Sincerely Sophi

Last semester I wrote a monologue from the point of view of a broken piece of pottery being transformed into a new creation of Kintsugi, broken pottery made new with liquid gold. This Kintsugi metaphor has been a powerful image in my life for God's grace and love as He works in my weakness and makes me into a new creation. It illustrates Christ's words in 2 Corinthians 12, "My grace is sufficient for you. My power made perfect in weakness." At first, I was terrified to share these words with my Epiphany theatre ministry ensemble. We write our own songs, scenes, and monologues using stories from our lives and find God in them. This piece was written for our ensemble but it is a tender and vulnerable experience that I wanted to keep close to my heart -- yet, I had a strong feeling I should share it with the group.  Shaking, I read it out loud. The piece was recieved well and it ended up in our final set. I struggled to memorize it, my words being so similar and stream o...

Chugga....chugga....chugga...chugga...choo choooooo!! The train of progress and effort is chuggging along this semester. As we neared Newberg last night, coming home from a week long theatre conference in Spokane, my chest tightened as the reality of my to-do list and the fullness of real life weighed in on me. But in another moment my eyes rested on the soft, orange and blue sunset glittering on the river as trees whirred by. Beauty. Peace. I was reminded of another sunset, on a lake, last May. A sunset in the midst of a May thunderstorm as a friend and I waited out the rain and lightning storm to go kayaking. That sunset was far more golden, filling big clouds across the sky, sparkling on the water and illuminating a tripple rainbow. But the feeling of stillness, chaos and peace colliding inside me, and remembering the nearness of Jesus was almost the same as this sunset on the way home from Spokane. The thunderstorm sunset last summer was right before I left for a summer of working ...

For the past week I've been in Spokane, WA with 12 other beautiful people at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. The week has been full of workshops, auditions, presentations, response sessions, invited productions, deep conversations over dinner or a walk, and coffee shop homework sessions. It has been a very full week but in an incredibly different way then my day-to-day chaotic rhythms at home.  As we have removed ourselves from our daily classes, rehearsals, and rhythms - or as my professor has said, entered the Twilight Zone - many of us have found ourselves in spaces of 'what-if?' Not the 'what - if' that questions and regrets the past, but the 'what - if 'that dreams about the future, actually allowing judgment to subside for a moment and consider possibility.  Tuesday, my friend sent our group chat a text: "you guys I made a journalism pitch and they all really liked it" followed by, "my little anxious introverted sel...

I’ve been a bit out of my writing grind and as I sit here, blissfully engaged in my 16oz oat milk cappuccino, spacing out in one of my favorite local coffee shops, I am feeling entirely uninspired. Usually, the brick walls of this coffee shop and its bustling atmosphere of people sparks inspiration within my little writer’s mind.  But here we are, on a Thursday afternoon, with muscle fatigue, a long to do list, a delicious cup of coffee and a sudden, unfamiliar lack of words.  I’ve been told stories exist all around us. I wonder what inspiration is hiding in the conversations and lives of these coffee shop goers.  To my right are three millennials - embracing the classic hipster look with flannels and beanies. The two young men focus intently on their hp and dell laptops - their lack of macbook informs me that they are computer people. They prefer a laptop that they can personalize and adjust its settings instead of the less nuanced, user-friendly macbooks that permeate t...

  I expected my last semester of senior year to be sparkly and magical – full of epic projects, fun events, and coffee dates with friends. And while it is full of sparkles, projects, events and coffee, it has also been full of a demanding schedule, a never ending to do list, and well…it’s just been exhausting. As an extrovert, people time is incredibly important to me, so the last several Saturdays have been full of Bible studies and coffee dates, which have fueled my heart but have not left much time for napping or homework. A constant battle of priorities. Sometimes, I feel like I’m running a marathon with no clear end in sight. Instead of looking to Friday or Saturday as the moment of reprieve, I’m looking a few months out towards graduation and the hypothetical relief of the summer…though the summer seems so unknown that doesn’t seem to bring much relief quite yet. But … in the midst of all this, I’m learning to embrace the chaos and fullness in this season and to find joy in a...