LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART

This is a Bible verse that I hold very dear to my heart.

When I was younger, I didn't understand it the way I do today. As I've grown older and grown in my walk with God, this verse has come to mean so much more to me than simply a command to be obeyed.

It has become something I have experienced.

As God has guided my life to where it is today, I have naturally come to love Him with all my heart, soul, and strength.

I began to understand this so much better when I started seeing God as my Dad back in my 20s. Looking at Him through the eyes of a child looking up to a loving father completely opened up my world when it came to my faith walk with Him.

I had always known about God.

But I was beginning to know Him.

And there is a huge difference.

That understanding of His love really began to sink in during my time at Mercy Multiplied in Monroe, Louisiana. That experience helped me see what true love—the God kind of love—really means.

God's love for us is deeper than anything I have ever experienced in my life.

He loves us with everything He has.

He doesn't love us only when we get it right. He doesn't love us only when we're obedient. He doesn't stop loving us when we mess up, when we hurt, when we're angry, or when we don't understand what He is doing.

He simply loves us.

And when you have spent a good portion of your life not fully understanding what that kind of love looks like, experiencing it can change everything.

There was an older couple at Mercy Multiplied who were always there for us. They showed us the kind of love that a parent should show their children.

The husband always made a point to hug me every time he saw me.

That might sound like such a small thing to some people.

It wasn't small to me.

Those hugs opened my heart.

They gave me a glimpse of the kind of father-daughter love I had never really known. And through that experience, God began showing me something I desperately needed to understand:

I had a Father who loved me.

A Father who wasn't going to abandon me.

A Father who wasn't going to hurt me.

A Father who wasn't going to make me earn His love.

A Father who saw everything I had been through and loved me anyway.

And as I began to understand God's love for me, He began to deal with the anger I had carried in my heart for so many years because of the things I had experienced growing up.

He began to heal places in me that I didn't even realize still needed healing.

God brought me to Mercy Multiplied for such a time as that.

He knew exactly what He was doing.

He wasn't just bringing me there to get through a difficult season. He was bringing me there so I could begin to heal, become whole again, and ultimately become the woman He had created me to be.

He was preparing me for His plan for my life.

Looking back now, I can see His hand in so much of it.

I can see how He used people.

I can see how He used circumstances.

I can see how He used that season of my life to tear down walls I had built around my heart.

And most importantly, I can see how He taught me what love really is.

That is why Deuteronomy 6:5 means so much more to me now.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

How can you love someone with all of your heart if you don't believe they truly love you?

How can you completely trust someone if you don't believe they have your best interest at heart?

How can you surrender everything to God if you are constantly afraid of what He might do with your life?

I believe that's why understanding God's love is so important.

When you truly understand how much God loves you, loving Him back becomes a natural response.

It isn't forced.

It isn't something you have to manufacture.

It isn't simply checking a box because the Bible tells you to.

It's the response of a heart that has finally realized, “My Father loves me.”

And once I understood that, everything changed.

I began to trust Him differently.

I began to surrender differently.

I began to pray differently.

I began to see my past differently.

And I began to see myself differently.

I wasn't the sum of everything that had happened to me.

I was His daughter.

And there is something powerful about knowing who you belong to.

Today, I can honestly say that I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, and strength.

Not because I've lived a perfect life.

Not because I've always gotten everything right.

And certainly not because I have all the answers.

I love Him because He first loved me.

He met me in broken places.

He stayed when I didn't understand.

He patiently worked on my heart.

He brought people into my life who showed me His love in ways I could actually receive.

And He took the pieces of my life that I thought were too broken and began putting them back together.

That's what God does.

He doesn't waste our pain.

He doesn't waste our past.

He doesn't waste the seasons we wish had never happened.

He can take all of it and use it for His purposes.

And maybe that's why this verse means so much to me now.

When I read, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,” I don't hear a harsh command anymore.

I hear an invitation.

An invitation to love the One who has loved me all along.

An invitation to trust the Father who never stopped pursuing me.

