Category: blessings

BPC-157

On By mygodroomIn blessings, obedienceLeave a comment

In between getting my messy nightstand cleaned off and other tasks, I hopped on Facebook and shared about my cousin “retiring from retirement”. 🤣🤣🤣

I clicked to join a jiu-jitsu Facebook Group and there was a post which delved into injuries in the comments.

I bumped into something called BPC-157 and had to laugh. Come on, I AM the Original Blonde Polish Chick!

I am ONE 57 year old Blonde Polish Chick who loves to help others in healing. I am just beginning at One Nation Jiu-Jitsu and I am recovering from rolling Sunday and Monday.

I am PEP Personified and now I learn 15 peptides use BPC to define them!

Three fives. Threes and fives. Jesus has rhythm no doubt.

And honestly, the more I read, the funnier it got.
People in the Phoenix MMA/BJJ world are swearing by this little peptide for inflammation, tendon repair, gut healing — basically everything short of resurrecting your dignity after being pancaked by a purple belt half your size.

Laughter is fantastic medicine. Still, His Word is salve to any wound. Let’s go straight to Scripture.

There is only one verse 157 in the entire Bible, and it is in Psalm 119:157.

One verse numbered 157, in the longest chapter of Scripture, and it is about standing firm under pressure without abandoning what God has said.

Then the “old Ronco commercial” strikes again and I am nudged to wait because “there is MORE!” What about the fifteenth chapter and 7th verse? What about the first book with 57 verses?

For clarity, it’s NEVER a bad idea to hunt everything down in scripture.

John 15:7 says, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

This is the verse of abiding, alignment, and answered prayer — the heart posture of staying close enough to hear Him and bold enough to ask.

Romans 15:7 says, “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

This is the verse of community, hospitality, and belonging — exactly the message that has been echoing through everything we are building for the JJ Wilderness project.

Proverbs 15:7 says, “The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the hearts of fools are not steadfast.” This is the verse of wisdom, discernment, and the responsibility to speak truth with clarity and intention.

Luke 1:57 says, “Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.” This is the verse of divine timing, fulfilled promise, and the birth of a calling long prepared.

Suffice it to say I have accepted my calling of 44 years at an exponentially deeper level. I am within weeks of delivering this little “creative baby” to the world.

All of them together — Psalm 119:157, John 15:7, Romans 15:7, Proverbs 15:7, and Luke 1:57 — form a pattern: standing firm, abiding deeply, building community, speaking wisdom, and stepping into the moment God has appointed.

And, maybe, just maybe, because Divine Humor is one of His Love Languages with me, He flipped the script and this appeared. of all the chapter seven and verse fifteens, this is the one He chose for me.

Thank you, Grand Master Jesus.

Johnny Scearce

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Three years ago, we weren’t sure Johnny would ever walk again — much less return to duty.
After a 94-day fight with COVID, he came home by the grace of God.

Fast-forward to December 2022: Mark and I had dinner with Johnny and Brenda, celebrating his retirement as the longest-serving Chief in Blue Ridge history. The same week, there was a major event to celebrate his BRPD retirement.

Three months ago, I saw him at Twitty City, retired and smiling, playing softball like a teenager.

And today?
He’s putting the uniform back on.

That’s not luck.
That’s not coincidence.
That’s the Lord writing a story only He could write.

Jiu-Jitsu Wilderness

On By mygodroomIn blessings, gratitude, Leverage, obedienceLeave a comment

There is no way on earth I could ever explain how God chooses to use me. I have written many times how Jesus love, love, LOVES to get me carried away with Him whenever I am isolated. More on that later. The point is the Holy Spirit moves mightily in me and through me whenever my husband is out of town.

Jiu-Jitsu Wilderness was “electronically born”around 2 am Sunday morning. By that. I’m I mean I purchased the websites around 2 am. As I am following wherever the Spirit leads, I need to pause the floodgates and catch my breath. Just breathe. The inception was on Saturday, as I was pondering how my earthly father would have been celebrating his 81st birthday “in three days”.

