Using Christian Spiritual Practices to Draw Closer to God with Blogger and Writer Celia Miller - Love Does That | Christian Spiritual Director Kari Bartkus

Hey, my friends. Welcome back to Let’s Encourage One Another.

My name is Kari Bartkus and I am a spiritual director who works with women who are going through difficult seasons like grief, depression, anxiety, illness, and caregiving. And today, I’m going to share with you a conversation that helps us unpack some different ways that we can connect with God through Christian spiritual practices.

But before I introduce my guest, I want to take a moment to personally invite you to an online retreat I’m hosting in May called Writing with God.

Back in January, I offered a journaling workshop with ways to encounter God on the pages of your journal, and this 3-hour retreat will really build off that. It is designed to be a time when we can gather together in a sacred space to meet with God and draw closer to Him, and we’ll do so through some guided writing practices.

If you have listened to other episodes, it is no secret that I love to write, I love to journal, and I love God. So using writing as a way to connect with Him is so very meaningful to me. In fact, that’s one reason I offer written spiritual direction. My clients and I write back and forth, and that is how we seek God together.

Now, for this retreat, we will meet through Zoom and we’ll intentionally set that time aside to see what God might have to say to us. It’s not just a writing retreat and it’s not just a typical online Christian retreat; it really is bringing the two together in this really beautiful way, and it will give you some ideas and practices you can incorporate into your own spiritual rhythm.

If you are interested, you can go to lovedoesthat.org/writingwithGod to learn more and sign up. That’s lovedoesthat.org/writingwithGod.

Okay, so, I’ve got to tell you that I have been meeting so many amazing gals online and I just have to share them with you. Today’s guest is blogger and writer Celia Miller, and she and I met on Instagram. We both follow one particular writer, and somehow or another, we found each other and realized pretty quickly that we’re both passionate about Christian spiritual practices, especially the more contemplative ones like prayer and journaling.

As Celia and I have gotten to know one another, I knew I wanted to introduce you to her. So in today’s conversation, we dive more into spiritual practices and some of the ones that are really resonating with Celia right now in this season of her life. We also dive into spiritual direction, including what it was like for Celia to walk into her first spiritual direction session. I know you will love her gentle spirit and getting to know her.

So, allow me to introduce you to blogger and writer Celia Miller…

MEET CELIA:

Celia resides in Greenwood, Indiana with her husband, Max, and two furbabies, Henry and Hattie. She’s an avid pursuer of good storytelling and loves to spend her free time getting lost in a good book or movie. Celia is a writer and blogger who aims to help you cultivate an intimate relationship with the Lord by giving you the tools you need to slow down, seek still moments, and behold God’s presence with you in the everyday. She’s the author of a Bible study titled, You Are Beloved: a 21-day study on how to root your identity in the love of God, which is available now exclusively on Amazon. If you would like to connect with her, check out her blog at https://celiaamiller.com or go say hello on Instagram at @celiaamiller.