A lot of times when people travel, they like to utilize the safe in their hotel room or cruise cabin. Protecting valuables in a locked safe ensures their items will not be stolen or damaged. We put things in a safe or a vault, in order to protect them and, well, keep them safe. (Play on words, I know).

When someone shares something private with me, I want them to trust their secrets/concerns and heartaches in my presence. I want them to know I am a vault. Whatever they tell me stays with me. I only share it with God in my prayers. It is so important our family and friends know they can trust us to be a vault, not a faucet.

A vault locks things inside, where a faucet gushes them, out. I want to be a vault, not a faucet. And when

I have seen disaster, first hand. Several times, now. The 2010 Flood in Nashville was the first heartbreaking disaster I experienced. It was devastating. The smells were horrific and I can still remember them, to this day. As I helped my sister-friend Lindsey clean out the debris from her parents’ home, it was heart wrenching to have to throw away precious treasures and family mementos. It was a long, grueling process to clean, rebuild and restore.

In 2016, I saw disaster again. The Gatlinburg wildfires destroyed my parents’ home and the homes around them. Everything was destroyed. Everything. We did not have any photos to survive the fire. I have read some articles and I have seen pictures from other people who went through fires and they had items blackened; charred around the edges, but still in tact. We were

This is a little long, but it is an emotional journey and I wanted to share part of it with you.

My friend Alice texted me one morning and said she wanted me to pray about “Kinsman redeemer.” Just pray about kinsman redeemer for a few days. I know you know the story, but God wants to reveal something more to your heart. Not your head.”

Alice also told me she thought of me when she was reading in a particular study one morning and came across this: “Havilah ~A Hebrew word meaning “writhing in pain” and to “bring forth”. It signifies the making of something beautiful from pain. No God does NOT cause the pain. But ONLY God could bring forth such amazing beauty from such agonizing pain. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. Especially in those He calls His own.”

I have surely experienced “havilah” in my life. I am guessing you have, as well. I would c

Our pastor has done a remarkable job reminding us of God’s true character. God is love. Period.

God is not holding a long list of our mistakes and sins, just waiting to yell at us over our countless failures. In fact, we are the one holding the long list of our mistakes, and God just takes an eraser and removes it from His sight.

Something Pastor Steve Lawes said recently had tears streaming down my face. He told us Eve took sin from the tree, and that was the beginning of The Fall. (Genesis 4). But the beautiful thread of redemption is shown to us on the Cross. Jesus became sin for us, and put sin back on the tree … the Cross.

From tree to tree, we see where sin was taken down and where sin was put back up and dealt

For Valentine's Day, I gave Terry gifts for the senses. For every sense, there was a special gift. For example, for the sense of hearing, I gave him two new albums to add to our “record” collection.

It was so much fun to put these gifts together and write a note for each one. It made me really focus on each sense, and try to come up with something special and unique for each. I can see how Papa gifts us, every single day with our senses. The gift of a glorious sunrise and sunset allows us to experience the sense of sight. When we listen to beautiful music or the ocean waves or birds singing … we experience the sense of hearing. When we sip a delicious wine or taste a fabulous chocolate or savor an incredible meal, we experience the sense of taste. When we hold hands with our loved one and kiss them or feel their embrace; we experience the sense of touch. When we smell a flower or a candle, we experience the sense of smell.

Each of these senses are particularly special when you break them down, individually. But what if we used each one for God’s glory and to reach someone for Jesus

Several months ago, I ordered a really cute pair of shoes online. Let me just tell you … these shoes are gorgeous. They have these strappy straps, and quite frankly, as soon as I took them out of the box, they became my favorites.

I wore them to an event that lasted all day. The actual event did not last all day but the “before” stuff and the “after” stuff meant we did not change clothes, therefore I did not change shoes. So I wore these shoes all day long. These gorgeous, strappy heels were not intended for all day wear. While they have a padded heel, the area where the ball of my foot rested was not padded, so that part and my toes ended up hurting after about four hours.

I kept telling myself, “Yeah, okay, your feet hurt, but at least you look good. Keep on, keeping on!”

I typically love people, easily. Loving on people who need love is easy for us to do. Taking care of those around us who have needs comes naturally. I do not always love the yucky people

I was sitting outside one night watching the sunset when the sky seemed to run through nearly every color of the rainbow. It was when it turned yellow that I thought to myself, “Wow, Papa. The sky is mellow yellow.” That was the night I noticed a difference in me. A transformation was taking place and I was becoming more and more mellow and at peace again.

The reason I knew I needed to take a break was because I was focusing far more on my imperfections and not nearly enough on God’s miraculous perfections.

