When a storm passes through, our attention is often drawn to the leaves. The branches bending in the wind. The visible damage left behind. The things we can immediately see. But the storm is rarely testing the leaves. It is testing the roots. The leaves may tell us how strong the wind was. The roots…
Category: hope
Coffee With My Father
This morning, as I sat quietly with my coffee, I found myself thinking about prayers. Not the prayers I am praying today. But the ones I prayed years ago. The ones whispered through tears. The ones spoken from places of uncertainty. The ones I wasn’t sure God was listening to. As I sat there, it…
Komorebi
Light that reaches you only because something stands in the way. Beauty created by obstruction, not absence. I’ve been thinking about that kind of light lately—the kind that doesn’t arrive freely or fully, the kind that has to pass through branches, through resistance, through layers of things that slow it down. Komorebi is the Japanese…
Dear 2026
We’re stepping into you without a clean slate. We’re bringing unfinished conversations, tired hearts, quiet hopes, and lessons we didn’t ask to learn but learned anyway. Some of us are coming in stronger. Some softer. Some carrying grief so gently it almost looks like calm. Some still learning that healing doesn’t always need an explanation….
And So This Is Christmas
A Quiet Reflection for All of Us There’s a line in a familiar Christmas song that always seems to settle into the heart a little deeper than the rest: “And so this is Christmas… and what have you done?” Not as a judgment. Not as a measuring stick. But almost like a soft reminder —…
Resilience
My daughter and I landed in the Philippines a few years ago to visit and spend time with my family. As always, with any trip we take, I made sure to bring my camera. Four weeks into our six-week vacation, I realized I’d only taken a handful of photos. It’s not that there isn’t beauty…
Loyalty to Legacy
What Ruth and Naomi Teach Us About Women’s Strength Today… In the quiet pages of the book of Ruth, nestled between the lines of loss and famine, is a story that still whispers truth into the lives of women today. Ruth wasn’t born into Naomi’s world. She married into it—and then, after loss shattered their…
Why I Keep Writing
When Words Save You: Why I Keep Writing Even When It’s Hard There are days I sit in front of the screen and feel absolutely empty. No inspiration. No spark. Just silence, fatigue, and the heaviness of too much life. And yet—I write. Not because I always feel brave. Not because I have it all…
God’s Written Testimonies
God Writes Testimonies That Take Time We love the idea of a quick breakthrough, a fast-forwarded healing, or a neatly wrapped-up story. We long for the moment where everything finally makes sense, where the pain was worth it and the waiting is rewarded. But the truth is, God’s testimonies often unfold slowly—layer by layer, moment…
{Brave}
“The only way to being at peace with yourself is to be accepting and loving of who you are.” Let me share you a story. Before I started blogging fourteen years ago, I was in a woman’s group and from there I became aware of this thing called blogging. And I told myself, Charina…you can…
Charina.Writes 