​I have the honor of being an Aunt to three beautiful nieces. One of them, Alyssa (alyssabreann), takes gorgeous photos. She shoots them in the perfect light, at the right angle and captures each special moment. She has photo editing software, but with her natural talent I doubt she uses it too much. Alyssa is famous for her slight clumsiness, sheer innocence, and unwavering faith; at 22 years old I look up to her in many ways. She’s that woman that you know will marry a Pastor someday.  I have witnessed the trials she has been through and watched her faith strengthen each time.  God moves mountains for Alyssa, from parking spots to a new car, he has demonstrated his faithfulness in every trial.

​Forgiveness isn't an easy task and can be a process. It feels like a 100-pound sack of potatoes from Costco. Each potato is dug up from the ground but differs in shape, size, the amount of dirt covering it and firmness.

It isn’t uncommon to hear of people who have an unbelievable encounter with Jesus; they can tell you the precise moment, what they were wearing, every thought and every tingle.  That moment when they knew their life would never be the same.  My story doesn’t begin with Jesus showing up in a beam of light.  It also doesn’t include me running up to every person I knew screaming about how my life had changed.  I can’t even tell you how old I was, but I do vaguely remember sitting at my Father’s old wooden desk talking.  I remember my baptism around the age of 8 in an adult over-sized white robe.  Rather than being engaged in the event itself, I was more concerned with the scolding eyes from my parents for swimming around and desperately trying not to pee in the warm water during the ceremony.