I once heard a story of a new teacher who had been called into her principal's office for a discussion about her class. As the story goes she was told to not expect much out of these kids as she had a few students who were just getting shuffled from class to class to get them out of the school system. Being a new teacher, full of hope and passion, she didn’t think she could do that. Instead, she thought she better figure out which students he was talking about and offer them extra assistance. While the principal stepped out to get coffee, she snuck through the student files and found numbers at the top of each student folder. She was sure that was their IQ and committed them to memory. When it came time to teach these kids, she set the bar very high as these children were all very smart with outstanding IQs and it was her job to bring it out of them. She worked tirelessly that year to mold the minds of these students and they all did an outstanding job. When the year-end came...

Feed your soul... like chicken? Or vegetables? Miracle Grow? What does one feed its soul?! Once upon a time, I didn’t get it either. It was a trendy phrase used by a specific kind of person. A much younger version of me imagined her to be someone who didn’t have anything else going on in her life. She lived in luxury. She didn’t have to go to work. She didn’t have any responsibilities. Her day consisted of yoga, sunbathing, and posting on Instagram. Boy, was I wrong! To feed your soul is so much more than the stereotype I had created in my mind. As I grew, I began to understand how important it is to partake in activities that truly do feed your soul. They make your heart happy. You find peace in them. It doesn’t have to be yoga. It doesn’t have to be sunbathing. Maybe its crafting. Maybe its hiking. Maybe it is watching your kids play and relishing in the glory that is a child. Maybe it is your job. Maybe its prayer and/or Bible Study. Maybe it...

It is so easy to be feeling overwhelmed these days. Nothing is as it was, everything is changing quickly, and the added stress of those changes adds more difficulty to every facet of our lives. That added stress makes it harder to stay productive too. When you look at your to-do list and it is a mile long, it’s hard to know where to even start. Most people do one of two things when they reach a place of overwhelm, they either shut-down, or they go into overdrive. When you shut down, you’ll find that it is all of a sudden “normal” to spend 6 hours of your day on social media. Or maybe snoozing your alarm so much you end up showing up late for work. Or maybe it’s binging your favorite old show. On the other hand, when you go into overdrive you find yourself taking on more and more tasks. Maybe you need to go to the post office to mail out a bill today, but when you sit to write the check and grab a pen, you decide to organize the junk drawer. After...

In my nursing education, we are trained to deal with many different types of situations. The good, the bad, and the ugly. In one of our training exercises, we are challenged with aiding a pregnant woman who has been in a car accident. Many protocols and routines are in place to aid us in dealing with the bad and ugly situations that we may experience. They usually include having assigned roles in every situation. Everyone has a job. As a new nurse I had asked, “Whose job is it to care for the unborn baby? The team is dedicated to the mom.” The response I received will stick with me forever, “Take care of the mom, and she will care for the baby.”

Let that sink in Mamas. Did you know your body is designed to steal from you so it can support your unborn child? Did you ever think you could live on 4 hours (or less) of sleep a night before you were a parent? Did you ever think that you would go years without buying new clothes so your kids would have new shoes for...

Self-care, self-love, me-time. These phrases are ones we hear often. But do you have any idea what that even means? Do you hear yourself saying, “must be nice” when someone talks about taking some time for themselves? We’ve all been there. Some days it feels like there just isn’t any time for you. Some days it feels too expensive, wasteful, or even selfish. But every day, it is necessary.  

As a society, we always find the money, the time, the x,y,z to make things happen that we really want and need. The most heartbreaking example of this is when a loved one is ill. In your day-to-day life, you don’t have the time or money to go visit. But when that person becomes ill, you make the time. You find the money. You find the way and get there. Immediately, this becomes a priority, and we always figure out the way for our priorities. I challenge you to make your own health and well-being a priority this month. Sure, life is crazy and busy...