Category Archives: Stories

Love Asks for More

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

Love always asks more of us.–Wendy J. MacLean Love always asks more of us. Love didn’t ask me to say yes to everything.Love asked me why I wanted to. Love didn’t ask me to shove my fear aside and trust.Love … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Ephesians 5:2, Esther Hizsa, I Corinthians 13, Ivan Rusyn, love, Luke 15:11-31, Mary Hynes, Micah 6:8, Mother Teresa, Oliver Twist, On Small Wings, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Tapestry, Theophilos Papadopoulos, Ukraine, Wendy J. MacLean | Leave a comment

Hiding Places

Posted on June 24, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

You may be wondering how the little girl at the window is doing. She’s still there and let me know she kind of liked meeting up with her younger fearless self. As I thought about her, I realized my fearful … Continue reading →

Posted in community, compassion, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Anne Yungwirth, Esther Hizsa, Ezekiel 34:11-12, Found me, Funkybug, Islamophobia, Joy Is Measurable, Luke 8:16, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, To Yumnah with love, YCCI | 2 Comments

Home Again

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

I love our camping adventures–being outsideexploring by bikehiking trails to a viewsipping wine from a jarwatching flames turn to coalsmusing about what we forgotand how we made docozy and warm in our tentgrateful for tarps and when the rain comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Baldy Mountain Sorrento, Braiding Sweetgrass, camping, Esther Hizsa, Mary Oliver, Panthercap, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Shuswap Lake Provincial Park, Sometimes, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | Leave a comment

The Cross I Take Up and Lay Down

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

Then Jesus said to them all, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” –Luke 9:23 What does it mean to take up our cross and follow Jesus? Plenty has … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Stories, Writing | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Jesus carrying the cross, John Bell, Luke 9:23, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Take up your cross, The Summons, Titian, walking | 2 Comments

A Kingdom Tale

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕺𝖓𝖊 WHEREIN the King proclaims that all taxes are forthwith suspended. In return for his generosity, the King requires that all his subjects love one another–including their enemies. The Everyday Pilgrim, who lives in this magical land, is filled … Continue reading →

Posted in community, compassion, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Art of Spiritual Direction, Dorothe, Esther Hizsa, John 14:34-35, Living from the Heart, Lynn D. Rosentrater, Pixabay, Pxhere, SoulStream, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, unnamed terror | 8 Comments

The Little Girl at the Window

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

“I feel so vulnerable,” I said to my spiritual director on the day I clicked publish. “Even though I sense from God and others that my writing is significant, something in me feels the risk of putting it out there … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Reflections, Spiritual Direction, Stories, Writing | Tagged Dance, Esther Hizsa, Marja Bergen, Matthew 5:14-16, Ride Your Dreams, Songs that wil hug your heart, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, victortsu | 5 Comments

In the Heart of the Beloved

Posted on May 20, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

When readers open my new book, I invite them to open it up and flip it over. In the introduction, I wrote: Look at the whole cover. Take in the beauty of the image: vibrant pink, glowing edges, green stem, … Continue reading →

Posted in In the Heart of the Beloved, Poetry, Reflections, Stories, Writing | Tagged Esther Hizsa, In the Heart of the Beloved, Nan C. Merrill, Psalm 23, Psalms for Praying, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim Volume 3, Sylvia Sassen | Leave a comment

The Gift

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

“Love you,” one of my beloveds said. I held these two wordsin disbelief and wonder.I wasn’t expecting a hug goodbyeor even a glance back.That didn’t meanI wasn’t hoping for it.Now, I was holding the giftI’d wanted for so long. For … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Burnaby Mountain, Esther Hizsa, Hug the Mountain, Louise Docker, Love Heart, pattern of sunshine on stone wall, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, spodzone, Steve Garnaas-Holmes, Sunlight, Trans Mountain Pipeline, trust | 2 Comments

Release, Receive and Return

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

For days after I heard how my words wounded another, I was visited with the recurring judgment that I was a bad person, an unsafe person. I was shrouded in shame until God found me through a Lenten reflection on … Continue reading →

Posted in Easter, False Self, Poetry, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Living from the Heart, Nan C. Merrill, Psalm 23:3, Richard Bott, Rivendell Labyrinth, SoulStream, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | 2 Comments

Playing My Hand

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

Once I acknowledged that I was on the ADHD spectrum, I saw things I could do to make life easier for myself and those around me. For example, I stuck a post-it note on the inside of our front door: … Continue reading →