Suffice it to say that the Spirit showed me gifts He has given me and how I am to share those gifts His Way. That’s about as clear as I can get until certain steps are completed.

To say I am excited to share a gift with One Nation Jiu-Jitsu would be an understatement of epic proportions.

Despite being exhausted (yet highly energized in Spirit), I went to church without Mark yesterday. Obedience is KEY for me. I heard the best sermon possible about DIRT and truly felt Gen 2:7. We sang Trust and Obey and boy, oh boy, #ISWYDT

No doubt, It hit deeper to realize God literally breathed life into humanity. God didn’t do that for anything else, only for humanity. It’s beyond precious and powerful to me. I’ve known He was the breath in my lungs for a long time—- just felt it in palpable manner yesterday. It was invigorating. 💜✝️💜

Praise God!!! Praise, Praise and more Praise! #MOLA

Seriously, think about it with me. If the Earth shifted even a single degree on its axis—- our seasons, climates, oceans, and habitability would all be dramatically altered. Everything we call ‘normal’ depends on a razor-thin margin of balance — and Colossians 1:17 tells us exactly Who holds that balance together.

In Brazilian jiu-jitsu, leverage changes everything.

One inch, one angle, one shift of weight. And the universe works the same way. A single degree of tilt would undo life on Earth… yet He holds it steady. He is the Master of leverage. The One who keeps every angle exact so that we can stand, breathe, and roll. That’s My Jesus in his “red” belt…the FIRST and LAST GrandMaster in everything.

Invigorated as I was yesterday, of course I went to ONJJ yesterday, as well. What a difference one week and seven days can make in a persons life! My song, “Stay” found me on the way to the gym. I did manage to post about that as soon as class was over. When the Lord delivers a song the way He does with me, it must be honored. I think I posted it from the parking lot at the gym! From that same parking spot, Mark floored me in the best way —-he was already at the airport!

So why did my husband leave me in the Jiu-Jitsu Wilderness?

I wish my facetiousness and humor translated better here. Let’s just say I am a safe driver but my household has jokes about my driving and especially, my parking. 🤣. We’ve got nearly fifteen years of jokes about him leaving me or staying for the dog. We are silly and playful, indeed. In all seriousness, My sweet Gingerbeard Man left town to drive a U-Haul to a Wisconsin for our former employee (forever CV Family member), Jenn. It was the best gift we could offer her after twelve years of faithful service.

Facts? I am not fearful of anything except Holy Wrath. That said, I would not be comfortable driving a 20-26 foot loaded U-Haul and towing a car from Tennessee to Wisconsin, or anywhere else. It’s not my strength and my husband is the best driver I have ever known. We love Jenn and it was clear that our gift needed to be from our heart and God-given talents.

Mark made the drive joyfully, despite his exhaustion from our extra early Saturday morning commitment at Creekmont Church. We love our new church so much, he insisted on being present and then opening the shop for me. He knew I needed rest and he protects me (and the world 🤣) from “hyped up Carol”. Mark wasn’t upset that the Good Lord knocked me out so hard, I didn’t wake until after 3. He never said it was my fault for his late departure of 4:18—he was thrilled I received the true rest I needed.

My husband serves in so many ways like this one. One of my soul sisters, JoJo, knows we have jokes about his “Apostolic actions”, as well. Mark has helped her a few times with various “man tasks” around her home. He loves helping others and JoJo is always so authentic in her gratitude. Heck, Mark even gifted her some Eagle Rare Bourbon for her retirement party last year. He has such a generous heart and spirit!

Anywho, Mark left Saturday at 4:18 pm and was safely home 27 hours later. I picked him up shortly after 7:18 last night and we stopped to split a fantastic steak dinner.

