Joseph's story clearly shows us that none of us are immune from life's hardships.  And in fact - it's the hardships that have the potential to refine us and purify us and make us even more like Him.

This is my hope for all of us - that we would remain faithful and continue to put our hope and our trust in Him.  God will show us the way.

When we are more stressed - our propensity for being triggered increases. In addition, the trigger is going to feel even stronger.

The key is to be aware of the old coping mechanism cropping back up and to course-correct as soon as possible.

We are going to make it.  It might not be glamorous or glitzy.  In fact, it might look a little ugly at times - but we will make it.

Each one of these emotions deserves space to breathe, space to have a voice, space to be heard and seen.

So often we give others power in our lives that only belong to us.

This time, I realized that my weight is NOT a source of his addiction. No matter what I weigh, my husband would have still made the same choices.

Girls - we have agency to look at our situations, get honest about where we are, and then figure out the small steps we can take to do things differently.

Because confidence comes from within - it's important that we are nourishing ourselves with the things that will help us feel well.

The light might dim, for a season, but ladies - it will never go out.  We must fan the flame.

My hope is that each of you can approach next week feeling empowered, connected to yourself and more confident than in years past.

You WILL look back and see the good.  Sure, there are tears, there is grief, there is pain - it's not easy.  We will wrestle and struggle our way through - looking for the hope.

Here is the deal - I know I'm not alone in looking at others, seeing what all they are doing or not doing and wondering - what went wrong.

Forgiveness will be an act of worship, an act of obedience, as you intentionally let Jason out of the prison cell of your heart.

As we begin to accept ourselves and find belonging from within - we are then able to show the true and real version of ourselves to others.

The next Restore Workshop is in Dallas, TX in less than two weeks. I would so love to see you there!

What I didn't realize is this: the cleansing work of deep grief is actually just what I needed to breathe lighter and easier.

link to a podcast + the official mark of summer - my boys are out of school