Four Days Before My Book Launches, Here Are Six Things I Learned (So Far) From Writing It
Four Days Before My Book Launches, Here Are Six Things I Learned (So Far) From Writing It

Welcome to summer and to the quarterly (ish) list of things I'm learning. As we welcome summer, I’m reflecting on what I've learned in the past 12 months of writing a book.

If you're new to my writing or my public blog space, welcome! In the words of Emily P. Freeman, I’m sharing “in-process considerations, not necessarily fully worked out narratives.”

Thanks for reading!

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Things I Learned, The Spacious PathTamara Hill Murphywriting
13 Things I Learned On Sabbatical
13 Things I Learned On Sabbatical

Welcome to autumn! I share a list of things I learned once a quarter. As we welcome fall, I’m also reflecting on what I learned during our three-month sabbatical this summer.

If you're new to my writing or my public blog space, welcome!

Throughout the past three months, I’ve learned a lot about the nature of deep rest, and hopefully, I’ll be able to put some of it into words here and in the book I’m writing. Some of it, I imagine, will be kept quietly between Brian and me, and a few things will be kept only in that center space of belovedness with my friend Jesus. There’s no way I could synthesize all that we’re holding in our hearts from the past 13 weeks, so I’m sharing 13 journal entries, one for each week of the sabbatical. In the words of Emily P. Freeman, I’m sharing “in-process considerations, not necessarily fully worked out narratives.”

Thanks for reading!

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Best of... lists, Things I LearnedTamara Hill Murphyfamily, Sabbatical
Let us rejoice and be glad for all 50 days of Eastertide!
Let us rejoice and be glad for all 50 days of Eastertide!

LOOK: Image: life-new life (1966), Sister Corita Kent - Source

LISTEN: The Sun Will Rise, a playlist for Eastertide 2022

READ: Isaiah 51:9-11; Psalm 118:14-17, 22-24; Acts 10:34-43; Luke 24:1-12

PRAY: Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

DO: Share a photo for the photo-a-day challenge!

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EasterTamara Hill MurphyEastertide 2022
'Into your hands I commit my spirit' by Sheli Sloterbeek [Holy Week Vigil 2022]
'Into your hands I commit my spirit' by Sheli Sloterbeek [Holy Week Vigil 2022]

I wept for days. And just when the crushing weight felt like it might reside, it overwhelmed again. In the past, I’d operated under the “pick yourself up and move on” method of life. You know the times when you press forward suppressing all the emotion, all the hurt because it’s easier.  But as I wept I felt invited by the Spirit to sit with the grief. To allow myself to feel the deep sadness of her brokenness and our unmet expectations. To not push through to happier days, but sit with the why’s. …

Into the hands of Christ, I commit my sad, angry, frustrated, weeping spirit. Welcome grief. 

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Lament Stories, LentTamara Hill Murphyholy week, guest post, Into your hands I commit my spirit, Holy Week Vigil 2022
'It is finished' by Marcie Walker, Black Coffee with White Friends [Holy Week Vigil 2022]
'It is finished' by Marcie Walker, Black Coffee with White Friends [Holy Week Vigil 2022]

I had a black mother who gave birth to five perfectly healthy babies and lived to tell the tale. Given the disproportionately high maternal mortality rate of black American women that still plagues us today, I am nothing short of a miracle. My daughter is a miracle. Therefore, it shouldn’t be hard at all to believe that Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross given the extraordinarily high rate of crucifixions in His day. However, when I read that He cried out from the cross, “It is finished,” do I believe Him? Is this it? Is this how it all ends? What kind of man is this? 

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Lament Stories, LentTamara Hill Murphyholy week, guest post, It is finished, Holy Week Vigil 2022