I was a little girl who wore shame that didn't belong to her. I knew where it came from. I knew it came from things that happened in my family. I knew it came from things people knew. I knew it came from whispers, opinions, comparisons, and labels that found their way onto my shoulders long before I was old enough to understand what to do with them. I remember not wanting people to know what was in the newspapers. I remember not wanting people to know who my dad was. Not

Today the Spirit of Truth showed me something so simple, yet so profound. I've read Isaiah 61 many times. I've prayed it. I've quoted it. I've tried to put on the garment of praise. Yet there were seasons when joy seemed just out of reach. Today, the Holy Spirit put one word on it. Mourning. Jesus said the Spirit of Truth would guide us into all truth. Today, He did exactly that. In my season of heaviness, I wasn't lacking praise. I was carrying mourning. Isaiah 6

I was writing a birthday message to my daughter when I typed these words: “The place you hold in my heart is unmatched.” Then I laughed. Not because it wasn’t true. Because it is. But it also made me realize something. When someone holds that much of your heart, they also have the ability to break it. That’s the risk of loving deeply. As parents, we know that feeling. Our children can bring us our greatest joy and our deepest sorrow. A phone call can make us celebrate, or it