Grace Upon Grace

I  remember like yesterday the day I moved to Oklahoma. I remember the fear, the anxiety, the heart racing, but what I remember the most is the overwhelming peace that surpassed every emotion that was surfacing. I was told I was crazy by many people and let's be honest, I probably was and still am today. But I am so glad that I didn't listen to the voices who said I was crazy. I'm even grateful that I didn't turn around as soon as I got on highway 70 in Columbus while I was on the phone freaking out. Yet, for some reason, I just kept driving west until I came to Oklahoma City. I recall the months and even the year leading up to the move. I knew that I was supposed to move, I knew it was supposed to happen and I knew it was right around the corner but bigger than that, I knew that I had to be patient for it to happen at the right time. Before 2010, I tried to move two other times. Ask my roommate, she didn't believe when I said I was actually moving f...

Numb (noun): to be asleep, not showing human feeling or emotion. So frightened as to be unable to move. Stunned or paralyzed with terror. Devastate (verb): to cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly. To overwhelm. The state of being destroyed. Excessive damage. Wreaking or capable of complete destruction. These two words are the only two words that I can use to describe how I have felt over the past 24 hours. Yesterday was a normal Monday, or so it seemed. I woke up, I got my Starbucks, I made it to work 10 minutes early, clocked in, and began my routine. I knew it would be an interesting afternoon weather wise but I didn't think it would be a gut wrenching, horrific day. Around 230pm my phone began to buzz with alerts of tornadoes and that the city that I live in and have now called home for two years was under a “Tornado Emergency.” I only knew of a Tornado watch or warning but now an “emergency?” Emails began to pour in from HR saying if you were i...

For the past 27 years, the only thing that I have known is Christianity. I kid around when I say I feel as though I was born at the alter, but the truth be told, I sometimes that feel that way. Aside from school and sports practices, if the church doors were open, my family and I were there. The older I became, the more I pushed myself away from church. Not because I didn't want it or because it was fed to me but I simply didn't understand half of it. When I first attended Bible college in 2006, I could have gave a rat's tail about being there. I went because I was fortunate to have been blessed with a scholarship and every door that I had open in Michigan at the time was beginning to close, so I knew I was supposed to go Ohio and attend Bible College. I took every class that you could imagine relating to eschatology, the life of Christ, the book of Revelation, a study of the Psalms, in depth discussions of Old and New Testament but if you ask me now what I...

I always start off by saying “I am going to write so many times this year and make sure that at least it is once a month” but it amazes me how quickly I get caught up in the busyness that I just overlook the things I consider important to me. But then that being said in itself makes me question how important that item really was in the first place, ya know? I look back to how my life has changed over the past 3 years and especially since I started writing in this blog. Three years ago I was living in Canal Winchester, Ohio. I had already applied for the company that I worked for today and I am pretty sure I already had my first interview. I had a place to live lined up, I was crazy to think that I would sell everything that I couldn’t fit into my car to move a thousand miles west away from everything that I knew and everything that I had ever experienced. Crazy? Yep. I would describe myself as crazy and radical and full of faith but most definitely crazy. If you would have aske...