An invitation to give Him every part of my heart because I know now that His hands are safe.

When you know how deeply you are loved by God, you don't have to be convinced to love Him back.

You just do.

And that is what Deuteronomy 6:5 has become for me.

Not simply a verse I memorized.

Not simply a command I obey.

But a reflection of a love that has changed my life.

The Most Important Institution in Society is the Family

“The most important institution in society is the family. If we lose the family, we lose everything.”
— Charlie Kirk

Today, many would argue that this simply isn't true. But I know it to be true.

Not only because of my faith—which has certainly added to my understanding of why family matters—but because I’ve had the opportunity in my life to be exposed to other cultures and societies. And one thing I’ve come to believe is universal is this:

The family is the foundation of society.

When the family is strong, society has a strong foundation. When the family begins to fall apart, everything built on top of it becomes weaker.

Think about it. Family is where we first learn how to love, how to sacrifice, how to forgive, how to work together, how to take responsibility, and how to care about someone other than ourselves.

Family is also the reason we do so many of the things we do.

We work hard because we want to provide for our families. We make sacrifices because we want something better for our children. We push through difficult seasons because the people we love are depending on us. We want to build something that will outlast us because we want our families to have a better future.

Family gives us a reason to think beyond ourselves.

And I believe that is one of the things that has made our nation great.

It wasn't simply government, money, technology, or opportunity. It was families who were willing to work, sacrifice, raise children, teach values, serve their communities, and pass those things down to the next generation.

When the family is weakened, those values become harder to pass on.

For me, my faith makes this even clearer. I believe God created the family with a purpose. I believe He cares about our families and wants us to place them in His hands so they can become everything He has purposed them to be.

That doesn't mean families are perfect. They aren't.

Every family has struggles. Every marriage has difficult seasons. Every parent makes mistakes. But that doesn't change the importance of the institution itself.

We don't need to abandon the family because families aren't perfect. We need to fight for them because they matter.

Because if we lose the family, what exactly are we replacing it with?

Who teaches the next generation what love looks like?
Who teaches sacrifice?
Who teaches commitment?
Who teaches responsibility?
Who gives a child the security of knowing, “These people will always be there for me”?

Those things matter.

And perhaps that's why the family is worth protecting, worth investing in, worth fighting for, and most importantly, worth placing in God's hands.

Because if we lose the family, we don't just lose a part of society.

We risk losing the very foundation that holds society together.

And I think we are already seeing what happens when that foundation begins to crumble.

When families become disconnected, people become disconnected. When commitment becomes optional, relationships become disposable. When children don't have the stability of a family structure, they can spend their lives searching for the security, identity, and belonging that should have been established at home.

And when the family stops teaching values, something else will step in to teach them.

That's the part that concerns me.

There is no such thing as a value-free society. If parents don't teach their children what is right, wrong, good, bad, honorable, and worth standing for, someone else will gladly fill that role.

Our children are being shaped every single day by something.

By their families.
By their friends.
By their schools.
By social media.
By entertainment.
By the culture around them.

The question isn't whether our children are being influenced.

The question is: Who is doing the influencing?

That's why I believe parents have an incredible responsibility—not to raise perfect children, but to be intentional about what we are putting into them.

Teach them to work hard.

Teach them to keep their word.

Teach them to respect others.

Teach them that life isn't always about getting what they want.

Teach them that marriage is something worth fighting for.

Teach them that forgiveness matters.

Teach them that serving others matters.

Teach them that character matters when nobody is watching.

And teach them that God matters most of all.

Because eventually our children grow up and leave our homes. We won't always be there to tell them what to do. We won't always be able to protect them from the consequences of their choices.

But if we've done our job well, we've given them something they can carry with them.

Roots.

Roots that remind them where they came from.

Roots that give them a foundation when life gets hard.

Roots that help them recognize truth when the world is trying to convince them of something different.

Roots that remind them that they are loved.

And maybe that's what building a strong family is really about.

It's not about creating a perfect home.

It's about creating a home where people know they belong.

A home where you can laugh together.

