Hope Through Authenticity

As many of you know, I had the amazing opportunity to spend two weeks in Europe and one of those weeks was a solo trip to Scotland. That was GOOD. You may know that I scuba dive. That is GOOD. You may know that I teach and have always been teaching something. That is GOOD. […]

Recently, someone I knew very well passed away. She was 51 and the death was a shock to all. I had not seen this person in almost 5 years. We didn’t have a falling out. We just moved in different circles and then I literally moved away. Her passing was sad. I was particularly sad […]

Last time, I talked about irritability being a major bi-polar symptom for me.  But compulsive behavior is my worst symptom. Whereas irritability comes and goes, compulsiveness is a CONSTANT problem. At all times, I’m having to talk myself out of something: another cookie, another book, another project, another nap, another TV show. Those don’t sound […]

If you told me you had a cold, what symptoms would you have? For me, a cold is that horrible headache behind the bridge of the nose and tight ears. For my husband, he’s suffering from a sore throat and dull headache on the crown of his head. The point? No two colds look exactly […]

If you read my blog regularly then you know I lost both my parents inside of 6 weeks. You may also know that after my breakdown (April 2012), I lost most of my friends (all but 2). I have been lucky enough to create new relationships. Wonderful women. Accepting of my idiosyncrasies. The Godiverse has […]

There are many lessons I plan to share with you in upcoming blogs. For example, what can we learn from Scotland’s national animal (the unicorn) and national plant (thistle)? What can we learn about ancient stone walls? How does the grave of a headless man relate to our lives today? What can I learn from […]

My last post was about what I learned from my parents. My parents died within weeks of each other earlier this year, so it seemed like an appropriate time to visit that topic. It dawned on me that maybe it would have been nice to share the list with them before it was too late. […]

Both of my parents died within 2 months of each other. So, I wanted to honor them by telling you what they taught me. Some of these lessons are great. Some are awful. But, they are what they are. And I wanted to honor ME by being honest about words spoken that haunt me still. […]

Do those “John 3:16” signs at sporting events make you want to seek God? Do street-corner pastors make you want to embrace the church? Even when I was a believer, that type of showmanship made me cringe. Instead of bringing people closer, I think those types of display force people away. The same is true […]

Most of you know that I had a mental breakdown in April 2012. Since then I have this BEFORE June and AFTER June. Much of who I was before is gone. A simple example is my handwriting. BEFORE June wrote neatly. I could write in a straight line on plain paper. I could write upside […]