I’m finding hidden joy in unlikely places.
I like to look underneath first impressions, sit with the questions that do not have easy answers, and write about what I find there.
About me
I tend to live somewhere between a question and a story.
I’m a deep-thinking feeler with more pent up passion than I know what to do with.
I like to spend my days figuring out what the universe looks like underneath all our first impressions of this mess most of us think we live in.
And I’m finding quite a discovery of hidden joy in unlikely places. I’d love to show you what I’ve found.
Christie
I left to write a book. But all the while, God was writing me.
From my final Tuggles episode, The Epilogue
The Tuggles
Twenty-seven stories from a journey that changed me.
In 2014, I left on a journey across the United States with Tim and Lynn Tuggle. I went to write a book, listen to their stories, and learn from the life they were living. In 2017, I shared pieces of that journey here as a 27-part series.
Listen along
My Summer Study audio series
A six-part audio series to listen to at your own pace, one week at a time.
My writing
Stories, reflections, and notes from the road.
This is where I collect the things I have written along the way. You can read The Tuggles from beginning to end, browse my other journal posts, or search for a word, place, person, or idea.
The Epilogue
On October 2, 2014 I left on a journey across the United States. On April 13, 2015 I came home.
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The Finish
Tim held up his cell phone and slowly panned from horse to horse, capturing video of the restfulness of the pack. It was the morning of their final day and the spring breeze whispered in his ear. That…
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The Octagon
Tim looked up at Lynn in her saddle as he arranged the pack strings around her reins. The morning sunlight cast shadows across his face and beams of bursting light surrounded her with a heavenly glow.
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The Hearts
“Chico! Let’s go!” Tim hollered at the Red Heeler from the truck door, waiting for him to climb into the backseat. The dog trotted his way across the parking lot towards the vehicle. Lynn, nearly right behind…
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The School
Tim scanned the parking lot as they approached the over-sized front doors. Four police cars in a row with a sheriff’s car at the end. They were clearly no longer on the grounds of a tidy Christian school as…
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The Addiction
The clopping of horse hooves carried the traveling crew alongside the main highway. The increase of traffic told Tim they were nearing another cluster of towns. Houses were sparse in that day’s trek, and the…
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The Provision
“We will be there, Pastor,” Tim responded, phone to his ear.
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The Couple
Austin changed into a new shirt and grabbed his cap. Heading out of the house, he hurried through the pouring summer rain and climbed into his truck, wiping a few drops from his knuckles. With Rachel still at…
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The Protection
The spring breeze blew a fresh wind across the sweat beads forming on Tim’s brow. He glanced at his watch, wondering how long they had been stopped in this CVS parking lot on the outskirts of Knoxville,…
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The Altar
She tossed the first trash bag overhead into the dumpster. Pausing for a breath, Nikki clenched her jaw and swatted at a fly buzzing near her ear. She scoffed. As the owner of the restaurant her tasks were…
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The Healing
The team reached the city limits of Bloomington near mid-afternoon. Approaching an intersection, they hovered on the grassy incline at the side of the road, careful to stay out of traffic. With the light…
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The Fever
The cool, spring breeze blew softly, contrasting the hot, Indiana sunshine. The excitement level continued to grow as the team of horses clip-clopped past the sign for Covington, only several miles ahead.…
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The Ozarks
They journeyed on through the heart of Missouri, traveling alongside highway 54 heading towards the state capitol. It was nearing the middle of the afternoon, overcast, and a bit chilly on this autumn day.…
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The Power
As the horsemen caravan entered the quaint, tiny town at the border of Missouri, a rumble sounded from Tim’s stomach. Lifting his wrist, his watch read 4:12. The horses trotted past the faded wooded sign…
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The Darkness
The sound of the rolling cart approached his cell for what seemed like hours, stopping at 30-second intervals for each inmate to make a haphazard selection. He hadn’t accepted a book yet in his few weeks at…
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The Dump
The dust cloud extended hundreds of yards out in front of them, like a lingering jet stream hovering just above ground. A rusted, old pickup truck rounded the high sand dune next to them and within seconds was…
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The Desert
The sound of forks clanking against porcelain overtook the tiny mobile home kitchen. Tim added more pepper to his ribeye and pulled his chair a little closer to the table, clearing his throat.
