My new post is up at dotMagis! 

Moving makes me dig deep. I realized this a few weeks ago as I pulled out of the hotel parking lot on a Sunday morning in Jackson, MS, to begin day two of our move from Georgia to Texas. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I pulled onto the interstate that morning. I knew I was three hours from my hometown of Baton Rouge, where I lived the majority of my life. I was eight hours away from Athens, GA, our home for the last four years, and I was seven hours away from what will eventually become our new home in Texas.

Part of me wanted to turn my car around and head back to Georgia. The other part of me wanted to head south to Baton Rouge. I yearned for familiarity and comfort. There was not a piece of me that morning that was ready to enter into a new city where we knew so few people and there were so many unknowns.

In that moment, I did not feel I belonged anywhere. Desolation got a hold of me pretty quickly, and I found myself huffing to God about how much I disliked moving, the lack of familiarity, and the sense of not feeling I belonged somewhere. I internally shouted at God that morning in my silent prayer from the driver’s seat: While I understand the phrase of the Suscipe, “Your grace is enough for me,” your grace is not feeling enough for me this morning.

 To read how I overcame this feeling of hopelessness and desolation….

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.