Welcome!

I truly am honored you’re here. This newsletter has been in the incubator for quite a while now as I’ve felt a relentless tug to pare down what I give my attention to and where I focus my output in order to pursue excellence in a few things rather than relevancy in many.

The true birthplace of this mindset shift was an article I read in early 2021. Here, “The Fifteen Minute Life” is delivered in the context of city planning/ development and public/environmental health, but something in me immediately connected with it personally. “[This concept] is not a silver bullet,” the article admits. Still, it contends that because of the ways the pandemic forced us to move differently, consume differently, work differently, and ultimately live differently, we actually experienced some untapped benefits of “living small.” Among the many social, economic, psychological, and environmental advantages this lifestyle provides, this way of living, the article concludes, has ultimately produced “more engaged inhabitants.”

And that’s the heart behind this project. I don’t know about you, but I desperately desire to be a more engaged inhabitant of my life. I don’t know exactly how to go about that, but I do know that it requires a choice between being more fully engaged in fewer things versus being only partially engaged in many things.

I won’t pretend to be an expert on downsizing your life, and much of my content likely won’t directly relate to this idea. Rather, creating and maintaining this newsletter is one way I am attempting to live a smaller life; maybe your consumption of it represents an attempt for you. So, welcome, and thank you.

This has been a short introduction to the purpose of this project, but the first issue of the Small Life newsletter will land in your inbox on January 30th. Feel free to share about this project in whatever spaces you occupy, or if you know anyone who would appreciate this content, send them to mary-michael.com/smalllife so they can join us on the journey.

See you soon!

It’s never been make or break for me, it’s always been a little bit of both; the breaking of one thing that ultimately makes space for another…

This week marks 1 year on the Staff Development team at WinShape Camps for me. The past 12 months have included producing 22 sessions at our various events, contributing to curriculum for resources from Bible studies to leadership podcasts, and ultimately working alongside some of my favorite people to invest in, equip, and propel the college students who sacrificially choose to spend their summers creating experiences that transform campers and families across the globe with the message of Jesus Christ.

I can’t wait for year 2.

————

journal entry:

January 1, 2023

I awoke from my sleep just as the narrator of my dream was trailing off into what would’ve been the closing credits to my subconscious’ film experience. He’d said, “And there she went— the girl so in love with life that life itself actually loved her back...” I paused at the puzzling thought, hardly awake enough to consider its weight. Could it be true? Could you accept the truths of your life so voraciously that “accepting a reality” might turn into “receiving a gift?” And then, armed with that gift, make a choice to enjoy it for what it is— nothing less and nothing more?

Contentment, perhaps the prerequisite to delight.

Delight, perhaps reciprocated to by those who choose it.

I don’t know who the girl from my dream was, but I had the feeling she wasn’t me. Maybe just someone who glowingly caught my sleeping eye in passing. Someone whom my own cynicism could never conceive. But somewhere deep down, my subconscious must know there is some truth to this— that you just might get life to love you back, if you’ll only give yourself over to it.

Happy New Year.

A liturgy for Event Season…

Heavenly Father,

in such busy seasons as this

in the packing and unpacking and re-packing of suitcases—

in the to-do lists that do not ever appear to shorten, despite my productivity—

I would remember this truth:

Though my environments change, You do not.

In the few, not-fully-settled moments at home,

I would remember that You are my true Home,

and therefore, I am never “away.”

I am Here, with You, always.

—

And “Here” is where You have called me—

first, to Yourself, O Christ, and secondly,

to this work, these people, and these moments—

that I may aim to show up to them faithfully,

just as You, like the dawn, faithfully show up to meet with me.

—

That You would establish the work of my hands,

but foremost, find me delighted in the one Who provides

both the work and the hands to complete it. —

Let not my busyness become a badge of honor—

find me not bold enough to complain of the Good Work You have called me to,

but rather, teach me the rhythms of Your Grace,

that I might both work and rest well—

that I might be fully present both with other people and with myself—

and above all, that Your name would be rightfully honored in all I say and do.

Amen.

———————

Updates from February:

Last month kicked off event season at work, at church, and otherwise! This is just the first swell of a wave we’ll ride all the way through the summer, and I am PUMPED. The sun is back, the temps are rising, the pollen is killing me, and I am READY.

Something else that kicked off last month is a work project I’ve been diligently crafting since September:

Leaders In The Making: a leadership podcast for college students about unleashing your potential through serving in camp ministry.

The primary audience for this podcast is the college students who will work at camp over the summer, but I’ve already had such meaningful feedback about the first episode from peers and beyond, so check it out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and let me know what you think.

See you next month!

If you never try, you’ll never know.

I had an old coach who used to say, “If you’re going to fail, fail hard.” In other words, whatever action you decide to take, take it all the way— be brave enough to commit to it. There’s nothing worse than missing the mark because you were too scared to give something your all. Sure, with that mindset, you might serve the ball out of the gym a few times, but he would rather you do that than serve it short into the net because you were trying to be careful. You forfeit a point no matter which way you miss a serve in volleyball, but eventually, after making some adjustments, that long serve is going to get trained to drop right inside the boundary lines and it will ace every single defender you face— a chance a net-ball will never get.

So give it all you’ve got. Write a voice-over script, record the audio yourself, book a choir you’ve never heard, and produce an out-of-the-norm-for-this-event opener moment with a video component and live musical performance when you’ve never done any of those things before and only been in this job for 13 months! It could all go so horribly wrong in so many fantastic ways!

Or it could, by God’s grace and with a little help from some very generous and gifted friends, be one of the most special moments you’ve ever had the chance to be a part of.

As a great theologian by the name of Coldplay once said, “If you never try, you’ll never know…”

Opener Piece

Event Recap Video