One of my favorite things about starting a blog based on vulnerability, has been getting to hear the stories of others. In the last week alone, I have interacted with women who have bravely shared their stories of depression, rape, addiction, fluke accidents, suicide attempts and other continued struggles. There is so much power in this! By sharing our pain, the darkness loses its power. When we expose the darkness for what it is, then it no longer holds isolation over anyone. No one has to feel alone, watching the world and thinking that everyone else is going through life without a problem. What has become blatently apparent to me is that everyone has a problem, a story, a past.

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rom the moment we are born, we desire it.
It’s what we experience with our parents, grandparents, children and with those precious ones who help us raise our children.

It’s what we feel when we are visited at the hospital, embraced tightly or cared for in the nursing home when our bodies grow old.

It is why evil and violence and abandonment feel wrong.

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ne need only watch “13 Reasons Why” to understand the power behind words. They can show love or convey hatred. They have the ability to create life or destroy it. To be wedding vows or to summon a divorce. To start a war or end one. The art of taming the tongue comes only with the passage of time; I learned this important lesson late, but in sincere gratefulness, I thank the Lord that at least Twitter wasn’t around when I hit high school.

At the age of 17, my friend Shera and I attended a concert that would forever change our lives. We went to meet guys but we came out with God. The year was 2001. In the world of Christian music, it was the era of Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman and Nichole Nordeman.