Author: Kimberly

Happy November friends! I am one of those who wait until after Halloween to bring out the Christmas decorations! Yes, I started last weekend and am almost finished decorating for Christmas! I love my decorations and they make me happy, so I do it! Not that I don’t love Thanksgiving, but I believe that Thanksgiving should be a state of mind every day all year and honestly celebrating Christ should be too. Anyway, these past couple of weeks have been trying to say the least. During this time, I heard a couple of stories that really bothered me, so I wanted to write about it today.

My own healing journey has made me much more aware of the need to detach from situations and people that are no good for me. I pray every day that the Lord remove or allow me to see who and what should go for my well-being. It’s come to my attention that more and more folks are out there who live the way I had unhealed with no boundaries and the attraction magnet of toxic people or partners. Although it’s good to know that I wasn’t alone in this, it saddens me deeply that there are good people out there getting hurt and attached to the wrong people. There are people out there that I have simply detached from and still remain in their lives mainly because they quite simply put are toxic. Don’t get me wrong I don’t walk around thinking I’m better than anyone at all but my boundaries and prayers have made me so very aware of the negative, toxic, and damaging behaviors that I detach or even remove myself totally from the life of that person. It’s basically just taking a step back and evaluating the relationship itself and how it affects you and your mental health. It took me 58 years to realize I had to unlearn my thoughts about myself and take the much-needed time to heal those old wounds and traumas. At 60, I’ve learned who I am, what I want, and what I want out of a relationship, set healthy boundaries around those ideals, and not compromise those boundaries for the better good of myself and my family.

Boundaries are a must in life but so is knowing who you are and your worth! I couldn’t have boundaries until I knew myself and understood how important my self-esteem, mental health, healing, and honestly loving who I truly am. Within that context that’s where detachment is necessary, let’s say you are talking with someone with the notion of dating, and you start seeing red flags, well we have a choice here. Do we ignore those red flags? Or do we detach from this individual? I’m a firm believer nowadays to detach and move on!!!! I, in the past, ignored every single red flag and ended up marrying these people like I loved the circus. Yes, I make jokes about it all. Might as well. There are just certain things that I refuse to tolerate in my life anymore and if it means I’m single for the rest of my life so be it. I would much rather be single and loving life than in another horrid marriage or relationship where I sacrifice my dignity, mental health, or my safety.

So, if you are or plan to get into the dating world or have those folks in your life that strain your mental health. I urge you to heal, know yourself and love yourself, set healthy boundaries, and tolerate nothing that undermines your self-worth.

I’m so very grateful for you on this healing journey with me and I pray that we can heal and thrive together.

Hello sweet friends. October is coming to an end, and we will be cranking up for another holiday season with our friends and family. I was reminded this morning watching church online that although we think we have endured the hardest thing ever we will no doubt endure more on our journey in healing but most importantly we never ever do this alone. Our God never leaves us and is always providing along our path. This has been so true and evident in my own life and healing.

This month is widely known for breast cancer awareness, and I think this is important. It’s also domestic violence awareness month which is equally important to me. I’ve had friends and family who have had breast cancer and are survivors at the same time I am the poster child for domestic violence, so this is near and dear to my heart.

So, allow me to paint the picture of mental and physical abuse from the beginning. If you’ve heard or read my story, you know that my issues started with a very toxic mother. That led me to have low self-esteem, people pleasing, no boundaries, and obvious relationship issues. With that being said, my first husband saw that I was most definitely an easy mark. He quickly love bombed me and had me thinking he was the best thing since ice cream. If you aren’t familiar with the love bombing term it’s the beginning of a trauma bond that showers a person with much love and affection in order to manipulate the victim. And being an empath with codependency issues he had me hook line and sinker. The next phase was a slow isolation in my case we moved to Florida, and I was without a car, phone, and no friends or family around me. This is key if the abuser is going to be able to keep their lies. They can’t have you find out all their lies and what wrongdoing is going on behind your back. The physical abuse started slow with pushing me when we argued, and it didn’t help that I was a total clutz. Of course, the pushing evolved into punching, and of course, I did fight back. The physical abuse continued to get worse each time. He also used gaslighting and financial abuse as well. I wasn’t able to work because he was so strict and jealous plus if I got out into the world, I might learn about what he was up to. I would threaten to leave, and he would apologize and tell me how he couldn’t live without me and like the people pleasing idiot I had become I would stay. When I did leave and allow him to come back into my life the abuse was ten times worse. What I feared the most was that he would eventually hurt my son. The last time I got out of the hospital in Florida I finally had enough and was ready to make the move back to Georgia. I set everything in motion and packed up our belongings one day after he went to work. I would love to tell you that I never saw him again, but this man was demonic and stalked me for years. The anxiety of looking over my shoulder and trying to protect my son and I was overwhelming. This is the hardest part because of that trauma bond you are addicted to these behaviors and crave them. It’s so sad but so true. This is why most of the time we take our abusers back.

