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

“When you go through tragedy, you can either let that destroy you and you become bitter and never let it go, or you can let it make you stronger and let it make you grow.” ~ Evanescence The reality is life's not a bed of roses. If anyone taught us this, it’s the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland. For all the roses she had, she was still angry, bitter, broken and never happy. Life can deal us tragedy, pain and hurt just as much as it offers hope, joy and happiness. It all comes down to how we decide to play the hand we’re dealt. Personally, my life has been a constant struggle. I’m not just talking the physical disadvantages or disabilities either. I’m speaking of spiritual battles, emotional scuffles and mental brawls. Life is difficult. There's no other way around it. My children have learned this first hand. As life has had it, they’ve wrestled their own demons to the ground along the way. Jane Campion shares a wonderful perspective. She says this. “Tragedy mak...

"I'm a failure, He's my forgiver. I'm a sinner, He's my Savior. I'm broken, He's my Healer. I'm His child, He's my God." ~ Daystar Today I'd like to take a look inside the world of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Honestly there's a lot of depth inside this book. As a teenage girl I saw this story in simpler terms. This literary classic is chalked full of amazing storytelling. The brainchild of Victor Hugo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame is written to stir passion and rouse thought provoking questions. Moving through each chapter there's this feeling Mr. Hugo intends to incite our emotions. As the reader we experience everything from anger, to exasperation, irritation, sadness and even those few but glorious moments of joy. Now add his unwavering degree of significance and purpose written into each of the main characters, and it really goes without saying my young mind couldn't grasp it all. I believe I was drawn into this ...

"What you're going through does not go unnoticed. God sees every injustice. He's got you in the palm of His hand." ~ Unknown Life can be unfair, can't it? One day every thing's right as rain and the next somehow you've bitten off more than you can chew. It may be through no fault of your own or it could be you put yourself smack dab in the middle of that particular rodeo. Either way, the storm's coming and there's not a whole lot you can do about it either. Many times you're just an innocent bystander in all the ruckus. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sadly you may just simply be an escape goat or punching bag for someone else's failures. Maybe it's because you had a different opinion or just simply didn't have one. Possibly you decided on reinforcing your emotional fences and in the process they were trampled and smashed. The reality is when we start building healthy boundaries, that's when the storms roll...

"Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage and I promise you something great will come of it." ~ We Bought A Zoo Many of you know my son Joshua's story. Or at least parts of it anyway. At 15, he suffered a traumatic brain injury in the locker room. In the weeks afterward he began to suffer from seizures, depression, debilitating headaches, processing issues among other affects of the injury.  His nose had to be corrected due to his septum being shoved upwards and his eye muscle repaired. In an instant life changed forever. Everything that came easy for everyone else was a struggle in the first few years for Joshua. Driving, working and school were slow steps, one at a time. At times he felt he would never get there but he did. Some mocked him, while others overlooked him and still many more doubted him BUT that didn't stop Joshua. He did graduate, he has gone on to college, he's working, he's driving, playing drums like no ones b...

"The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are. The second greatest is being happy with what you find." ` Anonymous I was raised by an amazing, humble, selfless woman. A woman of grace, beauty and strength. My Mom, she's a giving woman, forgiving and generous. A modern day Ruth to be honest. What is a mondern a day Ruth you ask, well it's best said like this, "A "Ruth" is a woman who has experienced great loss and pain - yet has remained loyal and faithful no matter what. She has found her strength in God." ( A Modern Day Ruth)  That's my mom, living through loss, pain  and still finding strength and joy in her faith. My Mom has always had a tender heart, and in that she's felt things deeper, with more emotion than many of us do. When she's hurt, her heart doesn't just break, it shatters. Growing up the only child of a woman who's heart had been broken long before I was born, it was painful through the y...

“To be honest, I’m just winging it. You know…life, motherhood, my eyeliner, pretty much everything.” Yep that’s the truth of it isn’t it? And honestly it's pretty much life in a nut shell. I don’t know about you but I failed to get my hands on a how to book when I entered this world some 43 years ago. And I’m pretty sure I’m not going to find one anytime soon either. So yes, I’m winging it.  Seriously, have you ever had one of those days when you just walk in the door, drop your purse on the table, pull up a chair, sit down and just say, ‘huh’? Yep those days seem a little too familiar as of late. Not that anything is wrong exactly; nothing is bad or not going well. Everything is peachy keen so to speak, it’s just I have this ache I can’t squash. I’ve literally been waking up, and winging life. Not that it’s a bad thing mind you. I’m pretty much a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl anyway. But sometimes you’ve got to ground yourself. Lately, that hasn’t been as...

If you’ve ever taken a drive through the back roads of Texas, you know how beautiful it can be. You also know you’ll find yourself alone with your thoughts down our country roads. There’s not much playing on the radio but you are sure to find a country song without much trouble. That’s where I found myself recently, on the back roads, singing to the radio, listening to Texas country, lost in my thoughts. Personally, what I love about country music is the fabric, how it mirrors real life, the way you can find your own story in the grains no matter where you’re from. If you listen closely you’ll find yourself in a country song. I found my story down an old dirt road, passing through numerous county roads while the radio played on. It's actually quite beautiful how you can find and lose yourself in country music, deep within the many layers of its uncomplicated storytelling. And if you so happen to be driving down an old dirt road listening to the radio you can bet it will both s...

Have you ever been so hurt, you had no clue where to begin to unravel the mess you’re in? In those moments our joy seems almost suffocated and choked out of us doesn’t it? We hesitate to step outside of the gray zone because it’s safe. We can see the right and wrong of our actions, we watch our joy crushed and fleeting and still we continue to use our words, our actions and brokenness as weapons of retaliation. Even worse, our tongues inflict hurt not only into the lives of those we love but deep into our own hearts in the process. When joy flees, and un-forgiveness moves in, all our hidden scars and hurts come to light, especially the ones festering just under the surface. We draw lines, wrong or right and worse we stop listening, our compassion flees and lives are shattered.  Our insecurities in life tend to guide us more than we know, pushing our buttons, lashing out at our joy, stealing our ability to relate and love. We find ourselves overtaken by the hurts we have su...