This is ceremony to me

When I was seven months pregnant with Dakota, Bobby and I went on a mission trip to India.

It wasn't your typical mission trip, it was a prayer walking trip - which is why it appealed to me so much.

Everyone told me not to go so late in my pregnancy that it would put us at risk but both of us felt peace about it so we trusted it.

We walked through impoverished towns, visited temples, and were welcomed into homes throughout the region.

One day, our group went camel riding, but because I was very pregnant, I couldn't go.

Instead, I was invited into the palace to meet the "princess."

She was around my age and delighted to meet me - but lived a life so completely different than mine.

She was rarely allowed to leave her wing and go outside, and she was promised in marriage to a man she didn't love.

She dreamed of going to school in the States and living a completely different life.

She felt hopeless and scared, and that's when I knew why I was there.

We had tea and talked for a long time, and then asked if I could pray for her.

She said yes and joined me in prayer in a way she never had before.

It was beautiful and powerful for both of us.

And it marked me.

I've learned so much from Eastern medicine, science, and spirituality. I deeply respect the ancient wisdom within many of those traditions.

But no place or people hold all the keys.

We have something to receive from one another.

I believe places carry a unique signature, just as people do.

Everywhere I've lived, and every place I've traveled, has awakened something inside of me.

That trip ignited the desire to see women set free.

In all the ways.

And it taught me a powerful principle I've lived by ever since.

When we walk present - attuned to the Spirit and our surroundings without an agenda,
we are guided in the most fun, fruitful, and serendipitous ways.

To the places we are meant to be and the people we are meant to meet.

To give and to receive.

This is ceremony to me. 🤍

And it happened again—differently, but equally powerfully—on my recent trip to Sweden.