A home where you can disagree and still love each other.

A home where forgiveness is practiced.

A home where hard work is expected.

A home where dinner around the table matters.

A home where grandparents are valued, children are cherished, marriages are protected, and faith is lived—not just talked about.

Because families don't become strong by accident.

They become strong because somebody decided they were worth the effort.

Somebody decided to stay.

Somebody decided to forgive.

Somebody decided to put down the phone and listen.

Somebody decided that dinner together was more important than another activity.

Somebody decided to take their children to church.

Somebody decided to pray over their family.

Somebody decided that what happened inside their home mattered more than what the culture outside their home was telling them.

And I believe that's where change begins.

Maybe we can't fix everything that's wrong with our society.

Maybe we can't change every law, every institution, every cultural influence, or every decision being made around us.

But we can build strong families.

We can love our spouses well.

We can raise our children intentionally.

We can honor our parents and grandparents.

We can create homes where people know they are loved.

We can put God at the center of our families and trust Him with what we cannot control.

We can do our part.

Because the family isn't just important to our lives.

The family shapes the next generation.

And the next generation will eventually shape the world.

So yes, I believe Charlie Kirk was right.

The most important institution in society is the family.

And if we want to preserve what is good about our nation, perhaps one of the most important places we can start isn't in Washington, D.C.

It's at our kitchen tables.

It's in our living rooms.

It's in the conversations we have with our children.

It's in the way we love our spouses.

It's in the way we care for our aging parents.

It's in the way we show up for one another.

It's in our homes.

Because if we strengthen the family, we strengthen society.

And if we lose the family, we lose far more than we realize.

The Peace I’m Going After

Recently, I went back and listened to a message of Pastor Chad's again so that I would be able to pause and make all the notes that I was unable to get the first time I heard the message.

I'm in the process of doing the three things he said to do with the "peace pill" scriptures that he gave us:

1. Memorize them.

2. Meditate on them.

3. Practice them.

I made images of each one to put in the photos on my phone so I can go over them daily. I want these verses to become more than words I've read. I want them to become truths I actually live by.

We can never have enough peace in our lives.

If most of us were honest, we need much more peace in our lives than we probably realize we need.

Our lives probably have more drama in them than we want, and sometimes we need to make some changes if we want to have more peace and happiness in our lives.

Life is never without its challenges. There will always be something that needs our attention, something that doesn't go the way we planned, something that worries us, or something that hurts.

But in the midst of those challenges, I want more peace.

More peace than I've ever had.

I'm just at that stage of life where peace means so much more to me. Having peace. Walking daily in peace. Protecting my peace. It's something I want and desire greatly, and for the most part, I've been learning that peace doesn't just happen. I have to pursue it.

If it weren't for God in my life and my guys being so good to me I don't know if my life would have as much peace as it does.

But I've also learned that peace isn't dependent on everything around me being peaceful.

Peace comes from knowing Who is with me in the middle of it.

That's what these scriptures keep reminding me.

Peter tells us to cast all of our cares on Him, because He cares for us.

Paul tells us not to be anxious, but to bring everything to God through prayer and thanksgiving—and then comes that beautiful promise of the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds.

Isaiah tells us that God keeps in perfect peace the person whose mind is stayed on Him because he trusts in Him.

And Psalm 131 gives us such a beautiful picture of a soul that has been calmed and quieted.

That's the kind of peace I want.

Not a temporary peace that comes when everything is going my way.

Not the kind of peace that depends on everyone behaving the way I think they should.

Not the kind of peace that disappears the minute something goes wrong.

I want the kind of peace that only God can give.

And that's why I'm taking Pastor Chad's challenge seriously.

I'm memorizing these verses so that they're there when I need them.

I'm meditating on them so that God's Word becomes what I think about instead of whatever problem happens to be in front of me.

And I'm practicing them because knowing what God's Word says doesn't do me much good if I don't actually live it.

I want these verses to become more than words I've read.

I want them to become how I live.

When I'm anxious, I want to pray.

When I'm overwhelmed, I want to remember who is in control.

