Excuse Me, Life!

Those moments in life that break us... shape us. Who we are depends on what we choose to do with the pieces. If we run from them, they remain scattered and you become lost amongst life’s distractions.  We create something beautiful when we find a heart of gratitude for the pieces. To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives-the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we a

When I moved back to Dayton a year ago I struggled with having to leave friends. When I left Dayton for college all those friendships in Dayton faded. I started over in my new home of Northern Kentucky and when I had to leave these friends the fear of them not going the extra mile to maintain our friendship terrified me. I left them all with a letter that I haven't read since then. I just found it and wanted to share. What a coincidence, exactly 13 months ago... December 14, 2012 Dear Friend, Do what you love. Do what makes you happy, the rest will follow. What you love and what makes you happy now could change and probably will change, but that’s OK. It just means you’re growing. Often times you outgrow people. Learn to accept it, let go and remember you’ll always take a piece of them with you. Smile and reflect on the memories but don’t consume yourself with them, there are many more ahead. Don’t conform to the ways of the world or societal norms. That’s when you lose si

Today marks one year that I’ve been Stewardship Officer for Sinclair Community College. One year is a big deal for me. I was blessed enough to have paid internships all through college, so I was changing positions every semester. I couldn’t exactly control losing my first job out of college after eight months. So this one year is the longest I’ve worked somewhere. To look back and see all the steps it took to get here is overwhelming. I’ve heard it said many times, “You end up in places you never thought you’d be.” Today traces all the way back to my last year of high school six years ago. Long-time lover of writing and the sports editor of the city paper at that time, I was set on a journalism degree. I chose Bowling Green State University and even had a journalism scholarship. It was an exciting time coordinating with a roommate to pick out dorm room décor and getting a class schedule. My life came to a sudden halt after a dreadful call that my “health insurance waiver” was d

As I go to write I am tackled by the fear of feeling insignificant and not being original.  Is anything really original anymore? I’m sure numerous people have already covered the topics I feel drawn to write about. I don’t want to come off like a copycat. Who am I? A 20-something lady trying to find her place in this world. I have a little blog that reaches a number not even acknowledged by society’s measure of success. Success has become a numbers game in this digital world. We track page visits, likes, follows, etc. Then I stop. I go back to one of my favorite scriptures: Matthew 18:12-13. “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ” I write for myself, but with the hopes that it will speak to someone else.