A person will usually allow the abuser back into their lives seven times. Seven times is one time too many. I was a blessed woman to have survived but there are some that don’t survive. That trauma bond I was speaking of is real and very difficult to break. It’s just like a drug or alcohol addiction. It’s imperative to heal after these relationships because if not that will be the exact relationship you get into again. Over and over again if not healed.

There are several types of abuse such as physical, mental, emotional, financial, sexual, and verbal. I have endured them all. And with God’s great mercy and love I survived them all. Our God is greater than anything we’ve done or have had done to us! He’s rescued me from every bad decision, poor choice and despite all my short comings He’s loved me and never left my side. God is good, isn’t He?

Which brings me to my last abuser that was mentally abusive. I obviously had a sign tattooed on my forehead that said, I’m an empath, people pleasing, codependent, with zero boundaries because I sure can attract those narcissists! No matter the check list I had and checked off the mental abuse almost did this girl in. He executed all the abuses with the exception of physical abuse. This was a very very slow process. It was so slow I didn’t even realize what was happening. I guess that’s why my therapists called him a covert narcissist. I literally told him I wish he would hit me instead of this mental torture he was doing. Ya’ll know the end of this story. God asked me to be obedient to Him and He did rescue me in His time not mine. It was a long hard time, but my faith has ultimately given me the strength to the end and the much-needed healing from ALLL the abuses began.  Pealing back all the layers down to the inner child gave me such a peace and long-awaited new self. Finding the little girl, I had been running from was the key to my healing.

There are ways that we can prevent these situations in our lives. Boundaries are key here.

• Valuing my opinions
• Not compromising my personal values
• Knowing my personal needs and wants and actually communicating them.
• Saying no instead of yes, all the time.
• Staying focused on my personal growth and healing
• Trusting my decisions
• Not allowing others to deter my direction on those decisions
• Know who I am and what I want
• Keeping track of red flags instead of ignoring them.

Being healed before entering into new relationships, not hopping from one to another person unhealed will ensure that you are in the relationship for the right reasons and with boundaries in place you will be on alert if those boundaries are being sidestepped.

Having an accountability person to meet or be around this new person in your life. Going slow and getting to really know the other person on all levels before moving forward. Have real conversations on topics and see where this person is on these topics like religion, politics, family life, their healing and past relationships. If the boundaries are not honored and you see red flags, STOP talking and seeing this person. These are all ways to ensure that you are not setting yourself up for another abusive relationship.

Because my previous trauma bonds were not broken and healed it was very easy for me to fall for another person who was the identical chaos as before. Different packages, same content. We are not responsible for what has been done to us, but we are responsible for our healing.

Also remember that if you do have a family member or friend in these situations you can be supportive and love them although they might not get away from their abuser. This will only happen when they are ready, you can’t force them because they will resist and shut you out. I did this myself.

Don’t lose hope! There is healing and life after abuse! All things are possible with our God! I seriously had no idea what my life would be like until I started intentionally healing and now, I look forward to what God has in store for me with each new day. I’m so grateful for my continued healing and thriving. Equally grateful for each of you on this journey with me.

