DOORS

I am learning that even though Doors have the signs "push and/or Pull to open", I cannot force the doors of my life's journey open. When I do, it inevitably ends begins and ends badly. I have spent time trying to try them open before, and I won't do it now. I will stand at the door, see if it opens, knock on it, maybe give it a little shove, but no more prying it open.

There is a DOORMAN who will open it for me anyway, if it is the right door for me.

Short and sweet, but something worth saying.

Good night ya'll.

Friends Are Like Doughnuts

What an amazing couple of days! And it left me in the very thankful spot, basking the glow of the things I have in my life that money cannot buy you. I turned to my Momma Saturday and said "I have wonderful friends, and such a variety of them". And it hit me...MY FRIENDS ARE LIKE A BOX OF DOUGHNUTS.

I won't name my friends, but I have a feeling that they will know exactly what doughnut they are in this perfect Krispy Kreme box of love in my life.

1. Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles-Just sweet and fun and colorful! Always bringing light into my life, and lightening the load (how can you get too serious with all the sprinkles, huh??)

2. Glazed Cruller-They are never what you expect, but when you bite in, there is goodness and sweetness and you find yourself never viewing the cruller the same again, it becomes better and better to you!

3. Cinnamon Apple Filled-Authentic, Genuine and full of good stuff. Never lets you down.

4. Chocolate Iced Kreme Filled-The best. You think it's good and you bite in and it gets better, even better. And it's solid to the core, and if anything gushes out, it's goodness.

5. Chocolate Iced Glazed-It's glazed, so it's already good, and to top it off, it's covered in chocolate and works anywhere, anytime.

6. Traditional Cake- Rich and Heavy. Will always pack a punch. When you eat it, you are full, it nourishes you.

7. Traditional Glazed-Classic. Timeless, always good, not too much, but definitely not too little. We all want to be like the Glazed Doughnut.

8. Doughnut Hole-This is my Momma. It is little, like her, and it packs a punch. But no matter what, it's always there....You will always have a doughnut hole...

9. Powdered Sugar- Always leaves something behind. Covers you. Just looks happy and sweet, and it is.


Look at your life.....I hope you have these kind of doughnuts in your box. I love that I have a little room left too, I can add more.

Push Through

This week is a busy week for me. And a very special one. After being on this earth for thirty-plus years, and literally being able to see several of my dreams come to fruition, there is another one that will happen this Thursday night. Not only was I blessed with the support from Soles4Souls and their CEO Wayne Elsey to be able to complete my CD, Scuffed and Simple, but I will perform it live at The Listening Room Cafe, June 3rd at 6pm to celebrate it's release. It is free and open to everyone.

And my band for the night is a group of people who are some of the dearest to me, they are all volunteering their phenomenal talents as well, which just really overwhelms me to the point of tears. And my Momma will be here, and my dear friend Leann from South Carolina, as well as the folks who will come out to listen.

And I look at this time in my life, and literally think, it is MY time. And there are things about it that are right, and things about it that are wrong, or better yet, not the way I envisioned them to be. But nonetheless, that time is here and happening for me, and I need to enjoy it and relish it and celebrate it, thanking God for every moment.

I think that has always been the hardest for me-the pushing through. I would rather just close my eyes and let the storm pass while I am under the covers. But God never lets that happen to me, He strips the blanket off and puts the cloud right over my bed. But he usually sweetens the deal with an incredible rainbow at the end, or a flower that blooms because it was watered. And when I do push through, and embrace what I am dealing with, instead of wishing it away, I am always better, stronger and more complete because I DID push through. But it doesn't mean it is easy, it is NEVER easy. Anything worth HAVING in our lives is NEVER easy.

So, if you come Thursday night, know that you are helping one of my dreams come true. You will hear some stories, stories about the songs and about the journey, and I know 100% you will feel the love coming off the stage, and I believe you will see God too, because HE was and IS all over this. And that makes me the most fulfilled and satiated when I think of the whole experience.

And wherever you are, whatever you are going through, around, above or beneath-push through. Even when it is hard, and you are tired. Push through it.

