Bloom for real

Bloom for real

Oct 21, 2020 | Becoming, Do The Hard Thing, Grow | 0 comments

I planted silk flowers

in my garden 

in my quest for beauty.

They don’t fool

anyone

for long. 

They look

garish and cheap

even when the 

sun shines.

When I make a show

and water 

their plastic roots with 

my polkadot watering can

they are still dead.

It’s not real beauty.

Counterfeit beauty

is an illusion

with nothing to offer. 

Real beauty doesn’t 

have a shortcut.

Real beauty 

has depth and grit.

Real beauty 

plants seeds, 

spawns life,

shares sustenance,

spreads joy. 

I will do the work.

I will bloom 

for real. 

#PermissionGranted

How will you cultivate real beauty within?

Hope made a way

Hope made a way

Oct 1, 2020 | Becoming, Encouragement, Faith, Trust | 0 comments

The pieces don’t fit. 

I want to finish

this puzzle so that 

it makes sense. 

It’s a mess and there are 

pieces missing

so I am not sure

why I keep going. 

I am losing hope

that I will ever see

the complete picture.

I am missing pieces. 

I am not where I 

thought I would be

or maybe who 

I thought I would be. 

Nothing feels complete and

I don’t have hope that 

this puzzle, this life

can be redeemed.

I sift through pieces,

I look for hope,

I get out a magnifying glass

to aid my search. 

Tears of frustration

make it difficult to see as

I try to match things up. 

I sense someone beside me.

He shifts the magnifying glass

so that I can see 

the strong 

thread holding the 

pieces together 

where there’s a piece missing. 

Hope fills in the gap.

He shows me 

that beauty exists

where I see only chaos.

He sees what I cannot. 

He shows me that hope

touches each piece

of the puzzle –

even though I can’t

see a picture coming 

together at all.

He asks me to trust 

that my story 

will have 

beauty and glory – 

hope has made a way.

#PermissionGranted

 

Is there evidence?

Is there evidence?

Sep 14, 2020 | Becoming, Grow | 0 comments

Dappled light highlights

the shapes made by the

peeling bark on the

crepe myrtle trees.

I go for a closer look.

I am enamored 

by the light, 

by the tree.

Its cracking, 

its peeling.

I’m in awe of 

the metamorphosis 

of such a large specimen.

This is how it grows.

Crepe myrtles 

shed last year’s bark 

every summer.

I inspect myself. 

Am I peeling off 

the constraints 

of where I was?

Is my heart 

busting out of 

last year

and making room

for new growth?

I can see how the 

crepe myrtle has 

transformed. 

Is there evidence

that I’ve transformed?

Are there

cracks

that indicate I 

am a growing girl?

#PermissionGranted

Created to…

Created to…

Jul 23, 2020 | Be you, Becoming | 0 comments

Leap

Shuffle

Saunter

Crawl

towards

your

purpose

passion and

possibilities.

We were created to 

Grow

Change

Shift

Learn.

Be who you are, 

right where you are

but don’t stay there. 

#PermissionGranted

Feel the weight

Feel the weight

Jun 12, 2020 | Becoming, Community, Do The Hard Thing | 0 comments

 
I stood here in this
 
spot on the porch
 
and I had a lot
 
going on in my
 
heart and mind.
 
I know you can’t
 
tell from the picture…
 
but just trust me on this one.
 
I looked at the picture
 
that I made,
 
compliments of
 
the sun, and
 
I took a moment
 
to feel the weight of
 
what I was feeling.
 
Maybe you are in
 
that place, too.
 
Maybe you are
 
carrying heavy burdens –
 
for yourself,
 
your family,
 
your friends, and
 
for our country.
 
I feel it, too.
 
I am just one voice.
 
 
You have one, too.
 
 
I am just a little shadow
 
but please note from the picture
 
that I also have a stage.
 
 
You have one, too.
 
 
So let’s remember this
 
moment of being full
 
of righteous anger,
 
let’s allow it
 
to propel us
 
to take up our space
 
on our own individual stages
 
and speak truth.
 
Go ahead and be loud,
 
but please pace yourself.
 
Your stage may be leading
 
your kids to understand bias.
 
Your stage may be leading a
 
book club to discuss a book on antiracism.
 
Or perhaps you dive in and unlearn
 
and share what you are learning anew.
 
Perhaps your role is to
 
share your stage and
 
amplify another’s voice.
 
 
Don’t forget what you feel.
 
Don’t forget you have a stage.
 
#PermissionGranted