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

“I do not understand this mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” ~ Anne Lamott I don’t know about you but I’m fairly tickled pink Jesus has never said to me, “This is the last straw missy. The absolute last time I’m going to put you back together again Christie.” I can assure you if anyone is going to test His patience it’s me. I have always had a need to learn things on my own, the hard way even. I can be rather stubborn, headstrong and of course strong-willed to boot. No real surprise there, right? I’m a redhead for goodness gracious sake. What do you expect? After all Pippi Longstocking was my role model back in the day. She was a bit of spitfire if I do say so myself. Reminiscing a little bit I remember this one particular day as a little girl that didn’t quite go as planned. I was about 3 or 4 years old and we were living in Germany at the time. I stood outside our military quarters watching all my friends cross the str...

“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” ~ Winston S. Churchill Life is full of ‘wait a minute vines’ as my daddy has always said. All you have to do is walk outside to learn this lesson. Just take a stroll down the street or around the corner and something or someone is bound to snag, grab or trip you up one way or another. Just making the choice to open your front door every morning is a chance. If my daddy has taught me anything in my near 45 years it’s this: inhale courage and exhale fear. My daddy was a lifetime soldier. He jumped out of planes with the 82nd Airborne. As a child I thought he had no fear. I watched him wear his uniform with pride. I was in aww of his wings. I loved when he walked out the door with his Green Beret on. In my eyes he's always been a man's man. My boys would tell you their Paw Paw is a bad ----. And though those aren't the words I'd chose, they are right..He really is. But he's also funny, kind, humble, loving and gracio...

"If you want to find the right road, follow many paths, be willing to try new things and don't be afraid to change the direction along the way. Leave your doors open."  ~ Anonymous It's unbelievable for me to fathom today my baby turns 18. Today he officially becomes an adult, a man in the world's eyes but in mine he will always be my baby boy.  Seriously eighteen years ago today I gave birth to our second born. I had no idea then how fast time would fly, and how much this little baby would change our lives forever. How could I know our Micah would challenge me to think so far outside the box or how he would inspire courage within myself in ways I never dreamed? And yet he has, over and over again. From early on we knew our son was authentic, genuine, the real deal and most definitely divergent. We saw his life, his direction moving towards a much less traveled path. Micah was not different, he was his own person, unique and contradictory in every wa...