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The Encounter
The high noon sun beat down on the pack string with a blaze of August heat. Nearing the edge of the Redwoods the trees were beginning to scatter farther apart now providing less amounts of shade. Tim’s green,…
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The Miracle
The train tracks seemed to stretch on endlessly ahead as Tim led the pack string onward. The Redwoods towered high above them, keeping them from direct sun exposure. The cool, woodsy breeze felt more like…
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The Conditioning
Lynn stood at the window, pensively watching Tim work Sonny in the round pen as the setting sun cast its golden rays across her upper body. The sudden contrast of the sun’s heat with the chill of the living…
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The Telling
He placed the last few glasses inside the cupboard and pushed it shut as the back door opened. Lynn shuffled across the threshold and headed towards him into the kitchen.
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The Calling
Tim defiantly punched the “off” button and flippantly tossed the remote control onto the coffee table. Arms folded across his chest, he scowled at the blank television screen. “Worthless,” he grunted to…
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The Favor
The February snow flurries were turning into thick flakes as we pulled the truck and trailer underneath the gas station overhead covering. We were passing through Missouri on our way to Illinois, and the sky…
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The Hitchhiker
It was early on a Wednesday morning and the crisp December cold was bitter. The loud rumble of the Dodge pickup’s diesel motor droned a vibration all the way down my legs in the back of the truck’s cab. Tim…
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The Ministry
A few days after that historical Sunday, I nervously wrote to Tim and Lynn. Reluctant to wholly accept the calling God had placed on me and secretly hoping they would shoot it down, Tim called. I paced in my…
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The Bathroom
It was a humid Sunday morning on July 4th weekend and I had an extra bounce in my step walking through the church doors. Today I would see Tim and Lynn Tuggle again. After almost two years since we first met,…
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The Funeral
I shook the powdered creamer over my steaming Styrofoam cup of coffee and smacked a packet of sweetener against my fingers. Pouring it in, I grabbed a napkin and began wiping up a few stray drops off the…
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Spinning and Remembering
Remember that time in your life when everything happened exactly like you thought it would?
Read postKeep Me Young, South Dakota
If you want an uneventful life, don’t hang out with the Tuggles.
Read postNuggets
Who knew it would be more difficult to write a blog after arriving back home?
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Battle of the Givers
It was my third Sunday away from home. October 19, 2014. I sat in a church pew and we bowed our heads for prayer before the offering. My finances on this trip have been nothing short of God’s miraculous…
Read postTwo Months of Silence
This week marks four months that I have been living out of a backpack on the road. I wish I could say that each day’s experience always builds upon yesterday and that I’ve now figured out all the secrets of…
Read postThere Was No Room
Every year I draw nearer to God through the celebration of His Son coming to this earth over 2000 years ago. The older I get, the more I learn, the more I learn, the more there is for me to learn. This summer…
Read postObedience: The Completion of Faith
It was fourth of July weekend and Tim and Lynn were scheduled to speak at my home church in Indiana. Having followed along with their ministry on Facebook, I was excited to reunite with them and hear about the…
Read postThe Funeral that Birthed New Life
It was early September of 2012. As the late morning sunlight cast across my parents’ living room floor, I crawled off the sofa and onto my knees. Bowing into the carpet with forehead in my palms, an…
Read postThis Beautiful Death
Isn’t it incredible that every single year God would remind us how beautiful it is to die?
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Holding on to Faith
It isn’t every day you see a horse walking down the street of an average American neighborhood. Two-ton machines on four wheels with headlights and loud music don’t turn any heads except to get out of the…
Read postStepping Out
The majority of those who read this currently have a fairly predictable way of life. You have a regular place that you sleep every night, and a job that takes up most of your time during the day. You have a…
Read postBeginnings
If you’ve been around the internet much these days you may have noticed by now that there are more than a few articles to read. Apparently one of your many clicks online right now has brought you here. I hope…
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