Thank you to all the hard-working dad’s out there,
your families appreciate all you do for them!

Yesterday, I spent a lovely afternoon shopping with my daughter. I was standing outside of the women’s dressing room waiting for her to come out, when I noticed the wording on the back of a t-shirt on someone walking by. It said: Don’t trip over something behind you.

It was absolutely brilliant and timely!

Just the night before, I had spent quite a bit of time working with God to address things from my past that I realized were wounds holding me back and needed to be let go. For each wound I released, I followed up with the things I desire to see replace them now and as well as in my future.

It is easy to have “snares” creep into our hearts and thoughts. They usually enter our lives innocuously. Often, it isn’t until we recognize a pattern in our thinking that causes similar events to happen in our lives that we become aware of their existence.

This got me thinking about a powerful exercise that a dear friend of mine did at a women’s event several years ago. She asked a volunteer to start walking forward but she had given her a rope with heavy objects attached to it.

It became very hard for her to make any forward progress, so she kept looking backwards, which only slowed her down. That’s when my friend said, “You can’t move forward when you’re looking back. You have to let the baggage of the past go or they weigh you down.”

I have decided to let go of the “snares,” prophecy what I want in my life through my thoughts, and look forward … so I don’t trip over something behind me.

I hope you’ll join me.

In honor and remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
You and your families are not forgotten.

Last night, as I was getting ready to go to sleep, the Lord gently impressed upon me:

The earth and all of humanity are entering a time of healing. Quite often the beginning is scary, confusing, messy, and looks like the exact opposite of what is actually happening. But that is always how change starts. 

The old systems of this world have to die off in order for the new to emerge. What is falling away is not from God. What is emerging is from God.

As humans, we have to release the old and embrace the new. We have to let go of lower forms of thinking and functioning in order to elevate out of a worldly system that God never intended for us. 

As we do this, we awaken to the knowledge that we have existed in a false-reality that has been imposed upon us. That in reality, what we are going through at this momentous time in history is God freeing us—even though it may not look or feel that way right now. 

When we begin to awaken, we realize who we are in God and all that He has placed inside us. It is time we start exercising who He created us to be. We have to operate in the new; the old ways will not work in the earth anymore.

Don’t be afraid if you don’t know what to do — God will show you.
Don’t be afraid if things don’t make sense — God is sorting things out.
Don’t be afraid if systems fail — God has something better.
Don’t be afraid — God has everything under control.

A few days ago, I overheard part of a conversation that got me thinking about taking necessary action, especially when we don’t have everything planned out.

A woman near me was on the phone explaining to a family member that she wasn’t going to do anything about some issue that had just come up until she knew exactly what to do and had every single step planned out.

I had to quietly laugh inside. Isn’t that what everyone wants? We want everything to be easy to predict and fix. We want all the answers and solutions neatly presented to us before we take action. But life doesn’t work that way.

Yes, we should form a “tentative” plan but we need to hold onto it loosely. After this, we have to take action. The instant we make our first move, things can—and often do—change from what we expected to happen.

Once things change, our preset plans go out the window, and we have to continue moving forward in faith for the answers that we need. Oftentimes, the things we had “planned” to do wouldn’t have worked out and the adjustments we have to make midcourse work in our favor.

As Martin Luther King, Jr said, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” The Lord has already gone before us and made a way. However, that path is often hidden from our natural eyes until we take that first step, and our act of faith begins to illuminate the next step of our journey.

Our job is to have the faith to take the first step into the unknown because we know the one who holds our future is faithful.

Yesterday, my daughter and I took a road trip to see a traveling art exhibit. This particular event was in a city that was a three hour drive away. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and most of our drive was through very scenic countryside.

As soon as we arrived, we realized that the exhibition wasn’t quite what we were expecting. We decided to make the most of it and we took our time and saw everything. Afterwards, we had planned to try a restaurant that was recommended to us by some friends who live in that city. By some fluke, that didn’t work out, so we ended up eating at one of our favorite restaurant chains.

We got in the car and started our drive home. Just like our drive there, we had fun listening to music, visiting, and enjoying the beautiful scenery. About halfway home, I mentioned to my daughter how I had enjoyed everything about the day but just wished that the exhibit had been better given the long drive.

Without missing a beat, my daughter said, “Do you remember what happened the first time you and dad went to Hawaii? You took that drive along a scenic road and you were in such a rush to get to the end that you missed everything along the way. It was about the journey, not the destination. I think today has been about the journey.”

The truth that my daughter shared was so profound! It resonated completely with me. My perspective immediately changed. I decided to focus on the quality time I was spending with my adult daughter. I also became grateful for the nearly two hours we had left on our drive and the beautiful scenery.

Isn’t this a common thing that inadvertently happens to us? We get so busy with life that we focus on the destination. We forget that a destination isn’t a stopping point, it’s just a marker along our journey. We forget that it’s what we experience during the journey that is what is really meaningful and lasting.

It’s about the journey, not the destination. So relax and enjoy the journey.