Julia Styles Consulting

Christ is risen!

Read our Easter Message by Madison Jones McAleesez

Who Tells Your Story? A reflection for Easter Sunday by adison Jones McAleese April 1, 2026Madison Jones McAleese Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian faith because it is the day when Jesus defeated death, resisted the oppressive forces of Empire, and proved God’s reign by returning to bodily life. But a significant part of the story that we don’t always think about is the importance of Jes...

Its Holy Saturday
Here is a reflection by Ellie Vergowe Highlands
Take a moment to sit alone or with someone else you love and trust. Place your hand on your heart and take a few breaths. You are invited to feel your hard feelings. What are you grieving today? What is your grief telling you? How might you gather the courage to stay with your grief? Show hospitality to whatever comes. If a wail builds up in your throat, let it free. If tears fall, let them. If words come, say them. If you need to move your body, move your body. If sitting in the stillness and desolation quietly feels right, do that. May you be witnessed by yourself, someone you trust, and certainly by God. You have loved, and you are loved. When you are finished today (for the need to express will come again!), go tell someone and receive some care. Today, you join with the ancestors of our faith as they waited at the tomb.

Sitting With Grief: A reflection for Holy Saturday by Ellie VerGoweEllie VerGowe This is holy Saturday. It would be easier (at first) to avoid the pain of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and move on quickly to the celebration of Easter Sunday. But one thing I know, as a chaplain and a griever, is that we cannot avoid difficult feelings or skip the grief. Today, we remember that....

https://www.spiritualdirectionwithjulia.com/post/my-god-hear-my-cry

My God, hear my cry: a reflection for Good Friday by Natasha Westerhoud Natasha Westerhoud Psalm 22 does not begin with calm faith but with a cry that is familiar and echoes through the ages: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These powerful words express a deep sense of grief that can leave us feeling confused, isolated, and overwhelmed. On Good Friday, Jesus embraces this P...

We are in what is called the Holy Triduum (Three Days) as Lent ends, while many have fasted, prayed, meditated, and come into a closer relationship with God. We are in the final stretch. Today is called Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, depending on your tradition. Growing up and into my adulthood, Holy Thursday was always one of my favorite days during Holy Week. I was always fascinated by John 13 coming to life as I witnessed my Pastor walk around with a towel on his arm and a basin of water, washing the feet of those he had chosen to represent the disciples. It reminded me that no matter what is going on in a person's life, we are called to be ministers of the towel. Well, in April 2000, my view of Maundy Thursday took a different turn.

You will later understand! Reflecting on suffering and service through Psalm 116 and John 13Rev. Dr. Cynthia P. Stewart We are in what is called the Holy Triduum (Three Days) as Lent ends, while many have fasted, prayed, meditated, and come into a closer relationship with God, and we are in the final stretch. Today is called Maudy Thursday or Holy Thursday, depending on your tradition. Growing up and into my adulthoo...

12 So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, 2 and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne.3 Think about the one who endured such opposition from sinners so that you won’t be discouraged and you won’t give up.

Drop the Baggage & Run Your Race! A reflection on Hebrews 12:1-3 Jonalisa Worlitz I remember running my first 10K years ago in Los Angeles’ Chinatown with a close friend. I hadn’t trained as much as I should have, but I felt good about finishing the race. My friend had been very consistent with her training schedule, running several times every week. At the start, she insiste...

Corinthians 1.18-31 New Testament for Everyone

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the educated person? Where is the debater of this present age? Don’t you see that God has turned the world’s wisdom into folly? 21 This is how it’s happened: in God’s wisdom, the world didn’t know God through wisdom, so it gave God pleasure, through the folly of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 Jews look for signs, you see, and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we announce the crucified Messiah, a scandal to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, the Messiah—God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25 God’s folly is wiser than humans, you see, and God’s weakness is stronger than humans.

26 Think back to your own call, my brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise in human terms. Not many of you were powerful. Not many were nobly born. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose the insignificant and despised things of the world—yes, even things that don’t exist!—to abolish the power of the things that do exist, 29 so that no creature could boast in God’s presence. 30 Who and what you now are is a gift from God in Messiah Jesus, who has become for us God’s wisdom—and righteousness, sanctification and redemption as well; 31 so that, as the Bible puts it, “Anyone who boasts should boast in the Lord.”

https://www.spiritualdirectionwithjulia.com/post/1 where-is-the-wise-person

Where is the Wise Person? A Reflection on 1 Corinthians 1.18-31 Melanie Myatt This may be a funny thing to admit as a chaplain, but I feel a little embarrassed about being a person of faith. When people ask what I do for a job, I tell them, but I feel like I immediately have to qualify what I do. I feel like I have to point and say, “I’m not like them.” (Also, you would...

Psalm 36:5-11
5 Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.

Our Artisan God a reflection on Psalm 36Char Rotvold Music has long been a key venue where I meet with God. Learning His character, praising His name, and praying in the night are light and joy

Today, some churches will celebrate Palm Sunday while others will commemorate Passion Sunday and Jesus’s path to the cross. The connecting line is that Jesus was hailed and then mocked as king of Israel. Read today’s reflection.

I Shall Wear A Crown–It’s Me, Lord! A reflection for Palm SundayGillie Abdiraxman-Issa Being sure is a valley—lonely, heavy, isolating. Being human is a balance—holding emotions and perspectives in tension. Imagine listening t

Our loving God, in your glory, may your name be praised.
May your Kingdom come, may your will be done, even here, though you may seem far away.
Give us each day what we need to sustain our life and our work.
Forgive us when we fail, and help us to call out, but allow for restoration of those who have failed us.
Guide us in ways that are consistent with your lovingkindness, lest we be tempted to be filled with hatred, and deliver us from being consumed.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen

You Heard My Plea a reflection on Mark 10:32-34Mary Rodriguez Our readings from Psalms and Lamentations today speak from a place of suffering. Of grief. Of distress. Of terror. From the depths of despair. The writer of the Psalm hopes for God’s deliverance and favor for themselves. The writer of the Lamentation asks for payback, curses, and destruction for t...

New on the blog: The Redemption, Promise, and Faithfulness of God — a short reflection on Jeremiah 32:36-41 and how God’s redemption, promises, and faithfulness show up in Israel’s story and ours. Read more: https://wix.to/fF425Rt

How have you seen God’s faithfulness in your life? Share below.

The Redemption, Promise, and Faithfulness of God https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_89ba14e7468749bab197efe911ff1b5d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_1000,h_562,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/nsplsh_89ba14e7468749bab197efe911ff1b5d~mv2.jpg Katherine Mayer... As I read Jeremiah 32:36-41, three things stood out to me: God’s redemption, promise, and faithfulness. All three can be found in the story of Israel, but they can also be found in our story.

Explore a fresh devotional take on Ephesians 2:1-10 through an unexpected lens: zombie fiction and the transforming power of God's love. Sarah Day reflects on Warm Bodies and how even the most hopeless hearts can be revived. Read more: https://wix.to/FJajvua

Zombie Apocalypse and the Reviving Love of God - A reflection on Ephesians 2:1-10Sarah Day Zombie Apocalypse and the Reviving: A Reflection on Ephesians 2:1-10 A few years ago, I was teaching Romeo and Juliet to a 9th-grade English class. To give our unit some contemporary relevance, I assigned my students a choice of ancillary texts, including young-adult adaptations of Shakespeare’s 4...