When my mind starts running in a hundred different directions, I want to fix my thoughts on God.

When life gets noisy, I want to learn how to quiet my soul.

And when I don't understand what God is doing, I want to trust Him anyway.

Peace is something I want to carry with me—not something I want to wait for.

So these are my "Peace Pills."

I'm taking them daily.

Memorizing them.

Meditating on them.

Practicing them.

And I'm praying that as I do, God's Word will become so much more deeply rooted in me that when life gets hard, His peace will be what rises up first.

Because we may not be able to control everything that happens around us.

But we can choose where we turn when it does.

"Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people." — Psalm 85:8

That's the peace I want.

And I'm going after it.  

How about you?

Here are the links to the Pastor Chad's messages: 

Living The Good Life, Part 3

Living The Good Life, Part 4

Just click on these links to watch these messages. You can search the churches YouTube page for parts 1 & 2 as well if you want to watch the entire teaching. The entire teaching is so good. Pastor Chad is such a solid teacher of God's Word. 

I Didn't Choose My Childhood, But I Chose My Life

Relatively speaking, we aren't on this earth very long. So why would we want to spend the precious time we've been given living unhappy, holding onto things that happened yesterday, or allowing other people to steal our joy?

We need to make the most of every moment. We need to cherish the people we love, enjoy the life we've been given, and live each day as though it matters—because it does.

Learning how to live a happy life when you've grown up in a very dysfunctional and unhappy home wasn't easy for me. It took some very intentional choices for me to get to the happy life I'm living today.

Most people who meet me today probably think, Look how great she's got it. She's got a great husband and son. They live a good life.

And they would be right.

But it wasn't always this way.

I grew up in a home with an alcoholic father and a mother who enabled him because if she didn't, she would get beaten. My dad was mean when he was drunk, and even when he wasn't drinking, it was still his way or no way.

It's sad, really, that when I look back on my childhood, the things that stick out the most are the ugly things that happened.

Oh sure, there were good things mixed in there too. There were good memories, good times, and moments with my dad that I remember fondly. I'm not trying to erase those or pretend they didn't exist. But when you grow up in an environment where the bad can overshadow the good, unfortunately, those are often the things that stay with you the longest.

But those ugly things also taught me something.

They taught me exactly what I didn't want my life to look like.

They taught me what kind of home I didn't want to create. What kind of marriage I didn't want. What kind of parent I didn't want to be. And, perhaps most importantly, they taught me that I had a choice.

I didn't have a choice about the home I was born into.

But I did have a choice about the home I would create.

And I do have a choice about how I live my life today.

I live a happy life today because of God.

Having Him in my life has been the compass I always needed and wanted—the compass my parents should have been able to provide for me when I was a child.

When God came into my life, I got to be a child again—to some extreme, maybe. 😂

He showed me how to love and how to be loved.

He wrapped His arms around me—figuratively speaking, of course—and showed me a love I'd never known before. An unconditional love that welcomes me back no matter how many times I fail.

He showed me that my past didn't have to determine my future.

And that changed everything.

I've learned that living life happy is a choice.

Just like living life unhappy is a choice.

That doesn't mean life is always easy. It doesn't mean there won't be hard days, disappointments, loss, or things that hurt.

It means we get to decide what we're going to do with the life we've been given.

We can choose to live with purpose.

We can choose gratitude.

We can choose forgiveness.

We can choose to love the way God has called us to love.

We can choose to make a difference.

We can choose to stop allowing yesterday to rob us of today.

And we can choose to be happy.

I love my life.

I love God.

I love my family.

God and my family are my world.

My life isn't perfect, but it is a life I am incredibly thankful for—and I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.

We aren't here long enough to waste our days being unhappy.

So love your people.

Cherish your moments.

Make the memories.

Laugh a lot.

Forgive quickly.

Love deeply.

And above all, keep God at the center of it all.

You only get one life here. Don't spend it waiting for someday to be happy.

Live happy.

