🍽️ A Quiet Dinner, A Loud Heartache

Tonight, I sat down for dinner with two women I’ve come to know through pastoral care. The evening was warm, thoughtful, and filled with gentle conversation. But behind the shared laughter, one story resonated with unspoken weight. One of the women is struggling—not because she’s lost her way, but because the way she wishes to walk is lined with warning signs.

Her love, sincere and tender, is for someone of the same gender. She wasn’t asking for permission. She was asking for peace. And that longing—for peace, for clarity, for dignity—lives in so many others I’ve counseled.

💔 When Frameworks Crush the Soul

In my years of ministry, I’ve walked beside people whose deepest desire was to love truthfully—and whose deepest pain came from being told that desire made them sinful. Cultural expectations, theological rigidity, and family traditions act like invisible fences, keeping them from stepping into the fullness of who they are.

Some push forward and survive.
Others shrink inward and disappear.

It’s not their love that breaks them. It’s the demand to fit someone else’s definition of holiness.

⛪ Faith Must Make Room for Humanity

If faith is to reflect the heart of Christ, then it must refuse to be a barrier. Jesus met people in their truth—not to erase them, but to embrace them. Our churches, our communities, our doctrines must learn to do the same. When love produces gentleness, loyalty, patience, and joy—fruits of the Spirit—we need to stop calling it dangerous.

Too many have walked away from faith not because they stopped believing, but because they were told their love invalidated their belonging. We have to ask: are we preserving truth, or punishing it?

🌈 Love Is Love. And Nothing Else.

This is the truth I carry forward—with conviction, with care, and with hope.
Love does not require permission.
It does not need to wear a label.
It does not become holy because someone else says so.

Love is love. And nothing else.

It’s enough. Always has been.

To those still aching to be seen: I see you. You are not alone.
To those holding their truth quietly in fear: may this be the whisper that tells you it’s okay to live fully.
And to my fellow faith leaders: may we be brave enough to choose grace over exclusion, honesty over silence, and love over judgment.