J. Bost Photography

antifragility (n.): the ability to grow stronger when exposed to uncertainty, risk, or stressors; to gain from disorder

When the snow falls so quickly
it fills in all my footsteps
I’ll accept the invitation
to chart new trails
and just explore
believing so
the unknown I don’t know
holds promises of pleasure
forevermore

Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town.
There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.
He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said.
“Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.
But the people were displeased.
“He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.

Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Luke 19:1-10

I’ve always loved the story of Zaccheaus.
Maybe it’s just because I love to climb trees.
I often experience a sense of closeness to Jesus up there, just a bit tucked away from the world, perched.
Maybe it’s because I resonate with his joy and delight when Jesus spots him, in a tree of all places.
Oh to be seen like that!
When we’re just hoping to catch a glimpse of Jesus, he instead locks eyes with us.
I’ve experienced it.
There’s been no more profound experience in my life than to realize and know—not in the informative way of knowing, but the transformational kind—that Jesus sees me.
The story doesn’t even end there.
He calls Zaccheaus by name, and invites himself over.
Zaccheaus takes him back to his house overjoyed.
“Jesus knows who I am and wants to spend time with me!”
As a tax collector, I don’t know what he expected from Jesus, but given how other Jews treated him, something along the lines of disgust, to be passed by, judged, a disappointed glance.
Jesus was different.

May you experience this invitation today:
Jesus sees you & wants to come be with you in your home. You won’t leave the same.

Everything that was broken has
forgotten its brokenness. I live
now in a sky-house, through every
window the sun. Also your presence.
Our touching, our stories. Earthy
and holy both. How can this be, but
it is. Every day has something in
it whose name is forever.

Mary Oliver

there is no greater treasure
I think
than to be trusted
to bear witness
to the inner world
of another.

what a privilege
that these women—
these precious, brilliant,
fierce, resilient,
wonderful women—
have let me in
to the secret places of their
hearts.

these are women who choose
to tend to their inner gardens
as the wars of the world wage,
as they are pummeled, tossed,
and bruised,
they plant,
they water,
they tend
to the garden of their soul.

what a harvest awaits.
I am just lucky to watch and to
learn
how to live a little more
alive,
a little more
gently,
and tenderly
as their faithful love
tends even to me.

views from a new york city apartment

may it be said I wasn’t too busy to see the beauty in ordinary things

missing this dear one lots today. film from our last girls trip, capturing a very teary airport goodbye. it’s hard living time zones and oceans away from the people my heart loves. there’s a lot I could say to describe Amy but I think her name says it best: beloved. beloved by many (myself included), but most meaningfully, she lives as God’s beloved one.

friendly reminder you can wake up to today ames…just as God called Jesus his beloved at his baptism, so too he calks you his beloved today 🫶🏼

if you’re seeing this post, God’s giving you permission to dream!

what do you want? if money, time, your skills, your fear were no obstacle, what would you pursue? how would you live?

these photos, this page, this post, only exist because I started to dream with God about my future.

instead of getting wrapped up in the day-to-day and what I thought I “should” be doing, I started to use my imagination.

I began to pay attention to what captured me. when I was a kid, before I thought of a job as a way to make money, what did I want to do? better yet, who did I want to be?

what profession or hobby did I think was cool or interesting but I’d written off as “for other people”?

what was I so afraid of?

so, what about you? you’ve got one wild and precious life. there’s only one of you and God made you and placed you here and now for a unique purpose. you have passions, cares, soap boxes, things you notice, hobbies, skills that are special. and that doesn’t have to mean special in the eyes of anyone other than you and God.

here’s your ticket to freedom. if you need permission, a kick in the pants, inspiration, hope, ideas, or a cheerleader, that’s what I’m here for. my life is a testimony that it’s so much better on the other side (in the middle of?) that thing that feels too good for you, too beyond you.

living where I was afraid I would fail has been pretty dang fun so far. and the dreams just keep getting grander 😜

let these majestic views inspire wonder in your soul, and let dreaming begin.

more wedding 🤩 Reagan and Jordan do not mess around on the dance floor 🕺🏻💃🏻

the Giusti’s!

everything about their wedding was special, intentional, fun, and all about Jesus and community. EPIC.

this kinda gave me the bug to shoot weddings 👀 anyone getting married soon and want a cheap photographer??

how do you know when you’re home?
some reflections from house church.

Home is where you’re welcome to come early, or late, and stay as long as you like.

Home is family dinners, where you’re expected to bring nothing but yourself, but get to bring so much more. Drinks, communion, dessert, a question, a song, your troubles, worries, cares, or prayers.

Home is where you can lay on the floor after a long week, cuddle with the dog, listen, talk, even shed a few tears.

Home is the people you can ask last minute requests and favors.

Home is the found family you want your biological family to meet.

Home is where you can be totally honest. The things you’re celebrating, no matter how little a victory, and the ways you failed. All is welcome to be shared and held together.

Home is the people who help you move. Especially when it involves a mattress and furniture.

Home is the people you’re silly with. The people you do dance parties with. The people you laugh with.

Thank you to all of you who have become home to me in the foreign land of California. You know who you are.

Home is where you’re challenged to be a man or woman of your word. To walk the walk while being cheered on.

Home is team. Something greater than yourself and your own belonging.