Fullness of Joy...

Every day is a gift...each moment..life. I search continually for answers, for truth, for a sense of justice, for a touch of grace to illuminate the dark places...memories rise as I walk through each day, as I make my way to work that fulfills...peace fills my heart as I walk through the door to a group of people interested only in preserving our forests, in beating back...and I am inspired, encouraged, blessed...hard-working souls from all corners of the globe who have no idea what their pay will be but volunteered to come help. It fills my soul to bursting, it blesses my spirit with joy and thankfulness. I have encountered so many...talked, shared and sat over coffee with hearts set in the right place...no artifice, no lies, no hidden agendas...just truth and a coming together...laughter, exhaustion and snap-shot moments of kindred spirits...

There will always be the other side of the coin, the yin to the yang....evil exists to prove the good, the great, the mighty spirit...hate to showcase love....anger to reveal kindness...peace exists amongst chaos...it is the calm in the storm....the eye of the tornado....

I may be walking in fields buffeted by storm, by the winds of fire and tumult...but my heart remains calm, steadfast and sure thanks to a God who never leaves nor forsakes...

I may run the race and trip and fall, stumble or trip over the hurtful actions of others but I get up and smile and continue the path set before me. I care not what others may do...I care not about the life of those in my past who set out to harm, to belittle, to rage and torture...they are where they belong, in the past...a lesson learned of the smallness of mens hearts and minds...an instruction on the baseness of the blackest of human souls...I can detour, move, jump, leap over and around those who may set out to harm if I enter the field of their vision. I will never go back to abandoning myself in order to save another from themselves...I will no longer live pressing down my spirit, my hearts desires to live in hateful, greedy turmoil.

Hear my heart this morning dear hearts...I will love with all I have...I will give out kindness, compassion, grace and mercy...always. What I will not do is squash the child within...what I will not do is allow evil to live in my home...enacting circumstances fit for no one...

We can love others without losing ourselves...

I encourage you today to remember to grant yourselves love...to allow yourselves to be happy, to declare each day to be good, lovely and full of grace and joy.

I encourage you to walk in love and kindness...to walk tall and proud, to speak your truth and know your worth.

I encourage you to look forward, to leave behind the things of the past...to forget the people that have hurt you, maimed you, scarred you...to remember only the lessons learned...to retain only the wisdom granted you from what you have fled.

Eyes forward dear hearts, focused on the promise of the future...an amazing future filled with true love and a peace that passes all understanding. It matters not what those who abandoned you do...unless it threatens your peace, your space, your life...then mete out justice and truth.

Go with God today my friends and know this...you are loved beyond measure, without constraint or judgement...loved always for who you uniquely are. Needed, necessary, cherished, accepted....go with God and know His peace, His comfort in the midst of life's storms.