#reflection

Scripture: Matthew 11:28

I didn't grow up believing love was spoken or shown. I believed it was earned—measured in hours worked, sacrifices made, and how much I could provide.

Scripture: Proverbs 19:21

At the time, rejection felt personal and painful. Only later did I realize it wasn't denial—it was direction. What I thought I was losing wasn't part of God's plan, and what came next was something I never could have imagined asking for.

Scripture: Romans 5:8

I didn't grow up believing love was freely given. I learned it was something you earned—and I learned that lesson by watching others receive it while I stood just outside its reach.

Scripture: Romans 8:38-39

Growing up without love taught me to believe I was unworthy of it. This chapter reflects on how absence shaped my identity, how that belief followed me into relationships and faith, and how I am still learning to unlearn it.

Scripture: Psalm 55:4-5

Some of the most frightening moments of my childhood weren't the punishments themselves—but the waiting. The hours where my body braced for something I couldn't control.

Scripture: John 10:10

For most of my childhood, I didn't know there was a difference between surviving and living. It wasn't until I became homeless at seventeen that I realized how much of my life had been about endurance, not experience.

Scripture: Psalm 10:14

Avoiding attention wasn't about being quiet or obedient. It was about staying safe in a world where being seen often came with consequences.

Scripture: Psalm 90:12

Some seasons don't demand action—they invite attention. This chapter reflects on listening, noticing patterns, and allowing clarity to unfold without urgency.

Scripture: James 1:4

Growth doesn't require constant intensity. This chapter reflects on learning to stay consistent without urgency, trusting steady progress over forced transformation.

Scripture: Luke 16:10

Not every day carries clarity or emotion. This chapter reflects on discovering faith in routine—where belief is practiced quietly, without urgency or drama, and trust is built through steady presence.

Scripture: Proverbs 24:16

Failure once felt final to me. Over time, faith reshaped how I saw falling—not as disqualification, but as an invitation to rise with humility, and renewed trust in God's grace.

Scripture: Psalm 139:23-24

Long before I had words for fear, my body learned how to warn me. What I once called anxiety was survival doing its job too well for too long.

Scripture: Galatians 6:9

Much of fatherhood happens in routines that don't feel significant in the moment. This chapter reflects on how ordinary days, repeated efforts, and quiet consistency shape family life more than any single milestone ever could.

Scripture: Psalm 56:8

Somewhere along the way, my body decided that controlled pain was safer than unpredictable love. And that realization still explains more about me than I'd like to admit.

As fireworks lit the sky, old memories surfaced—but so did unexpected support. A loud ending to the year softened by understanding, presence, and shared calm after the noise faded.

Scripture: Luke 16:10

I used to think tomorrow required answers. I'm learning that what it really asks for is consistency — small, faithful decisions repeated long enough to matter.

Scripture: Galatians 6:9

Growth doesn't always feel dramatic. This chapter reflects on quiet progress, steady direction, and the encouragement found in recognizing how far I've already come.

Scripture: Micah 6:8

I used to believe faith meant managing outcomes carefully and faithfully. Over time, I learned that faith doesn't eliminate responsibility—but it does redefine what was never mine to control.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

I didn't leave my beginnings behind. I carried them with me—into adulthood, into love, into fatherhood, into faith. This is what survived with me.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:7

Not every day feels like growth. This chapter reflects on the quiet fear, exhaustion, and doubt that surface when transformation feels invisible—and the choice to keep going anyway.

Scripture: Psalm 34:18

There were seasons where faith didn't feel uplifting—it felt heavy. This chapter reflects on spiritual exhaustion, carrying belief through grief and loss, and learning that staying honest with God mattered more than staying strong.

Scripture: Psalm 46:10

After loss, the instinct to escape can be strong. This chapter reflects on learning to stay present with discomfort, resisting distraction, and discovering that growth sometimes happens through stillness rather than motion.

A day of vigilance, responsibility, and difficult compromises—learning how hard it can be to protect peace when ever choice feels contested.

A day shaped by fatigue, shifting expectations, and relentless effort—ending with a rare moment of calm after carrying more than expected.

A day of preparation, interruptions, and an unexpected scare—ending not quietly, but with relief and reflection.

A long Christmas Day filled with noise, generosity, and unexpected moments—ending not quietly, but meaningfully.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9

Even after growth begins, old versions of ourselves still surface. This chapter reflects on recognizing lingering patterns without shame—and choosing awareness over denial as part of the becoming process.

Scripture: Proverbs 4:23

There comes a moment when love stops asking you to explain yourself and starts asking you to protect yourself. This chapter reflects on learning the difference between patience and self-abandonment—and how boundaries became an act of respect, not rejection.

A Christmas Eve shaped by quiet trust, thoughtful moments, and the reminder that the most meaningful gifts are often the simplest ones.

Scripture: James 1:19

I didn't lose her because I didn't care—I lost her because I reacted before I paused. This chapter reflects on the cost of urgency, the wisdom of restraint, and the faith required to choose silence over instinct.

A day spent restoring order, spending more than planned, and sitting with the quiet ache of effort that goes unseen.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:11

I chased urgency instead of intimacy, mistaking intensity for connection and being needed for being loved. This chapter reflects on the hard lessons that come from loving without safety—and the clarity that arrives when you finally learn what love is not.

Scripture: Philippians 1:6

Becoming doesn't wait until everything is healed or resolved. It unfolds quietly in the middle—while questions remain unanswered and growth feels slow. This chapter is not about arrival, but about honoring the process God is still writing.

A day shaped by shifting plans, shared space, and quiet moments showing up—learning that presence doesn't always look perfect, but it counts.

Scripture: Proverbs 16:9

Faith didn't arrive as certainty—it arrived as persistence. Looking back, I'm beginning to recognize God's hand not in the obvious moments, but in the quiet redirections that kept my story moving forward.

A day marked not by events, but by thoughts—grappling with honesty, attachment, and the question of how much care is reasonable to ask for.

Scripture: Proverbs 22:6

Fatherhood didn't come with clarity or confidence—it came with responsibility, reflection, and a quiet kind of faith. This chapter explores the weight, the growth, and the unseen lessons that come from choosing to show up every day as a father still becoming.

A long day of plans, moments, and growing unease—ending with the realization that care sometimes means setting limits.

A day of routines, preparation, and quiet reflection—making space for kids, connection, and whatever tomorrow brings.

A quiet day shaped by intention, concern, and gentleness—learning that presence doesn't always mean staying, and care doesn't always need words.

A day filled with responsibility, quiet moments, and small kindnesses—ending with reflection, frustration, and the resolve to move forward with grace.

Scripture: Matthew 18:10

These are the memories from the years before my world changed—the first hints of innocence, chaos, and a childhood already bending under weights I didn't understand.