Michelle Marie

Sharing stories about life, relationships, and the grace that’s enough for the journey.

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About Michelle

girl holding flowers and walking with God

A place for truth, whimsy, and the messy middle.

Seeking God’s heart together.

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Earlier this year, when I still had faith in dating apps, I went out with a guy who was a self-proclaimed Disney addict—which is a quality in a person that I have never understood. I should have known right then and there that this date was doo

2021 was the year of monthly writing retreats with Sarah and Alecia, and it was also the year Alecia and I laughed out loud at the cringiest online dating profiles (you would not believe) that we could find. We were all single beyond belief lol.

Bu

The way the morning dances across every surface of my childhood home.

Happy Friday. 🤍

#roundupbeautiful #livethelittlethings #makelifebeautiful #darlingweekend #gritandvirtue #chasinglight #postitfortheaesthetic

If lipstick girl autumn was a thing,
I might be its poster child.
Because each year
when the temperatures drop
and the leaves transform themselves aflame,
so do I.

I reinvent myself –
one half shade of crimson at a time.
As if a splash of rose

I see you
Walking down a tightrope,
Gun to back.
You are smiling
but
I see
the beads of sweat
that gather at your collar
As the crowd roars.

I’m watching you
Watch your self worth
rise and fall
through another’s eyes.
Eyes that co

Sometimes I dream about being a “real” writer—writing books and devotionals and getting paid to do it—instead of just someone who fills character counts on Instagram captions or white space on once-a-month blog posts (once-a-m

“It has rightly been said that perhaps 85% of evangelicals do not get (through) the Wall. Often our image of God doesn’t allow for such a difficult experience.”

It is admittedly a whirlwind of a time to be a Christian. Many believe

One of the reasons Jesus said he came was so we could have life, and have it abundantly. Later, Paul wrote that he had learned a secret: how to be content in all circumstances.

A good life is surely an easy life; an Instagram-worthy life; a life po

Happy Mental Health Month! 💛

As someone who's walked through some pretty rough seasons of anxiety and depression, I'm just poppin' in to remind you that you absolutely DO NOT have to (nor should you) believe everything you think. Our untrained min

Friends: It’s Saturday. So here’s a few little moments that kept me tethered and in awe of humanity this week:

Watching a gray-haired, grinning woman empty her cup of water (leftover from lunch?) into a sidewalk planter. Like she was jus

I just told a friend that I think I have a higher degree of comfort with vulnerability than most people.

But, vulnerability is what draws in our hearts and draws out our sorrow; it’s our reminder that grace can stick to ugly places.

With th

Happy Easter, friends. 💛
This is a glorious day that means:

We no longer have to live in shame or pretense, pretending to be something we’re not, or acting stronger than we really are—because Jesus looks at our hearts, knows every twist

John, did you know?
Sitting cross-legged
knees brushing
with deity,
that this meal would be the last?

That the hands,
breaking bread and
giving thanks,
would tomorrow bleed?
That the face,
raining grace and
beaming pride,
would tomorrow hide?
Cloake

The joy that springs from hard places cannot
be shaken.
Although, it can
be stirred—
tears melting—
as hardened hearts unthaw,
seeing gracious the hand which withholds.
(or trusts it to be)

The work of reconciling the what-ifs with the

A great multitude of stars
Endless galaxies
Entire worlds exist
Just outside our reach.
So many
So much
So great and so far.

You’d think smaller things would be swallowed up
Forgotten
Erased
Lost in the multitude.

Yet consider this miracl

Very often, the voices that are heard are the ones that speak the loudest. The ones that are brash, enthusiastic, confident, and sure. The voices that take up space.

The voices that suck the air out of the room.

And yet, what does it mean for us, w

Sometimes, I feel the need to write—not just for myself, but for an audience. An audience of who, I’m not sure.
Maybe you.
Maybe myself.
Maybe just my cat.

Sometimes, I feel the need to write—so I can remember, reflect, record.

She shifts in her chair
unsure and unaware
of what the future holds
or who might hold her.

Because a road diverged into the wood
and she certainly took the one
less travelled.

Her feet tread a steeper path,
but even still
she remains steadfast.

