Blind

September 2, 2024.Reading time 12 minutes.

He sits in the dirt on the side of the old road, his clothes stained red from the dust of many a passing crowd. His eyes reflect a deep lostness, an empty void, a tiredness and despair. Something is different about these eyes. As he stares blankly into the distance, the chatter of people in […]

Wildflowers

August 24, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

The sun sets slow; eerie shadows send shivers down her spine as they silently slip over the darkening scenery. She had barely begun this brave trek to glory’s gate and now, night nestles in, daunting and dark. Cold and confused, she stumbles through the night. She is afraid to think what the morning will bring—afraid […]

Goodness Gracious

March 9, 2024.Reading time 8 minutes.

Tonight dawns early; dusk reaches down kissing the horizon hidden behind steep mountain slopes. I lie in bed, the gentle summer breeze sweeping over my soul. The Chilean summer slowly retreats, sunset colors glowing earlier through the trees. My chest rises and falls in rhythm with nature’s lullaby—deep breaths of February breeze flowing through my […]

Painted Pictures

February 14, 2024.Reading time 3 minutes.

It’s easy to paint pictures in my mind, to envy picture-perfect, to compare myself with other people’s pictures painted perfect It’s easy to let pain paint pictures in my mind, to tell a story dark and cold, to take comfort in the hurt, accept the ache as an antidote to anxiety deep It’s easy to […]

Perfect

October 28, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

Perfectionism: a disposition to feel that anything less than perfect is unacceptable. • Perfect—it’s a seven-letter word that sounds good, seems admirable, suggests peace. It seems like a noble ambition. To be something good and to want something good is admirable, but if I’m going to be honest, it doesn’t take long to realize that […]

On Empty

February 24, 2023.Reading time 18 minutes.

Darkness settles over harvested Tennessee corn fields. I’m lying in my bed, the random February heatwave warming my room and keeping me wide awake—or is it something else that holds sleep from my tired mind? Yes, for weeks, Arizona and my time spent in those high desert canyons on the Indian reservation is fresh on […]

Warrior

January 25, 2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

I am a warrior A warrior who fights not as a victim fighting to escape my chains;I am a warrior who fights as a victor with a reason for my peaceI am a warriorA warrior who fights not to secure the love I so desperately need;I am a warrior who fights in the security of […]

Brave

November 15, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

Darkness settles; daylight dissipates—spreads thin—into night. I’m feeling spread thin myself, like a piece of glass melting in a furnace, dangerously fragile and thin. Its literally been days since I dragged myself out of the deep and demeaning abyss of darkness and now, here I am again—fighting. Fighting the familiar lies that label me failure, […]

Worthy

April 25, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

There’s something about knowing you are worthy that whispers hope into darkness. Most people’s definition of worthiness is simply that we are not worthy. Not worthy of love, of hope, of life. Not worthy of good things, of help, of joy. And believing that one might be worthy seems like heresy. However, I am going […]

Just Another Day Part 2

April 7, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

Its evening when seven-year-old Ena shows up at our door. She comes over a lot when there’s nothing else for her to do. She was adopted by relatives in an attempt to give her a better home. But her new family proves to be a challenging situation also full of pain and darkness. Nineteen-year-old sister […]