The Gift of Unconditional Love

Only ten days away from Exodus Catalina 2010 and I am scrambling like a mad woman! Not in a bad way, mind you, but in a sort of crazy, peaceful and productive way! Putting together a retreat on an island is an amazing and insightful undertaking...one I wasn't quite prepared for, but embracing my journey through the process. This retreat has been especially challenging given it's location and more importantly, my Dad's recent cancer diagnosis...incurable.
When we heard these words, you can only imagine the thoughts running through our already overloaded brains. In Arizona last week with my parents, I was painfully aware of the struggles they will both face and as their only daughter, the responsibility that rests on my shoulders.
Coming home from yet another long day at the hospital and another round of "tests", my Dad and I fell into the comfortable lounge chairs in their living room and engaged in the most meaningful, loving, honest and compassionate talk we have ever had. I gave in to the conversation and allowed all my insecurities to surface and to my surprise, my Dad responded with a sensitivity that I had never seen before. He was somehow transformed into the Father I had always dreamed of and I was his little girl....vulnerable yet safe, surrounded by his loving voice.
That night in my room, I cried out to God, my Father in Heaven, and HE surrounded me with HIS loving voice... and this is what he said;
"YOU WILL be strengthened with all His Glorious Power so YOU WILL have all the endurance and patience you need!" Colossians 1:11
"Christ is the Visable Image of the Invisable God...He made the things we can see-and the things we cannot see." Colossians 1:15-16
"HE holds the whole body together with it's joints and ligaments and it grows as God nourishes it." Colossians 2:19
These are such beautiful and precious promises for my Dad. That night I wrote him a letter with the words God gave me. In the morning I gave the letter to my Dad and it brought us both to tears...he received the assurance from God that he was so deeply needing to hear, and I received the gift of unconditional love from my Father.

Things to do while you're still alive (on earth, that is!)

Go see the Olympic Games
Visit an uninhabited island
Write your Life Story
Take your entire family on a vacation
Repel down a 300' waterfall, then hang out at Everest Base Camp
Read the Bible in a year and really get it
Ride the Orient Express
Ski the "first tracks" at your fav resort
Be humble and give generously
Raft the Grand Canyon
Live your life like "you're dying"
Find true forgiveness
Find the Love of your Life
Find Peace, Joy and Understanding
Find Eternal Salvation
Find Jesus Christ
oh yeah....make lots of money, buy a big house, buy a second and third house and vacation property, acquire lots of toys, have "tons of friends", drive a beamer, get a full face lift, support every charity cause, get more friends, throw lot's of parties, get more friends...
Nah....
Whatever is on your "to do" list in life, i pray you will do it with Jesus Christ.
He is the Way. He is the Truth. He is the Life.
He is the brightest bright and the highest high
His signature benefit...Eternal Life...Priceless

Affirmations of Faith

I want to be genuine...to live what i believe Monday through Saturday and not just "talk about it on Sunday"
I desire to live my life in a spirit of prayer...practicing the presence of God each day through His "living word".
I want my heartbeat to be that of the Holy Spirit...challenging my conscience to live my best life. A life "on purpose".
I want to show the world that I am a woman of faith, fortitude, courage and conviction, standing strong for what i believe.
I want to be a leader.
I want to be a role model.
I want to be a woman growing old with grace.
I want to be an awesome mother, grandmother.
I want to leave a legacy of love, forgiveness and memories.
I want to be a servant of Jesus Christ.

Faith and Friendship

Girlfriends...whose faith in you could lift you right up out of yourself...
We all let people into our lives, but you will find that really good girlfriends let you into "your own"!
I've been thinking a lot about friendships lately, and the faith i put into those friends. I'm not quite sure where i would be right now without them...
invisible bonds
enduring ties
mirrors of my soul
My girlfriends are honest, loyal, nonjudgmental, have a sense of humor, smart and function from their hearts...i find that i can breathe more deeply, relax in their presence and find rest in their friendship.
A true gift from God...
This is dedicated to my Exodus Team...
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to realize the vision God has placed on my heart

more about fear and faith...

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal"-Hannah More-

Hannah was one lady born ahead of her time...born in 1745, she let little stand in her way; A playwright and philanthropist, she also worked to ban slavery and to raise the literacy of the poor...you go girl!
Courage is the prerequisite for accomplishment; few outstanding achievements are the by-product of fear!
My prayer for you...Dear Lord, please help me to face my fears with the courage that comes from you alone! in Jesus' name, amen

Where Faith and Fear collide!

Faith is not the absence of fear...it is action in spite of fear
Faith is not the absence of questions...it is belief in the presence of questions
Faith is not the absence of actions...it is the ability to allow
fear and questions to fuel your faith

women who change the world!

There are women who make things better simply by showing up!
Women that make things happen
Women that make their own way
Women who make a difference
Women who make you smile :)
Women who through their strength and courage have the power to persevere
There are women who change the world every day. One day at a time. One life at a time.
women like you
like me
like my mom
like my best friend
like my sister-in-law
like women i meet, but don't really know
when i sense a presence that is unexplainable, yet i know, without a shadow of a doubt, they are creating their life purpose....simply by showing up.