Never underestimate the power of a gratitude journal to transform you and those around you. One of the most profoundly transforming disciplines I practice in my life is keeping a gratitude journal. It has opened my heart and my eyes to grace. Over time, it's created a sense of well-being and joy that carries me above difficult circumstances instead of getting swallowed up by them. In fact, I've been doing this long enough that when life rubs hard, I know gratitude will soften the blow, diminish the anxiety response, and put me in a state of being present and mindful. Maybe you've had the idea of keeping a gratitude journal in the past. And maybe that's where it ended, with several empty journals lining shelves or stuffed in closets. That was me for many years. Until life Continue Reading
We are Made to Brave our Past {Made for Brave Sisterhood}
I’ve spent most of my life running from my past. I’ve boxed up memories, thoughts, and things I felt too painful to face. And because of this, I lived in chains. Fear of the reminders. Anxiety about the memories. Avoidance of people, places, things that would spark the thoughts that brought pain. I was living, but I wasn’t living freely or fully. One of my top priorities was to live without accepting what had happened in my past. In denial, I could claim some sense of sanity. My past had become an idol of sorts. I would do anything to avoid it, even avoid God. And so when my past came knocking, as anything we run from eventually will, my faith suffered immensely. It was my sophomore year of college when all my running finally caught up with me. I was flooded with Continue Reading