While I have SO MANY BLESSINGS to write out and share, I am just tickled he was blessed to come home a day early. I sleep better when he is home, in general. But, I confess I was thrilled for several reasons and equally excited how he was blessed with no charge for cancelling a hotel reservation with less than an hour or two notice and for finding 95 dollars he forgot about on Venmo- how Jenn chose to pay for the gas and his airline ticket. And, bonus blessings like the flight attendant looking at his 6’5” frame and graciously telling him he was welcome to his favorite emergency section seating.

The extra added bonus blessings for me was being able to be present at ONJJ with Mushaffa and Miss Vee today. As this post has run quite long, there will be a separate post today to honor what God did at the gym.

What a GEM!

Thank you, Jesus, for this Jiu-Jitsu Wilderness with you. I praise YOU for all the colors, beauty, grace and my current position. I love, love, LOVE having your seatbelt around me. I love you. 💜✝️💜

Joyce Chronicles

On By mygodroomIn blessings, obedience, PaganLeave a comment

I love my sweet sister, Joyce. Truly, she has blessed my life for over two years with her intentional actions. She visited me at the old Smyrna shop, visited at this Boro location, met me for dinners at various places and has consistently valued me enough to designate and set apart time for our fellowship. She has also given me beautiful cards; a pocket stone cross I took to Italy and other thoughtful gestures, like cooking dinner for my family.

For over two years, she has been a prayer warrior and a true friend to me.

Given her work at the food bank and SNAP benefits cut since October 1, she has certainly been busier than usual the past six weeks. Today, I had the blessing of driving to the Boro to meet her for breakfast!

I just realized my “focus on ONE God story” was not a completely new one. I shared the gist of the Lamentations 3:58 story via text two weeks ago.

Still, Joyce listened as if she had never heard a peep! God bless her, she is such an active listener. Granted, I did add some new details, as the Lord tends to keep adding to each story He gives me.

As fun as it is to share stories, I love listening to others’ stories. I asked Joyce what was in her ear as a new lesson. She opened her phone and shared this verse from 1 Chronicles.

Joyce shared a certain nudge she felt reading the genealogy. Essentially, questions about why a second born son would be the one married to the daughter of Pharaoh. Why was this particular wife, Bithiah, mentioned by name?

I love, love, LOVE deep diving into scripture and gaining any type of new understanding. It always feels like Jesus is hugging me or love-tapping me on the shoulder. Today was extra exciting for me, as I have recently studied some things about birth order and how God names certain people. It always excites me to recognize when He has taken me through certain steps to prepare me for anything. I was especially excited that He prepared me a pinch for Joyce’s question.

In biblical genealogies, firstborns often represent inheritance and authority, but second sons frequently carry spiritual significance — chosen by God for covenant purposes rather than birth order. Abel was chosen over Cain, Jacob over Esau and Ephraim over Manasseh.

When a second son connects to foreign or royal lineage, like Pharaoh’s daughter here, it often points to divine reversal, covenant inclusion or a bridging of nations.

What makes Pharaoh’s daughter, Bithiah, so special? For starters, her Hebrew name is Bat-Yah and literally means “daughter of Yahweh.” To me, it’s clear she renounced Egypt’s gods and embraced Israel’s God, Yahweh. Jewish tradition today still gives every convert to Judaism a Hebrew name. The most common names according to one source are those which are connected to new beginnings, redemption and listening. Choosing Bat-Yah or being guided to choose a common name for her conversion both lead to a clear understanding of her renouncing her Egyptian and pagan values

From Seminary Now, The Five Women Who Saved Moses ” Then the fifth woman entered the scene: Pharaoh’s daughter. This person of wealth and influence saw the little ark and asked her attendants to bring it to her. The baby slave boy was crying, and she had compassion on him.”

