Many people want to feel emotionally and spiritually well, but aren’t always sure how to get there. The Plumline blog offers practical guidance that will help you get unstuck, find rest, and experience peace.
When You Feel Guilty
What exactly is the feeling of guilt? Guilt is the feeling that arises when you have crossed a moral boundary, or done harm to yourself or another. Guilt can be a heavy feeling to feel. It is often difficult to admit when we have harmed or hurt. It is for this reason that many are so defended against their guilt and will do ANYTHING not to feel it. Unfortunately, if you suppress your guilt, it
Learning From Your Loneliness
How do you know when you’re lonely? And, if you do find that loneliness is what you feel—what can you do about it? Loneliness is what you feel when you feel dismissed, unseen, and unknown by those in your life. This lack of meaningful connection with others may fill you with shame, remind you of hurt, or paralyze you with fear. Whatever the case may be, it is critical that you feel and face your
“To be steady while the world spins around you…”
It is a new year, but the task is still the same. Stillness. Yes, in this restless world you find yourself in, there can be sanity. There can be stillness. Stillness is what Jesus had the night a furious storm came and waves swept over the boat. Stillness is what the archer accesses when she aims her arrow. Maybe you’ve felt stillness on a walk long overdue, or halfway through a favorite novel? Stillness makes
“What do you want?”
Jesus is famous for asking questions. Perhaps the question of his that resonates most around the new year is the one he asks blind Bartimaeus? “What do you want me to do for you?” This question is not without context. Bartimaeus has already let everyone within earshot know that he wants something. At one point, Bartimaeus is begging so loud for Jesus’s attention that even Jesus’s followers try to silence him. “…But he shouted all
Understanding What Keeps You From Rest…
It can be difficult to find rest in any season, let alone the busiest one of the year. If you are already starting to experience the signs of burnout and exhaustion this December, consider this: You are a limited human being with needs for love, rest, and stillness. In fact, your ability to experience God’s restorative love is directly proportionate to your willingness to be in need with him. As you step into sabbath this
Setting New Boundaries in Old Relationships
The holiday season is often a re-entering into your oldest relational wounds. In another week or so, you’ll go sit across the table with those who you have a history of hurt with, and maybe some level of tension. If you want to continue on in a relationship with them, but you want to do it in a wiser way than before, this is where the “boundary” conversation comes in. A boundary is this: What
Lent 2026: Do you want to be closer to Christ?
Do you ever worry? Do your days sometimes seem empty? Do you worry that you are living on autopilot? When joy seems out of reach, our first impulse is often to do more. “If I just read my Bible and prayed every day,” we say to ourselves, “I wouldn’t feel this way.” As if we’re being punished for not completing an invisible checklist of daily spiritual activities. Reading your Bible is good. Praying every day
Lent 2026: What does it mean to be you?
In two-and-a-half weeks, on February 18th, churches around the world will gather and observe Ash Wednesday. It’ll be the start of the 2026 Lent season. The church has observed this holy day and this season for centuries. Like Advent, Lent is a season of preparation. It’s a time where Christians reflect on the sober reality that led the Son of God to come to earth. We don’t just celebrate Easter in a vacuum. We
Your soul is a Visionary Guide
How well do you know your soul? If you’re like many modern Christians, the word “soul” feels abstract and ethereal. You know you have one, but you’re not quite sure what—let alone where!—it is. But what if I told you that your soul, when healthy, is perhaps the most grounded part of your spiritual makeup? Would you believe me? As a refresher, we’re in the middle of a series about the four parts of our
Your heart is a Loving Companion
Last week, I introduced the characters that describe the 4 parts of our spiritual anatomy. If you need a refresher: In my years of doing this work, I’ve noticed a common tendency: people often tell me, “I don’t have this one or that one.” But that is a false assumption. You have them all, though some may be drowsy or buried deep. The first of these characters is the Loving Companion, a.k.a. your heart. It
Do you know the characters within you?
We spend a lot of time looking for things that will make us feel complete. This search drives us to read widely, to follow gurus on Instagram, to collect experience after experience. Along the way we learn things. Good things, even! And yet, that hunger for meaning doesn’t go away. Just like that U2 song, we still haven’t found what we’re looking for. If any of that resonates, you might believe that you’ll never find
The soil of a divided heart
For the last few weeks, we’ve been exploring the Parable of the Sower, sitting with the question, “What kind of soil is in my heart right now?” As I’ve said before, this parable is not primarily describing the reasons unbelievers refuse to hear the Gospel. Rather, in this little story Jesus is inviting us to a life of constantly paying attention to our own hearts. The truth is that sometimes our hearts are hard and
