…The recent string of unarmed black people killed by white officers or vigilantes destroyed my spirit. I’m a 40-year-old black woman, the daughter of migrants from the deep south who came of age in the sixties in segregated Chicago.

When the opportunity arose, I was thrilled to be in discussions with our church leadership about a full-time position where I would lead and grow our church’s local outreach and compassion initiatives.

When I received the offer letter, the initial salary was much lower than expected, and I immediately struggled with feeling second rate. Was this what church leadership thought of me and what I brought to the table?

...I have always had vases and glass plates and other little decorations around my house that are important to me. My daughter sometimes rushes around and moves too fast. I’ve always told her to slow down, to calm down. Sometimes I get a little upset.

…TC2W offered the framework, context, and activities for parsing this brokenness (i.e., what is good and broken in my thinking, feeling, believing, and acting?) and then discerning a more faithful way forward. It culminated with me writing a prayer to start my day and a simple prayer for when I sensed the broken pattern emerging.

…TC2W help me to take a moment for myself and breathe. It was not that I was ignoring the tension or situations by pausing for I embraced them. It was more like instead of trying to peddle upstream, letting the current take me where I needed to go.”