<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Still standing]]></title><description><![CDATA[Clarity, Compassion, and Growth Together]]></description><link>https://www.stillstandingnow.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:31:42 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.stillstandingnow.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[The Small Moments We Think We’ll Always Have]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sitting here listening to my girls downstairs... Their music is playing, the dryer door just shut, and they’re arguing about whose turn it is to do laundry. To someone else, it might sound like an ordinary evening. Maybe even a noisy one. But to me, it feels sacred. The sound of their voices. The music in the background. The little bickering over something so small. I find myself wanting to hold onto it because I know something now that I didn’t fully understand before. This moment will never...]]></description><link>https://www.stillstandingnow.com/post/the-small-moments-we-think-we-ll-always-have</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b0d50ea547e1dd3d7e819f</guid><pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 03:06:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7ca6f1_aceebf686a334284af62741ee3c2cbd3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_512,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alesha Pluta</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Grief Changed the Way I See Love… and God]]></title><description><![CDATA[Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. It’s Valentine’s Day, and this year I’m thinking about love in the context of grief and faith .. not chocolate or roses.. I honestly don’t even know the full history of where Valentine’s Day came from  I know it traces back to an early Christian named Valentine and even older traditions celebrating love and life in February …  but somewhere along the way it became a day about love. And that’s why I chose today to write this. Because over the last few years, I’ve...]]></description><link>https://www.stillstandingnow.com/post/when-grief-changed-the-way-i-see-love-and-god</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6990019e7d7145cd9ea00218</guid><pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 05:09:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7ca6f1_dade491ca8924f57a69074f59c650a57~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alesha Pluta</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why I Wanted to Understand Things Better]]></title><description><![CDATA[I wasn’t planning on starting a blog. I just reached a point where I needed a place to slow down and make sense of what I’m learning. Why I Created This Space I’ve never really been someone who followed politics closely. For most of my life, I focused on my family, getting through the day, and doing the best I could with what was right in front of me. As I’ve gotten older, it’s not that I suddenly care about politics. It’s that I care about the world my kids are growing up in. I care about...]]></description><link>https://www.stillstandingnow.com/post/why-i-wanted-to-understand-things-better</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6982c73af1094fef14ec0bec</guid><pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 04:33:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7ca6f1_bbbde7f11999434e99880b32ec37ae35~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Alesha Pluta</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>