I want to let you in on a little secret: I don’t know what I’m doing.

Well, sometimes I have a general idea of where I’d like to go, but I rarely know exactly how to get there.

A lot of people feel they need clarity before they can begin something new—or at least someone to guide them through the process. And thank goodness for that (my work as a teacher depends on it!). But here’s the truth: we don’t actually need all the answers before we start.

Lately, I’ve been talking a lot about how important it is to gather with others—especially when so many of us are not feeling okay in our current environment. Every day, I see or hear something that makes me uneasy, whether it’s the news, politics, or the growing sense of division in our world. The list feels endless, and overwhelming at times.

So what can I do as an individual?

My name is Nana, at least to one very small person. My granddaughter is almost eighteen months old, and she loves to color. If you ask her if she wants to color, the answer is always an enthusiastic nod and wiggle, arms in the air, waiting for me to carry her to the drawer where the crayons live.

I recently re-read Madeleine L’Engle’s classic youth novel A Wrinkle in Time. I’m not sure how long it had been since I last read it, but I know I loved it when I was younger; I read it more than once. This time, I picked it up again because I was in a time-traveling mood (I’m a big sci-fi fan and time-travel is always a good ride). I thought it would be a light escape from the chaos of our current reality. Instead, I found something profoundly relevant.

I could tell you that I grew up going to church and that’s how I came to be where I am, but that would only be a tiny part of my faith story.

Sure, I can say I was about five years old when I asked Jesus to come into my heart, but I didn’t tell anyone I had done that. Over the next decade, I probably got “saved” a whole bunch of times…