Brave Heart, Brave Soul. She who is brave is free.

This morning as I was reading in my Bible I was struck by the power of one word…disgrace. It always amazes me how God speaks to us through His Word. I was reading in Isaiah, 25:8 to be exact. I tend to read from the Good News version because it's more of today’s English and I honestly can understand it so much better than many other translations. It says this: "The Sovereign Lord will destroy death forever! He will wipe away the tears from everyone's eyes and take away the disgrace his people have suffered throughout the world. The Lord himself has spoken.”  I was left knocked off my feet, why, because it sank in in those moments our tears aren't ours alone! His grace is absolutely sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9) Go on sit down, pull your seat up and let’s have an honest conversation between friends. While you’re at it grab some coffee and a danish too, this may take a while.  Life Lesson #28: Forgiveness brings freedom. Most of those who know me, know 2...

From the time I was a little girl Disney has always played a part in my life, in my imagination, my childhood adventures, my dreams and the deepest parts of my own internal magic, optimism and hope. Now that said, you're probably thinking it's time to back away from the computer screen, put down your hand held technology and simply un-follow this crazy woman and her blog. Trust me friends, stay with me. I promise while I will not disagree I have been known to lose a marble or two from time to time today is not the day! Those who know me or my family understand the word “Disney" is always just around the corner when our names come to mind. From the time I was small I was brought up in a "Disney" family so to speak. I had dreams of princes, flying elephants, pirate ships and falling down rabbit holes to places where un-birthday parties were the norm. Sure while other girls were singing how their prince would come, I was dashing around figuring out the how to...

It's hard to believe Johnny and I have been together for close to 20 years. We were absolute babies when we first met in a world that expected us to be both reasonable and serious adults just because our names were printed on a diploma. Goodness gracious, we were still developing and definitely still maturing but there we were ready to take on the man, thrown into a world of discovery with no clue who we were yet or really where we were going. What did it matter what skills we had, by God's sake we were going to make our own way hell or high water! Looking back now some almost 20 years later I wonder what in the Sam hill we were thinking, running around in a post-apocalyptic teenage world trying to pass ourselves off as grownups wielding nothing but our lack of know -how with a definite desire for independence. It honestly amazes me how Johnny and I ever made it out of our 20's, through our 30's and now well into our 40's. It's not that we were wild, c...

To say I'm a blessed woman is an understatement. I'm always struck by the grace which abounds in my life. I realize so many of us feel we are lacking, instead of embracing the grace our lives provide each of us. Sometimes our fantasies take hold of our reasoning, the way we think and feel about those unattained desires we want for our own. Sadly many times we fail to appreciate all we have in the process. The truth is if we could just step back and take a good look at all we have, the love we carry inside us, the blessings our lives give us daily we'd find real happiness. Maybe our lights would even shine a little brighter? Seriously how many times do we actually take inventory of our own heart, our soul and spirit? How many times do we truly accept we have everything we need without longing for more than we have? Why is it we can't accept the gifts we've been given without the need to take more? As I share advice here on my blog, you should know the adv...

This past weekend we celebrated Micah, Johnny and my youngest child, all his quirks, likes, randomness and amazing abilities. After all it was his birthday weekend, his 16th to be exact. If we do one thing right around here, it's celebrating birthdays. Now don't get me wrong, birthdays don't always entail hoopla, a bunch of hullabaloo or grand parties, but they always include family, good friends and a good time. So when the topic of Micah's big one six came up, we knew we had to keep it low key and at the same time recognize everything that makes Micah unique, rare and beautifully divergent. Believe me I'm as surprised by this as you are that my baby boy could be anything over 10. It's beyond my imagination to think Micah could actually be 16 years old or for that matter how I could be anywhere near old enough to say my son is of driving age. But he is. Micah is a joy, he's sharp, witty, honest, loving, logical and of course debonair and handsome i...

If I have learned one thing in my 41 years it’s this, life is full of uncertainty. From one day to the next life can and will take different turns. Life can bring good news one day and sorrow the next. Our joy is not linked to uncertainty or in the fear and worry of a sudden detour life maps into our route. Joy is a certainty despite the fears surrounding us. I sometimes think we tend to confuse happiness with joy. We are not guaranteed happiness. Why, well happiness is a feeling, joy on the other hand is something deeper, it’s something we chose in our circumstances, good or bad. We can run around like Chicken Little yelling the sky is falling, be a woe is me kind of person, blaming everyone else for our predicament and allow a curve ball to destroy us or we can take a deep breath, and let the pieces fall where they will. Everything sorts itself out eventually. The reality is we do have the ability to walk with confidence even when life has gone haywire. It all comes down to ...