I couldn’t sleep last night until I finished this. I hope someone needs it, I’m sleepy. When I Felt Alone On September 11, 2001, I was less than one month from my 17th Birthday. I was living alone in a small trailer in a trailer park. I had been on my own since I was […]

Happy Sunday! My random story today is about saying goodbye to mashed potatoes! For a long time, I thought love meant affirmation. I thought it was confirmation. I thought love was someone saying “You’re right” when I was wrong or “You’re valid” when I was hurting. But through nearly two decades of marriage, I’ve learned […]

She was a weed. Not chosen, not planned, not purchased from a nursery with careful hands and pride-filled soil. She was scattered, tossed by wilderness winds into ground that was cracked, unwanted, unprepared. Still, she grew. Still, she bloomed. Not to boast of herself, but to whisper: “I am here. I matter. Even weeds bring […]

A Family Confession:Sometimes I’m just over here winging it with these humans I love. I never want to make parenthood sound easy, because it’s not. It’s more like stumbling through a land of cactus in shorts and flip flops, trying not to let the splinters stop me from moving forward. Then I realize I get […]

I didn’t expect a simple comb to make me cry today. While cleaning out a box, I found it, the comb of a student I served a few years ago. He never meant to leave it. One day, he stopped coming to school. I was so devestated when I learned he had been removed because […]

To the 15 Year Old Child from Abilene, TX. The one in the video. The one being hurt.  I saw you.I heard you.I couldn’t look away. I needed to watch, not for shock or curiosity, but because I knew what it felt like to be the one no one protected. I was 15 too […]

I can hardly put into words what this little book, Always Forever, has become in the hands of God. Last week, I received a message from an incredible human being who asked to purchase one of my books. She wondered if I would mail it directly and if I’d sign it before I sent it. […]

There’s something deeply unsettling about people who use their position, influence, or authority, not to serve, but to control. I’ve lived through this as a child suffering from abuse and as an adult in various situations. I’ve felt that ache in my chest when someone tried to make me question my worth because I wouldn’t […]

Before giving birth to my girls, I became a very proud bonus momma. I jumped in fully and thought love would earn me a place in the little family my husband had. I naively believed if I was playful enough, kind enough, consistent enough, and healed enough, I would eventually be welcomed in with open […]

It’s interesting when something happens continuously over the span of 20 years. When people compare you to the same historical figure, it’s time to listen and do your homework. People have called me “the female Barnabas,” yesterday my friend Casey randomly said it in a conversation and I finally looked it up and, I’m honored […]