To my former daily companion, After all the years, the routines, the small familiar comforts, I didn’t imagine an acrylic bear cup would be the thing that got me to do what I have wanted to do since the beginning--leave you. You are like a bad relationship that I found enough good in that I kept coming back to it. Honestly, it wasn't even the coffee that got me. I was a little lovesick for the bacon gouda. Can you blame a girl? This season's cup frenzy was something I anticip

Written by Rev. T.J. Lucas, Chaplain of the Home He Built Thank you West family for giving me space to speak in memory of our beloved Silas. Scripture gives us so many letters from the apostles, but not the ones written back. So this is mine — a letter back to apostle Silas, on All Saints Day Grace and peace to you, Rev. Silas West, faithful servant of God and builder of holy ground from the humblest dirt. I come to you as the chaplain of the home you built as a Pastor. Out o

Today marks the official beginning of The Painted Word Studio. I start from the ground — from the dust. Just as God once gathered dust and breathed life into it, I begin with what is small, humble, and uncertain yet grounded. But unlike God, I have no infinite wisdom, no clear plan, no way of knowing if this will take form in the way my heart imagines. I only have faith — a stirring in my spirit, a restlessness in my bones, and a conviction that something new is being born. T