(taken from the Bible App)

Keep Sowing

Psalm 126:5 is a beautiful picture of faithfulness through painful seasons and the joy that can come afterward.

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.” — Psalm 126:5

The psalmist is essentially saying: your tears are not wasted.

Psalm 126 is a Song of Ascents, written in the context of Israel remembering how God restored them after a season of captivity. The first part of the psalm looks back with gratitude at what God had already done, while verses 4–6 become a prayer and declaration of hope for what God would do again.

What does “sow in tears” mean?

The picture is of a farmer planting seed. Planting requires work, patience, and faith that what is put into the ground will eventually produce something.

But the psalmist adds something deeply personal: the sowing happens through tears.

There are seasons when doing what is right is hard.

There are times when you're praying and crying at the same time.

There are times when you're obeying God but don't see results.

There are times when you're doing good, encouraging others, serving, loving people, raising your children, standing firm, or simply keeping going, while inside you're exhausted and wondering whether any of it is making a difference.

That's the "sowing in tears."

The tears don't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong. Sometimes the tears are evidence of how deeply you care while you're faithfully doing what God has called you to do.

And then comes the promise: “shall reap with shouts of joy.”

The farmer doesn't plant seed because he enjoys digging holes in the dirt. He plants because he believes there will eventually be a harvest.

That's the hope in this verse.

The season of sowing isn't the end of the story.

The psalmist is reminding God's people that there can be a future harvest even when the present season is painful.

And notice the contrast:

Sowing → reaping
Tears → joy
Hard work → harvest
Present pain → future celebration

It's not promising that every tear will result in exactly the outcome we want or that God will give us everything we've asked for. Scripture doesn't give us that guarantee.

But it does give us a reason to keep sowing.

Keep praying.

Keep doing good.

Keep loving.

Keep serving.

Keep trusting.

Keep planting those seeds even when you can't see anything happening beneath the surface.

Because God sees what we cannot see.

And I think that's especially powerful when connected with Galatians 6:9:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

That's essentially the same encouragement: don't quit in the middle of the season just because you haven't seen the harvest yet.

Sometimes you're crying while you're planting the very thing you'll one day thank God for producing.

Psalm 126:5 isn't telling us that faithful living will never hurt. It's telling us that the hurt isn't necessarily the end.

There can be joy on the other side of the tears.

And sometimes, the greatest act of faith is simply putting another seed in the ground when you don't yet see how there could possibly be a harvest.

Maybe you're in a season right now where you're sowing in tears.

Maybe you're praying for a child who has walked away from God.

Maybe you're doing everything you know to do in a difficult marriage, friendship, or relationship.

Maybe you're working hard toward something and wondering if all your effort will ever amount to anything.

Maybe you're doing your best to follow God, but instead of seeing the answers you've prayed for, you're seeing more obstacles.

Maybe you're simply tired.

If that's where you are, I want to encourage you with the words of the psalmist:

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.”

Don't mistake a tearful season for a wasted season.

God sees every tear.

He sees the prayers nobody else hears. He sees the sacrifices nobody notices. He sees the times you've chosen to keep going when quitting would have been easier.

And He sees every seed you are planting.

We don't always get to see what happens beneath the surface. A farmer doesn't dig up his seed every few days to see if it's growing. He plants it, waters it, tends to it, and trusts that in time there will be a harvest.

Maybe that's what faith looks like for us sometimes.

We keep sowing even when we can't see.

We keep praying.

We keep loving.

We keep doing good.

We keep showing up.

We keep trusting God.

And we refuse to let today's tears convince us that tomorrow cannot hold joy.

I don't know what you're sowing today. I don't know how long you've been waiting for your harvest. But if you're tired and wondering whether it's worth it, let this verse remind you:

Your tears are not wasted. Your faithfulness is not unnoticed. And your season of sowing is not the end of your story.

Keep planting.

Keep trusting.

Keep believing.

Because the same God who sees you sowing in tears is the God who can bring a harvest that makes you shout with joy.

Don't give up in the field just because you haven't seen the harvest yet.

There is still seed in your hand.

So keep sowing.

