Heaven’s Blueprint

The Call So, I think as I have sat and put things in place over the last week or so in our nation, what seems to come to mind is this highlight of how we've lost a lot of the traditional roles in society. The roles I cherish as a woman: being a mom, wife, and grandmother. The roles a man plays: being a dad, husband, and grandfather. The importance of each of these roles in the family unit. Moms tend to keep the home running, keep schedules, and organize life, while dads are the providers and protectors. Not that moms don't bring in income—because in many cases they do—and not that dads don't help out with kids and household stuff—because in a functioning family, they for sure do. But why is each important? And how can we become better to empower and build up the family unit? See, this is my mission field, and it's also the place we have faced the greatest battles. But I will assure you, it's where I will never stop fighting for what is good, right, true, and lovely....

Life Cycles: My Two Cents A lot of times in life, we label things based on natural—or supposedly natural—cycles. This is especially true when it comes to female life stages. From the time we're born, by people start attributing behaviors to emotions or hormone levels: pre-puberty, puberty, pre-menopause, menopause, and so on. “She’s hormonal.” “She’s emotional—must be that time of the month.” “She’s going through the change.” “She’s past the change.” We’ve all heard it, and we do it to men too. Men are labeled as going through a “midlife crisis,” and we excuse certain behaviors, even failed marriages, because of it. Either that, or we demonize them for it. But the truth is, a lot of the time, it’s not about hormones—it’s about choices. Our culture loves to find labels and excuses for everything. And yes, this next part might piss some people off, but I’m going to say it anyway: past trauma has become a go-to reason to explain away our problems and justify our choices. Now, before a...

What Do You Do When the Life You Built Was Built on the Wrong Foundation? What do you do when you realize that a decision you made many years ago—one you thought was the best decision of your life—was made for the wrong reasons? What happens when you look back and see that every choice you made afterward was built on a false foundation? Do you throw it all away? Beat yourself up over it? What do you do? The truth is, people find themselves in these situations every day. It could be a relationship. It could be a career. It could be a financial commitment. Because here’s the thing about life: we change. We grow. We evolve. And that’s not a bad thing—it’s a  good  thing. Growth is necessary. Change is necessary. Evolution is part of being alive. But sometimes, the people who were once close to us—whether personally or professionally—don’t see that growth as a positive. They may resent it. And when you finally stop and reflect, you may realize something painful: as you grew and ch...

Rest Isn't Optional So many times in life, we just keep going—faster, harder, longer—without ever stopping to ask ourselves why. We run ourselves into the ground, convinced it’s for a good reason. We do it to help others. We do it to put everyone else first. We do it to stay ahead of the bills, ahead of the laundry, ahead of… whatever. But the truth is, all we’re really doing is running ourselves down. We slap on a bit of false humility and say things like,  “I can’t stop—I have responsibilities.”   “I’ve got bills to pay.”   “I’ve got things to do.”  But what’s often underneath that is fear. Fear that if we stop, we won’t be able to start again. At least, that’s what it was for me. I was afraid that if I stopped, everything would fall apart—because I was the one spinning all the plates. But here’s the thing: The only thing I was doing in those relentless seasons was draining my health, little by little, until it led to serious consequences—autoimmune issues, and eve...