State of the Substack Address
Where is Somewhere by a Stream going in 2026? Probably not outside...
Happy Sunday, friends!
I told Zeb this past Saturday, “I have to get outside tomorrow. Even if it’s just to walk around a park.” Sunday rolled around and it was the same story as the previous 45 days – clouds, sleet, a layer of something that resembles frozen snot coating the sidewalks, and the kind of cold that’s so wet it reaches your bones in three seconds flat.
“It’s not our day, Glen,” I told the golden house bear that was looking forward to a little hike.
To be honest, I’ve grown to realize that I don’t love this time of year. As much as I’m a “grit it out” and “find the bright side” kind of person, the mild-to-radically awful winters in western PA get me down, especially when I can’t seem to catch one of those mild days when I’m not working. Instead, I get the kind that are so cold and dreary it makes you lose track of time. The light never seems to be fully “on”, and my body never seems to be fully awake.
I have tried to find a source of good encouragement in nature, y’all. I have.
But darn it if most of the outdoor bears are all, “Screw it. We’re going to sleep through this crap.” And the trees are like, “It’s so dreary we’re going to shed our beauty and play dead until March.” Even if I look up “plants that survive in the winter”, I get a list of plants that merely survive the winters. (There are very few that truly thrive.)
I suppose that resonates for many of us. Winter doesn’t feel like a time of thriving for many. Sure, as a skier I’m invigorated by the cold air and snow. When I have fun winter activities to do, I definitely feel a little brighter. But when it’s just dreary, cloudy, no-good-thing-to-do-outside winter, it feels more like I’m simply existing. Thus, Glen and I stayed in, took a nap, worked out, washed ALL of the bedding, cooked some things, and waited for Zeb to come home from work.
That’s fine. I can survive the winter like the trees and hibernating bears. But where does that leave me as a writer who uses inspiration from trips into natural surroundings as inspiration for faith-based encouragement? (For the record, that is not really a niche.)
When I look back at my dad’s old publication –The Quiet Rodman – he often commented on the state of the world, things happening in his life, and other musings, always coming back, in the end, to a fly rod on a river boat in the Manistee. In those days, he transitioned from a life on the water and in the shop to one in the office and on the computer. He knew in his heart that the outdoors were better, but he made that sacrifice to better provide for our family. It was the right thing in that season of life.
I don’t know if it felt like a winter for my dad, or if it felt like he’d switched climates altogether. We all know he did the right thing, and at this juncture in life, I have peace in not trying to be outside every second of the day the way I did for the last several years. Right now, I find meaning in the days I spend sweeping up dog hair and washing sheets, listening to my husband’s stories and interests, and connecting with women about Jesus.
While my heart will always be somewhere by a stream, my feet are only there occasionally, and it seems to be winter in the proverbial outdoor climate of my life right now.
So where does that leave this publication? I have some options…
I could try to make things up, fabricating outdoor experiences or pulling in more information about life in the natural world that is interesting and seems spiritually significant, but that I am not experiencing directly. I’ve done that a couple of times, and it’s pretty lackluster.
I could bag it for now and come back to this someday when I am ready and able to get outside more again. That feels more confusing than anything. Didn’t God call me to write, as an expression of His bigger call on my life to encourage others in the Word? That certainly predates my dedication to the wilderness. It doesn’t feel right to stop.
I could recognize that my spiritual growth and desire to share is not dependent on taking bi-weekly walks in the woods or meeting new brown trout each week, and God is still moving in my heart, mind, and theology, regardless of where my feet are. In this season of winter (both physical and metaphorical), He may be leading me to write some different things. Perhaps this is the time to write about things that have been on my heart since the start of this publication, but aren’t necessarily related to the outdoors, and so I’ve held back.
The third option feels most viable here, friends. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want to fabricate content for the sake of producing content. I certainly don’t want to try to push Zeb and I to a place God does not have us right now by insisting we go outside more. (He will again someday, I am sure.)
So going forward, you’ll see some different content here:
Topics I’ve been studying
Theological debates and my thoughts on them
Where we see God today and how to stand strong as Christians
Questions – both common and deep – to spiritual problems and conundrums
Resources I find indispensable
Maybe even a video here and there of some free-flowing thoughts
I may or may not post on Sundays, may with some Sunday Soaks mixed in if I do get to get outside. Some posts may be shorter thoughts, and some may be multi-part deep-dives. We’ll see where the Spirit leads!
Regardless, I want you to know that the heart of SBAS will remain – authentic encouragement grounded in Scripture. After all, the Stream has always been the Living Water of Jesus.
Is there anything you want to see? Questions you want answered? Let me know in the comments, or by replying to this email!
Until next time, may all that God created testify to His power and divine nature, that you may be encouraged by His love all around you.
Keep writing my friend. You have a gift!