Hello, my sweet friends. Happy October. I’ve been ready for some crisp cool days. I do truly love the summer sun but there is something about the changes in the leaves and weather that I love as well. I’ve been seeing this quote “The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let things go”. This is so true in our healing journeys. Letting go of all the things that don’t serve our minds, hearts, and bodies is so important for self-love and healing correctly. Another way I like to let go of those ‘things” is by asking my heavenly Father to take those ideas and mindsets from me and laying them down at His feet to bear and carry for me. That’s one of the things I pray every day is that I take the backseat and I allow Him to work His will through me and lay down all the burdens and things that distract me from Him and my healing.  

I personally overthink everything so giving up those ideas that make me overthink everything and allowing His words to fill my heart and mind has helped me tremendously. I wish I could tell you that it’s not still a struggle, it is every.stinking.day. Over fifty-five years this girl has been programmed to think the worst-case scenario and the worst thoughts of herself through the many years with my toxic mother, abusive ex-husbands, and the many many toxic people that seem to invade my life. Until I actually started healing two years ago and realizing the impact of what the toxicity did in my life, I now understand the blueprint and importance of boundaries and how with those in place and being able to see the traits of toxic folks I’m no longer a magnet for such people. Now don’t get me wrong here, they are still out there, and I have encountered toxic people but when you recognize the traits you can decide whether or not you want to have them in your life or not. You can even take them at face value and understand the dangers of the toxicity and be an acquaintance. I have removed most of the toxicity from my life. I still have acquaintances that are most definitely toxic. I just don’t allow them to be close. It’s truly amazing how far I’ve come in this healing journey. I can spot toxic traits in a split second and the danger warning signs go off. Red flags flap all around them. Whereas before knowing these traits and being unhealed I would think oh I can fix them, I can make them a better version of themselves. Not being a codependent people-pleasing chronic fixer is soooo liberating. My mantra is you do you boo. I’m just gonna stay over here in my healing zone and let you play games and be toxic all on your own.

I can assure you if you are healing or going through a bad relationship you too will be able to heal, thrive, and be happy again. It just takes a lot of patience, self-love, lots of Jesus, and healing yourself.  I’m so grateful that you are on this journey with me and I know that we will thrive together!

Hello sweet friends! It’s been just a little over one year writing here. Yikes, I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. This blog was born out of the desire to hopefully help others on their healing journey by sharing my story and healing. We all heal differently and most definitely from so many issues in our lives. One thing I’ve discovered on this journey is that when I began digging into all the layers, I found so much that needed healing that I became overwhelmed. I found that allowing God to direct those steps of my healing was crucial. I would try to go steps ahead and God just wanted me to sit still with Him and allow His presence to heal my heart. Last weekend I was feeling under the weather and was definitely stilled. I allowed myself to sit in the quiet, pray, meditate, and just be still and be with God. I also journaled and went back to read what I had written two years ago. That was part of the journey where I was still trauma-bonded. I had written that I was grateful for the pain I was feeling so that I could never be or feel this way again. I wrote about how each day I went with no contact I became stronger. Ya’ll this is no different than someone that has been addicted to drugs or alcohol. Every day they go without their drug of choice they also become stronger. There is such an empowerment of self as we take each day and become stronger and learn who we truly are for ourselves, family, and God.

Just as I celebrate a year writing to you guys, we celebrated one year of our local Celebrate Recovery. I can’t express how much this family of healing and beautiful people means to me. It’s such an honor and privilege to serve with such beautiful and broken souls healing together! God certainly has moved in my own healing journey by allowing me to write here, having so many followers on all my social media platforms, and allowing me to serve with our Celebrate Recovery. One of the greatest pleasures is meeting so many people in our community with the same goals: loving God, others, and healing. I love seeing their posts that celebrate how many days clean or sober they are. We are all the same I’ve been two years free of codependency. Two years free from trauma bond, two years free from people pleasing and chasing love in all the wrong places. There is so much to be grateful for and celebrate even when we think there isn’t. Most of all celebrate each other’s victories. What I love about my community of followers and my Celebrate Recovery family is that we encourage, love, and pray for one another. This is what it’s all about engaging in life together and being elbow to elbow encouraging and loving one another no matter what the struggle is. Most of all we celebrate our accomplishments. I challenge my reader today to do just that. Every day we walk and work among people that we have no idea what their struggle might be. Pray for those around you! Encourage them, smile at them, and celebrate with them. You never know who needs that one act of kindness. I saw something the other day and posted it on FaceBook. “When you see something beautiful in someone, tell them”. Yes, all of these ideas would make the world a better place if we all did them every day.

