There is a scripture in Revelation where it talks about a bowl in heaven, filled with our prayers, and it's like incense to God. The aroma of prayer smells good to God, which is like, pretty awesome when you think about it, because most of my prayers are when I'm struggling, so I gotta bet those prayers are not beautiful or articulate. They're just, they're raw. They're from the heart. And I feel like that is the beauty. And that's where God wants to encounter us.

The Feel Better Journey group coaching program discusses the importance of understanding our life stories. In our busy world, we often need to remember to think about what has shaped our decisions and beliefs. But what if you could set aside time for contemplating and embracing the power of your story?

You guys, the power of our stories is huge! Sometimes I think we forget we have the power to rewrite them. Some of our stories are tinged with shame or fear, leading us into self-judgment, regret, and resentment cycles. Finding freedom from these confined narratives awakens us to the fishbowl around us and the water we swim in. We can rewrite our stories, weaving together empathy, compassion, and grace, allowing for a more profound connection to ourselves and to Jesus.

Because of the Spirit that lives within us, the brain wants to move towards health. It’s looking for opportunities for growth and change to heal itself—Ron Huxley LMFT

The beauty of the human experience is our ability to endure trauma and, more importantly, to heal and become wiser through it.

Keeping it real! Overview of why I’m doing this Podcast and what to expect here. Pumped to get this ball rolling and journey with you!

Embracing the reality that difficult situations will not set us ablaze. Sometimes it takes some time and distance from certain situations we walk through to realize He was with us and providing for us through it all.

Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Jeremiah 31:3 "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness."

Keeping it real! Overview of why I’m doing this Podcast and what to expect here. Pumped to get this ball rolling and journey with you!

Just a little raw encouragement for anyone whose loved one is struggling with Covid, IN or OUT of the hospital.

I can finally talk about it without totally crying, my mom is home from the hospital where she spent 6 days battling Covid pneumonia. We had several very scary days, and are so appreciative of the amazing staff at Henry Mayo Hospital in Valencia. My dad is on the mend too, thankfully he wasn't in the hospital.

I heard someone say today “Fear is incompatible with faith”—I wholeheartedly (and lovingly) disagree!

Fear is very human. And we are still very human.

Fear is the gateway to faith... fear is the gateway to peace and connection and dare I even say, purpose.

Today I’m 9 years sober…9! And I’ve been sick with bronchitis all week so I have been doing a lot of reflecting (and Netflix binging of course). I had codeine cough syrup—a medication of choice for this recovering addict in the past— and all it did was make me angry. It did help the cough though, wow! But I remember a time when codeine and Vicodin were like common aspirin to me. I once “inherited” 200 Vicodin when someone close to me died, and I thought I’d won the lottery.

No one decides to become an addict. No one decides to have an issue take over their life. But it happens…more often than we all think or want to believe.

You know when you are walking through a hard time and people throw those 'lovely' phrases at you to to help them feel better about your hard time? Like, “God doesn't give you more than you can handle.”—Umm, not helpful. I won’t get into a theology debate but every day people are carrying things they can’t handle on their own. Hence, our need for God and community. And God through our community. Sometimes God is our community. I believe 'it rains on the just, and the unjust’ (Matthew 5:45) and God allows all sorts of things to happen in life that we can’t handle.

Odd title coming from a recovering alcoholic I know. ;)

A few weeks ago I was in San Fransisco for a business meeting. Before my meeting, I went in to Starbucks to grab a cup of coffee. A homeless gentleman in front of me named Rain bought it for me. Rain not only bought my coffee but he also bought it for the 5 people behind me as well. He so blessed me! We chatted for a bit afterwards. He shared how that morning someone turned his whole day around. They bought him a cup of coffee and gave him some money. So he decided to go in to Starbucks and use the money to ‘pay it forward and bless others’. He said “not only homeless people need a hand at times. Everyone needs to know someone else is looking out for them.”—wow. Perspective. Thank you Rain!

I sat with 2 friends this week who fell hard. Not just a little stumble. A full humiliation fall… I won’t go in to the details—details don’t matter. Well, the details matter to them —and they re-live the details over and over again in their minds eye. It’s haunting them. Shame does that, it’s haunting. It’s pervasive and awful. Shame is the devils favorite tool. I don’t know how God will redeem this brokenness, but I know He will. He always does when we allow Him to…

I have written this post 100 times and 100 different ways, only to delete it each time. Where to start with such a title and topic? How about with the truth? To be completely honest, this post is more difficult to write than I thought it was going to be.

I am constantly reminded we were all made for so much more than the constant struggle of life. The tug and pull of life is exhausting at times. If it’s not one thing it seems to be another and I am often reminded, this is ‘not my home'.

If you are one of the ‘lucky ones' with anxiety, it’s like there is always a bear outside your front door waiting to pounce. I have been wrestling with my own ‘bears’ lately.  A friend taught me the phrase "action trumps anxiety". Basically, that means that doing the 'next right thing' helps us work through our anxiety. When my anxiety hits I basically have 2 options.  'Do the next right thing' to help reduce my anxiety OR sit, fret and work myself in to a panic attack. Yes, sometimes anxiety attacks just hit us. But I am telling you, there are times I work myself in to one. Life can feel like we are always running away from, or in to 'bears'. 

Earlier this week I wrote myself a letter. My therapist made me. It’s interesting to pay someone to help fix you and then have him give you an assignment to help fix yourself. “Shouldn’t he write the letter for me?”, I thought to myself as he was explaining it. I guess my millennial ‘entitlement’ trait flared up for a second.

Let me back up a bit…

As I sit here I am trying to find some eloquent way to write this. I want to somehow paint a better picture than what my heart and mind were feeling the last few weeks (months?).

Panic attacks are never fun. Never ever. At least for those of us in the middle of one, although they are pretty comical at times for those watching I am sure. 

I can’t remember a time I felt quite so vulnerable during one as I did yesterday. A few weeks ago a friend encouraged me to try acupuncture to help with 'emotional and mental wellness’. Apparently my friend noticed I needed some ‘wellness’. You can read between the lines, it has been a rough few weeks.

Hi Friends! 

Anyone else exhausted of all of this politics?! I don’t want to sound ‘un-American’—I am a full blooded American. We are so patriotic our son was born on Veteran’s Day and our daughter was born on Memorial Day (not kidding)—not that we had a choice in either of those days—they both were weeks early but healthy by the Grace of God. 

In the last 3 weeks I have lost 3 people I admire, love and respect. They have gone to Heaven and I wanted to share some thoughts as I have been wrestling through this time. And can I get a Hallelujah?!—kids go back to school tomorrow!