Second Windsong

The events of today turned my thoughts and heart to a completely different direction. And again, I am led down another winding path with a window into the layers that lie beneath the drive to move forward and survive even amidst the unthinkable. Our country has been rocked by tragedy in the last two months.  Devastating hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico have left countless thousands without basic needs and the impossible task of trying to reinvent their lives. How do you start over when you have to give all you have emotionally and physically to clean the slate so that you can even see a glimpse of what it will take to reinvent, recreate, to dream to survive. Today, the definition of survival through trial changed. Another crowd of innocent people in Las Vegas, Nevada encountered what could not be anything less than pure evil. The facts are still coming in and if you have been anywhere near a television or social media outlet, you know as much as I do.  A lot of l...

If we were to meet, you most likely would not think of me as a fierce, lion-like personality.  I am an introvert by nature and most often I am described as a calm presence.  That description always makes me smile, because internally, I feel anything but calm. I live with a fair amount of internal chaos, self-doubt and the world's loudest critic living in my own self-talk and self-perceptions every day.  It does not take a fearless person who runs headlong into danger and the unknown to experience trials or to persevere despite challenging circumstances.  I have experienced pain and deep, deep loss. I have walked through the darkest moments with my family and friends. I give God the glory for these moments both in the dark and when we come out of the other side.  I am a survivor—we are survivors.   There has to be more to perseverance than simple white-knuckle, scrape the dirt out of our knees and elbows after army crawling through the muck...