If this life is a balancing act, then love is like walking a tightrope in a thunderstorm while juggling hungry monkeys. There is always the danger of a tumble; always the chance those who have access will shake our foundation, throw us off balance. It opens the possibility that our life and hopes and dreams […]

We humans try to make peace with the storm by saying it made us strong. We romanticize it, marvel at it and give it credit for who we are today. I have a different viewpoint. Storms show the strength of your roots. You may be a pretty, flowering tree above the surface but if your root […]

Remember when you thought you were awesome? When you knew you were loved and lovable? Remember when you thought you had something to offer? When you had dreams and plans and a drive to change the world? This picture of my granddaughter speaks so clearly to this. She is obviously very pleased with the girl in the mirror. […]

Several years ago, I dreamed I was in a huge auditorium filled with women. They were every age, race, size, shape, and color imaginable. The beauty of the scene was staggering. I stood at a table watching. As women passed by some stopped and spoke to me, some I reached out to or called over. […]

I will never forget the day, years ago, when I finally let myself admit our ‘church’ had eroded into a cult with all the control and manipulation that word implies. It is the day when I turned to my husband and said, “We have to get out of there.” Scott looked back at me. “I […]

I just stepped off the stage from sharing, for the first time, my story of recovery from the abuse and effects of a cult. I had never been this honest with this many people and I felt very exposed. I was glad it was over. After, while in a restroom stall, I heard two women […]

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who knew she was born to fly. She felt the wind calling her, lifting her heart and soul but couldn’t get her feet off the ground. One day she whispered to her mother as she stood tall in the grass and spread her arms into the […]

Once upon a time, there was a girl who dreamed someday she would fly. She turned her face into the wind and let her thoughts drift. She felt her heart lift up into the sky in spite of her Earth-bound body. One day, with her eyes closed, feeling the sun and the wind, she said […]

Shame shows up in our lives in surprising ways. It has an agenda all its own and doesn’t mind changing its tactics to serve its purpose. Shame aims to keep you fearful, living a small life, and stifling the gifts you have to offer the world. Will we ever be fully rid of shame? I […]

I pray you take your place knowing it is anywhere and everywhere God calls you. I pray you know your calling until your power becomes unshakeable, irrevocable and secure; that you never shrink from the fierceness and strength of it, knowing what God starts, he always finishes. I pray the needs of the broken and […]