Terry and I had to make a painful decision and it took me a long time to have a peace about it. My January “break”from writing was a period of reflection to take back my peace. Yes, the very peace I allowed the enemy to creep in and break apart and try to steal. Terry and I were forced

Terry and I did a little bathroom redecorating. We found some cute, matching ceramic holders for toothbrushes, cotton balls and Q-Tips for him; the same for me, plus makeup brushes. First of all, let me tell you how much I love HomeGoods. We will go in HomeGoods just to kill time. Almost everything in our kitchen and bathroom is from HomeGoods. I don’t pay full price for things, and HomeGoods offers just about everything I want or need. And no, this is not a sponsored post of any kind.

So the other day I was taking the price stickers off our new holders, most of them had the sticker on the very bottom. But some of them were slapped right on the front or side of the holder and it was beyond irritating, because they didn’t just peel right off. I had to scrape as much as I could, which left a stickiness still, remaining. Terry used WD40 to get the rest of it off, then washed it. I was thinking, “This should be a three second ordeal, and it turned into 25 minutes to get all of these stickers off with WD40,

I started really disliking one particular college team because a guy we know is a diehard fan and really loves this team. This guy leaves a bad taste in our mouths. He speaks horribly about his wife, he has lied to us for years and we just cannot trust him. Because of his behavior, I couldn’t stand “his” team. That team has been a rivalry of my beloved VOLS long before I was ever even a student at The University of Tennessee. Sure, some VOLS “hate” this team, but I have always viewed it as a friendly rivalry. Until “this” guy. And he left a very bad taste in my mouth for this particular team, simply because of his “diehard fan” status.

But when I took a step back, I realized one of my dearest sister-friends graduated from law school at this very university. And I love and adore her, as well as several of her friends who are now my friends, who also graduated from law school there.

I am also well aware there are University of Tennessee fans out there

Michala took several photos of the three of us over Christmas break. She said while we were out how perfect it was to take some pictures because it was “Golden Hour.”

Michala is far too humble to admit to this, but she has an amazing eye for photography. When we tell her this, she shrugs it off and says, “It’s the camera. It’s not me.” What’s funny though, I have used the same exact camera to take pictures and they do not turn out nearly as well. So it isn’t the camera. It is the girl behind the camera.

But “Golden Hour” means so much more to me now. The sunset is absolutely breathtaking, of course, during golden hour. The sky painted in beautiful pastel colors during sunrise take my breath away. But more than the sunset glow in the sky or the incredible awakening of the sunrise … there’s just a sense of perfection during those moments. There is a sense of pure, perfect, peaceful

When Terry and I travel, he laughs at the way I pack. I will pack two to three outfits for one day. I mean, come on … weather is often unpredictable! It could still rain, even though the weather app for that city says it will not rain. And just how cool is that 58 degree temperature going to feel? Will I want to wear that sleeveless dress to dinner, or will I want to wear a long sleeve dress? And don’t get me started on shoes. If I don’t wear the sleeveless dress, then the strappy heels I have packed won’t match the long sleeve dress, so I need to toss in another pair of heels, just in case.

Terry’s idea of packing? Just grab a nice button down shirt for me, and pants. I’ll ask, “But what if it’s warm? Do you want the same shoes with those pants as you would with dress shorts?”

I tend to overpack. It’s a problem I should work through, I’m sure, to eliminate our heavy luggage. I think if I worked through this problem, we would have much lighter loads to carry into hotels.

This tends to happen to many of us with our emotional baggage, too.

“I’m not a regular mom. I’m a cool mom.” - June George, Mean Girls. You know the movie. “On Wednesdays we wear pink.”

I never strived to be a “Cool Mom” in the sense I compromised my parenting. I used to always tell Michala, “I’m cool, by nature.” Of course this was said tongue in cheek and just caused eye rolls and laughter from my daughter who is always honest to a fault with me. Now that Michala is in college, I can call her my “friend.” But growing up, I knew my job was not to be her friend. My job was to be her parent. Her provider. Her protector. Her guidance-giver. Her prayer warrior. Her spiritual teacher.

Gracious sakes, I failed in just about every category. But not for lack

We received some news that absolutely wrecked me. My heart was shattered into pieces so broken, all I could do is cry out to the only One who can put the pieces back together. I wasn’t able to sleep. I wasn’t able to eat without being sick. I wasn’t able to clear my mind without the news running like a ticker through my brain. I tried to do everything I encourage everyone else to do: watch something funny. Read God’s Word. Pray. Talk to someone you trust. Listen to worship music. All of these things helped, but they did not heal my mind.

