Defining The Collective
“Friend, it’s been too long!”
I often send that text to people whom I’m past due for a connection with. That’s how I feel about writing in this space as well. I’ve been updating the website this week, reshaping the vision and dreaming about new expressions of fullness. Inherent in vision casting is the imposter syndrome: What am I doing? Am I qualified for this? Will my efforts crash and burn, or perhaps worse, never amount to anything at all?
When I finally opened up a new blog post this morning, I literally sighed. It’s been too long since I’ve had the blank white page urging me to fill it will words that spill from my fingers, as sentences race through my head and my hands rush to keep up. I’ve missed this familiar space. I’m so grateful to be back.
Today is August 7, 2025. I’ve been sitting on dreams about what Finding Fullness is and what it might become for about five years now (what??). I can no longer claim I’m a recent college grad. I’m solidly in adulthood, and have been in the working world long enough to switch careers. What was planted in faith as I sat on my bed in 2020 craving community was a “dream seed” that I hoped would turn into many blog posts encouraging people in all things faith, life, and friendship. Most importantly, I wanted to see community grow through my local church, and to find joy in being a single woman navigating the ever-transient 20s. And all of it has happened!
I’ve found fullness in the people around me, in creation, in many homes, cities, churches, and countless conversations. I love that I’ve found fullness AWAY from technology, in shared smiles, over warm mugs of tea, through long walks on the Prairie Path. These sacred, undocumented moments have formed me, and have not gone unseen by the Lord (or my many prayer journals). If these moments and memories live on only in my journals, I would be content. And yet, I think of Matthew 13:44 which says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” If I’ve found fullness—specifically, if I’ve found the beauty and goodness of Jesus and his eternal kingdom—how could I not share what I’ve found?
Recently I’ve been slowing down and coming back to a place of surrender, making sure that I’m receiving the plans that God has for me rather than frantically chasing my own. In that stillness, my capacity for creativity is expanding, and God is bringing long-held desires for Finding Fullness back to the forefront of my mind. I’m surprised and delighted that old dream seeds are suddenly sprouting up, seemingly out of nowhere! But I shouldn’t be surprised. I planted the seeds of Finding Fullness in faith, and have been tending them through prayer as they’ve grown for the last five years. I’m no longer holding seeds, or even baby sprouts. I’m holding a bouquet of flowers that have started to bloom. Friend, it’s been a long time coming! But God’s timing is perfect, and I now offer you the fullness of the heart behind the Finding Fullness Collective.
What is the vision of Finding Fullness?
In prayer I’ve heard God say two things that have shaped the vision of Finding Fullness:
“Your voice is your ministry.”
“Finding Fullness is an outward expression of your inner life.”
My personal life mission is to make people feel seen, known, and loved. My voice is my actual speaking, singing, and writing voice. I am called to use my voice to love the people around me, no matter how large or small a platform I’m given.
My inner life is the intimate place where I meet Jesus. It’s the garden of my heart where I’m often on my hands and knees digging up weeds and planting new dream seeds in prayer. Jesus is the Master Gardener of my heart and my dreams—anything good I have or do comes from his love in my life. But Jesus creates good things, so you better believe whatever he is growing out of these seeds is going to be beautiful.
In a nutshell, Finding Fullness is an expression of my heart for love, belonging, community, beauty, and goodness. If you’ve known me for a while, this vision is not new. What’s new (even to me) are the different iterations of Finding Fullness that are taking shape and tie together:
Website: A personal hobby; my landing page for creative inspiration; a home for blog posts & holistic health resources as I pursue fullness in my life, my heart, and my body
Substack: A more highly trafficked platform to share my blog posts
Instagram: Its own beast… but hopefully a platform where I can share beauty & encouragement semi-consistently and connect with women who resonate with the themes I explore
I’M WRITING A BOOK! If you’ve wondered why there have been no blog posts for a while, trust that I am still writing, and you will get 14 whole chapters of Addie’s inner life in Finding Fullness: The Joyful Discovery of Hope in Seasons of Waiting. More details to come!
How does “The Collective” fit in?
I’ve been asking myself this question for years. I love that “Finding Fullness Collective” is a catchy name (also “Finding Fullness” by itself wasn’t available when I made an Instagram). “The Collective” makes the concept bigger than myself, which I also love, but I’m still not sure what communal involvement looks like. I don’t have anything to sell people (besides maybe my book one day) and I hate the idea of “taking” anything from subscribers or followers. Instead, I want to give hope and encouragement and at times challenge. I want to help people find purpose and identity and belonging, not here on my website or on an Instagram page, but in your own life, away from your phone, hidden in Scripture, in the eyes of your friend, and in your local church.
We are all craving community and belonging. We’re craving fullness, and to know that we are loved and accepted for who we are. As much as I would love to host “Finding Fullness Feasts” and invite dozens of friends for elaborate dinner parties, and then to hear that those are springing up around the country as people find their own fullness, that’s not a reality (yet). Even if that were to happen, it’s not in Addie’s creative project that anyone should find belonging. We find belonging ultimately in Jesus and his church. In doing so, you will discover your own unique expressions of fullness, and it will be beautiful.
In my new line of work I get to have conversations about life and faith with women from many different backgrounds. I often hear women say “I believe in God but I don’t go to church,” which makes me sad. I’ve found the church to be a source of comfort and joy—not just because of the sermons or the worship or the sacraments, though those are all powerful (and a blog post about those will come). I go to church because I need to be with my brothers and sisters in the presence of God.
Scripture refers to the church as many individual members of a body, specifically Christ’s body, operating has his hands and feet and heart in the world. Together, collectively, we as Christians ARE the church, and we need all members of the body in order to function well. Finding Fullness is not a vacuum of my own ideas (thank goodness!). Everything I share has been learned from you—my friends, my brothers and sisters, my mentors, my role models who show me Christ’s love every day. I consider you—anyone reading these words and journeying with me—to be “The Collective”.
What do I ask of you? Keep journeying with me, teaching me, and sharpening me. Keep being my friends, keep speaking truth, and please challenge me when you disagree! I need you on this adventure as we encounter the trials of life and long for the day when Christ returns and makes all things new. I need your partnership in waiting, hoping, praying, and living fully until that day.
I hope that when “Finding Fullness Collective” pops up on your Instagram or Substack, you remember that you are part of the collective church. You are a valuable, needed, wanted member of the body of Christ who has unique gifts to share with the church and the world. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Let your light shine! Find your own creative way to express the desires and beauty of your heart—I’ll be waiting to cheer you on.
What is success?
A final note so I have this in writing: Success is not measured by how many people engage my website or Instagram or book or any other iteration of Finding Fullness. Success is not even measured by how many people my life touches, though I hope I am able to love many, many people well in my lifetime. Success looks like being faithful to the vision: finding creative ways to express more love to the world, to my family, in my workplace, and in the church as we journey together towards the finish line. At the end of it all, if I have fallen deeper in love with Jesus Christ and effectively shared his love in my little corner of the world, then I will count that wildly successful.
Cheers, friends. Thanks for being with me on this adventure. I am so expectant for how God will move as we pursue fullness together.