She Stands

 Leaving for work I  snapped this picture from my front porch. The brilliance of the sun coming up and breaking through had glimmers of gold dancing across my front yard; such beauty to behold in the few moments I had before scrambling off to begin my work day. Perfection would have been for me to be able to stay and enjoy my morning coffee sitting in the rays of sunlight, however the brief moments I had were enough for me to be thankful for witnessing another one of God's beautiful moments of His divine artistry in the morning sky. I began to think of the times when my life has been covered with "shade"; when it appeared to have no sunlight breaking through. And, on a larger scale, I began to reflect how the world has had its own shade of darkness covering its every corner ringing its cries for just a little light to shine.Creeping slowly down my driveway I realized had I kept my head down, hustled down the porch all I would...

  Heart......the organ that pumps blood throughout our bodies entirety; supplying oxygen and nutrients to our tissues and removing carbon dioxide and other wastes. Our physical life line; if unable to supply blood to our organs and tissues, they die..... We die.  We all know the physical purpose of our heart. We are taught what eating habits and physical activity are best to keep our hearts functioning properly. However do we ever really seek how to keep the emotional and spiritual health of our heart at its best as well?   What do we do to guard our hearts  from emotional deaths; a death that causes our once soft, fleshy heart that held compassion, empathy, grace and love to become a cracked jagged and jaded stone? A stone that buries deep within the cracks the brokenness of our self worth and harbors the anger of our hurt others have pierced with their arrow of disdain. ...

I love this picture of McKenna. I have been blessed to know this precious young lady since she was in junior high school. She is now a wife and mommy of two beautiful babies. McKenna started doing cross fit when she was pregnant with her first child( maybe before? ) and has continued her fitness goals to this day. This picture is the first time she ever made it to the top of the rope. What an accomplishment!! It did not happen over night. It was not accomplished the first or even her second try. McKenna had to "endure" the process . She had to fight through the sweat and pain, the burning muscles and the constant desire to meet her goal. And met it she has!!  I then ask myself....... How do I press through a growth process?  When the pain is too much to bear and my muscles burn with the intensity of a boiling furnace , how do I endure? My endurance comes from my daddy God;  a process of growth and strength training in the spirit.  It...