Jesus is not surprised by our weakness

Claire Raabe 5 min read

“Without me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5 This simple line of scripture has felt relevant over, and over, and over again since March 16th.  Lacking Control – COVID-19 Edition Like most of you, my life has been put on hold, turned sideways, and restarted again on a much slower setting in the three weeks since COVID-19 became a growing reality across the world. My quarantine began a bit sooner than most, as out-of-state travel over spring break led me to make the decision to self-isolate before the shelter-in-place orders were widespread across my city, county, and state.  During the first week of this self-isolation, my mind was whirring with fear for myself, my family who I’d travelled with, my roommates who had also travelled over spring break, and our country at large. Every cough at the dinner table was met with widened eyes, multiple yawns in a row equated […]

Continue Reading

Isn’t it exciting to see what God is going to do?

Claire Raabe 4 min read

The start of the new year always brings an onslaught of emotion and reflection for me. My birthday falls on December 30th, so as the world turns another year older, I do as well. To be frank, as of late this event has failed to yield an overwhelming amount of contentment and gratitude in my heart. Instead, the combination of the new year and my birthday feels as though I am being given a double-dosage of “these are all of the things you thought would have happened by now but haven’t.” THE PLACE I FIND MYSELF I just turned 26. If you went back and asked younger Claire, by the age of 26 I would be married or at least in a serious relationship. I would have lived in a major city, out of state, or even out of the country. I might have started a company or at least […]

Continue Reading

Praying with His Name

Claire Raabe 3 min read

I have been thinking about names lately.  Working at one of the largest public universities in the country, I have learned a lot of names since starting my job. In any given week, there are likely to be 400-500 students whose name I am paid to know walking through the halls of the building I work in. One of my favorite parts of my day is walking around, passing students in the hall, and saying hello- calling them by name; asking how they are. I do it primarily because I know how striking it is to me when I hear someone say my name.  “Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” ― Dale Carnegie, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” I read this book when I was a sophomore in college. A “classic” in the business world. The title always felt a little off-putting to […]

Continue Reading

Material Girl in a Material World

Claire Raabe 5 min read

“Cause we are living In a material world And I am [not] a material girl” Right?????? Growing up, singing this song alongside Madonna on the radio always felt like a great irony. Material girl? Not me. I wore basketball shorts to school many days (Girls athletics was first period and there was a dress code for knee-length shorts. You would have made the same decision!) I grew up in a world where my two shirts from American Eagle were Christmas presents from friends and anything branded with Abercrombie & Fitch or Limited Too was more likely to have come from a hand-me-down box than a store. Now, I’d like to add some qualifiers. I had vastly more than what I needed growing up. My mother was more than willing to splurge a little on an outfit I loved or wanted for a special event. I got a new pair of […]

Continue Reading

The Geology of Our Hearts

Claire Raabe 5 min read

“Why must holy places be dark places?” C.S. Lewis’ “Til We Have Faces” Let’s start here: I consider myself to be a fairly self-aware individual. I can tell you my five values I use as a framework for decision making in my daily life. I can tell you my strengths and shortcomings, virtues and sin struggles, and hopes and despairs. I can tell you my personality type and how it shows itself in work, relationships, and spirituality. I can tell you specific examples of life experiences that have shaped the beautiful parts of my heart as well as my wounds. And yet, when my spiritual director posed the following question to me last week about my prayer life, I didn’t even know where to start. “Claire, what is the geology of your heart?” Some context: I felt as though I’d hit a wall in my prayer. For a few days, […]

Continue Reading

In the Beginnings

Claire Raabe 4 min read

As I begin my inaugural blog post for the All the More faithful, so many thoughts run through my head before I feel equipped to begin. Should I type my words out, or write a draft in my journal for a sort of over-romanticized authenticity? When this is posted should I share it, or is that weird and self-promoting? What is a creative process? Is it possible to create meaningful thoughts without past journals to read and reflect on since I failed to bring any of them home for Christmas break? How is the lighting in this room? Do I know how to write? These thoughts, plus one hundred more I will spare you from reading about, fill my brain until I land somewhere quite similar to the ever-wise Calvin:

Continue Reading