If you are anything like me, there are things some of us have faced in life we just can’t allow ourselves to think about, or the painful reminders and memories cripple us, emotionally, mentally and physically. Sometimes when my mind wanders and I go to those unpleasant memories, the enemy can throw some sharp, jagged darts through my heart. Those darts rip and pierce through and leave a wound feeling as though it will never heal.

One night I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. The Holy Spirit nudged

Our pastor, Steve Lawes, taught us something several years ago that forever changed the way I view our marriage. I have shared this before, but it is worth sharing again. He taught us to replace the word, “Love” with “God” in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Because God is love, this reminds us of what God’s character is. “God is patient, God is kind.” 

Steve then challenged us to place our names where the word, “Love” appears. Boom, Mic Drop. This was a game changer for me. Because Aimee is not always patient. Aimee is not always kind. But I remember the morning I was sitting in church hearing this, and wanted to ask Steve to please walk somewhere else and stop stepping all over my toes. I told Terry, “If we were to ever say our vows over again

I am going to share a very odd, bizarre truth about me. So here goes. Ever since I was a little girl, I have had this (unrealistic) fear of quicksand. I guess I have Gilligan’s Island and Scooby Doo to thank for this, I don’t really know. But sinking into quicksand used to consume my thoughts at night when I was little. I imagined our beach vacations in Deerfield Beach, Florida to be absolutely wonderful … until I began to sink in the sand that I knew would turn into quicksand. 

I know better, of course, and the older I become, the more I shake my head at my younger self. But through the trials Terry and I have faced the past few years, I can see how I allowed my thoughts to sink into a self-inflicted quicksand type of pit.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he

“The struggle is part of the design.” - Jamie George

“Embrace the tension between the now and the not yet.” - Steve Lawes

Not at all “ironic,” these are phrases both of my pastors have used in the past decade. One of them was from Franklin, Tennessee, and the other from our church in the Keys.

Recently, Michala was sharing with me part of her resume and her application for an internship. One of the things she had to submit was a “7 second interview” video. This is something used to showcase the applicant’s personality and something that would not appear on a resume. I haven’t asked Michala for permission to share what her 7 second interview said so I will not share it, but I will tell you this: she talked about our ugly, broken past and how leaving it made her stronger and more resilient; qualities she carries with her, always. 

As she shared her 7 second interview with me, I wept. I could

One of my favorite quotes of all time is, “Trust but verify.” - Ronald Reagan

When we are at the cabin, I usually wake up first, and try to be extra quiet so as to not wake Terry. One morning I woke up and was kicking myself for not getting the coffee pot ready the night before. This is usually one of the last things I do before we head to bed. I make sure there is plenty of water in the coffee maker, set out two mugs and put a coffee pod in place. This particular morning, however, I woke up to the realization that the night before, I was too tired (or lazy) to do what I do, every single night. 

As I reached for a coffee, there were none. The holder was completely empty. 

I opened the cabinet above the coffee maker and there were none there, either. I turned to the kitchen island and opened the drawer where I keep the extra coffee … none.

“Dadgummit.” I muttered. I was going to have to

As a sophomore in high school, I took Honors Biology. There was no reason, whatsoever, on God’s green earth for me to be taking Honors Biology. For that matter, I had no business taking standard biology. I have never been a fan of biology, and I can still remember the nauseating feeling in my stomach when we first began dissecting things. One of the lessons I learned and carry with me today, though, was a printout our teacher, Mrs. Black had in her classroom. It was done on those old fashioned computer printers that would be long and stretch across the room. It said:

“If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.” Boy Howdy. Mrs. Black was so wise to hang that in her room for us to read, every single day. It left a lasting impression on my young mind, and I carry those words in my heart, today. 

I once heard, “Standing for Jesus could cost you everything.” That’s true. I know it is. But if you meet Him at the foot of the cross every single day, He will prepare you. We have to be prepared, though, to stand totally for Jesus. Our pastor once said, “Christians try too often to make it Jesus plus. But it’s not Jesus plus, it’s Jesus, period.”

Jesus plus says, “I think I can excuse this bad behavior because God can use a mess for His message.” 

Jesus period says, “I better not make that mistake, because someone else or I would be the focus, instead of God.” 

The Jesus plus is when we add things to scripture

If you have read my page for a while, you know this story. When Michala was little, she asked me, “What does God look like? Is He white or black?” I tried to think long and hard about my response, because I did not know how to adequately answer my inquisitive kindergartener’s question. I told Michala, “I think God looks like Ms. Lindsey.” (She is a “Mrs.” but we say “Ms. in the South, y’all know). 

Today is Lindsey’s birthday, and let me tell you. I think she makes God look beautiful. 

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” - 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

I love this verse so much. “And the Lord - who is the Spirit - makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” My sweet sister-friend Lindsey was changed into His glorious image