Nov 4th, 2016

Life Lessons, memoir, Success & Motivation

Three years ago on this day, I sat on my living room couch in my snack-stained bathrobe and messy bedhead bun – on what should have been one of the happiest days of my life – only feeling confused and disappointed. I remember thinking, this is not at all what I imagined this would be like. I thought I would feel…..different. I thought I would feel something at least. Anything but the way I did. It was launch day for my first book, Now What? A Story of Broken Dreams and the God Who Restores Them. This was the culmination of a six-year journey. The achievement of a dream I had held in…

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Dear 21 Year Old Self…

grace, Life Lessons, marriage, relationships, second marriage, Spiritual Growth

Twelve years ago – on this very day (as Shutterfly so aptly reminded me) – I was saying “I do” for the first time in my life. I was young, naïve, blissfully ignorant…. And so, so, so misinformed. I meant the words I said with all of my 21-year-old heart, but I was ill-equipped to fulfill them. I was short-tempered, self-righteous, and lacked any understanding of the word Grace whatsoever. The bigger problem was my mountain of unrealistic expectations.  I was expecting marriage to fulfill me. My husband to complete me. And thought we would live happily-ever-after day-after-day. I read recently that, “Expectations are disappointments waiting to happen.” I did not hide my…

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The Most Important Thing I Learned About Marriage

Uncategorized

In chapter 7 of Now What? A Story of Broken Dreams and the God Who Restores Them, I share everything I learned about marriage on my journey to my second wedding. The 👉 most important 👈 thing is what I am posting below, which I recently re-wrote in a message to a friend who is in the throes of a crumbling marriage. I have personally lived, and seen in other’s lives, the devastating effects of when we get this part wrong. It looks like months of barely eating, or getting out of bed. It looks like darkness, shame, isolation, and utter hopelessness. It looks like running for comfort in someone else’s bed. And…

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There’s No Such Thing As Annuals

Life Lessons, Spiritual Growth

My mom used to own and operate her own greenhouse. If having a green thumb is a thing, my mom is green head-to-toe – that woman can make anything grow anywhere! Recently, while sitting on my deck looking at the shriveling petunias left over from our 4th of July party, I was saddened by the fact they were almost completely dead. Brown, dry, crisp. With only a hint of their former green life remaining. Not that I hadn’t been caring for them, but Petunias are annuals, which means they only bloom for one season, one year, and then they die. They will not regrow or bloom again next year, their little roots cannot…

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Apple Seeds and Deep Prejudices

Life Lessons, Metaphors, Spiritual Growth, Success & Motivation

In the Spring of 2016, I realized I am prejudice. prejudice noun prej·u·dice \ˈpre-jə-dəs\ :  an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics : an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc. : a feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical All of these definitions fit my condition perfectly. But my prejudices have nothing to do with skin color. Home Sweet Home While preparing a message to give at a ladies luncheon at small church in Southern Kentucky, I got stuck. When I booked the event,…

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Two Weeks Ago, I Googled Myself

faith, freedom, Life Lessons

When the devil whispers a lie to you, it’s not random. It’s intentional. Deliberate. It’s the exact opposite of the Truth. The specific Truth he is trying to discredit in your life. It gives you a little insight into his playbook. Two weeks ago, I googled myself. It wasn’t out of arrogance, I promise, rather shear curiosity. Barry (my husband) and I were driving around town when he told me about a DJ friend of his from college, “He moved to L.A. and is like a real life, big time DJ. You can google him!” So naturally I thought, I wonder what happens when you google “Author Rachel Dawn”? So I did. To…

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Jesus with Skin on

grace, marriage, relationships, second marriage, Spiritual Growth

Earlier this Spring, my husband took a group of high school guys to an event our church coordinates called “MAN CAMP“. He left Friday morning before I woke up, so when I came into the kitchen to fix myself breakfast, I found a note waiting for me. It started with “Morning Rach! A few things…” and I felt myself bristle. I expected it to be a list of things he wanted me to do/take care of while he was gone. Because that’s the kind of note I would have left him. In fact, I had been leaving him lots of notes like that lately, because in my opinion, he had been increasingly pulling…

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Would All the Real Martha’s Please Stand Up?

faith, Life Lessons, Spiritual Growth

My friend Katie Reid just finished her book, “Made Like Martha: Good News for the Woman Who Gets Things Done” and invited me to be on the launch team. I eagerly jumped at the chance  – not just to help create buzz for my friend and her release in July, but a little selfishly, because the book sounds like it was written just for me. There’s a story in the Bible, in the book of Luke, about two women, sisters – one’s named Mary and one is Martha – who have an encounter with Jesus.  Martha invites him to their house for dinner, but spends the whole time doing things for her guest,…

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Catch Me Up: Permission to Be Imperfect

faith, freedom, grace, Spiritual Growth

You know what my favorite feature in the Bible App is? It’s the “catch me up” button. When I open the app and see I’m 5 days behind on a reading plan, it can be really discouraging. It’s easy for me to start spiraling into shame and guilt. I start to feel like I’m not doing enough spiritually, like I’m not a “good enough” Christian. And that can pretty quickly snowball into to overwhelm. I start thinking about all the things in my life I’m behind on, that I’m not doing “well enough” in. But one tap of the gear icon and “catch me up” shifts the dates of the plan forward so…

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Are You There God? It’s Me Rachel

faith, Life Lessons, Spiritual Growth

“Tell them to go home and flourish in their planting, in the place where I have planted them, and if they do, they’ll change the world.” – Bobbie Houston  It was a sweltering Friday in July, but I was inside. I was sitting just outside of a hotel meeting room door anxiously waiting for my name to be called. It was my first writer’s conference and I had scored one of the few, coveted appointment slots with a publisher; during which I would pitch my book in hopes they would offer me a contract. I sat quietly, legs crossed at the ankles, my hands in my lap resting on top of the three…

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