According to Jewish tradition (Midrash and Targum Jonathan), she is actually the same woman who rescued baby Moses from the Nile. I believe it’s important to note that the Bible does not confirm it is the same woman. However, if that’s true, then her marriage into Israel through Mered (a descendant of Judah) symbolizes redemption — an Egyptian princess becoming part of God’s covenant people.

To that end, it’s really cool to me that this is the name she chose. She married Mered aka ” rebel” from the line of Ezra, which means “helper”. This Ezra is not the prophet/scribe who returned from Babylon. It’s so cool to me that a daughter of Yah married a rebel who became a helper…it’s like redemption is folded directly into the genealogy.

This is where my spazzing over Hebrew adds multiple hours to studying any one topic. Why? Because it didn’t make sense to my spirit for a true daughter of Yah to marry a rebel. Well, the Jewish Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 166, Megillah 13a) says Mered was another name for Caleb, the faithful spy who didn’t rebel against God (Numbers 14:24) So what did he rebel against? Well, the Midrash states he “rebelled against the counsel of the spies”. He rebelled against rebellion!

This little insight flips the meaning on it’s head. Mered’s rebellion was a form of righteousness and expression of the moral courage to stand against sin.

Fascinating to me are the things we can learn from the genealogies. More fascinating to me is the mystery which remains. All we know from scripture is Mered had two wives. One Judahite with natural lineage to the Tribe of Judah and One Egyptian, Pharoah’s daughter, Bithyah from the grafted -in lineage.

This mirrors the spiritual “double-thread” of Scripture: Jew and Gentile, law and grace, first and second, natural and spiritual.

The second son represents the adopted one, the redeemed outsider, or the one brought in by mercy.
Bithiah’s inclusion shows that even Egypt — once a place of bondage — produces a daughter who becomes a symbol of divine adoption.

Father God, thank you for adopting us, too! Thank you for making it so fun to go snorkeling with Jesus.


Seatbelts and Safety

On By mygodroomIn blessings, gratitude, Leverage, obedience, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I went to my second jiu-jitsu class today. Sadie and Sam were there, as was Mushaffa. It was helpful to hear Mushaffa’s growing process with BJJ. In fact, it was so encouraging, I went ahead and paid through December 15.

My husband fully supports me taking these classes. Added bonus- It was a stellar deal and provided me a tshirt, ONJJ Irreverent compression shirt and shorts.

This was the photo taken yesterday, maybe a minute or two after Mushaffa left.

Today’s class was four women and 11 men. While I observed them all rolling, My favorite lessons came from watching Mushaffa with Sadie and Sam with a male professor.

Truly, every person has a different style which makes sense based on body type. I love there is isn’t a “one size fits all” when it comes to “good jiu-jitsu”. What is “good” is indeed a very individual variable.

BJJ Technique Focus: Seatbelt

For things like definitions, it seems wise to use BJJ accepted definitions. To that end, I read several and this is the gist:

The seat belt is the foundation of back control.
One arm threads over the shoulder, the other under the arm. Hands clasp palm-to-palm across the chest as you press heart-to-back. Your head stays tight beside theirs; your chest follows their spine.

It’s called the seat belt because it keeps you connected through chaos.

Nudged to learn if anyone particular in BJJ made it famous and this was the response:

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), the seat belt control position was popularized by Marcelo Garcia. While the grip itself may have existed in various grappling arts before, Garcia integrated it into a highly effective, modern system of attacks and transitions, making it a standard and essential part of the BJJ arsenal. 

Even if your opponent rolls, twists, or bucks, you stay attached—anchored, calm, and ready.

My life verse is Galatians 6:9: “And let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give up.”

I see how it applies here. #ISWYDT.

Control before victory. Connection before submission.

⸻

📖 Scripture

“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
— Philippians 3 : 12

Greek katalambanō = to seize firmly, to grasp with purpose.

⸻

💭 Reflection

When I learned the seat belt, it felt less like domination and more like devotion.
One arm over the shoulder—the arm of authority.
One arm under the heart—the arm of compassion.
Together they hold without harming, guiding without forcing.

