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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: Continue reading
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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 Continue reading
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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 Continue reading
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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 Continue reading
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“Striving to put right what once went wrong”
By Hallie J Carl “Do you have tickets?” The question seemed reasonable, yet at the same time, unbelievable. Who knew tickets were necessary? I have a tendency to go all in. If I like something, I really like it. As a teenager, this was an even stronger instinct. I would feel like I was the Continue reading
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The Fifth Web
By Hallie J Carl In this moment it didn’t seem the least bit strange to me that Jesus was taking on Spiderman’s superpowers. Being the mom to two Marvel loving sons, this imagery was perfect for me. I was rooted in my chair during the worship time of the Sunday service. I felt heavy, as Continue reading
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Fire, Fire Burning Bright
By Hallie J Carl I gulped and stared at the buttons on the phone. I knew I should call 911. The reminders of adults rang in my ears: 911 was only for emergencies. It made me hesitate. Is this an emergency? My eyes looked out the kitchen window to those flames, that were getting bigger Continue reading
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Bonus Post: Hallie’s Book Recommendations
I knew something shifted in me. I fell in love for the first time. The suitor was books. Suddenly, my young self couldn’t read enough. Some of the books I still own, dusty and sitting behind other novels on my book cases. The View from the Cherry Tree, Are you there God, It’s Me Margaret?, Continue reading
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A Burden Shared
By Hallie J Carl I sat reading, enraptured. I couldn’t stop turning the pages to see what came next. The book I was fixated on was assigned reading. I was moved into the advanced reading group in fifth grade which meant I got to head over to Mrs. Kubaska’s class once a day for reading. Continue reading
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It’s ok to not be ok
By Hallie J Carl My feet tingled as we walked the trail. It was narrow with a steep incline to my right and a steep, rocky decline on my left. My brother was much further down the trail, far away and looking small as my mom and I walked together. We were hiking Loveland Pass Continue reading
About Me
My name is Hallie Carl. I am a wife (to Lee), mom (to Caleb and Isaiah) and the two things I am most passionate about are books (so many) and dogs (Enzo, Tonks and Ahsoka).
I formerly worked as a Pastor, where I was passionate about leading and guiding women in their walks and through hard things. I also loved reading and teaching the Bible.
I care deeply for the overlooked and misunderstood. I believe each person on earth deserves to be treated with value, empathy, compassion and love, even at our most unlovely moments.
Storytime with Hallie 