Storytime with Hallie

A Journey of Life, Church & More

Welcome to the Storytime with Hallie Blog

Welcome to my blog where you will find stories about my life.

These two photos are a good reflection of where I am right now. The first is during a ministry event when I was working as a Pastor. The second shows me right after I let the leadership at my church of 27 years know I was resigning.

I wanted you to see the raw emotion in each photo. The top one, I am full of joy and laughing. The bottom photo I am full of sadness, pain, and mourning.

I will explore many different ranges of emotion through this blog as I share. I will speak transparently and honestly. I invite you to join me.

Recent posts

  • Not All…But Some – The Continued Fight for Voting Rights

    By Hallie J. Carl Some of you know I am writing a book. I have spend the better part of two years doing in-depth research, taking writing classes and drafting out my book. In the process of doing this, I have learned more than I could have imagined about a wide variety of topics I…

    Storytime With Hallie
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  • Chernobyl, Red Forests and a Walk Forward

    By Hallie J Carl On April 26, 1986 I was a shy fourth grader with bad bangs and the smile of someone who would most certainly require orthodontia. 6000 miles away from my fourth grade woes, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded, causing the worst nuclear disaster in history. (Above:…

    Storytime With Hallie
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  • Portals: A Poem

    By Hallie J Carl Do you dream about me?I dream about you.My eyes flutter awake in the morning, discerning if it was a memory or not.It causes me to shake. In my dream last night,you yelled at me that I didn’t help you.Then you came and gave me a kiss on my head, like a…

    Storytime With Hallie

  • A Family Exiled Part Two: Hope Renewed

    By Hallie J Carl In Part One of A Family Exiled (which I would ask you read first if you haven’t already), I shared my journey over the last year of pain and hurt. In this difficult season, I lost something very important. Hope. I didn’t sense it’s absence because in its place I was…

    Storytime With Hallie

  • A Family Exiled:

    A Place We Called Home, A People We Called Family by Hallie J. Carl I gazed out over the Baltic Sea, its waters calm and peaceful. It was good to be back in Latvia. I became enchanted with its stoic beauty, strong people, and curious youth in 2019 when I was able be on a…

    Storytime With Hallie

About Me

My name is Hallie. Formerly a pastor, I now devote my time to writing. The two most important blog entries (if you want to understand who I am today) are “A Family Exiled: Parts One and Two.”

When I began this blog, I knew I would be telling stories of my life. Once I wrote The Family Exiled posts, I knew I would need to set the blog aside for awhile. More time to heal. More time to process.

Since then, life carried on with the pace of a freight train. There have been surgeries, pit bull attacks, a life saved, lives lost and a near miss. My shoulders live in a perpetual and special state of “tight” that in all actuality means “What is the fork is wrong with this woman?”

I have been working on a historical fiction novel and it is a project I am both proud of and encouraged by. I learned that research is an untapped well of joy and skill I was previously ignorant to.

My friend circle is much smaller but much deeper than before.

I’m going to keep telling you stories. Hopefully, you will be entertained and maybe even laugh occasionally. Enjoy!

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