“Blooming from Brokenness: One Woman’s Rise from Despair to Divine Purpose”

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m terrified of lizards. Yeah, I know they are innocent little creatures and that they can’t hurt me. It’s just one of those things that I’m afraid of. Interestingly, growing up in Jamaica I used to catch the creatures with my brother, Henry and his friends. Of course, once I caught them in, I’d drop the bamboo snare and run for my life. It was up to them to release them. I remembered tearing my dress off on two occasions because, you got it, lizards dropped inside. Once I had gone to enjoy the river and scenery at Castleton Botanical Gardens , St. Mary. Another time, I was at home and feeling idle, I used a sledgehammer to knock the trunk of a breadfruit tree . These incidents showed me that fear can take away other inhibitions. My poor husband, earlier in our marriage, would have had to find any lizards I had seen before I could go to sleep. I’m not that bad anymore, I’ll go to sleep if I don’t see one in my bedroom. So where am I going with t...

I realize that we sometimes get so caught up we cuss when we face some of life’s challenges. Even the smallest thing can sometimes get our goat. Today, I’m resolving to be grateful for life’s challenges for many reasons. Challenges help me garner experience; if I made a bad decision once, when faced with the same situation in the future, it is unlikely that I will make the same mistake again. There is more than a little truth to the old adage experience teaches wisdom .  While I know that many people have lost their jobs and it has caused all sorts of financial challenges, I know more than a few for whom being fired has been a blessing in disguise. Just recently, a young woman I know with four kids to take care lost her job. I was worrying about her, even though I knew she didn't like the job she had. A few weeks later, she landed another job, but even better, she was earning almost two-times what she was before. Others have taken the loss of a job as ...

I was struggling to decide what to write as I aim to complete the Ultimate Blogging Challenge for October. As usual my son, Jalen, came to the rescue. He’s my muse when I want a topic to write on. His innocent question, “Mom do you think my work can be shown in a museum?” was all that I needed. He’s a creative child, which is not surprising as his dad is a graphic artist and amateur writer.  Jalen loves music and has sporadically shown interest in playing the guitar and his former tutor says he has a natural talent. He also has a love of drawing, painting and writing poems, but again he is never consistent – he does these things in spurts. Maybe, he will come into his own as he grows and settles down to one or the other. As a mom I want to see him excel at all or even one of these things, but I will not pressure him.  As any mom would, I told him not yet, but one day who knows what will happen. He then took his latest painting to show me. Of course I thought it w...

This morning as I started my day, I read a post by PeggyLee Hanson a participant in The Ultimate Blogging Challenge for October 2012.  It was such a timely reminder that we periodically need to recharge our batteries so as to be happy in all areas of our lives. To read PeggyLee's article following this link .