Moving Forward

Beginning in 2017 to continue my journey of growth, I jumped on the word of the year bandwagon, which for me is a regular or daily practice that I think about each morning.  I start my day with 3 daily gratitude prayers, spiritual study, and try to bring in a morning walk. Through a coaching experience in 2016, I was encouraged to develop a visual or vision board of where I wanted my life to grow each year. This has evolved over the last several years. It really isn't a check off list, but more of a practice or idea that I tried to learn more about and apply to my life. There is so much power in the words we think about and use. Truly a word has so much power. When we name a word with intention, God seems to meet us there. I am learning to be very intentional in my word choice. This year the word was THRIVE, and the lessons I have learned have truly brought peace into my life in a way that is very hard to describe fully in this blog post.  Writing helps me truly apply ref...

Growing up, I was a natural explorer and hiker. In fact, I always felt closest to God in nature, on a hike. Many of those who have known me a while, know that in my 20's and even early 30's, I enjoyed backpacking. With goals early on of hiking the AT, the Grand Canyon, the Alps, and trails all over Colorado, New Mexico, Canada and of course, Texas.  Always on the move, striving, and learning to test my limits, to persist, and overcome. As I grew older, I learned the weight of gravity after a long climb. I would often share with my sons that as the hardest part, the descent after the summit. In fact, my knees, joints, etc. would just be in so much pain climbing down from a mountain.  For the majority of my adult life, I have been very purpose and passion driven. Often, I would spend years working on a higher cause or purpose beyond myself and pouring so much into others or causes. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities afforded to me. I have never been one to not achieve...