When Strength and Grace Carried Me Through We are not alone. Strength arrived when exhaustion said, “Sit down.” Grace whispered, “Stand up.” The show had to go on, and it did. There was a set to build, a book table to decorate and prepare, and a story waiting to be told. Since December, the flu virus had left my body drained. Being tired or afraid of being tired had not been an option. The Tuesday before the Friday night Zora Neale Hurston performance , I finally surrendered

In the weeks following December 29th, my world had grown very small. I had been home with what I came to call the flu 5.0, a virus that settled into my body, clouded my thinking, and drained my strength in ways I wasn’t prepared for. Some days the brain fog was so thick I had to read the same paragraph again and again, determined not to let the words slip away from me. Other days, simply standing up felt like a decision that required negotiation. In the midst of that healing

Hours after discovering my husband’s affair and that his secretary was pregnant, I had to step onto center court and sing the National Anthem in front of a live audience. With my heart completely shattered, I learned one of the hardest truths: real peace isn’t found by avoiding pain , it’s found by going straight through it.

Forgiveness is not weakness.Forgiveness is not surrender.Forgiveness is the greatest gift we can offer—to others and to ourselves. It is a healing, cleansing, heart-opening practice that frees us from emotional captivity and reconnects us to love. I learned this lesson—again—recently when I reached out to someone who had stopped speaking to me. Okay… let me be honest.It was my brother.(And no, I won’t call any names—but he does  have dimples.) The last time he acknowledged