That’s how God holds me.
He doesn’t choke me into obedience; He secures me into peace.
If I thrash, I lose connection.
If I breathe, I feel His rhythm.

The seat belt teaches me that staying connected is stronger than any submission.
Control comes through closeness, not power.

⸻

🕊️ Coach Jesus Says

“My grip on you isn’t to choke—it’s to keep you from falling.
I’m behind you in every scramble.
Breathe. Stay connected. I’ll guide you through.”

⸻

✨ Golden Nugget

“Your right hand upholds me.” — Psalm 63 : 8
“No one can snatch them out of My hand.” — John 10 : 28

His hold is holy.
The safest place on the mat—and in life—is under His seat belt of grace.

Jesús, thank you for getting me through the first two classes. Thank you for encouraging my husband to make me rest today. Getting to spend the whole afternoon with you has been beautiful.

First Mat

On By mygodroomIn blessings, gratitude, obedience1 Comment

I went to church this morning without my husband. He wasn’t feeling well, so I told him I would carry him with me in spirit. After church I came home, made us lunch, and told him I was going to attend my very first jiu-jitsu class at One Nation Jiu-Jitsu.

At first he laughed, but later—just before I left—he told me how proud he was of me. Mark knows me well. Praise God.

When I arrived, there were two young students, two others maybe in their late 20s or 30s, and two female instructors, Sam and Sadie. Sadie was wonderful—encouraging, strong, and patient. She’s 38 and told me about “Jiu-Jitsu Grandma Elaine” from Alabama who began training around 62.

I looked her up; what an inspiration!

My training partners, Mushaffa and Lindsay, were amazing. We practiced the closed-guard position, using praying hands to sweep, push to the floor, and transition into a Kimura hold. They helped me every step of the way.

After drills I watched everyone roll and spar. It was fascinating—the flow, the respect, the controlled strength.

At one moment, there were three feet clearly coming from one leg as I watched Sam and Sadie spar. All I could think was about a chord of three strands and Ecclesiastes being brought to life.

I’m sore but so full of gratitude. Thank You, Lord, for the courage to step onto the mat, for new teachers and friends, and for the joy of trying something completely new.

The funniest moment was Sadie telling me Sam had figured I had some type of gymnastics background. I confirmed I could still do cartwheels, as I did for Linda in the Hickory Falls parking lot last night. One of the younger students said she could do a cartwheel, as well. I said, “yes and that’s fantastic …but you are not 57 years old””. She might be 10-11 and said, yes I am 57! 🤣🤣🤣

I went home to rest for a half hour before visiting with my JoJo. What a blessing to listen to good music with good friends and make dinner from cheese, crackers and grapes.

Thank you, Jesus, for every little thing. I love you. I have not written about my girls night out last night—-but it’s blessing has been echoing all day. Thank you for the lovely sisters you have given me. I love you.

Leviticus

On By mygodroomIn blessings, gratitude, marriageLeave a comment

Rarely feels like a warm embrace to me. This morning, it felt like a lingering embrace worthy of writing about.

I woke hours before dawn and enjoyed my solitude with Him. When I returned to bed, I could not sleep. In recent months, this has not been a big issue. In fact, He meets me by “our stream” and I sleep like a baby.

Not today. Today, the unmistakable nudge came with a resounding message to “put it in order.” While I emptied out cabinets yesterday, there were two which were prepped in trays for easy removal.

Here’s the deal. The folks who bought our cabinets were scheduled to pick them up today. We both expected they would attempt to come before noon. If they came early, my husband would have been pressed to make a place for the trays.

The nudge was to demonstrate sacrificial love for my husband. When He says “Go”, I go. It’s really that simple.

So I drove to the shop—my second home the past seven years- and began to see it differently.  What felt like chaos yesterday started to feel like a kind of sacred re-arranging.

