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Your Gift is Enough 

2020 is here! Can you believe it? Welcome to a beautiful, new decade! 

Two weeks ago, I celebrated Christmas with my favorite three this year- my husband, my son, and my daughter. As I posted on social media, this Christmas can really only be described as “different”. Three out of four of us were extremely sick on Christmas Day, myself included. But, it wasn’t a total loss because we still had each other, germs and all. I’d rather have them with the germs than not at all. 

My husband gave me a very…

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The Surrendered Life 

Do you ever look at your life and wonder how it got to be what it is? Maybe you’re not working where you thought you’d work, or doing that thing you knew you’d be doing by now. Or maybe you don’t live where you envisioned yourself living. Maybe you planned for kids, and have none. Or planned for a couple of kids, and have tons. 

My life is looking a lot different than I envisioned it would even 5 years ago. I’m not living where I thought I would be. I’m still working a day job in music, but I didn’t…

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Prune & Pivot 

Hi there! Welcome to my music home on the web! 

Maybe you’ve been around this space since its launch in 2016, or maybe you’re a newcomer to me and my music. Either way, I thank you for stopping by and I hope before you click over to some other site you leave just a little encouraged by something you hear or read here. That’s my goal with my music and writing: to give hope to whatever audience God entrusts me with. 

As I sit here writing this post, I’m shaking my head that it’s already the second quarter…

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Details 

(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, providing me with a small commission if you purchase a product through this page at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for your support!)

Most people who know me know that I've been following Christ for most of my life.  I feel blessed to have been raised by God-fearing parents who took me to church and answered my many questions about God when I was a preschooler.  

You might thing that following God for decades would become, well, boring at some point.  But…

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My Word for 2019 

Happy New Year, Friends!

I'm excited for the possibilities that exist at the beginning of a new year, and if I'm being totally honest, I'm happy to see 2018 in the rearview mirror.  

Back in 2017, I started getting into the whole "choose a word to frame your year" idea.  In 2017, I chose the word "Harvest".  That year, we moved to KY to be closer to my family.  I also unexpectedly landed a great teaching job that I really enjoy.  And I gave birth to my daughter toward the close of the year.  Last year's…

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Talking Out of Both Sides 

Talking Out of Both Sides

The official week of gratitude is upon us.  And I just have one question: How is it Thanksgiving already?  Wow, 2018 is on its way out in a hurry.

Being that it's Turkey Week, I'll keep my post brief.  I was driving to my day job today and began reflecting on all gratitude challenges going on during the month of November.  You know the ones...you have to say or write down something you're grateful for each day.  I'm all for these types of challenges, so much so that I'm even…

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When is the Right Time? 

(Image from Bible.com)

 

This popped up as the daily verse in You Version today and it got me thinking, “When is the right time?” 

Today’s post will probably highlight a less than flattering side of me, but I felt compelled to share my thoughts in hopes that they help someone else who struggles like me. 

You see, sometimes (ok, most of the time) when I get on social media, I get a little discouraged watching other people living my dream.  Ugh, that looks so ugly written out, but it’s the truth. 

For…

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It's Always Plan B 

"It's Always Plan B".  

If you were to pull back the curtain and take a peek into my household, you'd probably hear this saying on a daily basis.  I'm pretty sure it comes out of my mouth at least once a day.  

Lately, I'd actually started to get pretty frustrated about life always being different from my plan.  And I have no qualms about letting you know that I am a planner.  In fact, I own and use three different paper planners currently.  One is on summer vacation since I use it for my teaching job…

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Musings from a Broken Heart 

Oh, month of April, where have you gone?

Let me tell you, I had all of these grandiose plans for this past month.  I've been very diligent about mapping out my months and goals for each of them this year. My best month of actually reaching many of those goals was in March.  So I assumed that April would go much the same and I plotted out some great goals, including posting on this site three times.  

And then, Life happened.  

My father-in-law was admitted to the hospital in early March for extreme…

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My Word for 2018 

A couple of years ago, I started getting into the whole “set a word for the year” thing. I had read about other people describing their upcoming year in a word and I thought it sounded like something I should try.  

In 2017, I declared my word of the year to be “Harvest”. There were many things I was believing the Lord to bring to pass. In reflection, it did turn out to be a year of "harvest", although it was different from what I'd originally envisioned.

As I took some time to reflect on the past year…

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While Waiting 

I am three weeks from my due date at this point!  Ya’ll- 3 WEEKS!  Let’s just sit back and ponder the magnitude of that for a moment.  In three weeks or less, the Kings will go from being a family of 3 to a family of 4.  This slightly blows my mind. 

On the other hand, I’m not doing well with the waiting process.  Yesterday, I had a doctors appointment, and besides my blood pressure climbing, my body is not yet doing much to prepare for labor.  I really thought with my second child, it would be a quicker…

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On the Eve of Irma 

It feels so strange to not be prepping my house and gathering supplies for the hurricane that is supposed to hit Florida in about 24 hours. 

You see, I'm sitting in my new house in KY where we moved about two months ago.  Meanwhile, my heart is with my friends and family getting ready to weather the storm.   

It wasn't even a year ago when we found out that Hurricane Matthew was headed our way.  Even though I'd lived in Florida for ten years at that point, it was the first hurricane I'd ever had to…

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In the Middle 

What do you do when you're smack-dab in the middle of a frustrating situation that you have little to no control over? 

