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

Some people try and turn back their odometers, not me, I want people to know why I took this way. I’ve traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren’t paved.” ~ Unknown    From the day we’re born we’re aging. Every day we wake up, breathe and close our eyes again, we’re another day older. Time takes no prisoners. It simply marches on. And as much as we’d like to slow down the process sometimes, age is inevitable. While age is actually just a number. Seriously it is.  And yet, many of us dread each digit turning over.     I don't know about you, but I’ve found growing older isn’t something to be feared. We sure fight it enough though, don’t we? Wrinkles line our faces. Gray and silver hair become the norm and in time; if we’re not too absorbed with our youth, we become a little wiser. At least we hope we do anyway.     When we’re younger we tend to forget growing older is a gift not all accept or receive. By the time we’re noticing lines an...

    “No one tells you the hardest part of being a parent is when your kids grow up.” ~Unknown    Most of my adult life I’ve been a mom. In fact, for over 2 decades my whole identity has been and was wrapped up in one word. Mom. I knew no other name, job or calling. I was a mom, through and through. So, what happens when your children leave the nest? Or worse, become estranged.  How do you cope? There’s no map to navigate. And believe me, the host and array of emotions it brings is life altering. When you’re facing the sudden loss of your child, how do you keep your head above water or stop yourself from drowning in the deep end?     Truthfully, I have no idea. I wish I did. If the nest is emptied naturally, it’s bittersweet. If not, it’s devastating. As parents you wait your whole life for your children to spread their wings. You love, nurture and praise them. Build them up. Pray for them. Provide, sacrifice, and yes, you fail them just as many ti...

  “Sometimes in the waves of change we find our true direction.” ~ Unknown    We’ve all heard the story of Jonah. He ran from God and ended up in the belly of a whale. Not exactly the posh uptown condo one might daydream about, right? Sounds more like a slippery, sloppy, messy and muddy ordeal to be honest. If not damp, mucky and downright terrifying to boot. I don’t know about you but the idea of being swallowed whole by anything is alarming. No less by a monstrous whale with jagged teeth. Yet, despite our best efforts, we all end up inside the belly of a whale at some time or another.    Why? Because we run. Fear takes the wheel and steers us right into the mouth of an angry, hungry whale. What was it Herman Melville said? Oh yes. “Ignorance is the parent of fear.” He sure had that right. I mean by the time regret catches up with us, we’re the proud parents, if not grandparents of a hopping mad, agitated litter of feral changelings we don’t recognize. ...