Copyright https://www.ibelieve.com 2023, iBelieve.com Thu, 28 Dec 2023 23:49:46 -0500 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/to-love-your-age.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/to-love-your-age.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ I am 50 years old for one more month, and I am confused about how I feel about it. On the day of my birthday last June, I was excited; I had assumed I would be disappointed by being 50, but I wasn’t. The day was a celebration of a life I was deeply grateful for. How amazing it is, I reasoned, that I had been able to be alive for this long. Tue, 16 May 2023 11:07:46 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/to-tell-my-20-year-old-self.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/to-tell-my-20-year-old-self.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ Chase beauty, in all places—in words and in art, in nature and in creativity—as food for your heart. Tue, 28 Mar 2023 07:42:40 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/what-we-intend.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/what-we-intend.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ The three of us are up in the mountains, cedars and redwoods reaching toward warm October sky. The path we walk is wide enough for Mugsy, who, on her leash, finds every rustle in the shrubs an irresistible invitation to explore. We make our way to the lake, a wide expanse of deep blue and teal sparkling with ripples across its otherwise smooth surface, and walk out onto the dock, intent on getting as close as we can to the cold water without plunging in. Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:11:33 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/our-battle-with-time.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/our-battle-with-time.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ You don’t have to justify your life. I am in my bedroom, about to lay my head on the pillow, thinking about how this was just one more day that felt like so little had gotten accomplished. Or, perhaps, my expectations were warped in the first place? What did I really believe I could get done? Tue, 20 Sep 2022 13:19:10 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/one-place-two-spaces.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/one-place-two-spaces.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ The heat wave that has smothered California for more than a week is less intense today. As I write this, I sit outside, the air cool in the morning shade. An Anna’s Hummingbird is singing in the olive tree behind me—and then zooms up from a fuchsia bush to the highest point of the magnolia tree. Huge black bees the size of a jack ball fly heavily, slowly from the tips of lavender blooms to the garnet gladiolas, heavy and swaying in the breeze. Tue, 13 Sep 2022 07:00:00 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/to-resolve.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/to-resolve.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ Come now. Listen for His voice with me. The one who calls you His treasure. The one who made you for amazing, beautiful-beyond-your-dreams things. You can, you know. Thu, 25 Aug 2022 18:13:14 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/this-space.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/this-space.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ We still haven’t moved in. In February we sold our bungalow and moved in with my father-in-law as the house we are moving to, less than a mile away from our old house, needed repairs. The renovations started in January, and, after many ups and downs—with two failed inspections in a row and then another inspection not scheduled so we were delayed another week—it is getting finally close to be done. We are actually supposed to move in soon. Tue, 09 Aug 2022 07:00:00 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/lets-stay-here-awhile.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/lets-stay-here-awhile.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ I used to listen for Holy Spirit in the quiet hours in still darkness, morning cracking open her eyes with slow blinks. Offering slowness, a gentle beginning to the world’s rush of day. My heart was awake, I had no doubt. Tender, open, expectant, brave. It had energy to enter into a space tucked deep within me, a bit holy—timeless and real. Tue, 12 Jul 2022 07:00:00 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/to-honor-the-self.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/to-honor-the-self.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ I drafted a blog post to you on May 19 and never finished it. I sat, keyboard in lap, on a Thursday afternoon, and searched for self-understanding. Why am I feeling the way I feel? How can I sort through this apparent confusion of the heart? And now, six weeks later, I read the words typed out from the married feelings of both frustration and hope and consider the gift each of us receives when we, individually, pause, honor the self, and contemplate the place where we are. Tue, 05 Jul 2022 14:04:38 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00 https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/the-search-for-something.html https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/jennifer-camp/the-search-for-something.html Jennifer Camp https://www.ibelieve.com/author/jennifer-camp/ I am second-guessing everything. From my clothes to my food to my music to my time. Granted, it is spring, and the weather, even in easy-going northern California, is all over the place, and Justin and I work outside a lot—so each morning, depending on transportation (bike or car?) and whether it is rainy or chilly or windy or sunny, I stuff my bag with clothing layers, along with all the books or journals or tech stuff we need while we are out. What will I need? What should I expect from a day? Tue, 26 Apr 2022 07:00:00 -0400 2023-12-28T23:49:46-05:00