Tag: freedom

A Grief Observed

freedom, grief, Life Lessons, memoir, Spiritual Growth

“Losing a beloved is an amputation.” – C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed I once listened to a podcast in which a psychiatrist was talking about why it feels like we lose a part of ourselves when we lose a loved one. He said that, unwittingly, we store information, memories and experiences in the brains of other people we are close to; like an external hard drive. Our own minds have limited capacity to keep all the data we need, so we share mental and emotional data resources with others. We see this phenomenon to be particularly true when someone loses a spouse and has no idea what the bank password is, or what…

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Sabbatical

faith, grace, Life Lessons, momming, Spiritual Growth, Success & Motivation

About 18 months ago, I was in a meeting with a client in Miami when the woman I was meeting with pulled a second person in the room. She announced she was leaving the company in two weeks, and this was her replacement. This was not entirely uncommon, but what happened next was. I asked her what she was going to do, “Are you staying in the industry?” “No,” she said, “I’m going back home (some country in South America) to take a sabbatical. I’m going to spend time with family and take time to figure out what I want to do.” I started crying. Right there, in the middle of her office….

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4 Things You Need to Know Before You Start Blogging

faith, Life Lessons, Success & Motivation

Have you ever thought about starting a blog? I toyed with the idea once or twice myself before I finally did. As much as I love to write, I hate blogs.  Everything about them.  My thoughts are, who has time to read blogs? …much less keep up with writing one?  AmIRight? Plus, there are just so many out there already!  As of 2013, there were 152 million blogs on the internet. [1]  As of 2:46pm on Feb 17th, 2017 there had already been 2.9 million blog posts posted THAT DAY alone.[2] I figured if I did ever start one, I would make it about two months and never remember to post again.  Fizzle…

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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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Unwanted

Life Lessons

Saturday was Clayton’s first football game. Clayton is the 9 year old boy who currently lives at my house with his mom, Jenny.  I forgot my pom-poms but dressed in team colors with Nikon in hand, my husband and I walked into the ballpark ready to cheer on our little friend. Jenny met us at the gate and pointed, “We are under that green tent, I left something in my car, be right back.”  We found Clayton’s grandparents and I sat in the chair Jenny brought from our house.  Jenny never sits, she’s too excited. The sun was bright but dark storm clouds were gathering, it was about to be a drencher! The…

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Things to Remember When You’re Feeling Unwanted

Life Lessons

Saturday was Clayton’s first football game. Clayton is the 9 year old boy who currently lives at my house with his mom, Jenny.  I forgot my pom-poms but dressed in team colors with Nikon in hand, my husband and I walked into the ballpark ready to cheer on our little friend. Jenny met us at the gate and pointed, “We are under that green tent, I left something in my car, be right back.”  We found Clayton’s grandparents and I sat in the chair Jenny brought from our house.  Jenny never sits, she’s too excited. The sun was bright but dark storm clouds were gathering, it was about to be a drencher! The…

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Unqualified

freedom, grace, Life Lessons, Spiritual Growth

Three Summers ago my stomach was in knots as I hit the send button emailing in my application to work as a camp counselor. I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted because of what I had been through. I doubted I was worthy or qualified. I wondered if my divorce would make me appear as a negative role model that the staff wouldn’t want around their teenagers or own kids. Thankfully, I was graciously accepted and blessed with the opportunity to serve at Camp Northward’s high school week for the last two years. This year my church, Crossroads, started their own senior high camp and I had a familiar flutter of insecurity when…

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LANES, PAINS, AND PLAYDOUGH SALONS

faith, freedom, Guest Blogs, Life Lessons, Success & Motivation

Hi, my name is Meagan. I am a songwriter/nanny/blogger in Nashville, Tennessee. I love Jesus and I love Taco Bell gorditas. I believe the invention of Crocs initiated the American decline. I regularly tell waiters I am allergic to cilantro when really I just don’t like the taste. I have watched Gossip Girl to its seasonal entirety 4 times in the past 10 years (#TeamLonelyBoy). I absolutely adore my friendships, think my family might actually change the world, and applaud any sign of grace over judgement. So now that we’ve become a little more acquainted, allow me to share one of my most daunting personal issues. I mean, we’re there right? If I…

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What Business AM I in??!

freedom, Success & Motivation

A few weeks ago, Facebook released a promotional tool for “business pages” housed on their site. It’s a video that starts with, “we are in the business of….” And gives a very brief overview/description of your business.  Like a 15 second mini-commercial. I followed the link to create my own for my writer/speaker page.  Facebook did all the work for me, I just had to fill in the blanks and make my selections and it would spit out a professional marketing tool.  I picked all my favorite pictures and clicked “next”, then the tagline pops up: “We are in the business of…..”  I sat staring at the blinking cursor in the empty text…

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