I hope that whatever you struggle with today, you realize this is just a moment in time, and that if you allow the Lord to help and connect with a group of people similar to you and your struggles, you too can heal and thrive, too. As always, I’m so grateful for you and will be praying for blessings and most of all healing and thriving.

Way back when I was in school, I can remember feeling less than the other girls around me. Mostly because of the way my mother had been treating me but in all honesty, some girls were just mean. Especially the older girls. This all came to my mind when I started having haters on social media. Bullies. These people don’t know me or my story even when it’s all right there and here. One in particular has been “watching” on Facebook. I’m public on my social media because the whole purpose of doing what I do is to help, educate, and encourage others. Anyway, this person decided that they knew me and what I was doing. They obviously watched my content daily because on every reel there was an emoji either laughing at something that was serious or a mad emoji on others. Just my opinion but if you don’t like someone’s post move on to something else and definitely don’t look at that person’s content again. Oh well, my content obviously struck a nerve and hit home. At any rate, I chose to be the better person and not fight over it all publicly.

If this had happened a few years ago, I would have probably deleted my accounts on social media and hid under a rock. Thank goodness I am no longer a people-pleasing codependent. I made promises to myself and to God that I would spend the rest of my life educating on codependency, mental and physical abuses, and the healing journey from it all. A few years ago, I also would not have put my life out here on any platform much less my past. God rescued me from every single mess I placed myself in and gave me the strength to move on. He also gave me the purpose and strength to be writing here, making videos, and working with my local Celebrate Recovery. This verse came to be this morning when I thought about what I planned to write here today. “What, then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31. If our lives are lived for Him, then we are given a purpose and calling. I could write for hours about all the things God has done for me and my family. With that said how could I not use my past and healing to help you and others? I definitely will use everything for His good and continue using this blog and my social media platforms to speak out and encourage. The haters are just going to have to hate. But be assured I know who they are, and I continue to pray for their hearts and safety.

By all means, don’t let the haters in your life make you feel less than and deter you from your purpose and calling. No matter what healing journey you may be on, if you’ve recovered, or been rescued from it, God has given you a calling and purpose to show others their way to healing. What matters most is what God says about us. We are fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139:14. He and only Him defines us not our haters think about us. We all can make a difference in this world if we use our gifts and testimonies.

If you are reading this and not sure if you can heal from whatever has hurt you or battling with an addiction, reach out to me on my blog email and I will do my best to direct you to the best resources.

As always, thank you for being on this healing journey with me. Until the next time many blessings and prayers.

Have you ever been so busy and overwhelmed that you didn’t know up from down? That’s how my life has been pretty much for the last few months. Busy busy work and busy life schedules not to mention what gets placed in your path to deal with and heal from. If this is you as well, know that being in God’s Word and praising through it will most definitely help you overcome these feelings and help your outlook and attitude.

Not too long ago I wrote about some wonderful people that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in my life and how they affected me in my life. Our journeys are often filled with what I consider angels that meet you where you are and point you to Christ at all times. I unfortunately had to say goodbye to one of those angels in the last few weeks. She was truly a saint. Although she was a former mother-in-law and my daughter’s grandmother, for me she was the mother I never had, the faithful role model I needed, and the forever prayer partner who was not only one of my biggest supporters but my encourager as well.

