The Journey

Photo by: Mark Basarab Have you ever wondered what makes you, well, you? What inspires laughter and what induces tears? How can something so trivial cut so deep or how such a minuscule gesture can warm your very soul? What makes your whole day bright and what can make for a stormy week? Those things that make your blood boil versus the action or person that can set you perfectly at ease? What makes you strong? What makes you weak? What gives you security rather than anxiety or confidence rather than inferiority?  I have questioned many of these emotions as the past few months have felt like a spiritual pruning, a stripping away. During the process, emotional and spiritual layers have been peeled back to reveal a person I do not like. A person I do not want to see. A person that I had hoped no longer existed. My heart doors slammed shut as fast as a security gate at the threat of a robbery and closed with a seal as tight as that of a bank vault door. ...

Photo by Samuel Martins Surpassing the confines of just an emotion, a broken heart causes actual, physical suffering, a pang that can be felt in your chest cavity. The emptiness of a hollowed-out soul lies imprisoned in the ribcage and each bone aches from the inside out. Torment stretches its ugly fingers to the core of the mind where painful memories are housed, where hurtful words linger, and where swirling thoughts run rampant as it extends its cruel feet to the very pit of the stomach flooding the entire torso with grief, angst, and brokenness. The torso is the middlemost part of the body from which every appendage stems. It is your center, your equilibrium. Is it any wonder that when the heart is broken, everything else in life seems to fall out of balance? "The human spirit can endure in sickness,   but a crushed spirit who can bear?"    Proverbs 18:14  There is hope, though. Psalm 126:5 enco...

Photo by Jon Tyson As many of you know, this year has been awfully hard for me due to illness. A year is a long time to be unemployed and an infinitely long time to not feel well, especially when you have two small children to raise on your own. I have been in prayer about things we need, things we want, and things we could do without.  We have been very blessed to be surrounded by ministering angels right here on earth. Every month we have had a roof over our heads, food on our table, and we have even enjoyed much of our wants. Regarding those things we could do without--He has healed me from sickness, resolved troublesome situations, and has quieted many storms--God has had endless mercy on us! In my quiet time this morning, I began reading in the book of Psalms.  I love this book of the Bible because David, a man after God's own heart, wrote heartfelt, honest words. He cried out from the very depths of his soul, but with the utmost respect and honor for his maker, for ...