"There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears" Philippians 1:6 The Message

Enough for me.

I am honored to write for Soles4Souls monthly newsletter and feature stories about people contributing to our mission in their communities. This month I wrote about Hannah Holton, check it out:

Hannah is Not Just a Student, But a Teacher

Hannah Holton is five years old. She is a kindergartner in Frisco, Texas. She loves to read and play outside. She daily teaches her mom, dad and two brothers what it looks like to love others as you love yourself.

In December she saw her mom looking at photos from a friend's mission trip to Haiti. The mission team was working in an orphanage so there were lots of kids in the pictures. Hannah had lots of questions about life in Haiti. She said that one day she wanted to go there and play with the children that looked so happy, although many of them had no family of their own.

In January, she heard "Haiti" in a news story and asked what happened. Her mom found out many of the children in the pictures were devastated by the earthquake. Donations were already being sent to buy supplies for the orphanage. Hannah had the idea to sell grape Kool-Aid to her friends, from a wagon she pulled through her neighborhood. As people bought their drinks, Hannah told them about the earthquake, and the children in the orphanage. She collected $5.17 in about an hour.

On Palm Sunday, Hannah's church put out baskets and asked people to leave their shoes to send to Haiti and to others in need. The pastor announced that the church would begin a month long collection of shoes for Soles4Souls, and that church members should clean out their closets and donate any gently worn or new shoes they do not wear. All types of shoes were needed; because they would be sorted to go to Haiti, people looking for jobs, and other kinds of places. Hannah again heard "Haiti" and asked if the shoes would go to the kids she had seen in the pictures just months before. Her mom explained that yes, some of the shoes could get to those kids.

She went to the altar with her mom, and as people put their shoes in the basket, she asked if she had to leave hers. Her mom said, "Only if you want to." They were her favorite white shoes that she had just gotten to wear with her Easter dress. She stood there for a minute and then slowly took them off and put them in the basket. She seemed a little sad, so her mom gave her a hug and asked her what she was thinking. She said, "I really love those shoes because you bought them for me and they are pretty. Some of the kids in Haiti don't have moms to buy them shoes so I gave them mine. That makes God happy and I know he'll get me some more shoes."

On the way home, Hannah asked if everybody's church was collecting shoes. Her parents said "probably not." She decided to make poster to pass around her neighborhood and friends in an effort to collect more shoes. Her mom set her up on the computer and after a little editing, she printed the flyers and went to deliver them. Hannah went barefoot to ask people to look for shoes. Over the next few weeks, people would ring her doorbell and leave bags of shoes. Hannah collected about 25 pairs of shoes.

Hannah's church has a Mission Possible Kids group who does monthly outreach projects with elementary school kids. For April, they sorted the hundreds of shoes that were collected and wrote notes on those that could be going to kids. Hannah found her white shoes in the pile, along with a pair of silver sparkly little girl's tennis shoes. As she worked to tag them somebody said, "I'll bet some little girl is going to be very happy when she gets these shoes" and Hannah said, "I'm happy that we have so much that we get to share. God likes it when we share."


Tiffany Johnson
Spokesperson



And I sent her a copy of my CD and a book called 'New Old Shoes" as a thanks from Soles4Souls.

Her mom sent me this email upon seeing the newsletter today:

"Hi Tiffany,

Thanks for the email. Hannah did get her package and she loved it. She took the book to school for Show and Tell to read to the class. She also put the CD straight into the player in our kitchen and carried the case around with her. She said you look like Cinderella!

You have been a blessing to us and we thank you."


This is enough....enough for me. That is it, ya'll. What it's all about.

Oh my, oh my....a lot to say

Man, what a month so far. I left my home early Sunday May 2nd to go to my church, only to be evacuated because of the flooding sweeping across parts of Nashville. My dear friend Bill Harrell and I were together 12 hours in his car, going from place to place, at one time a hill top because we got caught in a pretty scary downpour. I stayed with my best friend until Tuesday morning, because things were virtually waterlocked around her neighborhood.