Honeybee as she was known to her grandchildren lived across the street from my son and me when we moved to Tifton many many years ago. I had the pleasure of meeting her through my son because little did, I know but he would eat supper over there and then come home to eat at our house. She adored him and always made sure that I was okay with him eating over there. My son also introduced me to what would become my husband at that time. This family was a very caring and loving family. Unfortunately, I learned later that my husband was an addict, and his addictions were much more important than his relationships. I’ve learned working with Celebrate Recovery that this is common in addiction. Anyway, I did the best I could to deal with all those issues and after 10 years I couldn’t take the lifestyle anymore and it had become a nightmare for my children as well. Even at that time, my sweet Honeybee encouraged me to do what was best for my kiddos and myself. She always praised me for putting them in church and being active there with them. She even came to visit us when I remarried later and met the new family.

We had the type of relationship that we may go a couple of months without talking but we always caught up with one another. If she had a prayer need, she would call me, and I always did the same. Over these last couple of years, she encouraged me to write here and work with Celebrate Recovery as a matter of fact the times I have been in doubt of myself she always pointed me to Christ and all that He had brought me through. I never saw this woman lacking an ounce of faith even in all her trials. Our last chat on the phone she told me she was tired and ready to go “home” to heaven. My kiddos and I went to visit and say our goodbyes and I know she told them how proud she was of them and how much she loved them because that’s what she always told me too. Heaven gained one of my angels on earth that I’m going to miss dearly. My prayer is that I can be that type of role model for those who know me.

I will leave you with this today. Love one another while you can. You never know when the last conversation will be. Be kind always, you never know what another person is going through, because some of our battles are hidden behind a smile. And here’s a challenge for my reader today, pray for the person next to you in line or in front or behind you. Our crazy world needs us all to be prayer warriors. Thank you for being on this healing journey with me and as always, blessings until the next time.

Happy August! This month, just as all summer is packed with fun and family time. There is absolutely nothing like it either. What’s even better is that my precious family gets the new improved Kimberly that actually knows who she is and wants from life. I’m sure I mentioned earlier that I celebrate two years of this healing journey and with that being said I picked up my two-year codependency chip this month at Celebrate Recovery. Now I will tell you that with codependency and any addiction, it is a day-by-day struggle it does get easier especially when you have set clear and good boundaries and when you have such a wonderful family of believers and supporters like my Celebrate Recovery family. I’m so grateful for this experience and for each and every person I’ve had the opportunity to meet. Of course, none of this would be possible without God and my precious family. See, I prayed two years ago asking the Lord to help me heal and never again feel the way I did which was addicted to a man and his terrible behaviors. Once I began the hard task of going no contact, I became stronger and better every day and was able to dive deep into the much-needed codependency issues. Within that context, codependency can be described as a person or giver that little to no boundaries and feels the need to do all, be all, enabler of all things and usually exhausted from trying to be perfect for everyone, a person who has totally lost themselves absorbing characteristics of those they are giving to. A hot mess in a dumpster fire definitely described this scenario, as I began healing and learning who I was and what I wanted to accomplish I knew that I never wanted to be codependent again. Two years ago, I didn’t know what my favorite color was or what foods were my favorite. I will say when I decorated my apartment it was pretty obvious that I had surrounded myself with blue. Being able to say it was a real treat for me.

It’s crazy how we can lose ourselves. In this healing journey, I realized I had most likely never truly loved or been in love, and I was definitely never truly loved. This was eye-opening. We can’t truly love unless we love ourselves and are true to ourselves. I can say with confidence I love who I am becoming all parts of this hot mess self and pray every day that I’m used to help others see that they can overcome this addiction and thrive. I give all the Glory to God for this celebration of healing and am so grateful for each of you with me in this journey of healing and thriving.

Hello dear friends, there has been much going on in my little pea brain lately, but I do want to share one thing in particular with you this time. I’ve recently been triggered in close proximity, and it has been ongoing for a few weeks. This has been an extremely trying time but also at the same time I kept my boundaries and spoke up for myself. If you know me the research began soon thereafter the first few days of this behavior. I didn’t understand why I was feeling the way I did but honestly don’t we all feel a heightened anxiety when we are disrespected? This told me that I had healed enough not to take it sitting down. A few years ago, I would have just sat there and took it all.

