"What matters most is how we respond to what we experience in life" — Stephen R. Covey There are moments in life when we are reminded that strength is not always loud. Sometimes strength looks like getting out of bed when your body aches. Sometimes it looks like showing up for another appointment when fear whispers in your ear. Sometimes strength is simply taking the next breath and trusting God with the next step. Last year my sister received a breast cancer diagnosis. The

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 There have been many moments in my life when I wished that everything could be revealed all at once. Wouldn’t it be easier if every question we carried in our hearts was answered instantly? I have cried out to God more than once, asking, “Help me understand.” There is a deep yearning within us to kno

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr. There are moments when a simple sentence opens a doorway to profound truth. Recently, I heard these words: You cannot receive a present blessing while living mentally in a past experience. And I felt the depth of that truth ripple through my being. Each new day arrives as a sacred gift—fresh, unmarked, filled with possibility. Yet how often do we carry yesterday into today? We replay conve

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:44 There are some teachings that feel almost impossible when we first hear them. This is one of them. For many years, I carried a quiet storm within me—resentment rooted in something that had happened in my childhood. It sat beneath the surface like a volcano, filled with layers of shame, blame, and anger. From the outside, life moved forward. But inside, there was a pressure that never quite released unti

“One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds.” Frank Zappa There is a certain truth in these words that can feel both limiting and liberating at the same time. If we cannot change someone else’s mind, then where does that leave us when we long to see more love, more kindness, more peace in the world? It brings us home… to ourselves. While it may be true that we cannot force

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” Warren Buffett What if we knew the impact our actions would have many years after we make them? There is something beautifully humbling about this thought, isn’t there? There is power in looking at the fact that every decision we make impacts others in some way. To realize that what we do today—every word we speak, every action we take, every kindness we offer—has a ripple that extends

“If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.” Thomas Jefferson We did not come to Earth to just sit around and do nothing. We are here to stretch ourselves, to be challenged, to live. In life we face many situations where we make choices – some life-changing, some simply out of need. I believe we have an agenda of what we want to discover and uncover. We may not know the minute details, and that is okay, but we know th

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy There is something deeply comforting about speaking the words “thank you.” They feel complete, like a bow tied neatly on a moment. Yet, if we pause and sit with this quote, we begin to sense there is something more being asked of us—something deeper, something lived. Gratitude is not just a fleeting expression; it is a frequency. It

“The long and winding road that leads to your door Will never disappear, I've seen that road before It always leads me here, lead me to your door.” The Beatles I know the road well that leads to my sister’s house. I have traveled it many times during my life. The first eight to nine hours of the drive went by uneventfully with light traffic and my favorite singer serenading me in between my favorite author being read on audio. I had been warned already about rain and storm

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi In meditation recently with my friend Ruth, we each focused on a desire. Without hesitation, I said that I would love to have a more intimate walk with Jesus. I want to know more about what he experienced while on Earth. It was my agenda in going to Egypt to feel where some of the historical figures walked and hear the language they used. I experienced this as I visited a church i