew 21:16, Jesus quotes this very verse when the children are crying out "Hosanna" in the temple courts and the religious leaders are indignant. Jesus essentially says: Yes. This is exactly what this psalm is about. And 1 Corinthians 1:27 echoes it: "But God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty." God doesn't need the powerful or the polished. He ordains praise from the mouths of babies. That's the kind of God He is.
And honestly, doesn't that just take the pressure off?
God is intimately attentive to human beings (v.4–5). This is perhaps the most stunning part of the psalm. David looks up at the stars — at the immeasurable expanse of creation — and asks: What is man, that You are mindful of him? The rhetorical question is meant to stun us. And it should. God created all of this, and yet He is mindful of us. He visits us. The Hebrew text of verse 5 reads: "You have made him to lack little of God" — human beings are made in His image, just a little less than the angels, and crowned with glory and honor. When is the last time you actually let yourself believe that about yourself?
What Stood Out or Made Me Question Something?
The note I wrote in my journal says it best: "The response to this rhetorical question creates stunned awe."
Man — made of the earth — starts out at the summit of God's creation. That's not arrogance; that's the biblical vision of human dignity. We were made for something. We were made like Someone.
And then there's verse 6, which pulled me into a cross-reference rabbit hole (the best kind): "You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet." (See also: Genesis 1:26, 28; 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:8.)
This is where Psalm 8 connects directly to something much bigger — to the story of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:27, Paul quotes this psalm and applies it to Jesus. Hebrews 2 does the same. The dominion given to humanity in Genesis, echoed in Psalm 8, finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Son of Man. Jesus is the one in whom all things are truly put under His feet.
That thread — from Genesis to the Psalms to Paul — makes me sit on my bed with a cup of tea and just... wonder.
What Does It Say About Me?
I am seen. I am visited. I am crowned.
Not because I earned it. Not because I am impressive. But because He is, and He chose to make me in His image, to give me dignity, to set His attention on me.
On the day I called my boyfriend crying, I didn't feel crowned. I felt like the dust I'm made of. And he read me this psalm. And somewhere in "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name" — I remembered that the God whose glory is above the heavens also bends down to be our Lord. My Lord.
That's the whole psalm in a breath: He is infinitely great, and He is intimately ours.
🙏 A Prayer to Close
Thank You, Lord, for Your authority, and for the authority You have given me. Lord, I am sorry if I have ever abused or misused it. You are holy, righteous, and good. You love wholeheartedly. You are my God, and I don't want dominion if You are not leading.
Amen.
🔎 Cross-references used in this study: Psalm 148:13; Psalm 113:4; Psalm 111:2; Psalm 44:16; Genesis 1:26, 28; Matthew 21:16; 1 Corinthians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:6–8; Job 7:17–18; Job 10:12
Can you sit with that for a second — that the God who made the stars is mindful of you, specifically?
13. My dream job: Novelist, travel blogger, or to own a bookstore and coffee shop.
14. I like to start my day off with: tea, prayer, and Bible time. It sets the tone for everything else — and honestly, I'm a much better human being when I don't skip it.
15. I would like to learn how to: Bake fancy desserts, crochet, needlepoint funny sayings on pillows, speak another language (right now on Duolingo, I am learning Arabic), and have some kind of impressive dancing skills.
16. Places I would love to visit: Scotland, Israel, Turkey... see other places of interest on my Pinterest Board. On my bucket list is to go to Sandringham, UK, for Christmas and see the Royal Family.
I actually have been to Istanbul and Turky but it has been twenty years
17. My favorite type of movies: Rare romantic comedies (the classic kind — not the modern ones drowning in unnecessary content), historical dramas, and musicals. The only action movies that have my heart are Marvel — specifically Captain America, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man.
18. My favorite flavor of ice cream is Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food.
19 (more specific follow-up to fact 15). — we're talking éclairs, macarons, cannoli, and all those intimidating-but-gorgeous things that look like they belong in a Parisian patisserie window.
20. Favorite flowers: daisy, daffodils (because they were the first flowers to bloom after a long winter), peace roses, pink lilies, and honeysuckles.
I don’t know about you, but I have been very blessed over my years of my Christian walk to have consistent quiet times. If I could have my way, I would probably spend an hour and a half to two hours in prayer and Bible time… but life happens, so this amount of time is usually reserved for Saturdays. However, lately I have felt my prayer life has been a bit surface-level, which has made me wonder why.
A couple of weeks ago, my church did a sermon on “The One Thing that is Necessary” using the story of Mary and Martha. {Link to Sermon on Youtube skip to 34:55}
But at the end of the sermon, Brad, one of our pastors, gave some practical tips:
Daily read, fix a time and place.
Pursue accountability
Confess: how many times do you talk to Him per day?
Attempt to share something that you read in your quiet time.
Memorize Scripture
Post Scripture where you can see it.
If it feels too intellectual, try including worship songs.
If your mind wanders, write out your prayer/meditation.
I wrote them down, but in my arrogance, I thought, “Just do it anyway.” There have been seasons in my life when my quiet time has just been a checklist duty, but in that, I know God blesses my obedience and that it will be fruitful.
Well, today I took some time to ask “God, why am I just feeling surface level?” Yes, I am busy, and there are a lot of moving parts, but I am walking through a season of basking in God’s love, feeling redeemed, restored, hopeful, and content. So why do my prayers seem so surface?
Was I just focusing on myself? When I do this, I turn to this prayer:
From my prayer wall
"Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of life and the beauty of this world. I pray that you would fill our hearts with new hope and joy, especially for those who are struggling. May you bring healing and strength to those who are sick, comfort to those who are hurting, and peace to those who are weary. Bless all those around us, that we may know the power of your love and the strength of your grace.
May we be a source of light and hope to others, and may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen."
And I try to break it down line by line and list out people who need prayers for in each part.
But still, while there are always a lot of people to pray for, my prayers seemed surface-level, so I asked, “Is there something —a thought, and influence, a power that is not of YOU?” I couldn’t think of anything… but I went to Brad’s #7 tip “If feels too intellectual; try including worship songs.” And I searched for “Repentance songs” and found this playlist: Link. On it, it had one of the songs I have on repeat a lot, so here I am sharing it with you:
So I'll leave you with this — like Martha, are you so busy doing good things — even good spiritual things — that you haven't stopped long enough to ask, 'God, why does something feel off between us?' When was the last time you set down your checklist, sat at His feet, and simply listened?
Thanks for reading, and if you have any songs you like to listen to, to draw you closer to God, please share them with me.
