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

 “When we deny our emotions, it owns us.” ~ Brene Brown    Grief.  Sadness.  Sorrow.  Suffering.  Heartache.  Anguish.  Pain.  Fear.    Every last one of these feelings and emotions turn up like some kind of a lemon, don't they? And by lemon I mean trainwreck. Implosion is probably more like it, right? Off the rails, through the roof, off key kind of hot mess. I mean we can throw humor at it all we want but a shipwreck is still a shipwreck. Kind of like a really bad adaptation of Inside Out.      Let’s be real. Most of us don’t like to talk about Grief or his not so content, very chummy bedfellows. I get it. It’s painful. Seriously, who in their right mind volunteers for pain? Grief can do a lot of things, good or bad if we’re honest. When we're willing to face it, grief can heal us. If not, it can tear us apart. The problem with ignoring our hurt and grief is the darkness it lets in. It eventually consumes...

“You’re beautiful because you know your own darkness and still, that alone doesn't stop you from finding your own light.” ~ R.M. Drake If you’ve been following my adventures for any time at all, then you have a pretty good idea I’m a hot mess. It’s undebatable. Right from the start I’ve had a bright, intense, passionate fiery streak running through my soul. True, my red hair might’ve something to do with it. I won't deny the possibility. Being a redhead has its unique and sometimes distinct attributes, there’s no denying it. On the other hand, I simply have a free, spontaneous, unconstrained spirit. And let me be plain, my heart, is just as naturally open and genuinely free and easy as my soul is.   Sure I open my mouth and my southern falls out. I’m a yes ma’am, don’t get your panties in a bunch, come hell or high water, thank you kindly, boot wearing, jean lovin’, bless your heart sayin’, raised on cornbread and sweet tea kind of girl. As a child finding me a...

"You own the skies and still You want my heart." ~ Unknown I often find myself wondering why God has placed me where I am. I mean who am I to be a witness or give testimony of His grace? And yet it is He who has set my heart on fire and shown me mercy in spite of myself. I think sometimes if He hadn't chosen me before I was born, He might not have done so after wards. But I think that is the way many of us think, as if we're not ever good enough. But the truth is we're all sinners, not one of us is perfect and if that was a deal breaker than God wouldn't have provided forgiveness. He wouldn't have sent His Son, paving a  way for us to find redemption or for that matter shown us mercy and given us grace. I like how C. S. Lewis puts it, "I would rather be what God chose to make me then the most perfect person I can think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most preciou...

"If you're going through hell KEEP GOING." ~ Winston Churchill If there is one thing I know well it's life is tough. Seems more than anything Struggle and I are old friends. We have this vibe thing going. Or rather Struggle seems to have a radar gun pointed in my direction at any given moment. As least that's how it feels anyway.  Struggle, has this "Oh it's going so well for you is it now?" thing going with me then turning around and chiming in, "Why don't I just stir this pot over here for you then?" Struggle just wants to be helpful I'm sure BUT helpful is not the word coming to mind. It's more like hassle and trouble with a capital T if I do say so myself. The bottom line is I'm a magnet for anything remotely related to the words difficulty, struggle and exhausting. If I have learned anything in my 43 years, it's this,"Strength does not come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things ...

“If you could change you fate, would you?” It’s a fascinating question asked in one of my favorite movies, Brave. I love Merida, she’s a spitfire, strong, sassy, opinionated and of course a redhead too. Merida’s also very determined to write her own story. As the tale of Merida plays out she is given a choice to make, she can change her fate or not.  She is warned by the Wise Woman but she fails to understand, “Fate be changed, look inside. Mend the bond torn by pride.”  In the process by working to “fix” her life, the fate she’s been dealt, everything in Merida’s life falls apart.  The fact is it’s not what she wants that ultimately sets her off course, it’s in the way she attempts to get it. This is the thing we fail to realize many times, “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” C.S. Lewis nailed it right on the head didn’t he?   I have thought about what life would have been like without breast cancer many times. Beli...

What is it about these restless, 2 AM and I'm still up, trying to wrestle Atlas for his tittle empty, desolate kind of nights? It seems no matter how hard we try, we can't shake 'em. Sleep just refuses to come our way once loneliness decides to set in. I know you know what I'm talking about because social media is often popping every night around this same time. It’s one of those you're up, down, tossing, turning, one more glass of water, fidgety, sleepless kind of nights that drain us. And between you and me, they're always the worst! Our mind runs away, haunting us until the sun comes up, then starts the repeat cycle all over again when the sun goes down. Unfortunately, loneliness is just one of those unavoidable emotions we all have to live through at some point or another. I'm certainly not a fan, nor am I an advocate but the hard knocks facts say, loneliness is part of the journey.  The songs says one is the loneliest number, but sometim...