Welcome to my NEW weekly blog for 2026!

As a new year begins, many of us feel the quiet pull to start differently. Not with pressure or perfection, but with intention. With a rhythm that steadies us. With a pace that allows us to breathe.

That is the heart behind my new Mindful Mondays: Time With Jesus.

The word mindful is often misunderstood. Here, it simply means intentional. A deliberate choosing to pay attention to what truly matters. And Mondays matter because they set the tone. They usher us into the week. What we turn toward at the beginning has a way of shaping everything that follows.

Mindful Mondays is an invitation to begin each week centered on Jesus, not rushing ahead, not bracing ourselves, but grounding our hearts in His presence and love.

I like to imagine this space as a kind of standing coffee date. If we were meeting in person, we’d probably be sitting at a small table at Silk City Coffee, mugs in hand, talking about life, faith, and what it looks like to walk with Jesus in real, everyday ways. Those conversations, centered on living loved and learning to live that love out, are some of my favorites.

So consider this your invitation.

If you’d like, you might prepare each week the same way you would for a coffee date. Bring your favorite drink, hot or cold. Find a comfortable place to sit. Have a journal, a pen, and your Bible if you have one. Then we’ll meet here, open the Word of God together, and see what Jesus has for us.

Why Scripture, and Why Audio?

Over the years, in coaching, counseling, and ministry spaces, I have noticed a recurring pattern. When conversations turn toward Scripture, some people recoil. They tell me that when they open a Bible, all they hear is anger, judgment, and pressure.

That response is not a failure of faith. It is often a sign of harm.

When the greatest love letter ever written is used as a weapon, it leaves wounds. And when the Word of God has been used against someone, they may avoid it altogether in adulthood, unknowingly distancing themselves from the very thing that brings healing and transformation.

The Bible is not hate mail.
It is a love letter.

Jesus is “the Word” who became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14a NIV). Scripture reveals a God who is for us. Even passages that are firm, corrective, or challenging are given for our good and for God’s glory.

Scripture does cut. But not to wound. (Hebrews 4:12 NIV)
It cuts like a surgeon’s precision tool, removing what causes harm so that healing can take place.

When the Word has been misused, I have often encouraged people to ask the person they feel safest with to read Scripture aloud and share it with them through a voice app. The goal is simple but powerful: to help them hear Scripture through a lens of love.

That is why this series includes audio.

Each week, I will read the Scripture aloud, slowly and gently, in a voice that is with you and for you. My hope is that you encounter the Word not as pressure, but as presence. Not as judgment, but as invitation.

Because God is love. And when we encounter the God of love through His Word, when we discover the person of Jesus and invite Him into our story, asking the Holy Spirit to abide with us daily, everything begins to change.

What to Expect Each Week

Each Mindful Monday: Time With Jesus will follow a gentle, consistent rhythm:

• A brief reflection introducing the week’s focus
• A Scripture connected to the theme, read aloud
• A journal prompt to help us respond personally to the Word
• A soul care practice to help us connect with Jesus in a tangible way
• A prayer to abide with Jesus and attune our hearts to what we’ve received
• A simple, practical way to live what we are discovering throughout our day

This is not about doing more.
It is about being with Jesus.

Rooted and Radiant: Our 2026 Theme

This year, I discovered so much about living a well-tended Christian life while studying the sunflower for a fall retreat. What began as a metaphor became a framework for understanding spiritual formation, healing, and growth.

As a result, Rooted and Radiant will be the guiding theme for Mindful Mondays: Time With Jesus in 2026, based on the life cycle of a sunflower.

Together, we will explore what it means to be deeply rooted, intentionally turned toward the light, steadily transformed, and faithfully reflective of Christ’s love in each season of life.

An Invitation

My hope is that you will join me as we begin each week freely and lightly. Not striving. Not bracing. But intentionally centered on Jesus and His love.

This space is for those who long to heal their relationship with Scripture, to experience God as gentle and near, and to build a steady rhythm of connection that carries into everyday life.

May these Mondays become a place of rest, renewal, and abiding, for our good and for His glory. You might want to invite a friend along by encouraging them to sign up for my blog. I can’t wait to walk this year-long journey with you and Jesus!