About Elizabeth
My personal story holds loss of identity and belonging, transition, spiritual and emotional hurt, and re-rooting.
After years of cross-cultural ministry in East Asia, my family and I returned Stateside in 2016. In that season of transition, I felt disoriented, broken, and a little lost within myself. Years of ministry left me disoriented with the church and feeling beat up as a woman vocationally called to ministry. I no longer knew who I was if I wasn’t a missionary, and I didn’t seem to belong in American culture. I realized being overseas allowed me to hide from deep emotional and relational hurts from my past that now needed to be addressed. Through several books on grief, loss, and transition I began to notice God inviting me to a whole new way of life–one involving walking blindly into darkness, pain, and sorrow.
In my wilderness journey, I discovered early Christian prayer practices, liturgy, and spiritual direction that opened a whole new world of healing to me. One step, one day at a time, Jesus was leading me to wholeness by helping me find my identity in his abundant love, my belonging at the table with the Trinity, and my new purpose in God’s Kingdom project.
Through those historic Christian practices, Jesus ministered to me in quiet spaces by teaching me how to listen for God’s voice. The Holy Spirit and I wrestled with deep questions, past hurts, and doubt. It was in my personal wandering that the Holy Spirit drew my heart closer to Christ, who in turn revealed the Father.
My journey through darkness and pain shaped and clarified my renewed vocational call to the ministry of spiritual direction, prayer, and retreats. My deepest delight is in partnership with the Trinity by companioning others along their wandering faith journey, wherever they may find themselves.
MY FORMATION JOURNEY
My faith formation continued to develop as I earned a Master’s in Spiritual Formation from Portland Seminary. I became certified as a spiritual director from Sustainable Faith in 2023 and trained in Ignatian Spirituality and the Spiritual Exercises from Loyola University, Chicago. My earliest education and voctional call to ministry began during my undergrad at Baylor University.
Today I also minister in partnership with these amazing ministries: Global Trellis, In the Coracle, and Ignatian Ministries. These allow me to continue sharing a greater prayer vision in the world. I now live in Grand Rapids, MI with my two young adult children, husband, and dog, Sheba.
I believe no one should have to walk the spiritual journey alone. Life is lonely enough as it is. Prayer, spiritual direction, and retreats open our hearts to Christ, who leads us into a spacious space where we discover our belovedness, our belonging among all the saints, and our unique partnership with Trinity in realizing Heaven and Earth here and now.
I would love to journey alongside you as you wander with intention toward hope, healing, and joy. In Christ, we can find the way to inner healing, re-rooting, being known, and flourishing in the beauty of the mystical body of Christ.
~ Elizabeth
About Along the
Wandering Way
A prayer destination for the wandering soul
Along the Wandering Way is a place to discover the breadth and depth of prayer that refreshes the soul and leads to goodness and love.
Through spiritual direction and contemplative retreats, you’re invited to nurture a prayer life that awakens you to God’s love, presence, and the inspiration you long for—while finding rest, healing, and transformation along the way.
Along the Wandering Way began as a simple blog—
a journeying ground for reflection during a season of transition. Over time, it has become a prayer ministry rooted in sacred companionship with the Trinity: a spacious, Spirit-let place for prayer, silence, contemplation, and rest.
At its heart, Along the Wandering Way is about holding hope for others. It’s about creating space to listen, discern, and receive God’s loving inspiration through prayer so that transformation is possible even in seasons of wilderness or uncertainty.
Through one-on-one direction, contemplative retreats, and gentle spiritual practices,
Along the Wandering Way offers:
- A prayerful space to encounter the loving presence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- Inspiration to move from survival into flourishing
- Companionship along life’s unfolding journey
- Rest for weary pilgrims
- A pathway to spiritual freedom and wholeness
- A means of awakening to God’s ongoing self-communication within all creation
- A way to deepening union with God–learning to ”waste time” with our Creator and lover of our souls
You don’t have to wander alone. At Along the Wandering Way, you are invited to rediscover your belovedness in God’s eyes and step into a life marked by Christ’s desire for your freedom, peace, hope, and joy.
Begin the Journey
Come as you are. Wander with intention. Discover the Way of Life.