Five Minute Friday:  BRAVE



He walks slowly and with a purpose but head tilted a little down until he comes upon you and then it's all smile and light and joy.  He told me when he was pretty young, "I am a walking man....and, he is.  His journey through this life has been one of many steps.  Some with family, some with friends and often, alone.

He's fought many warrior battles in his life, at times with sword held high and at times with spirit bent low.  But, always in faith.  Always.  Always.

The steps he has taken have led him to places most of us will never know.  The knowledge in his heart is insight most will never find.

There is a gentleness, a compassion, a strength of character that you do not grow in self unless you walk this path.

It is not a journey for the faint at heart.

                     And yet, he has walked one thousand miles.

Where most would quit, and stop and cry and carry on in large and talking ways...

He stands quietly and smiles and hopes.

He is a dear heart....not all will understand.

But, those who take the time to lift, to encourage and pray....

Those are the ones who will be forever changed..

By him....

His light in this world shines differently and you have to look a little harder to see it's rays...

You may even have to stop your own steps to catch his light....

But, when you do, you will be forever changed...

And, blessed....

And, what you will see is...

     all that is....

            the walking .........BRAVE....


written in love and admiration and honor to a man who is one of the bravest men I know.....

….…..As Only Your Mama Can

 

P is for Perseverance, Practice and Pretty

Madison, it is a simple thing to start

Much more difficult it is to finish, to          “persevere”…..

But, that is what God requires…..both the starting and the finishing, and that is what my Mother’s heart prays for you.  Whatever you begin, you finish. 

Learn this lesson now….and work hard to finish everything you start….

 

Most people I know do not figure this out in their life, or, if they do, they are old before the realize the importance of persevering… 

They tire, they grow weary, the give excuse, the lose heart…..it is easy to do.  We are all guilty of this…

But, don’t stay on that path of fatigue, weariness, excuse and lost heart….get back on the path God has set before you and keep walking….. 

And, persevere 

Don’t wait to learn this lesson….chose to learn it now. 

Baby steps 

Baby step after baby step leads to a path in the right direction…. 

And finish…. 

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me ..”  Acts 20:23

 

P is for Practice 

There are not a lot of things your Mama can promise you, but this is a promise of which I am confident…

If you do not practice what you want to do, you will not do it

If you do not practice your faith on a daily basis, you will not be faithful

If you do not practice being loving and kind and patient, you will not be so 

This applies to everything in our life…

By contrast,

If you do practice guarding your soul, your spirit, your heart, it will become guarded

If you do practice working toward good health, you will grow toward good health

If you do practice morality and intentionality, you will grow that direction 

Practicing is not easy 

But, the more your practice at something, the easier it becomes…. 

Practice what it is you want to accomplish 

And practice, and practice and practice….. 

P is for Pretty

I know you have heard the saying, “pretty is as pretty does”…..it’s an old sage and yet, it is true. 

It does not matter how beautiful you are on the outside if your inside is ugly. 

It does not matter how fine your figure, how tan your skin, how long your eyelashes and how thick your hair.  You can paint your toes and polish your fingernails.  You can arch your eyebrows and apply foundation and eyeshadow all day long.

But, if you have an ugly inside, it will eventually show on your outside. 

I personally am biased.  I believe you to be very pretty and lovely and kind on the inside.   

As your mother, I have been told many times what a sweet and tender and precious heart you have.

 And, I believe you do.

In fact,

                 I claim that you do in Jesus’ name through years and years of praying…..

 

What I pray is for “congruence” 

You and I are both learning in class that to be truly healthy in our lives….to have wellness…our inside and our outside need to match. 

Our physical bodies must give evidence that we care for them and love them. 

Our spirit-filled insides must give evidence that we care for them and love them. 

That does not mean you need to look like a model and act like Mother Teresa. 

That means that you want to grow toward what God made you to be…… 

And only you and God know what that is…. 

But, it starts with having a pretty inside…. 

And, you do. 

Of that, I am confident. 

Blessings Princess....

ILYAOYMC,

Mama

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Journey through Breast Cancer.....in photos....

April 28, 2008 - April 28, 2013

Many people have traveled with me through this journey. And, I am grateful for each and everyone.  But, I am especially thankful for my sister, Frankie who walked beside me all the way...and, still does even today. 

                

 

 

 

                

 

 

April 28, 2008 –April 28, 2013

“The salvation of man is through love and in love.  I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment….”   Viktor E. Frankl

 I understood from a very early age that this life is just a journey.  I grasped that each day was a gift given to us by God and for us to use and enjoy as we could until that time came where we would be no more.  For some, the journey would last many, many years and cover many, many miles of life.  For others, the journey would be oh way too brief and last merely days or even weeks.  And even for some, their journey would being with the beating of their heart and end with its stopping, never even reaching their earthly birth, but heading straight home to heaven.

