Go Take a Hike...

When I was a kid, people used to use that phrase as a send-off, getting rid of someone who was being difficult. At the time, it was considered a rude dismissal and people would get offended.

Funny how times change. When I think of the ways we dismiss people today, I think inviting someone to take a stroll through nature might be one of the kindest things we could do.

Here’s why: When I’m acting belligerent, it’s usually because I’m feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or I feel like life is out of control. I’m acting belligerent because I’m reaching for control of any situations that I might be able to influence—often because I’m feeling that I’ve lost all sense of agency to influence anything.

Can you relate?

Being Present, The JourneyNathan WestwickFebruary 28, 2024Hot Mess, Finding Joy, NatureComment

Why I Choose to Follow Jesus

I don’t have any compelling introductory paragraph to offer. I figure the title kind of speaks for itself, so let’s dive straight in:

Why do I choose to follow Jesus?

Well, let’s start this thought exercise at the gym…

Standing in the Face of Fear

It is in places like these where I feel God’s strong presence – perhaps because it is in that tension between peace and violence that God seems to exist most tangibly to me. There is something about that tension – like we’ve left the feel-good, storybook narrative and entered into something more risky, more wild, more… real.

Sometimes you have to feel small in order to realize your own importance

If you’re anything like me, you have your good days and your bad days. Days when you feel like things are going well, and others when no matter what you do, nothing seems to quite work out.

And if you’re like me, when all you’ve been doing is GO, GO, GO, emotions can run a bit fragile.

Proverbs From a Road Trip

We just got back from a two-week road trip which included four nights tent camping in the Rockies. I figured I might share some of my observations about the experience; including some of the things I’ve come to appreciate after four nights with nothing but a thin nylon wall separating me from Mother Nature…

Family, The JourneyNathan WestwickJuly 22, 2015Family Time, Vacation, NatureComment

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