The Journey

Life is simply hard sometimes. It can be messy and that is okay for out of adversity comes strength. Right? We build faith muscles along the way. Often, though, we tend to take up residence in the mess. We wallow. Or maybe, we find ourselves blindsided and disoriented and it takes time to get our bearings before we can manage to claw our way out of the mire. Then, there are times when someone comes along and throws us a rope. Don't you get tired of that feeling? I do. I have prayed for several years now that God would reveal himself to me. I want to know Him for myself. Not what I am taught in church or what others say about who He is. I want to truly walk boldly and honestly before God the way He intends and be who He created me to be. Recently, I read in the biblical book of Romans that God makes His invisible qualities visible in the things He made. If we look, we can see God everywhere! The spiritual revealed in the natural. Did you know that in the Bible, trees are often ...

Photo by Kristopher Roller Over the past several years, I have had a series of circumstances that kept me in a seemingly never-ending funnel of turmoil.  Divorce, illness, long seasons of mediocre jobs, and unemployment and single parenting came together in a whirlwind of chaos and destruction. My days have been filled with putting out fires, but never gaining any real ground. My daily mantra has been,  If I can get through one more day, take one more step, pay one more payment, work one more hour, we will be okay.  Survival mode. Over the past few months, I have had an idea formulating in my spirit that will quite possibly set my little family on the path from a place of merely surviving to a thriving existence. Early one morning, I was mentally rehearsing the bullet points of my plan and prayerfully explaining why these changes will work, why they are necessary, and why they need to happen now when a little nugget was dropped into my spirit. The church has been ...

Photo by Allef Vinicius A couple of weeks ago, my friend of 24 years lost her dad to cancer. He lived a few short weeks after receiving the terminal diagnosis. Though I grieved for her loss, this death also stirred up so many emotions in me. Upon hearing the news, my initial reaction was the care and concern for her as I was all too familiar with the pain of such a loss. I wanted my experience to be of comfort and help, but what I did not count on was my reaction to the tragedy. Obviously, I knew this would rub a tender spot in my heart. I did not, however, realize that tender spot was still a gaping hole. Has there been no healing over all these years? When life happens, we realize the depths of unresolved matters, unhealed hurts, unforgiveness, brokenness still left unmended, and what is hidden is painfully brought to light. The death of my father was the catalyst of my derailment from my Christian walk.  Just prior to the total upheaval in my life, I had already begun to dabbl...