Keeping it Real: His Patience With Me

photography by JODIE BRIM CREATIVE Patience…it’s not my virtue. I’ve worked on it for years, and STILL, my tank runs dry in this department. Given that reality, on this early morning, I’m just about to come out of my chair as I consider the ridiculously extravagant measure of patience God lavishes upon us, upon ME! […]

What You Think About When You Don’t Know You Think About It

photography by JODIE BRIM CREATIVE So, it’s February. How many of those New Year’s Resolutions stuck?  Moving right along…. How many of you already feel that, despite your best efforts, nothing has changed? A month into this new year, does everything feel monotonously the same?  I hear you. I do! Stay with me. The mind […]

Keeping It Real: Unshakable!

“Unshakable!” It sounds preposterous in these jarring times, doesn’t it? What would you say if I told you that future events are about to shake the earth in ways that make 2020’s shutdown seem like child’s play?  I’m not trying to frighten you, but I am trying to prepare you!  If we’re not equipped for […]

Keeping It Real: The Magic of Christmas

Love.  It’s a word that’s largely overused and severely underdeveloped.  We love HGTV. We love weekends.  Yet, the ability to genuinely love people often gets lost in the shuffle.  In far too many families, love is downright broken.  Why?  Many times, it’s because love was fragmented in the families before us.  The very things we […]

Covering the Fault Lines

by DR. DEBBIE LANIER As long as we live and breathe, conflict, even with those we love, is inescapable. We misinterpret each other’s words, motives, or actions, OR we hear them loud and clear! We simply view situations from two VERY different perspectives. It happens.  But amid these inevitabilities, how should the mature one in […]

Keeping it Real: Transitioning Well

by KAYLYN LANIER XIONG I am writing this article while the summer heat is still in full swing, but when you read it, we will have stepped into fall. (Yes! Sweater weather, y’all! Who’s with me?) We hear all the time about this season, “Autumn has such a wonderful way of showing us how beautiful […]

Keeping It Real: Phantom Fear

I’m no wildlife expert, but even I know gazelles lope like lightning! Did you realize a gazelle can sprint up to 60 miles per hour?! That’s twice as fast as any human on record. (I looked it up!)  In fact, only cheetahs have what it takes to surpass gazelles. But even these bad boys rarely […]

Keeping It Real: The Gift Called Today

August 6, 2009 . . . the day I landed flat on my face.  I woke up to an amazingly routine morning. (Call me boring but I love routine!)  The aroma of hot nectar beckoned me downstairs.  I read and reflected, setting rhythm to my day.  I prayed with a hurting soul, and answered a […]

Keeping it Real: Thanks For Noticin’

by KAYLYN LANIER XIONG Do you ever have a moment that just stops you cold and keeps echoing within you?  My father taught me by example to honor and revere our men and women in uniform. I can’t tell you how many times I would watch him stop when he saw someone wearing a hat […]

Keeping It Real: Great Men

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a guy?  Come on, girls.  Tell the truth. You have, haven’t you?  Surely, you’ve envied how men can be out-the-door in ten minutes flat.   Perhaps you feel a little begrudged that guys get pot-bellies and no one notices.  (This never happens in a woman’s world!)   Menfolk […]

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