This is the question I've been asking myself for several weeks, pretty much ever since my family made the big decision of moving 800 miles out of our comfort zone. 

Disclaimer:  we had great reasons for moving.  Jamie and I both needed a fresh change, not to mention, I have a large network of family and lifelong friends here in KY.  Still, I hadn't realized how comfortable I had grown…

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Let God Build It 

"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain." -Psalm 127:1

Lately, I've been getting into the whole Bible journaling trend that you've probably seen all over the Internet.  I had originally purchased a journaling Bible for the purpose of writing in it only, and then I started seeing other people's amazing artwork throughout their Bibles and decided I wanted to try it out.  My entries are nothing spectacular, but they…

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My Favorite Part of the Day 

Today I jumped out of bed, intent on getting a shower and getting dressed and made up before my three year-old son woke up.  These days, he's pretty good at entertaining himself while mommy gets ready for the day (he doesn't really have a choice!), but there's just something about being all showered and fresh when I go in to say "good morning" to him and thus officially start our day.  We're off to the races at that point.

My favorite mornings, though, are the ones like yesterday when I wake up about an hour…Read more

When God Has Other Plans (+Brand New Song Lyrics!) 

Wow, what a Year 2017 is turning out to be!

I knew 2017 would be different, but God has been totally blowing my expectations out of the water.  At the beginning of each year, I always come up with a theme word to frame my year.  For 2017, my word is "Harvest".  There are many things I've been believing God to do, and I truly believe that this is the year that the seeds I've sown will bring forth my harvest.  Hey, there might even be a song in that somewhere!  I'll have to explore this!

I recently stumbled…Read more

You're Not Strong Enough 

If you're reading this post, you're a step ahead, in a good way!

You see, I've been doing something really fun over on my Facebook artist page.  On Wednesdays, I've been jumping on Facebook Live in the morning and doing a short devotional.  It's called "Wednesday in the Word" and it's been an absolute blast!  I try to take 5 minutes to inspire and encourage my viewers.  The feedback I've received has been so encouraging to me, so I know this is something I want to keep up!

That being said, I know the day this…Read more

Practicing Peace on Earth 


"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests'." -Luke 2:13-14

This is Luke's account of the angels visit to the shepherds on the evening of Christ's birth.  Can you imagine being a shepherd and watching the night sky light up with majestic heavenly beings all praising God?  Wow, that would have been something to experience, an experience that would stick with a person the rest…Read more

Obedience and Blessing 

One of my favorite parts about being home in the mornings now (as opposed to going to work early for my previous teaching job) is starting off my morning with a practice of meaningful habits.  I don't always get to them, but more often than not, you'll find me practicing these habits as soon as I'm awake enough to begin.

They look something like this:

1. Prayer/ Thanksgiving/ Devotion with God 
2. Daily Affirmations (I have 14 of them, tailored for my specific season of life)
3. Visualization of my goals
4…Read more

Things I Miss About You 


It's been a year since my Nanny went to heaven.  It's been a hard year since she left earth.  I often wonder what her reactions would have been to things that are currently going on in our world.  As my dad pointed out, ever the volunteer, Nanny would have been proudly working the voter polls on Election Day had she been alive.  That's just who she was.  She loved to serve.  

I miss her every day, some days more than others.  So, as a tribute to her 1st Birthday in heaven, with an eternity to come, I wanted…Read more

I'm Done Apologizing 

"For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable."--Romans 11:29
 

 

I just finished attending the most amazing business conference for women: Christy Wright's Business Boutique. Let me start by saying, if you're a woman and interested in business in any shape or form, run, don't walk, to get a ticket for this event. It. Will. Change. Your. Life. 

It did mine. 

I haven't even had time to digest the information yet. I actually left a little early so I can get back to my son before he goes to bed, but I can…

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Staying Content in This Season 

"But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." -1 Timothy 6:6-7


I am in a strange season of my life.  I guess I would call it the land of in-between.  Since students have returned to school, but I didn't return to work as a teacher this year, I am definitely feeling a little...well, out of place.  Especially since I work as a substitute teacher once in a while.  It's weird that the kids are not "mine" anymore and that I'm…Read more

A Reminder to Look Up 

Those who know me or have ever seen me in person know that I am "vertically challenged."  That's the nice way of saying I'm short. 

Most of the time this doesn't bother me, probably because I don't think about it too much.  I do tend to get aggravated though when I'm trying to reach for my clean laundry on the pole in our garage that is just a little too high for the vertically challenged.  Just today, I asked my husband first thing when he walked in the door from work if he would help me grab some clean…

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So, This is Faith? 

One of my songs, "Make Something Happen" says

Make something happen,
Take a little leap of faith
You never know
What's on the other side
Until you try
Make something happen


Well, I'm happy to say, I took that leap of faith a few weeks ago.  I resigned from my teaching job of five years.  I know that doesn't sound like a long time to be at a profession, but with the average length of a job these days being just over 4 years (and that statistic sounds high to me), I feel like I've been there a while.  Not to…Read more

Trust AND Fear? 

God is showing me a very interesting lesson in this season of life: trust AND fear go hand in hand.

Yep, that's right, even though it doesn't sound like it.  Even I puzzled over that when God dropped it in my spirit.


I've been really diving into the Proverbs, which are so incredibly useful for life application.  Those Proverbs are packed with wisdom; more wisdom than any of us can handle in a lifetime.  So I've enjoyed digging around in the 31 chapters and pulling out the verses that speak to me and apply to…Read more