I came home to my little abode, and then reality set in, as I sat alone on my couch and watched the news. Being a South Carolina girl, I had been through a hurricane. I know what that is, it comes, rips up, and leaves. Although there are similarities, a flood is very different. You have to wait on the water to leave. And it took a while, it STILL is taking a while. I sat there helpless, and scared, I live by myself, and sometimes, you have those moments that you think "I am all alone". But we really are never alone, unless we choose that.

I live about 30 minutes from the Bellevue area, which is where I go to church, and where I was stuck, and it was one of the hardest hit. Massive volunteering efforts had started that week, so I put on my duck boots (any good Southerner will know what those are) and went to Bellevue. I pulled sheetrock with strangers, cleaned out flooded basements, ate lunch prepared by insurance companies that set up stations, and literally bathed in the flood of goodwill and love that is NASHVILLE. I will always be a South Carolinian, but this is my home now. This beautiful state and city has made me understand why Tennessee is the Volunteer State.

It is SO sad, people have lost everything....except for their resolve. But it is also so beautiful in it's brokenness. I have had the opportunity to work with Soles4Souls and give shoes away to flood victims as well. WE have given shoes to people who have cleaned out their shoe closets for us in the past, and they humbly came because they have nothing left. I drove downtown today to deliver a pair of work boots to Eric, who has been doing reconstruction and clean up downtown in GALOSHES....freaking galoshes!!!!! His smile today and hug made my heart SOAR.

There is still SO much devastation and so much to be done. People need the simplest things, groceries, toiletries, your time, manual labor, a shoulder, an ear, a movie night to get their mind off of what they have been through.

I am so thankful that my home is OK. But my heart isn't.....God has grabbed my heart and squeezed it hard with this. Things are things, they are reminders of our past, but they can replaced. People can't, relationships can't, and these are what matter most. Sacrificing our time and resources will always bless us! Even if we feel we don't have it to give, give on the faith that it will be provided and IT WILL!!

I love you, Nashville. You have inspired me, and changed me.

The List

I don't want alot of things in life. I have figured out that the simpler my life is, the happier I am. But if someone asked me to give them my "wishlist", this would be it...

1. I want to be a great friend.

2. I want to have great friends who love me as I am, and walk through joy, doubt, and sadness with me.

3. I want to enrich the lives of other people, to be a positive force. I want to be the face of love to people in my life, and hopefully just be an outlet for God to touch their soul.

4. I want to have someone in my life that will allow me to truly love him and be truly loved by someone that accepts me as I am, and inspires me to get where I can be.

5. I want to be able to take care of my Momma.

6. I want to use my gifts in ways that feed my soul. It can be singing at church, singing in a club, painting a picture for a friend, painting a wall of a Habitat for Humanity house, helping a friend find an outfit that makes her feel like a million bucks. I want to create, because I was born to do that.

7. I want a bathtub with claws on the bottom.

8. I want to always have kitties in my house.

9. I want to sit on the beach as much as I possibly can and watch God's majesty.

10. I want to feel God smile upon me, as often as possible.

OMG...Shoes

Today I was getting a pair of shoes out my closet. My new JESSICA SIMPSON NUDE PEEP TOE PLATFORM HEELS! Love them, my Momma bought them for me as an "I love you" present, and I just stopped for a moment, and just held them up, with that wonderful feeling in my heart that only a REAL SHOE-A-HOLIC can understand.... Love, admiration of their beauty and the anticipation of wearing them.

And then I thought about how it must feel for someone in need when Soles4Souls gives them a pair of shoes (whether it is their first pair EVER or first good pair in a long time). So, I guess I should multiply my SHOE-EUPHORIA by 1 million to equal only a fraction of what it must feel like for a man, woman or child in need when they receive the gift of shoes, whether it is here in the US or worldwide.
A simple gift of $1 (YES, one dollar) can help Soles4Souls provide that gift to someone. Will you help? To donate, go to Soles4Souls
and get involved.

(I can't wait to rock my new shoes out..... and help others as well)