As I walked into Cooper City Church, I immediately looked at the person who invited me and smiled.  Using nonverbal communication, her eyes lit up, telling me, “I told you so.”  I flew in for the weekend to spend time with her and Jesus.   The weekend did not disappoint, but the highlight was the undeniable feeling of the Holy Spirit as you entered this church.  It felt like the Holy Spirit opened the door and greeted us.  As we moved closer, it drew us in and ignited inner peace.  Every person who engaged with us, I counted five, carried a…

Benjamin Hall was purposeful in his determination to live.  “My God, you were gone,” said his surgeon, Dr. Grygorovskyy.  “You shouldn’t be here. It is a miracle that you are.” A missile attack nearly killed Hall as he was covering the war in Ukraine for Fox News in 2022.  One year after the near-fatal attack, he was back on the job, and 614 days from the attack, he was back in Kyiv on assignment (Hall, 2025). In his book Resolute, “Hall reflects on the key factors that allowed him to survive the deadly missile attack, endure multiple…

Any questions that cloud my mind regarding others are typically the first warning signal of something that I need to work on myself. I find that when something judgmental comes to my mind, it is a learning tool that I can use to think about and adapt to my life. If a fleeting judgmental thought crosses my mind, I take note and try to take that thought and put it back on me.  When my mind is alerted to someone who acts prideful, instead of addressing the person, I look to myself to eliminate that type of behavior.  If my…

Acceptance for many of us is seeing before believing.  But the beauty of our faith is believing without doubt.  There are many things we do in our daily lives that strengthen our faith and the faith of others. Living life and accepting others with love have proven to be instrumental in my journey.  Not simply saying the right words, but following through with compassion and meaningful actions.   Taking a moment before things get nasty to better understand the perspective of others.  Before saying something I regret, I say a quick prayer for guidance and perspective.  I ask Jesus to speak…