But, for all of us, it is a journey we are one…

What I did not realize at a very early age is the purpose of this journey.

To live a life which reflects back to this world the glory of God.  That our actions, our words, our decisions, our aspirations, our jobs, our parenting, our play, our singing, our worship, our intimate time with ourselves all be time spent reflecting to the world….the GLORY of God.

I know that now.  I do.  I get it.  I understand it.  I strive to live in that way.

I fail not just a little….I fail a lot in my strivings.

But, what I do understand now is that while man may hold you down and pin your every foilable, every weary moment, every sin on your life, God does not.

God walks beside you…..He holds your hand…..

He believes in you

He loves you

And, in that intimate, deep seated, strong and mighty love, you can live….you can breathe, you can aspire to be that reflection of Him in a way which “makes all the difference”….

And, that is my goal for however long the balance of my days are on this earth…

To love…in Jesus’ name

The simplicity of that overwhelms the soul and speaks to my spirit…..

It IS his greatest command…..

I pray to obey….

But, the journey to my getting to this understanding has been 51 years in the making and has come at great earthly cost through many painful decisions and life lessons.  I am grateful for each and every one…for, they have brought me to my knees

And, closer to Him.

Five years ago today, I started on one of those “life changing” journeys…..five years ago today I was officially diagnosed with breast cancer…

Words from a doctor-friend that forever changed my life and my legacy….

“The bad news is, you have breast cancer.”  “The good news is is that it is very early stage, highly curable and fairly easy to treat….God willing”.

I had always heard that when you get that “C” diagnosis, your life is forever changed….IT IS TRUE

It was as if the truths of my life flashed before my eyes.

I was…I am forever changed by that diagnosis…..

And so, my journey toward wellness began

Not just wellness of physical body…but wellness of heart, of mind, of soul

I made no bargains with God.  I simply told Him, “Where you lead me, I will follow”, but I did ask Him….”please make my life not be a waste.  Please give it purpose.  Please make it real.  Please grow in me a heart for you.”

And, as God is so precious to do…..He did, He has, He will….

He uses all of me…the good, the obedient, the tender and the real.  He uses the bad, the disobedient, the hard and the fake.

He has dropped me past my knees and onto my face….

He has given life to the words, “When you get to the bottom of yourself, you get to the beginning of God”….

Until I begged Him for a new heart….

And, even in that, He has been generous…

“I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you.  I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed.  I’ll put MY SPIRIT in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commandments.”  Ezekiel 36:26-27

Breast cancer was life-changing for me.  Some of it good.   Some of it very painful.

But, none of it wasted.

I am forever changed by my journey through it....

I don’t know what God has in store for me for the balance of my days….I don’t  even know how many more days He will allow me to spend on this earth…

But, I do know that I am loved

And, I do know that I love

I do understand that God uses all of me, the good and the bad, for His glory, in His way, in His time

I do understand that while this world is not my home and that I am just “a passing through”….

I can be HIS while I am here…. 

Blessings,

Lesa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I close my eyes, I can hear her singing, “Raindrops keep falling on my head” and the giggles which interrupt our singing resonate in my woman’s heart today.  We sang that song one million times to anyone who would listen and for any occasion.

Just as real in my mind are the remembrances of my friend leaning out her front door and calling my name saying I should just run over to her house and play.  She calls my name loud and clear so I know for sure it is her. 

Then, my mind gathers sweet as I imagine the long, blonde pew at the Radcliff Church of Christ and a row full of sweetness and light all sits together passing notes and trying to be quiet during the sermon.  Young Christian sisters whom I to this day hold precious to my heart. 

I grow into a young girl, move to a foreign land (twenty minutes down the road) and make nice with the Catholic girls whom share a love of God and a need for prayer in such a tender way that even today, I can see them kneeling on the kneeling bench and long to sit beside them. 

I grow.  I change.  I draw close to my sweet cousins for whom even today I am ever so grateful.

I move to high school and meet the young girl who will turn out to be a “heart changing” kind of friend.  One with whom nothing is sacred.  No secret too great.  No boy to off-limits to talk about.  A sister-friend who though we lost her too soon still leaves an imprint on my heart which I carry with me every day.  Her name is Andrea Beth Morris.

Other girls…they come into my life and fill my cup to over-flowing. 

And then there are my sisters….some brought to me by brothers and some brought to me by faith…who stand with me in a family big and large and hold my hand and make sweet memories and live this thing called life with a heart for me and mine.  They are precious to my heart.

And, even My facebook is a telling page….names which would be just names except that they are not. ….they are my dear-hearts, women with whom I have shared my life and who, in return, I  have shared theirs.

