I Need YOUR Advice
I hope you had a joyful Christmas. Can you believe the New Year is almost here? That was fast. I’ve been praying hard about 2017. Maybe you, like me, share some of same emotions… the hope... the hesitancy…the expectancy… the questions of what will come. I sense God is...
7 Tips for the Best Christmas Tea, Brunch, and Celebration Ever
Some of my most favorite events during the year are Christmas teas, brunches, and celebrations. The décor, outfits, food, and activities are always joyous. Here are 7 tips to ensure your next Christmas event is a knockout. 1. Create Christmas activity tables. If...
How to Survive Your Season of Waiting
Waiting has never been a popular activity. Perhaps that’s why we share a tendency to avoid waiting at every turn. I crane my neck to count the number of people ahead of me in line. I check my phone every few seconds for a response. I press refresh on the internet page...
Do This to Win the Battlefield of the Mind
Some days the darkness overwhelms me. A 22-month old with stage-4 cancer. A friend who scoured for a job for 26 months with no response. A mom whose post-partum depression leaves her a shell of a human despite the medication. I lift their names in prayer, but my heart...
The Secret of How to Live Loved
I stumbled on a scientific study that still haunts me. The study made the following observation: a child who plays in close proximity to a parent displays higher levels of creativity in activities and games than those who are farther away. Read that again. Imagine the...
The 3 Words Those You Love Will Never Tell You
Red bows. Evergreen wreathes. Bright white icicle lights. The scent and sounds of holidays surround us. If you’ll look closer, you’ll see the countless brave faces of those you know and love. There are 3 words they want to tell you but can’t. The single mom who...
How to Hold the Hurting Extra Extra Close this Christmas
I almost sent my Christmas cards this year, then I remembered. Steeped in a darkness so thick, so foggy, I could not breathe. The Christmas everyone else celebrated, I mourned. Loss of youth. Loss of health. Loss of innocence. My first Christmas draining toxic liquid...
Who I’m Voting for and Why
The scent of urine, feces, and vomit hung as I emerged from the subway station. I breathed through my mouth to avoid gagging. A new steamy scent penetrated. The death of a skunk. Gagging, I ascended the stairs, aching for fresh air, any escape from the...
The secret she can’t tell you…
Oh, if only you knew… Breathless. Write the name you’ve called yourself for far too long on the stone, then leave them at the altar. In the darkness, we penned our words. Stones pile high. The secret names we spoke over ourselves. Too many times to count....
The 7 Word Declaration You Must Make Today
Within moments of giving birth, her precious baby, Andy, took his last breath. Becka Burke experienced a tragic loss, one that still causes great pain. The journey toward healing and wholeness has been brutiful. All the brutal. All the beautiful. In pursuit of...
