Joy & Deep Suffering

She is not just a business to us.

This place means so much to me.

I love her.

I love our team.

I love these kids.

Even when things break, when we’re running out of supplies, or when I have no idea what I’m doing, my team just comes alongside me with so much kindness and helps me figure it out.

It’s been a minute since I’ve helped run the ice cream shop, so I’m a little rusty… but I love that I’m back.

This shop is filled with so much grace. We’re allowed to make mistakes here, and we all know I make plenty of them.

It’s always been important to me to create a safe place where we can mess up, learn, grow, and still have a lot of fun… even when the line is wrapped around the building, and our crew is working their tails off.

Five years ago, Bruster’s came into our lives during a very difficult time. It was exactly what our family needed.

And here we are again, only this time, we’re walking through the hardest, most heart-wrenching, and heaviest season I’ve ever experienced. Not just for me, but for Mark and the kids too.

I decided to put my therapy work on hold, though I love being a therapist and care deeply about my clients who trust me with their pain, wounds, and joy on their healing journeys.

This was necessary because nothing comes before my family.

Telling the wonderful, brave humans I work with that I’d be stepping away for a few months was not easy

I was grateful they were so understanding and told me they would be waiting for me.

And somehow, in the middle of all this pain and deep suffering, she is holding us again.

Today, just being with a few of the kids we work with, including one of our daughter's and her boyfriend,I felt a deep sense of love and gratitude filling my heart.

It reminded me that even in the darkest moments, there are still small glimmers of light…