A Precious Identity ... You are loved!

If you are in the midst of heartbreak, and the pain or the hurt is overwhelming you with sorrow; if words, rejection or abuse from others strained your emotions, leaving you to feel helpless, hopeless, worthless and unloved, dear one, there is someone thinking of you and loving you this very moment with an unconditional love that always was and always will be. There is one who understands your sorrow, your confusion, your doubt. God is that someone. The flow of His love is moving through all hearts open to receive it. You are never alone. You are loved. You are accepted. You are so very precious. God loves you!

Forgiveness - A Heart Unchained

What does it mean to forgive someone? Webster defines forgive as “to give up resentment of or claim to requital for; to cease to feel resentment against (an offender)” What does this mean to you? 

Offering forgiveness is not always easy, especially if the hurt is deep. Yet, with forgiveness, there is freedom from having to carry the burden and the pain of the offense in your heart. Forgiveness is also releasing unhealthy and damaging roots of emotions that come as a result: anger, resentment, bitterness and replacing it all with compassion and mercy. That doesn’t mean giving the offender an excuse for their wrongful actions, words or motives. That means to simply pass on the peace that comes with forgiveness, often through positive peaceful action and interaction - the channel for carrying forward God’s command for us to love one another. Where there is peace, there is fertile ground to share seeds of love and hope for a change of heart in those who’ve done you wrong and most, a change of heart in ourselves.

Rejection - Shunned By Man; Welcomed By God

Occasionally others share with me their experiences with rejection. Their heart-break saddens me deeply. Sometimes these stories come to me from seemingly peaceful, picture perfect, “got it together” relationships – at least from the outside. Yet on the inside, there is a different reality. This reality is where the core of heartbreak, pain and depression surfaces as a result of the lack of compassion, lack of unconditional love, lack of understanding and lack of acceptance of others.

Jesus experienced rejection. He knew the pain and the depth of feeling shunned and pushed away from society, from His own people, from family, friends and from His Disciples.

Precious Geodes

One of the most precious 'souvenirs' I brought home from a vacation nearly six years ago was a geode. The outside was just a plain rock - nothing out of the ordinary, yet what I discovered inside the rock when I split it open was a beautiful glimmering crystal.