Since trauma is the present reminder of a past event, any trigger in our present moment can instantly transport our minds and bodies back to the initial trauma event where we relive those same emotions and/or physical responses. So, for this trigger, I’ve been taken back to all the times I was gaslit, manipulated, and devalued. I’ve spent two years healing from this mess to be put right into the middle of another situation and unfortunately, it can have a long-lasting effect on our lives and is unique to each of us.

As I did some digging to see if there was anything more, I could do besides having healthy boundaries, I discovered it could also be that my ego had been triggered. Yeah, well this is how that goes….when we’re triggered and taken back to the original feeling/response we work through that response but the ego is still ticked off because you’ve been disrespected and because you’re healing from those triggers that ego is mad as crap that this is happening. Sometimes we have to check that ego (wink wink).

At any rate, pushing through this process I was sitting in church listening to my Pastor and the sermon was on forgiving and loving your enemies. OMG right, yeah. I had broken my little toe the day before but man oh man he stomped all over the nine other ones with this message. My sweet daughter sitting next to me kept asking how my feet were. We gotta keep that humor you know. She knew the situation of course and my pastor’s message and the Holy Spirit kept me up that night. The next day I extended that olive branch and apologized for anything I may have done to cause the issues and misunderstandings. Ya’ll as soon as I did that those triggered emotions were GONE. Triggers and ego in check.

Now the situation is not corrected totally but it doesn’t matter because those bad feelings are gone, and I can deal with the situation much better. Our Lord is always, and I mean always with us, and knows exactly what we need. I’m forever grateful for my Lord and Savior being who, what, and how I need at all times. This healing journey would not be taking place without Him. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 He’s not done with me or my journey just as He is not done with you guys either. Hang on tight to His hem and let Him keep guiding you through your healing. And I will be praying for you as well. It’s amazing where this healing journey has brought me so far, like writing here, working with codependent women, having a platform on all social media, meeting so many wonderful people at Celebrate Recovery, and most of all the closeness, mercy, and grace I feel daily from the Lord. Until the next time let’s keep encouraging, healing, surviving, and thriving! As always, thank you for being on this journey with me.

Happy July! Wow, this summer is surely passing fast. I pray that you all are having a great time even in this heat. The last few weeks have been busy and well honestly the enemy has been attacking me at every angle. Health, social media, work, and just about everywhere I’ve been attacked.  During this time the words surrender and praise have been reoccurring in scripture, devotions, and thoughts. The definition of surrender is to give something up to a person or authority. Praise of course is giving admiration or the expression of admiration to our Lord and Savior. Both actions have been a steady portion of my daily routine especially as of late.

As one of the leaders of Celebrate Recovery, we are all in a step class, this week our lesson was a personal inventory. This one covers the people who caused harm or resentment, the cause that affected me, the effect, which is how it affected my life, and the damage such as what was damaged for me it was personal safety, financial loss, damaged intimacy, etc. The last part is called “my part” for example what part of the broken relationships and issues are my responsibility, and those whom I’ve hurt. Well, needless to say, this is quite the inventory and goes DEEP. And this is where the surrender and praise came in….

As I went through these categories, I remembered that I had done something similar when I first began my healing journey two years ago. I took a piece of paper and wrote down every single thing each person that hurt me and how it made me feel. Then I marked them all with an X in red ink and said I want to forgive you and with God’s help I will. This exercise for me was cleansing just as the personal inventory was. It was the surrender of their behaviors and my feelings that helped me begin to heal, even if it meant surrendering every day to allow the Lord to help me forgive their actions. Sometimes we need to remember the things we’ve done as well been done to us so that we can see how far we’ve come in our healing and most of all how much we’ve grown in our faith because God is at the center of all the healing. No matter what healing journey you may be on, the beauty of growth is becoming a better you every day, learning to love yourself where you are on the journey, and looking forward to what God has in store for your future. And that I can praise my Savior for because He’s in the healing.

