Marnie Hammar
Chasing the Thrill of Hope | Week One: Be Open
I started wondering how it’s all going to fit together this year. How do I check off all the must’s, but balance all of the maybe’s?
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Marnie Hammar
- Nov 17, 2020
- 2 min
The "Happy Jesus" Guy in the Chicago Loop
My first fancy job required a daily train ride into downtown Chicago. On Fridays, as I joined the throng emerging from the train station,...
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Marnie Hammar
- Nov 10, 2020
- 4 min
On Picking Up Our Broken Pieces
Whether he likes or not (he doesn’t), my middle son unloads the dishwasher every day. Last week, as he was stretching to put a serving...
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Marnie Hammar
- Nov 9, 2020
- 1 min
Learning Resolve from Fallen Leaves
My footsteps cracked acorns as I came up the hill. The morning light highlighted the greens and reds and golds ahead of me. I delight...
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Marnie Hammar
- Oct 29, 2020
- 3 min
On Chasing Light and Turning from Vultures
The sun reached forward, adorning the tops of trees and tips of houses in gold. I needed to be out in it, to feel on my face and my...
141 views1 comment
Marnie Hammar
- Oct 28, 2020
- 3 min
Running the Race You Didn’t Sign Up For
[This essay is featured as part of Sarah E. Westfall's Not My Story Essay Series.] “Just go ahead without me,” I implored her through...
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Marnie Hammar
- Oct 20, 2020
- 2 min
The Way Out of My Mess
I used to hate the question, “Have you prayed about it?” Because when people would ask me that, most likely, I hadn’t. I loved Jesus, but...
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Marnie Hammar
- Oct 13, 2020
- 3 min
On Forgiveness: A Fight for the Promise of More?
The afternoon sun reached through the window, shining on my morning coffee. The day had passed without me. I pretended to not think about...
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Marnie Hammar
- Oct 8, 2020
- 3 min
Hi, I'm the Preacher's Daughter: How I Exploited that Label
[This article is featured at Fathom Mag, in the October 2020 "Language" issue. Photo credit: Helena Hertz] I was eight or nine, maybe...
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Marnie Hammar
- Oct 2, 2020
- 2 min
On Needing an Untamed God
I used to want a “tame” version of God. My love for checkboxes and predictability and control was drawn to the parts of God that I could...
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Marnie Hammar
- Sep 29, 2020
- 4 min
An Awkward Lesson in Love from Junior High Pickup
Really, it doesn't matter whether she was right or wrong. What matters is who I was in response.
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Marnie Hammar
- Sep 25, 2020
- 2 min
Am I Doing This For God or With God?
I was camped out in the ER with a teenage boy who did not belong to me. During a flag football game gone wrong at the senior high...
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Marnie Hammar
- Sep 17, 2020
- 3 min
The Brave Fight to Hear God Louder
[This post is featured in Becky Beresford's Brave Women Series.] When I was in grade school, I counted the days in between visits to the...
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Marnie Hammar
- Sep 8, 2020
- 5 min
From Hearing to Healing: How God Spoke Into My Pain
It wasn’t necessarily a deception, but it felt like it. We’d been led to believe something that would change our family forever —...
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Marnie Hammar
- Sep 8, 2020
- 2 min
The Sweetness that Comes When We Taste and See
For years, I’ve stared down pineapples at the grocery store, telling them that I’d enjoy them more if they’d just be a bit, you know,...
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Marnie Hammar
- Aug 24, 2020
- 2 min
On Flourishing and Forcing
Late last summer, we planted a new hedge. Well, bushes that would grow together to form a sort of hedge-type thing, anyway. For almost a...
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Marnie Hammar
- Aug 20, 2020
- 2 min
Finding Peace Even in Shifting Sands
I never thought I would buy face masks at Old Navy. Or sneak a side-eye at the current supply of toilet paper at Target. Or gravitate...
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Marnie Hammar
- Aug 18, 2020
- 3 min
What I Learned from Being the Liar on the Playground
My mom took my brother and I to a park in a neighboring town that was much bigger than our little burg. I remember how its decorative,...
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Marnie Hammar
- Aug 11, 2020
- 2 min
The Hope of Happy Endings
When I was a child, one of my favorite books had a hardbound gray linen cover with embossed gold lettering. Inside, bound in between the...
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Marnie Hammar
- Aug 4, 2020
- 3 min
What You Need to Know About Superhero Capes
When my middle son was in preschool, one of the moms made a superhero cape and matching mask for each preschooler in the class. Every...
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