Each on of them....each one of you, I gather you up in my basket of life's flowers...the sweet scent of your friendship bringing joy to my heart and love within my heart...

For each and every one of you...

I am grateful….

YOU are more than just my sisters…..my comrades…..my prayer warriors……

You are, in fact

My

FRIENDS…..

May God bless and bless each and every one.

 

“A Mama Moment”…..

            with Johnson.........

....my son Johnson is experiencing a challenge in his life.....one which causes him to question what is significant, what is important, and who really values him and cares for him as a person, an individual....a young man.

Who is real with him and lifts him up...and who is non-authentic and does not.

Whose word is gold and can be counted on, and who's is just that...words.

I have spent a lot of time listening to him, to his words, to his heart...I have shed quiet tears of sadness, I have enjoyed great moments when the "lightbulb has gone off" and I have come to know my son and more importantly, my son's heart, in a very powerful way.

He is the real deal...

He is authentic...

I was touched beyond measure when he said, "Mama, I know I have made mistakes, but I do not live in them.  I learn and move on."  "I am sad even mad at this situation, this season, this time, but I am not defeated.  All it is really doing is shedding light on what I want to be like when I grow up and what and who is important to me."

"I will just keep working....I will try to work on myself....I will be real." 

~A Mama Moment

May I never miss a single one…..

 

………..As Only Your Mama Can

O is for Ocean, Only and One

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ocean

You are the daughter of a mother who loves the ocean.  I am the mother of a daughter who loves the ocean.  I am not sure why we so love the ocean, but we do and we have and I cannot remember a single time in my life when I did not.  I cannot remember a single time in your life when you did not.

 

I feel closest to God at the ocean….there is a mindfulness which comes to me when I am there. 

I feel the presence of the Lord most intimately and most powerfully….at the ocean.

Prayers come simpler, laughter comes sweeter, and memories are made deeper at the ocean…

It is a great gift God gives us when He gives us the ocean….and, I am grateful.

Only

You are my only daughter.  When your dad and I were in pre-marriage counseling, we discussed how many children we wanted to have and we both said simultaneously, “four”.  One daughter, twin sons and a child of which we don’t know the sex.

We had our daughter, Madison.  We had twin sons, Kenton and Johnson, and we had our precious baby which we miscarried and truly do not know the sex of, but have always called him Joseph.

I no longer wonder at the way God works…..

I just stand in awe….

In the process of having our children, God found it fit to give me a “one and only” daughter.  There comes a lot of responsibility with being the oldest…and being the oldest daughter.

There are responsibilities you carry in your life as our oldest which neither of your brothers will ever understand.  Pressures, stresses, challenges which only first borns can know.

I see that baby.

Embrace your “only” status…..accept it, embrace it, and be glad for it…..see the positives which come from being the first and the only daughter….

Ask God to grow in you a fortitude and insight and direction so that your life is one which upon looking back upon it, you can be proud.

This life is about giving God the glory in our lives…taking the good in us and reflecting it back to this world….taking the bad in us and using it for His good and reflecting it back to this world…

Embrace your only daughter status….accept it…..

Use it…..

Every single day for the rest of your life…….

Jesus was an only....he understands

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  John 3:16 

One

There are many “ones” in your life…but, these are truly the only “ones” which really matter….

God

Jesus

Holy Spirit

His Written Word

When you understand this and immerse your daily life into living this truth, then your life’s purpose and meaning will become more real and more clear and more live-able to you.

It is really as simple as that!  

Blessings on your week…..

ILYAOYMC,

Mama

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Minute Friday - JUMP

Into the strong arms of my Papaw Perry when he would come for a visit

Onto the lap of my Pappy Millstead even with my flip flops on

Off of the chair and onto the floor of my Granny Lettie’s  Kitchen

All around Grandmother Frances’ living room as we danced to her favorite tunes on the record player

 

From the top of the fence into my Daddy’s waiting arms, knowing he would not drop me

Off of the very high diving board at the pool while Mama said to be the little engine who could 

Into the creek at Doe Valley with my sweet and best friend Beth while listening to Barry Manilow

Out of a tree and onto the ground with my friends Susie and Valda at a church potluck

Into my first puppy love with Frank at the insistence of my good friend, Janet 

Into a life at EKU which brought about lessons on friendships, life and love and education

Into a season of employment which would introduce me to Suzanne and Dianne, my sister-friends 

Onto a frame of home and life and family which would create three houses and many memories

Into the greatest earthly gifts in my life through the births of my children..M, J,  K and J

Into the arms and heart of a man who has loved me since I was thirteen and for whom I am grateful 

Into the greatest season of my life where God is my foundation,

                                                                     love is my commitment

                                                                 and Grace is my wings

I

 Jump……