Update On Tucker

Update on Tucker

We made the decision to stop Tucker’s kibble because, quite frankly, I have felt for a long time now that processed kibble may be contributing to cancer and other health problems in our animals.

We switched Tucker to homemade dog food made with fresh sweet potatoes, fresh carrots, fresh green beans, ground turkey and canned, unsalted chickpeas—and he has perked up BIG TIME!

We’re also giving him a little honey once a day with his meal. We’ve read about some of the potential benefits of honey, particularly its antimicrobial properties, so we’re hopeful it may be helpful if the nodules he has are fungal in nature.

The biggest thing we’ve noticed is that he hasn’t had any more vomiting episodes. His appetite has picked up tremendously. He will eat every ounce of the food I make in the crockpot—and probably more if I’d let him! 😂

He’s also so much more content now, and that makes my heart happy.

If this is cancer, then once we do his next scan, we’ll continue the course we’re on with him for as long as he has a good quality of life. When the time comes that his suffering becomes greater than his quality of life, we’ll make the hard decision we know we may eventually have to make.

But on the flip side, if what we’re doing now helps heal him, we will be OH SO HAPPY and praising God!

He knows just how much our furry creatures mean to us. ❤️🐾

WHEN STRENGTH LOOKS DIFFERENT

This picture is one of the last times that Tim lifted weight over his head.

I love this quote and included it with the picture because it's true.

After winning Nationals, Tim had been on such a high. He had worked so hard for that moment, and to see all of that hard work pay off was pretty incredible.

Then this...

For weeks now, Tim has been dealing with an issue with his elbow where it won't fully straighten out. He had some issues with it a few months back before Nationals. We thought it had gotten better with his working with his body guy, but after getting back to training, it has gotten worse.

He's been strictly doing lower body and core work while we figure out what is going on with his elbow.

Now we're going through the normal ropes to get everything that needs to be done, done. Tim has seen an orthopedic doctor. He's had X-rays done. There's no fracture or OCD changes and his joint spaces and alignment are normal. He's doing everything the orthopedic doctor is asking, along with PT. Next will be an MRI that will hopefully tell us what is really going on with his elbow.

We have to give what the orthopedic doctor is trying a chance first before we can move to the MRI step in order for insurance to pick up the tab.

Gotta love insurance... NOT!

But honestly, this has been a reminder that strength isn't always about what you can lift.

Sometimes strength is being willing to put the weights down when your body is telling you that something isn't right.

Sometimes strength is being patient when you want answers NOW.

Sometimes strength is doing the exercises you're supposed to do, going to PT, following the doctor's instructions and trusting the process—even when the process isn't moving as quickly as you'd like.

And sometimes strength is dealing with disappointment without allowing it to define you.

I know this isn't where Tim expected to be right now. After the excitement of Nationals and everything he had worked so hard for, I'm sure it's frustrating to have to back off and wait and watch others make the forward progress that you want to be making.

But this is just a pause. It's not the end of his story.

That quote says, "You can fake and buy a lot of things in life these days, but muscle and strength aren't one of them."

Tim has spent several years building his strength. He's put in the work when nobody was watching. He's learned that you don't get stronger by taking the easy road.

And maybe that's exactly what this season is teaching him too.

Because there are different kinds of strength.

There is physical strength.

There is mental strength.

And there is the kind of strength that comes from having to trust God when you don't have all the answers yet.

We don't know exactly what is going on with his elbow right now. We don't know how long this will take. We don't know what the MRI will show.

But we do know that God isn't surprised by any of it.

So for now, we wait. We do what the doctors tell us to do. We keep working the parts of his body that he can work. We keep moving forward instead of sitting still and feeling sorry for ourselves.

And we pray.

Because sometimes getting stronger doesn't mean adding another plate to the bar.

Sometimes getting stronger means learning how to keep going when you can't lift the bar at all.

This isn't the chapter we expected after Nationals, but it's the chapter we're in.

And we'll trust God with the rest.

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING

“You can do anything.”

