On Life and Words

To hold another soul with grace is one of the most profound acts of love we can offer. It is not about fixing, advising, or rushing past pain. It is about  being —fully present, gently steady, deeply caring. Jesus held the broken, the weary, the outcast—not always with words, but with a presence that said, “You are not alone.” The Meaning of Holding Holding means carrying another’s heart with tenderness and respect. It is a sacred responsibility, a ministry of compassion. To hold someone is to say, “I see your pain. I will stay with you through it.” The Spiritual Roots of Presence The Holy Spirit is often described as a Comforter—a divine presence that holds us in our darkest hours. When we hold others, we become vessels of that same Spirit. Presence is an echo of God’s love incarnate. Presence vs. Productivity Our culture values doing and fixing. But sometimes the greatest gift is  not  doing anything except being present. To listen without interrupting, to sit without s...

  Before language wrapped itself around thought, before stars were mapped and stories recorded, a divine whisper hovered in the stillness of existence: You were made for communion. Not productivity. Not prestige. Not even progress. But presence—shared, sacred, and simple. In the beginning, there was God. Not alone, but communal. Father, Son, and Spirit—eternally entwined in the mystery of mutual delight. And from that holy oneness, we were fashioned—not as isolated beings, but as echoes of this divine togetherness. The fingerprints of the Trinity are pressed into our souls, and our hearts are restless until they find that reflection mirrored in another’s eyes. Eden was not a solo stage, but a sanctuary of relationships: God walking with humankind in the cool of the day, Adam reaching toward Eve, the earth offering itself as a friend to the feet. Every element of paradise pulsed with connection. Even in perfection, solitude was “not good.” This tells us something vital: we were made...

Long before clocks dictated our every moment, We lived by a quieter rhythm - one whispered by wind and woven in stars. There was a time when we didn’t need alarms to wake us. The light did the calling. The birds did the beckoning. We stirred when the sun kissed the earth, and we rested when shadows stretched long across the ground. Time wasn’t something we chased - it was something we  belonged to . When Morning Was Sacred There is something holy about the way the morning light slips silently into the room - as though heaven itself tiptoes in to say,  “Begin again.” In the days of our ancestors, the rising sun was not an interruption to a long to-do list. It was the opening chord of a sacred song. The warmth on the face.  The rustle of trees.  The scent of dew and soil. All these were signs that life was returning—again, faithfully. The sun became a companion, not a countdown. Its slow, deliberate arc across the sky taught us the value of  process . That everyth...

We dream of intentional living, but how do we make it real? First: collect your circle. Who’s in? Write a shared mission: do you want to grow food, educate each other, live off-grid, celebrate spiritual rituals? Put words to values. Next: meet regularly—kitchen table chats, outdoor walks, virtual sessions—to nurture clarity and cohesion. Step two: land & layout. Urban, suburban, rural—each has pros and cons. Look for a place with common space potential: a shared garden, a fire circle, indoor gathering rooms. Think evergreen solar exposure, accessible public transport, local schools. Third: design for coexistence. Shared meals: who cooks and when? Childcare rota: who’s awake when? Elder care: can you foster intergenerational connection? Maintenance: who mows lawns or fixes leaky roofs? Write the schedule, but test it flexibly—regular retrospectives let you adjust. Fourth: build your economy. Mutual aid thrives best when it’s reciprocal. Have a shared fund for tools, seeds, and suppl...

So, if you've followed me for any length of time, you already know I have 9 children... ranging in ages from 19, down to age 2 1/2. I had my first 5 children within 5 years of each other... then spaced out numbers 6 and 7 out over another 5 years. I had baby number 8 when baby number 7 was 5, baby number 9 followed 16 months later. My life is pure insanity sometimes... even the older ones who don't live with me can contribute to this... Mom's life is filled with stress and worry for all of her children. I absolutely adore all of my children - from the semi-bratty teenagers, all the way down to my littlest miniature dictator toddler. However, they completely exhaust me! The toddlers, that is. With two toddlers in the house - ages 3 and 2, my life is absolutely never boring. They are always getting into things, fussing over the same toy, loudly shouting the words "NO!!" or "MINE!" over things that are most definitely not theirs or over things that they ...

I recently lost a friendship of four years. It wasn't over a minor issues. It was, perhaps, unavoidable. We both had differing ideas on what constituted "judging" and gentle, loving, honesty. She thought I was judging her for situations in her life, but was passing the same judgments she accused me of, onto my own life. I tried to be gentle and honest - without judgment of her or her choices - however, at the end of the day, we simply couldn't agree to disagree and move forward. The thing is, this friendship started four and a half years ago during an extremely traumatic and stressful time in my life and hers both, which left us with a friendship, but also left us with a "trauma bond." Although neither of our situations at the time were related, we'd bonded over the similarities. Sometimes, friendships formed in this way will last a lifetime. However, in many cases, they will simply end over time, once the time of crisis is over with. When you bond ...

Life is hard. Even when things are going pretty good, there will be occasional struggles or obstacles in your way. This is especially true if you've already dealt with any type of hardship in your life. If you're like me, and you've gone through multiple struggles in your life - mental, emotional, abusive relationships, poverty, homelessness, physical, etc - then dealing with basic, everyday life can sometimes feel like a struggle. This is why it's important to have a solid support system in place - whether you have good family and friends, a counselor and/or support group, online support groups, etc - everyone needs a support system. We all need people in our lives, even those of us who might claim to be "anti-social" or those who have "social anxiety." But what we don't need in our lives is toxic people and situations. If you have someone in your life who is toxic, if they bring more drama than you care to deal with, if they mentally or em...

We've all heard the stories of unrequited love... boy meets girl, girl meets boy... one of them falls in love with the other, but the other doesn't reciprocate. The end result in these stories is that the party who falls in love ends up having a broken heart "forever." There are many memes and quotes out there that portray unrequited love as a noble thing, as something that is perfectly normal and healthy. Nothing could be further from the truth. In many cases, there are situations where one person loves another person deeply and truly and the other person doesn't love them back in the same way that they love the other person. This is considered "unrequited love." And this is also the danger of "unrequited love." Loving another person who doesn't love you back in the same way, or even at all, is not a problem in and of itself. It's whenever you place the hope and expectation that the other person will love you in return in the sa...

Love is hard. Loving people is harder. We all have a very normal human desire to both love and be loved. The word love is not a noun, it's a verb. This is where many people get so twisted up when dealing with their love for others. Our society tends to consider love a "thing," when it is an *ACTION.*  We often talk of "loving" things - ice cream, pizza, places, etc. That's not love, that is an intense LIKE of something. Love means we are going to do whatever we can possibly do to ensure another person's happiness or well-being. It is both an action and an emotion. When we love someone, we (hopefully) truly want what is best for them - we want them to be happy, safe, successful, etc. Many times, however, people are quick to use "love" for others as a way to receive love in their own lives. The word love is spoken in an attempt to get the other person to reciprocate. This isn't love. True love doesn't require that the other person ...