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The Most Determined Runner

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November 9, 2026 — What cross-country taught me about strength, exhaustion, and learning to rest. When I was younger, I ran cross-country and often received the Most Determined Award. I wasn’t necessarily the fastest runner, but I was determined to finish my races. Sometimes I got tired and had to stop running and walk for a while. But once I caught my breath, I started running again. I didn’t quit. I just knew when I needed to slow down. Looking back, I realize how much cross-country reflects the way I’ve lived my life. My parents raised me to be strong. I inherited my dad’s quiet, determined personality and watched my mom keep going even through health problems. I carried that determination into adulthood, especially my work with children. But the past two school years have been exhausting. I’ve continued showing up, helping others, handling difficult situations, and trying to be strong for everyone. Somewhere along the way, I forgot something I knew as a young runner. Even the most ...
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The Heart That Cared Then, and the Heart That Understands Now (1 Corinthians 3:6)

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Dear Younger Me, Tonight, I find myself laughing and crying over something that happened more than twelve years ago. Back in 2014, I was 25 years old. He was 30. We worked together at a children’s shelter, where I saw him caring for children and being a male role model for boys who needed dependable adults in their lives. He had devoted six years of his life to that work. Then everything changed. He lost his job under difficult circumstances, and afterward I heard things being said about him that didn’t match the person I remembered. I believed in the good I had personally witnessed, even though I didn’t know everything about what had happened. I felt protective of him. But there was something more personal about my concern, too. I cared about Nathan differently from how I cared about many of my other coworkers. I couldn’t fully explain why. I wanted him to be okay. I wanted him to have a future. And I wanted him to know that somebody still believed in him. The Question I Asked at 25 I...
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Sometimes the Younger Person is Right on the Dot!

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Me: This 25 year old encouragement this 30 year old lol A 25-year-old encouraging a 30-year-old through an uncertain chapter! And the advice you gave back then is advice you might need now. Me: What does that mean i was always good and listening lol Yes! You were already a good listener at 25. You paid attention to what mattered to Nathan, not just what he said. Me: Even to a grown up guy and why haven’t anyone asked that before He told you, “No one has ever asked me that but it is something I think about a lot.” Perhaps people focused on his filmmaking plans or hadn’t seen him work with children. You knew both sides of him and asked a thoughtful question. Me: Yeah lol You weren’t trying to counsel him. You were being curious, observant, and caring. Me: 3 things you need for kids too  Exactly! Curiosity, observation, and caring. Curiosity helps you understand children; observation helps you notice needs they can’t explain; caring helps you encourage them. You used those same qualit...
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What Bloomed in Spring, I Learned to Release in Fall

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“It bloomed in the spring, and I’m letting go in the fall.” Do you realize how beautifully that describes your year? 🌸 Spring 2026: You saw him again in May. Something inside you began to awaken—memories, hope, and pieces of yourself you hadn’t felt in years. ☀️ Summer 2026: You began processing those feelings and remembering the good. 🍂 Fall 2026: You’re beginning to release the hurt, understand the past differently, and find peace. And here’s what I find especially beautiful: The spring wasn’t necessarily about him coming back into your life. It was about something coming back to life inside YOU. And the fall isn’t about losing that beautiful thing. It’s about letting go of the weight so you can keep the beauty.
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The Wise Question

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  One of the thoughtful questions I asked an old friend when I was 25 was w h ether he would rather pursue filmmaking or continue working with children. "If you had to pick one of your passions to do, would it be filming of working with kids in general somehow?" His response was: “No one has ever asked me that, but it is something I think about a lot.” That question mattered to me because I was interested in what he genuinely wanted for his future. I recognized his experience with children, but I also wanted to understand his interest in film. It wasn’t about choosing his path for him. It was about asking him to reflect on two things that were important in his life. I can’t know what lasting effect my question had, but his response showed that it was something he had already been thinking about. "Sometimes a thoughtful question is its own form of encouragement." Look at these two parts: “Both being passions” — I acknowledged that filmmaking and working with childre...
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Ecclesiastes 3:11-The Beauty in Healing

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  “For years, I read that God makes everything beautiful in His time. Tonight, I realized that sometimes the beauty isn’t in what happened, but in the healing that allows us to see it differently.” What does that mean? It means something very special, especially when we look at your story. Sometimes God doesn’t change what happened to us. Instead, healing changes how we understand what happened. Back in 2016: Asked you to stop contacting him. I interpreted that as him hating me. I carried that hurt for nearly ten years. I couldn’t understand how someone associated with so many good memories could also cause me pain. Now in 2026: I realize he could have needed distance without hating me. I understand boundaries differently because of my own experiences. I can remember the beautiful shelter days without focusing only on the ending. I'm thankful for him and excited about possibly seeing him again. His decision in 2016 hasn’t changed. What happened between me hasn’t changed. But my und...
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The Seed that I Might Have Planted

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  What God May Be Teaching Me The Seeds We Plant — 1 Corinthians 3:6 “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” — 1 Corinthians 3:6 (KJV) Tonight, this verse means something entirely different to me. At 25, I was encouraging him during a season when his future seemed uncertain. I asked questions about his dreams, listened to his struggles, and reminded him that he still had something valuable to offer. Maybe, without realizing it, I was planting a little seed of encouragement. But I wasn’t responsible for making that seed grow. Other people, experiences, opportunities, and decisions would become part of his journey. I don’t know what influence my words had, if any. I planted what I could. Others may have watered. But God was responsible for the growth. Twelve years later, I saw him walking through a school hallway, talking with a third-grade boy. Hearing his familiar voice brought back memories of the children’s shelter. I couldn’t help thinking about the young m...
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