Those are words we have told our son over and over again as he has grown into the man he is today.

Not because we believed life would always be easy for him. Not because we thought he would never fail, face disappointment, or have moments when he questioned himself.

We told him because we wanted him to believe something that is so easy to forget:

Your circumstances don't get to decide what you are capable of becoming.

From the time he was little, we wanted him to know that we believed in him. We wanted him to understand that when something is hard, that doesn't automatically mean you should quit. Sometimes hard simply means you have to work harder, try again, learn something new, or find another way.

There have been times when he didn't believe he could do something himself. But that's when we would remind him:

“You can do anything.”

Those words weren't meant to tell him that he would always get exactly what he wanted.

They were meant to tell him that he shouldn't put limits on himself before he ever gives himself a chance.

You may not be the smartest person in the room.

You may not be the strongest.

You may not have the most money, the most opportunities, or the easiest circumstances.

You may even have people who tell you that you can't.

But none of those things mean you should stop trying.

Sometimes the biggest obstacle standing between us and what we want to accomplish isn't our circumstances. It's the voice in our own head telling us we're not capable.

That's why I think it is so important to speak life into our children.

Tell them you believe in them.

Tell them they are capable.

Tell them that failure isn't the end.

Tell them that falling down doesn't mean they can't get back up.

And most importantly, teach them that success isn't always about winning. Sometimes success is simply refusing to quit.

As parents, we can't walk through every door for our children. We can't protect them from every disappointment or remove every obstacle they will face.

Eventually, they have to walk through those doors themselves.

That's why we wanted our son to carry those words with him:

You can do anything.

Not because we think he can literally do everything without limitations.

But because we want him to approach life believing that he is capable of more than he may realize.

And as I look at the man he has become, I am so thankful we kept saying it.

Because sometimes the words we speak to our children when they're young become the words they hear in their own heads when they're grown.

I hope when life gets hard, he remembers our voices telling him:

“You can do this.”

“Don't give up.”

“Keep going.”

“We believe in you.”

And most of all...

“You can do anything.”

Maybe that's one of the greatest gifts we can give our children—not a life without obstacles, but the confidence to face those obstacles believing they are capable of overcoming them.

And if you're a parent reading this today, don't underestimate the power of your words.

Your child may not always show it.

They may roll their eyes.

They may act like they don't care.

But keep telling them.

Keep encouraging them.

Keep believing in them.

Because one day, they may become the man or woman you always knew they could be—and they'll carry those words with them long after they leave your home.

You can do anything.

Sometimes, they just need someone who loves them enough to believe it until they believe it too.

Just Keep Showing Up

Just Keep Showing Up 

I love this quote.

Mostly because there is so much truth in it.

There will be seasons in life when we don't feel like showing up. Seasons when we're tired. Discouraged. Disappointed. Maybe even wondering if anything we're doing is making a difference.

But sometimes the greatest victory is simply refusing to quit.

Just keep showing up.

Keep praying when you don't see the answer.

Keep believing when circumstances tell you to give up.

Keep doing what is right when doing the wrong thing would be easier.

Keep getting back up when life knocks you down.

Keep moving forward, even if your forward progress is only a few inches at a time.

The enemy would love nothing more than to convince us that our circumstances are too hard, our prayers aren't working, our situation isn't going to change, or we've simply had enough.

He wants us discouraged.

He wants us distracted.

He wants us exhausted.

And most of all, he wants us to quit.

Because if he can convince us to give up, we've surrendered ground that we never had to surrender.

But there is something powerful about a person who refuses to stay down.

The Bible tells us in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Notice that word: resist.

It doesn't say we never get tired.

It doesn't say we never struggle.

It doesn't say we never cry, question, or have moments when we don't understand what God is doing.

It says resist.

Stand your ground.

Don't give the enemy something that belongs to God.

Your hope.

Your faith.

Your peace.

Your obedience.

Your future.

There are times when showing up is an act of faith.

We may not feel strong, but we show up anyway.

We may not feel hopeful, but we show up anyway.

