11 Love Songs for the Lonely

marriage, relationships, second marriage

I remember the first time I went grocery shopping alone as my marriage was disintegrating.  Grocery shopping was something we had always done together. I was walking the aisles feeling pretty sorry for myself already when suddenly the PA system starts playing some 98 Degrees love song that sparked a memory of the beginning of our relationship. The season of it that was white-hot and whirlwind and so certainly God-and-cosmic-universe-ordained.  The part of our relationship that was nothing like what it was now.  The part when I could have never imagined I would ever be grocery shopping alone again for the rest of my life.  But here I was. I absolutely lost it…

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5 Things to Remember if You’re Feeling Less-than-Loved

marriage, relationships, second marriage

Love. That’s the theme of the entire month of February. But for upwards of 50% of the population of the U.S., that’s not a theme worth celebrating. This month only serves as a painful reminder of heartaches and disenchantment from the Disney fairy-tale dream they were promised by today’s culture. My divorce papers were served to me in February of 2011. I was 25. And I found myself crying out, “Now What?” from the hopeless pit of despair in which I sat. Many of you reading these words right now will be sitting in that same place as this February 14th rolls around. For you, it’s more like Singles Awareness Day. And my…

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What to Do Before You’re Ready

Life Lessons, Success & Motivation

“Do everything before you’re ready.” -Jodie Fox, lawyer turned entrepreneur, co-founder of shoes of prey I read this quote as I finally began #therechargechallenge. (A guided reflection/goal-setting program hosted by The Rising Tide Society on instagram) Ironically, as I was reading the introduction in the guide, I was already thinking about my big takeaway from this year being: the year that I finally released my book was the year I was least prepared for it. And then I read those words above and laughed at the irony. This is EXACTLY what the last two years has been about for me. On my journey to publishing, I learned that I needed a platform to…

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Hover Boards and House Shopping

faith, grace, Life Lessons, Spiritual Growth

[Clayton is the 9 year old boy who lives in my house with his mom, Jenny.] Last night, Clayton came home from his dad’s house, where he had been since our “Christmas morning” celebration on the 24th.  He left ecstatic about all the incredible gifts Santa brought him – books and DVDs, video games, a razor scooter, a hover board, even his very own .22 rifle! When he came home from his dad’s all he talked about was how much better the hover board he got there was than the one he got at our house.  This hover board is so much smaller than the one I got at my dad’s house.  The…

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Do Everything Before You’re Ready

faith, Inspiration, Life Lessons, Success & Motivation, Writing

“Do everything before you’re ready.”  -Jodie Fox, lawyer turned entrepreneur, co-founder of shoes of prey I read this quote today as I finally began #therechargechallenge. (A guided reflection/goal-setting program hosted by The Rising Tide Society on instagram) Ironically, as I was reading the introduction in the guide, I was already thinking about my big takeaway from this year being: the year that I finally released my book was the year I was least prepared for it.  And then I read those words above and laughed at the irony. This is EXACTLY what the last two years has been about for me.  On my journey to publishing, I learned that I needed a platform…

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Connecting Santa and the Savior

faith, Guest Blogs

Jennifer Moye – Guest Blogger of the Month Around this same time a couple years ago, our boys were sitting in the living room floor creating their Christmas lists to send to Santa. The lists consisted mostly of cut out pictures from the Toys-r-Us catalog pasted sloppily with glue sticks on poster paper. They jumped up and down with excitement with every page turn as they found a new must-have toy. In all the fun of that day, I noticed that our oldest boy had only 3 things listed on his paper. An IPad, a phone like mommy’s, and crutches. Crutches? Yep, that’s right. Those were his must-haves of that Christmas. As Christmas…

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Promises, Promises

faith

Just shy of two years ago, while holding a completed manuscript in my hands asking, “OK God, what’s next?” (Because I had no idea how to take the three-ring binder full of word documents I had and turn it into a real book). God made me a promise that He would bring “joyful and influential women” into my life who would help champion my book and my message. It was only a week or two after that I received this fortune cookie. For whatever reason God speaks to me quite regularly through fortune cookies, and that might be a sign I eat way too much PF Chang’s.  But the promise was reaffirmed. It’s…

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Chain Breaker

faith, freedom

If you’ve got pain, He’s a pain taker If you feel lost, He’s a way maker If you need freedom, saving, He’s a prison-shaking Savior If you’ve got chains, He’s a chain breaker. -Zach Williams, Chain Breaker Every Thursday night that I’m not out of town for work, I get the opportunity to volunteer in the senior high ministry at my church.  And every week when I walk out of that room I feel overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude, awe and wonder. Gratitude that I get to be a small part in these young adult’s lives, at such an impressionable and vulnerable age.  The things they are learning about themselves and the…

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I Prayed for You

faith

With all the busyness and to-do’s of launching my book, it occurred to me earlier this week I hadn’t actually prayed for the people who will hold my book in their hands in just a matter of days. I had prayed laboriously for guidance while writing and creating this project, I have thanked God at every opportunity for allowing me and my story to be used to help other people, I have prayed for God to bring the people and resources into my life to get it off the ground and into as many hands as possible (and He has SO faithfully delivered!), I have praised Him for how much life change I…

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How to Find Your Reset Button

Life Lessons, Success & Motivation

Earlier this month, while sitting across the table from a beautiful 16 year old, I recognized the familiar look of overwhelmed-ness on her face and in her tone that I have felt myself for most of the last 18 months. She told me about changing schools so now she’s in a vocational program in addition to her normal school load, she is in the Army Junior ROTC program, and on top of all that is interviewing for other jobs. We talked about other things, but in between each conversation topic I would see her sigh heavily – something I catch myself doing a lot – and could watch her mind reeling with all…

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