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, kno

At the end of 2021, I decided that 2022 was going to be the year I would take writing more seriously (something I say every year). In so doing, I created a separate social media account solely dedicated to this purpose. Hello everyone! 🥰

Yet, it&rs

Recent Blog Posts

Blog

reflections, the state of the world

September 12, 2025 (on changing the world)

reflections, the state of the world

Praying for our nation and for my own heart.

reflections, the state of the world

reflections, travel, faith

June 12, 2025 (France, Ecclesiastes, and the beauty of endurance)

reflections, travel, faith

The important stuff is promised to endure through it all.

reflections, travel, faith

reflections, new beginnings

December 31, 2024 (New Year’s Eve)

reflections, new beginnings

Today, on this last full day of 2024, I bumped my finger into my car dashboard and made it bleed. And that pretty much sums up how this year gone, more or less…

reflections, new beginnings

holidays, hope

December 25, 2024 (Light and Darkness)

holidays, hope

Au commencement était celui qui est la Parole de Dieu. Il était avec Dieu, il était lui-même Dieu. […] En lui résidait la vie, et cette vie était la lumière des hommes. La lumière brille dans les ténèbres et les ténèbres ne l’ont pas étouffée.

—Jean 1:1,

holidays, hope

reflections, simple joys

August 18, 2024 (the #iloveprompt of August)

reflections, simple joys

(bringing back the #iloveprompt because idk why, it just felt right.)

reflections, simple joys

friendship, travel

May 26, 2024 (the gift of adult friendship)

friendship, travel

Prepping to leave for Paris and Lucerne in a couple of weeks (!! send me all ur travel recs !!) and I just can’t wait. Both cities sparkle with charm and elegance—I have no doubt the trip will be lovely beyond belief. But even more than the experiences, I can’t wait for the company.

friendship, travel

reflections

May 14, 2024

reflections

Been seeing + loving these types of posts lately, so here goes mine:

Things I’m still learning: The delicate art of balancing passion and practicality. How not to procrastinate. How to pour latte art.

reflections

faith, trust, waiting, hardship, scripture

April 27, 2024 (God of the Impossible)

faith, trust, waiting, hardship, scripture

I’ve started casually referring to myself as a “cynical idealist,” aka: someone who fervently longs for perfection, utopia, untainted beauty, and wholehearted love at every turn. Yet, someone who also has been burned—

faith, trust, waiting, hardship, scripture

reflections, waiting, trust

March 19, 2024 (faith for today)

reflections, waiting, trust

I’m always so astonished when people declare, with seeming certainty, that they know exactly what God is up to in their lives. How he’s moving, what he’s doing, and which doors they expect him to open next. I must look absolutely dumbfounded in their presence as they talk—with my furrowed brow and dropped jaw.

reflections, waiting, trust

reflections, beauty

February 18, 2024

reflections, beauty

The other week, I drove into town on my lunch break and got a flat white from the local produce stop (I’m obsessed), and then meandered my way down the familiar, yet unfamiliar, streets of my city.

reflections, beauty

New from the Portfolio

Portfolio

Apr 19, 2025

Dark Ink, Dark Nights: (in)courage

Apr 19, 2025

I pull out my Micron pen—it’s tucked away safely in a nearby drawer—and cradle its cylindrical lightness in my palm. My fingers curl around it like a memory. This pen is a long-forgotten relic, representing a former version of myself: a more creative, carefree version, before the burnout, before the pandemic…

Apr 19, 2025

Aug 29, 2024

Seven Years at The Little Lake House

Aug 29, 2024

It had charmed me from the start.

Aug 29, 2024

Dec 12, 2023

One Thirty-Nine

Dec 12, 2023

It takes more than four walls

to hold my soul;

Dec 12, 2023

Oct 30, 2023

Equations

Oct 30, 2023

In grade school, you are taught

that the world is composed of formulas.

Oct 30, 2023

Sep 18, 2023

A Prayer for Those Who Just Want to Feel Something

Sep 18, 2023

Heavenly Father, we confess that we have been sleepwalking through our days. We’ve stumbled through moments when we should have been present…we admit our yearning for more.

Sep 18, 2023

Apr 21, 2023

He is More

Apr 21, 2023

Jesus is more

Than a tool for behavior modification.

He is more

Than an exercise in rational thought,

A prop to be put up,

A mask to be worn,

an act to adopt

Apr 21, 2023

Apr 9, 2023

what does it mean to be re-born (on Easter)

Apr 9, 2023

what does it mean to be re-born?

the stars don’t reveal their secrets,

so confounding us —

Apr 9, 2023

May 28, 2019

A Failure To See

May 28, 2019

I see you

Walking down a tightrope,

May 28, 2019