Maybe I saw myself in the cabinets. Poured in. Poured out. Ready to be filled again.

Funny enough, my son texted quickly after I left the house and Mark called me at the shop when I failed to hear my phone. It was rather sweet on both counts.

I returned home and took my coffee upstairs. Mark flipped my Bible open to Leviticus 26 and 27.  It was confirmation upon confirmation.

Those chapters speak about what happens when life falls out of rhythm and how the Lord patiently draws His people back into alignment.  The disorder we feel right now isn’t failure; it’s invitation.  He is giving us the chance to bring our work, our possessions, and our hearts back under His covering.

It’s important to recognize what’s ending (26:27–45) — no fear with the closure; it’s covenant renewal. It is about redeeming what’s worth carrying forward (27:9–25) — set apart what’s still holy. Release what belongs to Him (27:26–34) — and to let go with open hands and willing hearts.

Everything we have belongs to God. Praise God, my husband and I both know this truth to the depths of our souls.

Our employee is leaving, and soon it will just be the two of us again—leaner, quieter, maybe simpler.  But as Leviticus ends, it isn’t about loss; it’s about dedication.  God calls His people to take stock, to redeem what is still holy, and to return everything to Him in order.  That’s what these days feel like: not dismantling, but consecrating.

It was easy to choose to obey that gentle command: put it in order.

To bless what has been, to release what’s complete, and to prepare the ground for what’s next.

After sharing this Godversation with Mark, I offered him breakfast, as we haven’t gotten fully back to our intermittent fasting. His eyes told me yes before his mouth spoke a word.

I went downstairs and made grilled breakfast sandwiches and fried potatoes for my husband and son. When Mark left to open the store, I was quite joyful baking dog biscuits, prepping Mexican street corn for our Bible Study dinner and preserving a plethora of tomatoes in a bruschetta mixture.

How blessed am I ? Immeasurably more than any person deserves.

Thank you, Jesus.

I See What You Did There #ISWYDT

On By mygodroomIn blessings, marriage, obedience, YHVHLeave a comment

Wowza! Praise God for weaving His fingerprint through every number and every nudge. It’s going to take writing this out to get to the first time I ever wrote it in my Bible. The Lord took me straight back to Blue Ridge and how He revealed Himself on 2/3/23 with such power.

I am in complete awe. #ISWYDT

Yesterday, I had an unusual nudge to study “birthday scriptures”. That said, I have not had time to write out the gist of the lesson from my 1:21 and Mark’s 8:19 verses. Only when and if He directs that step do I take it. Suffice it to say there was a ton of meat and honey and much to digest.

In the wee hours today, I was called to calculate our mathematical birthday date difference, “to the hundredth”. It was clear that precision was the point. For almost seven months a year, my age sounds four years older. Precision required me to enter the dates into an online calculator.

Mark and I share a precise age difference of 3.58 years. Of course it is exactly 3.58 years!

The LORD whispered Lamentations 3:58 four days ago to me by making me “consider the source”. How awesome there is only one chapter 3 in the entire Bible with a verse 58. Again, precision. #ISWYDT

This type of confirmation is exciting in and of itself. Imagine feeling that type of a spiritual surge hours before you typically wake.

Wee hour awakenings are unique. There are time he wakes me at 4 am and keeps me up all day. This morning, I crashed hard. Mark knew it and he knows why I now sleep like a baby with My God Pillow.

Thank you, Jesus, for making me write it down two weeks ago today!

When I woke for the day ahead, my son had already left for his job. If Blake were home, I would not have sung to Mark from the balcony. I am to keep that “balcony” reference, as Mark will remember the playful silliness of the day when I shared the song on my heart.

I shared how the Holy Spirit demanded precision on our age difference and it was EXACTLY 3.58 years. Mark remembered us sharing my last post about Lamentations 3:58 this week. I spared him my “plumb line” lesson when he asked about a tape measure. But, that’s what the spirit put on my heart.

