Posted on June 18, 2026
by Paris Renae
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The first thing I thought when my husband passed away was: I’m not safe anymore. He was my ‘safe’. If the car had a flat, he took care of it. If the house needed a repair, he did it or found someone who could.… Continue Reading “Safe”
Category: featuredTags: abuse, alone, animals, anxiety, attack, Bible, breath, brokenness, calamity, child, dead, death, details, doubt, earth, eternity, fear, flood, Florida, follower, forever, friend, God, goodness, guide, heart, heaven, help, holiday, humble, husband, ill, issues, Jesus, journey, life, Lord, pain, passed away, peace, protect, Psalm, reality, rest, safe, soul, storms, strength, tears, terrorist, trials, uncertainty, widows, world, worry
Posted on June 4, 2026
by Paris Renae
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Remember the announcements back in the day, whether on radio or TV – a loud beeping would occur followed by, “This is a test of the emergency broadcast system”? Have you ever felt like that’s your life? There were days where I would call… Continue Reading “Test me”
Category: featuredTags: afraid, announcement, anxious, best friend, child, cry, death, desperate, doubt, earth, emergency, enemy, eternity, everlasting, fact, faithful, Father, fear, friend, gentle, God, heart, help, Holy Spirit, home, husband, life, lonely, lost, love, miracle, offensive, prayer, Psalm, relationships, rescue, Savior, search, sickness, silence, sin, son, sorrow, sos, test, throne, tired, trust, upheaval, why, wonder, worry
Posted on May 14, 2026
by Paris Renae
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When days seemed endless, I memorized Psalm 139. One of my most beloved Bible passages. As I reflect on the years behind and ponder the ones ahead, I have taken a more in-depth look at David’s long-ago words. “You hem me in – behind… Continue Reading “Where can I go”
Category: featuredTags: assurance, beloved, Bible, bloodstained, broken, comfort, create, darkness, earth, endless, eyes, fear, God, goodbye, guidance, hands, heart, husband, Jesus, joy, long ago, Lord, memory, passed away, prayer, promise, protection, Psalm, reflect, remember, sick, sorrow, soul, time, true, wedding, words, work, years
Posted on April 15, 2026
by Paris Renae
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“The days are long, but the years are short.” A little wood block painted black with white lettering makes me look off in the distance. From my current viewpoint, it seems the days were short as well. I blinked and forty-two years had passed.… Continue Reading “You know”
Category: featuredTags: brokenness, calm, children, death, despair, diagnosis, dream, emotion, forever, freedom, God, graduate, grandchildren, grief, heart, heartbreak, home, husband, illness, Jesus, life, loneliness, longing, Lord, love, memories, pain, prayer, promise, Psalm, purpose, regret, rejoice, relationship, salvation, sickness, sorrow, soul, travel, trust, truth, viewpoint, weep, worry, young
Posted on March 11, 2026
by Paris Renae
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It’s been thirty-eight days. The one I thought I would be eighty-something with before one of us died, found himself in the arms of Jesus at only sixty-nine. First a military burial as taps played, then a church service led by my children and… Continue Reading “Only One Placemat”
Category: featuredTags: amaze, betrayal, Bible, burial, children, church, companion, dad, darkness, death, die, earth, exhaustion, Father, grief, health, heart, heartbreak, holy, honor, hurt, husband, Jesus, joy, kiss, life, light, loss, marriage, military, physical, rejected, sorrow, soul, tears, wife, world
Posted on December 9, 2025
by Paris Renae
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For three years I have been broken open, exposed, recreated…it’s been painful physically, emotionally, spiritually. Soul piercing. Oh, there were days (weeks, months) where I wanted it ALL to change, to go away, to wake up from a bad dream. But now…I can say,… Continue Reading “Do not trespass”
Category: featuredTags: awe, bad dream, broken, cracks, cross, cry, dark, death, desperate, doubt, earth, emotion, eternity, fear, free, gift, God, heart, heartache, hope, hurt, inspiring, Jesus, joy, light, longing, old, pain, peace, questioning, regret, sacrifice, Savior, shame, sickness, sojourner, sorrow, soul, spiritual, tears, time, trespass, trust, urge, vulnerable, wonder, world, worry, young
Posted on October 10, 2025
by Paris Renae
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Most of us dream this: meet prince charming, get married, have kids, live comfortably, die holding hands while rocking side by side on the porch. But life… Sometimes that dream is shattered by abuse, or divorce, or childlessness, or a child dying, or a… Continue Reading “When your dream changes”
Category: featuredTags: abuse, accept, agony, assurance, beautiful, best, birth, change, Christ, comfort, die, divorce, dream, earth, eternity, expectation, faith, Father, free, God, good, heart, heaven, hope, illness, inheritance, Jesus, kids, life, Lord, married, mercy, old, peace, personal, perspective, possible, power, praise, prince, promise, rebel, relax, resurrection dead, rich, salvation, special, spouse, time, treasure, truth, wish, write, young
Posted on July 24, 2025
by Paris Renae
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My best friend needed encouragement. Problem is, she lives 3000+ miles away. I texted her this: “You are loved, you are enough, Jesus says so.” Later I thought: this is truth, one of the authors in the Bible should have written that. But wait…they… Continue Reading “Jesus says so”
Category: featuredTags: accuse, angel, angry, assurance, Bible, chosen, Christ, condemnation, control, darkness, debt, demon, earth, eath, enemy, fear, forever, friend, genie, God, grace, heart, hell, holy, hope, imperfect, Jesus, light, love, messenger, nature, perfect, power, praise, priest, problem, royal, sacrifice, Savior, selfish, silence, sin, sincere, special, tears, text, treasure, trial, truth, victory, worry
Posted on July 2, 2025
by Paris Renae
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(Mountains Part 2) Once I wasn’t much of a bird person. It started with a bat getting into my grandmother’s house when I was spending the night as an eight-year-old. Years later my cat brought a bird into the house and let it go.… Continue Reading “Delight”
Category: featuredTags: anger, bird, busy, cat, creation, cute, delight, desire, eyes, fireflies, future, gift, glory, God, grace, grandmother, heart, home, human, humble, Jesus, journey, joy, life, live, Lord, love, mercy, mountains, need, promise, regret, rescue, rest, salvation, sky, soul, sunrise, surrender, trip, true, want, wonder
Posted on June 27, 2025
by Paris Renae
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Mountain series begins today – ten days of soul rest high in the North Carolina mountains has given me pause to breathe deep and exhale the struggles and fears, the worries and the tears. In some small way may you find rest in the… Continue Reading “Soul View”
Category: featuredTags: awe, Bible, christianity, creator, cry, dramatic, eternity, explore, faith, fear, forever, God, goodness, heart, Holy Spirit, hope, inspire, Jesus, knowledge, learn, life, linger, mountain, no control, North Carolina, perfect, promise, question, quiet, rest, Savior, simple, slow, soul, storm, struggle, surprise, tears, torrent, trip, woke, wonder, worry