Have you ever had a hangnail? They hurt, don’t they? Though called a hangnail, this pain-producing object is skin that becomes hard due to lack of moisture and forms like a jagged tag. Once you notice one on your hand, it is difficult to leave it alone.

Your bags are packed (notice how I mentioned bags…) you have your coffee in one hand and your purse in the other. You are officially ready for the road. This road trip specifically is a trip that you’ve never been on before. It’s a new road, an unknown adventure.

Since my days as a high schooler, I look forward in anticipation to the upcoming fashion trends of the fall!  Heading back to school with the right “look” was all too important. 

Morning--day--evening--night.

Sunrise--full sun--sunset--darkness.

The cycle of light and darkness is an amazing miracle created by God as described in Genesis 1:3-5(NIV):

“And God said, “Let there be light,”

Have you ever had a day that didn’t go as planned? I awoke to sunny skies and quickly packed a suitcase to head out to the airport for a late morning flight. Thinking about what to wear on the plane, I chose white jeans and a white jean jacket.

There has been a lot in the news lately - that isn’t anything I need to tell you. Stories that can leave us questioning, and maybe feeling unsteady. So today, I want to take you back to Proverbs 31.

“Higher, higher, higher… I want to go higher! Push me higher,” said the little girl on the swing to her daddy without fear or worry of the heights she would soar… 

As summer comes to a close, many are wrapping up road trips, weekend getaway plans, and vacation itinerations across the nation. If you've spent any time this summer on a road trip, you know one bad turn can upset everything.

Oh it’s defiant alright. This smile has not come without a few reps, a few tears and a few extra surrenders. This laughter is not without a deep sense of what I’ve lost and yet what I have. This belly laugh is not in absence of a painful reality, but a visceral understanding of the coexisting hope I have in Jesus. It is not in ignorance I giggle, it is in my deepest reality.

This summer, I sat enjoying the rhythm of the waves cresting on the beach, watching families play in the ocean waves. For me, there is nothing quite as relaxing as the beach.

There she stood. Nose pinched, eyes squinted closed, and toes curled at the edge of the pool. Her golden curls danced in the wind and sunlight of that summer day. She had mustered up the strength to try once more…

It was FINALLY time! The calendar had reached the dates that I had been waiting for--the words read V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N.  A trip had been planned to see friends and family in the state of Indiana. The week would start in Terre Haute, then we would travel on to the Fort Wayne area, and would end with spending some time on Lake Michigan. 

Have you packed for a trip lately? Years ago, when I packed my clothes and belongings for a flight, the items you could bring seemed endless. Two suitcases per person, weighing fifty pounds each, enabled you to pack effortlessly.

𝘿𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙡. If I don’t own it, God can’t change it.

𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙩, 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙩.

Listen, I’m not surprised when Christian leaders or human beings fall. Why? Because 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, and I know what I’m capable of without confessing 𝘮𝘺 sin, repenting and submitting 𝘮𝘺 life to God and a small circle of Godly friends 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘵 hold me accountable.

When was the last time you sat down and made a list of positive adjectives about yourself? A specific list generated only by you and about you? A list that was crafted by you without anyone’s help

I’m not sure how old I was when I realized that we didn’t have a dad. Growing up in a home with just my mom and my sisters seemed normal to me. Our life was pretty female-centric, with no living grandfathers and uncles that we rarely saw…

Do you ever feel like you are not enough or like there isn’t enough of you to go around to all the things that you are responsible for or need to do? Or, maybe you do get every area and keep things moving