Welcome! I'm Carey.
The Story that Brought Me Here.
A bit about me…
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If it is true, as Anne Lamott says, that “We are all the ages we have ever been,” then I carry within me all the seasons, stories, and selves who have brought me here.
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I have spent my life learning to notice the compassionate presence of God—the God who delights in me and in you.
I Am...
...the little girl picking wild violets on the dry West African plain, wandering and wondering behind my house. She taught me to notice beauty, to honor it, and even to rescue it.
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...the courageous six-year-old clutching a suitcase and Kleenex for a 500-mile train ride to boarding school. Sent. Separated. Scared. She taught me the extraordinary strength of the human spirit. She knows that storytelling is sacred, healing, and that some stories take a lifetime to tell.
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...the college student arriving bewildered in America, attending three colleges before finally earning a B.A. and teaching credential from Biola University. She taught me that life paths are not always straightforward, that discernment takes patience, and that there is often more than one faithful way forward.
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...the public-school teacher, wife, mother, homemaker, volunteer, church staffer, music teacher, and private tutor. These years taught me the hospitality of presence—the gift of being with people and with life as it unfolds. They taught me that wisdom often arrives through the most unexpected places.
...the disillusioned middle-aged woman who found herself in a season of darkness, wondering where God was hiding and why the answers were not coming. In that long season of waiting, when I longed for light, one quiet invitation continued to return:
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“Practice speaking kindly to yourself. Then you will find Me. My voice is gentle.”
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She taught me that God’s compassionate presence is often discovered through the gentle movements of love within us. She set me on the path toward a new vocation—one rooted in the discovery that the God I was seeking had been seeking me all along.
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I am all the ages I have ever been, and I carry them with me into this work.
Along the way, I have been blessed with training and formation through:
A Master of Arts in Education from California State University, Fullerton, featuring an advanced research thesis focused on the science of Metacognition—the art of thinking about your own thinking.
A three-year certification in the Art of Spiritual Direction from Loyola Marymount University’s Center for Spiritual Development/The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.
Over one hundred hours of training from the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion with Dr. Kristin Neff and Dr. Chris Germer.
A nine-month training and apprenticeship in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises through the Order of the Common Life School of Formation.
Today, I am honored to accompany you on your own journey of gentleness
—as you come to know, receive, and internalize the compassionate love of the God who delights in you.
A God who has been present through every season, every question, every joy, and every sorrow. A God who welcomes all the ages you have been and all the ages you are still becoming.