We may not know what tomorrow holds, but we show up anyway.

I can speak to this personally. At my age, it would be easy to stay in bed, give up, and tell myself that I've earned the right to slow down. My body is showing signs of aging, and there are days when I have to make a very conscious effort to keep moving forward. I have to choose not to let what my body is telling me become an excuse to stop living, growing, and making progress. Every day, I have to make a decision not to allow the devil to gain ground in my life simply because getting older makes some things harder. I may have to move a little slower, work a little harder, and be more intentional than I once was—but I'm still showing up. And as long as God gives me another day, I'm going to keep moving forward.

Why?

Because our strength doesn't come from knowing how everything is going to turn out.

Our strength comes from knowing Who holds it all in His hands.

The enemy wants easy prey.

He wants people who will believe every lie he whispers.

He wants people who will become so overwhelmed by what they see that they forget what they know.

He wants people who will surrender when the battle gets hard.

Don't be easy prey.

When life knocks you down, get back up.

When you're discouraged, pray.

When you're weary, rest—but don't quit.

When you don't understand what God is doing, trust Him anyway.

When you can't see the way forward, take the next step you can see.

And when you fall, remember that falling isn't the same thing as failing.

Sometimes victory looks less like a dramatic breakthrough and more like getting out of bed another morning and saying, “I'm still here. I'm still standing. I'm still trusting God.”

That matters.

Every time we get back up, we are refusing to let the enemy have the final say.

Every time we choose faith over fear, we're standing our ground.

Every time we choose obedience over convenience, we're moving forward.

Every time we keep showing up, we're reminding ourselves—and the enemy—that our circumstances don't determine who we are.

We know whose we are.

We belong to God.

So keep showing up.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Keep believing.

Keep praying.

Keep trusting.

Keep moving.

We don't have to feel fearless to be courageous.

We don't have to feel strong to stand.

And we don't have to see the finish line to take the next step.

Just keep showing up.

Because sometimes the enemy's biggest frustration is discovering that after everything he threw at us, we're still standing.

And by the grace of God, we're not just standing.

We're still moving forward.

Tim's Senior Yearbook

 Here are Tim's Senior Yearbook pages from Lighthouse Homeschool Association: 

I still can't believe that we aren't getting ready to go back to school again this year. It hasn't really sunk in yet, but I have a feeling it will once everyone else starts heading back to school.

Tim is taking a gap year.

When you say that, most people gasp because they immediately assume it means the person isn't going to pursue further schooling.

Honestly, I don't know what lies ahead for Tim. But I do know that whatever he chooses to do, he will be as focused and driven as he has always been.

We are so incredibly thankful for the blessing it has been to raise this incredible young man. To say we are proud of him is an understatement.

And yes, I know I said the word proud, and I know what the Bible says about pride. I promise you, that's not the kind of pride I'm talking about.

It's the kind of pride that comes from watching your child walk through hard things, learn from them, grow through them, and become someone you genuinely admire.

Tim has been through a lot in his young life. He's learned a lot, too.

He knows what kind of person he wants to be—and what kind of person he doesn't want to be.

He has dreams and goals that he is going after with all of his heart. And I don't believe there is any amount of anything anyone can say or do that will keep him from pursuing those dreams and goals.

For Tim, living a full life means living life on purpose and with purpose.

For him, being an elite athlete isn't just something he does. It's his job, his passion, and what he believes he was put on this earth to pursue. We believe he will continue to strive for greatness in athletics and in life.

And honestly, if he never accomplished another thing from this point forward, he could still look back on his life and know that he has already done more in his time on this earth than most people do in an entire lifetime.

And that's okay.

Everything hasn't always been great. There have been plenty of ups and downs along the way. But the man he is today makes us smile because when we look at him, we know we did something right.

I love the person he is.

I'd love the person he is even if he weren't our son.

He's just that good of a man.

And getting to watch him step into this next chapter of his life is something I don't take for granted.

I may not know exactly where this road is going to take him, but I know Tim.

And wherever he goes, whatever he does, he'll give it everything he's got.