Hello Again

And the reason I’ve gone quiet for three months

Of course, the very month that many people take a respite from the internet, abstaining from blogging or social media posts, is the very month I decide to come back. No rhyme or reason for this, I’m just following the flow. 

I’ve missed you. 

For several years, I’ve been in the habit of posting monthly reflections on spirituality, relationships, and life in general at revlydia.com, but the last time I posted, we were still in the season of spring. And now, how is it that we find ourselves approaching the Fall Equinox? Some of us may already be getting ready for the start of a new school year: cleaning out those backpacks, purchasing new water bottles…

Let me fill you in on what the last three months have been about and why I suddenly went hush on my blog and social media. 

First, I finally submitted the final version of my book, Here: A Spirituality of Staying in Culture of Leaving (forthcoming with Convergent Books in February of 2025)!!!

I breathed, ate, and slept that book for the first quarter of this year to make sure that, come February, you could hold in your hands a book that would strengthen not only your spirituality of presence and stability but help you recognize your mostly unrealized and untapped miraculous ability to transform your circumstances from the inside out. This is a promise that I do not make lightly, and I am so, so excited for you to read this book. If you subscribe to my blog, you’ll be the first to be alerted when preorders begin (with some fun freebies if you decide to order a copy then). If you’re not yet a subscriber, join in the sign-up box at the bottom of this page.

Along with meeting this book deadline, working in my full-time job as the pastor of Walnut United Methodist Church, and carrying on my normal day-to-day family and social life, I had little mental space for anything else. 

That book deadline was met. Whew! And I’m so, so happy with how the book turned out. I’ve been working with the design team on the cover, which will be revealed very soon…

…

The second life event that had been occupying much of my brain and heart space for the past three months is that I discovered I was… 

pregnant.

This, to be 100% honest with you, was not something we planned for, feeling so fulfilled and complete with our two kids (one boy, one girl—I already had the family of my dreams). 

You may also remember that I turned 40 last November. I envisioned a decade full of fine dining and traveling, not spit-up and diapers. 

It was a reality my mind had to grapple with, especially with my book scheduled to be released shortly after the expected due date of the baby, saying things like, “C’mon, God, really?!” 

My body was also literally grappling with it, going through a first-trimester weariness and nausea I didn’t experience with my first two pregnancies (hence no blog or social media posts).

But eventually, the grappling lessened, my energy returned, and one morning, after my husband was sent a medical report revealing our baby’s sex, he and my daughter walked into the kitchen with a bouquet of pink flowers and I turned into a puddle of tears.

“Why are you crying?” asked my four-year-old daughter, confused by my emotional display.

“These are happy tears,” I assured her with soft eyes, “really, really, happy tears.” 

This past Easter, I preached a message entitled, “Never Put God in a Box” (ba dum tss!). If you’re like me, you’ve got your five year, ten year, twenty year plans worked out. But our God is a God of surprises and miracles, and just when you think you have God and your life all planned out, BAM!—a curveball is thrown your way, whisking you off onto an adventure you never imagined for yourself. I preached all this. People nodded and laughed. The truth is, I unconsciously believed I was exempt from all that, careful planner that I am.

This baby has been taking on a different shape within me. Growing bigger but also morphing from an uninvited surprise to more of a gift—a generous, generous gift for me and my entire family. The kids are thrilled. My parents are thrilled. James was thrilled from the start. And so am I. I just had a bit of lag time. 

In one of my favorite memoirs, You Can Make This Life Beautiful, Maggie Smith writes about meeting with an emotional alchemist who encouraged her to ask herself a particular question each morning to shake her out of her rut:

What else is possible? 

For most of my life, I never, ever considered the possibility that I’d become a writer with essays in prominent magazines, much less the author of a BOOK. 

Up until a few months ago, I never, ever imagined myself as a mom of three. Two was enough; I was good with two.

What else is possible? 

What else could life have in store? 

All this to say—this explains a bit of why I’ve been so removed. There’s been writing, reflecting, crying, digesting, gestating, a little barfing…

I’m back now, though. And you can expect your regular monthly posts once again about those topics I love to write about—spirituality, life, relationships—little nuggets of wisdom I’m still learning and picking up along the way and sharing with you in the hopes that they can provide some guidance, inspiration, peace, or a little pick-me-up.

If you haven’t already done so, subscribe at the bottom of this newsletter (and invite others to do so too!). 

I’m also active on Instagram and Facebook if you also want to catch me there. 

Okay, so until we meet again, enjoy these last weeks of summer, basking in in the sun’s glow, filling your days with play, rest, and lots of love.