Sometimes I go to a coffee shop for coffee, sometimes I go because I’m drowning in the middle of the waves of life, and a latte with a journal to write in is a life preserver and a breath of fresh air!  Two years ago I was one wave away from going completely under, so I left my screaming toddler and our other kiddos with my husband and drove as fast as I could to the escape of a vanilla latte and some coffee shop jazz.  Since writing is always a good way for me to decompress, I found a notebook in the back seat of my minivan before I went inside.

As I sipped and sat in stillness, my brain gradually quit swirling with thoughts of diaper changes and laundry and phone calls I needed to return… and I began to focus on some thoughts that had been flitting in and out of my mind for a while.  The thoughts seemed a bit jumbled, so I just started to write to make some sense of them.  What I ended up with was the most honest assessment of my heart I had made in a long time. Continue reading →

In case no one has granted you this freedom, or you have a hard time granting yourself this freedom, here it is:  You can be honest!

And to take it a step further, I will say this: The journey you are traveling in this life will not take you anywhere worth going until you are free to be honest with yourself, with God, and with the people around you.  You need to be honest.

Why does this need to be said so clearly?  Because too many of us have grown up in environments where honesty was not encouraged.  Where questioning the status quo was looked down upon.  Where ignoring our doubts and questions was the “right” thing to do if we wanted to remain in good standing.

The problem is, we are like builders who ignore gaping holes and cracks in our foundation and then continue to build the house.  It shouldn’t be a surprise when the walls start cracking!  In my case, eventually, the walls started to crumble. Continue reading →