Regardless, Mark knew I was giddy as he left to open the store.

I retreated to our bedroom to hang out with my other husband. I opened my Bible to the beginning of Ezra. My handwritten notes were a blessing from Him. In the last two months, I’ve written several related posts I think the most recent one is “Holy Spur” about how God used a pagan king for His purposes.

Joe Rogan may or may not appreciate being in my prayers as I considered how God clearly used Cyrus.

#Yessir! a#ISWYDT

The opening flip to Ezra was beautiful. Still, I had to “flip forward” and the section of pages landed in the heart of Isaiah 30. Wowza!

I still wasn’t to the small book of great Lamentations! The next section flipped to Jeremiah 31, the photo I shared at the beginning of the post. The surge of 2/3/23 is still buzzing in my spirit as I type from my phone.

Of course He landed me in Jeremiah 33:3 before getting me to Lamentations! He is nudging me to note my study Bible at home is an NIV Life Application Study Bible.

It reads “and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know”. #ISWYDT #YESSiR

Divine Humor strikes again! It feels like a Holy “Hide and Seek”game. Some folks bash the NIV Version. I study from several other versions but this is like pouring kerosene on a raging fire! Looking at images of scripture, the nudge to use the “one with hands” was powerful.

That’s exactly what He has done, is doing and will always do. God always listens when we call. The trick is for us to listen to what He says.

Father God, this has been such a joy today, to worship you in spirit and truth. Thank you will always fall short. Thank you for expanding my territory and answering my husband’s prayer. I feel like I keep winning the spiritual lottery with you. I love the work you give me.

When you gave me the assignment of 31 Mats for Jesus, Joy-Jitsu & Joe Rogan, I didn’t question it. Thank you helping me get 31 ready to edit. I hear your call to the expand the 31 to 40 Mats. Thank you for redirecting my steps. Thank you for giving me Lamentations 3:58 so poetically and profoundly.

What an amazing episode in my story with you! Of course you love Numbers.

From the depths of my very soul, I love you. I pray sincerely for all your children to answer their calls. In Jesus mighty name, Amen. 💜✝️💜

All the numeric breadcrumbs leads back to You, Your Word and Your Way, Yahweh!

“I see what You did there.”

Father and Son

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Yesterday will stay with me for the rest of my life.

An older gentleman came into the shop—familiar, but I couldn’t place him at first. Later he reminded me we had talked once before, “for about an hour.”

I smile-giggled and told him that sounded about right.

But this time he wasn’t the same. Grief hung on him like heavy air. After helping another customer, I walked over to check on him, and he told me what no parent should have to say: his son, Brady, had died the night before.

Brady served in the Air Force. The family doesn’t yet know how or why. Another son, Cody, was with him in the store. The dad is Mister Brett.

I don’t remember deciding to move; I just found myself walking around the counter and wrapping him in my arms. The moment he leaned into the hug, I felt him collapse—not from weakness, but from release. And in that instant, I felt Jesus hold him through me.

At this precise moment, my husband arrived at the shop. Out of sheer respect, he walked straight to the back room to offer these gentlemen some privacy. He told me it’s a man thing and it made sense to me.

When I hugged Cody, the same thing happened—a transfer I can’t explain, grief exchanged for the smallest measure of peace. Cody reminded us both of my nephews sweet spirit. He even has Kyle’s curls.

Before they left, both came back for another hug. Two men, two embraces, one holy exchange.

I stood there afterward realizing that if the store had already been closed—as it will be next week—none of this could have happened. God kept the doors open for them.

It’s humbling beyond words to stand in that sacred space with such fresh grief and to feel the Holy Spirit move. It felt like my arms were Jesus’ arms in that moment.

Not to fix. Not to preach. Just to hold.

Because my job every day isn’t to ring up customers. My job is to love every person God places on my path.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the strength to love them well. 💜✝️💜