As I was driving across town last Thursday night, I was praying and talking to the Lord I saw a rainbow. For me that was God winking telling me He’s got my situations where I’ve been attacked and for me to armor up, pray up, and ride the storm out with Him by my side. That doesn’t mean that these situations and inconveniences will be easy, nor will they be ideal for my mind and body reactions, but I do know that the Lord has never one time let me down or forsaken me. I also know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is something good that will come from every situation. That’s how our Savior works in our lives. There have always been bits and nuggets of goodness that come from all my darkest situations. So, as I walk through the murk, I know God’s goodness and provision will be with me. I will continue to praise Him in all the murky messes and surrender daily if need be. Are you like me sweet friends? Do you surrender only to pick it back up again? This must be our flesh and need to rely on ourselves rather than trusting our Creator. I’m sure He laughs every time I lay something down thinking “Let’s see how long it takes until she picks this back up again”. Bless Him, I’m sure He has to keep his sense of humor with this hot mess.  

I’m truly grateful for the trials in my past, and a Savior that has a sense of humor with much mercy and love. Without those trials, I wouldn’t be who I’m supposed to be in Christ or be here writing for you wonderful folks.

So today, I praise the Lord that I can write and hopefully offer some encouragement to you guys and offer this truth that God is always near and will never forsake you no matter what you are facing today. Prayers for you all and blessings until the next time.

Hello friends, I so hope that you’re well and happy. Summertime for me is so special. I love to be in the sun. I so enjoy my family time at the pool or ocean too. My sweet little family just got back from an amazing time together in Destin. We haven’t been all together on a vacation in a very long time. This was actually the first time all together since my divorce. Vacations with toxicity are not exactly what I would consider a real family getaway. Always conflict and issues of one thing or another. But honestly, that was the way of life at home anyway. But this year we were all together in peace and in all honesty, peace, and celebration of us being together! My children and grandchildren have seen a transformation of someone that was so nervous and unhappy into a loving, calm, and the absolutely happiest woman.  We had an absolute ball together. We hated to leave our happy place for sure. For me, the sweetest things in life are the simplest and smallest. There’s nothing like those little angels calling their KK in the sweetest and most southern country drawl.

Over the last few weeks, there have been repeated messages about being the salt and light. Well, there are no coincidences just God’s nudges. For me, there are many different ways and means to be the light or what the light is actually shining. As a people, we are to be set apart and live according to God’s word so that those around us can see Him through us and our actions, as Matthew 5: 13-16 states. Another meaning for me is that the light can bring a true understanding of God’s word to people as in Psalm 119:130. No matter which light is talked about. They both point to God’s word and goodness. His unfailing love and mercy for His children. When I look back over the last two years of my life, I had folks pointing “light”; words of comfort, scripture, and prayers in my path. A close friend of mine said, “I don’t know why we can’t love each other and pray for one another”. As in all people everywhere. They are right. This is another “light” we can be in this dark world.  I’m one of those people who just love to love people and make them smile. I love to brighten someone’s day. I believe that shining God’s light is a part of that as well. At the same time, I have to admit that I’m totally introverted. Yes, the front desk employee and greeter at church smiling is totally an introvert. But you know God puts us all in places to use us for His purposes. Being in these places has taught me to allow His light to shine through me and as a matter of fact, I ask this is my daily prayer to fill me totally with His Holy Spirit as to allow Him to use me and shine His light for others I come in contact with to see.

As we ended our wonderful week together, on vacation I saw many memories made that were also the “light” for me. My family is a testimony of God’s light, love, and everlasting mercies. Living authentically and surrounded by the love of your family is the light we are and give. Being in and around God’s creation also brings much light into my life. Last year was monumental for me and the background picture of this blog is the first sunrise on the beach in my healing journey. It was a gorgeous morning and yes, I still run on vacation. I ran straight to the beach that morning and got that picture before finishing my run on the beach. What goodness and peace God has truly blessed me with on this journey. I always feel closer to God at the beach for some reason but when you are surrounded by the ones who love you the most it all means so much more. His light shines in our healing if we allow Him to do so. This girl is gonna shine her light for all to see their way through their healing. No matter what journey of healing you may be on, it’s our “light” that paves the way for others on their journeys.  

So glad you are with me on this healing journey! I pray that you have a wonderful week healing and thriving!