Her eyes widened as she moved her chair closer to the table. The crowded coffee shop had not deterred her from being open and honest. Now, it was my turn. This young girl in her twenties tried to conceal her surprised expression. “I thought you wouldn’t understand, Karen. I imagined your childhood and life near perfect.” Oh, how wrong her sentiments. Truth is, we held much in common. We both experienced a troubling upbringing, one affecting our life as adults. When a parent abandons a child physically or emotionally, they leave behind a broken life and heart. As I opened up to my coffee-shop friend, pain from my past spilled out as tears. In the most vulnerable way, I conveyed how I spent part of my childhood with one parent absent and the other present, but just in the Continue Reading
We are Made to Brave our Story – Made For Brave Sisterhood
Anxiety twisted and turned in the pit of my stomach just minutes before I walked on stage. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and silently prayed for peace and confirmation from the Lord about what I was about to do. I was teetering between two very different thoughts. The first was how exciting it was going to be to share God’s miraculous story of how He saved me and my marriage. The second was what in the world am I thinking in telling people about the skeletons that lay ever so neatly in the closet my past? At that moment I didn’t feel very brave. “Lord, I need you, please help me” I whispered. I suddenly felt a warm blanket of peace cover my body from head to toe. Although the butterflies in my stomach were in full fight or flight mode, the peace I felt was Continue Reading
For Those Who Need Freedom From Regret – Made For Brave Sisterhood
I had just turned 17 when I made a choice I will forever regret. With my broken heart buried beneath the heavy weight of shame, my choice ruled my life for many years. Years where I experienced more defeat that victory. Domino effect years leading me into deeper brokenness and unfulfilled purpose. But it’s also a choice God used to teach me about His grace. About His love. And about His redemption. It’s one that taught me I am made to brave regret. "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love." -Romans Continue Reading
For Those Who Must Brave the Prodigal Child
I felt the danger and it was taking its toll. As parents, we lived in a constant state of fear over each phone call, each curfew, each ring of the doorbell. It wasn’t just stressful for us, it was also having an impact on our other two children. It’s one thing when someone threatens your family but it becomes so much worse when that threat comes FROM your family. What are you supposed to do when your own child becomes your “enemy”? He had no idea how he put us all at risk, every single day. As he made foolish, dangerous decisions, he posed a threat to himself and others, which meant he brought that threat home to us. With each risk he took, our hearts were made more and more vulnerable. We feared what his future held and what our’s held because we loved him. We wondered if our Continue Reading