"All of my favorite people are broken..."

Here lately, I feel like God has had a sort of sense of humor.
He has been trying to prove a point in my life for a long time now,
and I guess it's just taken me opening my eyes to really see it.

I have always been the type of person to try to keep it all together,
not say too much,
not burden,
not over-kill my problems,
or put them on display.
Keep to the standards that were set for me,
aim above them and carry on.
When the truth is- their has really been a lot of "broken" pieces in my story.
Some things I'm not proud of,
Some things just now surfacing,
and some things still coming to understanding that happened years ago.

But really, if we are being honest-
we are all beautifully broken.

Some of us have physical impairments that put our unpolished pieces on display.
Some of us have disabilities that make it apparent that we aren't like everyone else.
Some of us are blessed with a mess.
Some of us have hardened hearts that bleed out our brokenness.
Some of us wear our brokenness under our clothes.
Some of us hide behind our schedules and lifestyles so maybe our brokenness won't show.
Some of us will just flat out admit it.

But regardless of which "some of us" catagory we fall into-
we are all broken.

But guess what?
Jesus never asked us to be perfect, and infact-
He died so we would never have to be.

See- He never expected a perfect offering.
But has always been thankful with what we are able to give.

It also kinda levels the playing field-
when you really think about it.
All of us are broken in some way,
none no better than the other.
We can never race to or one up God's love.
Though our stories and scars may be different-
the offering of our hearts surrendered is the same.
Because you see-
Jesus isn't looking at our scars-
He's got nail scarred hands that took care of all of ours.
He is looking past all of the muck and mess, into the heart of it all.

Not to mention the same sweet Jesus that sees past our scars and brokenness planned out our life to look exactly like it does right now.
No tear ignorned,
No smiled missed,
No laugh unheard,
No heartache unfelt.
It's making a grand symphony,
a woven tapestry.

An anthem of broken souls strung together to create something breathtakingly beautiful.
Glory.


Beauty in a an imperfect offering.
Mmm.


Our brokenness made whole in a Saviors love.
Talk about something to be grateful for.
Goodness.

We all have a road to walk...

A single mother,
working minimum wage, 3 kids
working her job as a nurse,
and effortlessly working her job as a mother.
Day in and day out.
It's not much,
but she loves.

A girl trying to fight the temptations of the flesh,
knowing what is right,
knowing what is wrong,
but being stuck in the middle.
Paralyzed by fear,
clinging to the hope of a Savior,
and the religion she almost let go.

A boy who knows he has worth,
but it told otherwise,
every day.
Constantly picking up the pieces,
and clinging to the life-
that constantly leaves his emotions
black and blue.

A man with a wife and a baby on the way,
working hard,
standing for honor, and respect.
Giving is life for his country,
and sacrificing his family for the next 6 months.

A little boy without parents,
fighting HIV,
fighting hunger,
fighting the war on poverty,
and the war on drugs
facing the choices
to change,
or live a life of the same.

A hard working woman,
single, middle aged,
hard to love,
harder to hate.
Poured her heart into someone,
who didn't do the same.
Now she's left with the pieces that remain.


I personally know each one of the people mentioned in the words above, and personally have realized how we all have a road to walk.
None of the roads are ever really easy,
none are always pretty or picture perfect.
But none the less- they are the roads that sum up this crazy thing that we all call life.

See the thing is we all have our own roads to walk,
and we all have the choice to walk them with grace,
trying to keep up and condition ourselves to the pace,
or walk them with sorrow,
just dragging on and pushing through til tomorrow.

What road are you walking today? I know theres pretty, and I know there's tough stuff in it.
How are you choosing to walk it?
It's your life, and sunshine-



you only get one.




walk it well.

where ever you find yourself.

Stories to be heard

I started this blog with a hope to capture not only the big things,
and the lightbulb moments-
but the little things.
The things we so often take for granted,
the everyday things-
that seem so common, but are so truly precious.


Now, if you know me-
you know greek life has been kind of a tug of war in my heart.
I have never once regretted the decision,
but just haven't always been able to keep up with the demands.
Regardless- I have had the opportunity to get to know and learn from some truly wonderful women.
Women that I wouldn't have probably met if it wasn't for greek life.

Well today, I got the chance to do a little house clean up with a few of the girls.
We got our tasks done, and just all happened to end up sitting on the steps and in the foyer,
there we just started talking about the most random things,
from puppy training-
to crafts-
to change-
to telling stories from our childhoods.

These seems very juvenile and something out of a clip from 7th Heaven-
but I truly saw a glimpse of one of those everyday precious things sitting there with these girls.
We all have a story to tell,
and we all want to be heard.
But- not only do we want to share our stories and be heard- we want to be understood.

We want those moments where there isn't any time crunch,
no alterer motive,
no interruptions,
no attitudes.
Just time to talk and be heard,
to laugh and understand.


I have to sit back and wonder,
how many times have I brushed someone off,
because I "had a train to catch" or had something else to do.
How many times has someone just needed to be heard,
and I haven't listened.

It's a challenging thought,
because the appointments, agendas, and social medias won't matter when we are gone.
But the way we treated people, cared for people, and listened to people will be remembered long after we are gone.
Even from the smallest things to the biggest.
We all need a friend, and we all want to be heard.

So lets take some time, to just be a friend.
To just close out the ways of the world and just-
listen.