Who has your back?

When life happens, I clam up! Do you ever get overwhelmed when life is throwing so much at you? I sure have felt that way for the last six months! We had two wonderful weddings which brought great joy to all of us, followed by my three siblings having serious health issues. Those of you who know me, know I am a doer...a cook...a driver...locater of whatever is needed kind of sibling. The more I do, the less time I have to worry. Do you find worries creeping into your mind...what if...how will... and before you know it you are burdened with sadness, anger, guilt, or loss.

Have you noticed who heave backpacks are for kids today?! My grandson is in 3rd grade and he has a backpack for school that is as big as he is. He often walks leaning forward due to the number of books, lunch bag, laptop and all the other items needed for school. NOW THAT'S A BURDEN!

Our lives can often become burdened with challenges, concerns and issues especially in our world today. I am sure that all of our backpacks look different. What do you carry in yours? Our children are often carrying the burdens of anxiety, fear, and sadness especially as we watch the world around us.

My sweet husband often talks about how kids as well as adults keep adding rocks aka...worries and concerns into their backpack of life never being able to release them and move forward.

When I become overwhelmed, I realize that I have forgotten who is happy to carry my backpack full of worries and concerns. I am reminded in my quiet time of Matthew 11:28

when Jesus says..."Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest.'

Letting go can be hard....until I open God's Word...I am reminded that He has my back! As I look outside my little world, my worries are very minuscule in reality to those families in Ukraine. I am indeed blessed.

So today and tomorrow and the weeks ahead, I plan to let go of my concerns and focus my prayers on the people in Ukraine, who have lost everything. May we all lift them up daily and give what we can to help these families in much greater need. I often find when I focus on others my backpack suddenly gets lighter.

Have a blessed week.

My Determined Big Daddy...

I imagine that most of us can recall where we were 20 years ago today. A colleague and I had been in Washington D.C. for a conference. She had flown home on an early flight back to California which was an absolute blessing as I look back. I was in a meeting room with several hundred attendees when we were interrupted with the news of the Twin Towers attack in New York City. The meeting was immediately stopped and a mass exodus made out of the conference room. Due to the location of our hotel, one of the attendees in our group witnessed the attack on the Pentagon from the window in his hotel room.

I remember hearing all the sirens going off around the city and all the limos departing from the area trying to evacuate important people. My first thought was to get out of D.C., I simply wanted to be home with my family, if our country was under more attacks. It was impossible to make a mobile call. I didn't have the ability to text as I didn't think is was a necessity to have on my phone. That was a huge mistake. It took forever to get a call out and I knew that my father would be frantic knowing that I was in D.C.. I decide to stand in the long line at the Hertz counter in the hotel...The line was so long that when the one person finished renting a car, the phone was passed to the next person in line. I was able to get a rental, but unable to get a taxi to get to the lot which was about 12 blocks away so I decided to walk. (Was I nuts!?) It was sheer chaos in the city. Cars, taxis were flying everywhere! I was stopped seven blocks into my walk by the mounted police who told me I had to return to the hotel as there was another bomb threat where I was going. My dad had left half a dozen messages to give him a call...I was trying... along with thousands of other people! I finally reached one of my children to let them know that I was ok and returning to the hotel. All flights had been cancelled and the highways were at a standstill. I knew of people that bought large SUVs to drive with their colleagues back to California. Those of us unable to leave sat in the bar all day and into the late evening watching the news.

How great it is when a parent comes to the recuse! My father wouldn't rest until he found a way to get me home. I spent the night in the hotel...now down to the bare-bones staff which we could all understand. My daddy...Big D as I named him years earlier came to my rescue. He knew many working in D.C. and one of his friends was there on business. He and another colleague picked me up the next morning to return to home. It was indeed a long drive due to the large exodus from D.C.. I learned something special on this trip home... God can take the worst situations and bring a blessing into the mix. These men were on the board of a local ministry in Nashville. As a result of this long ride home...I was blessed to learn of this ministry Family Affair Ministry in east Nashville, which I continue to be involved with today. Today is a day to remember and pray for all the families that lost a loved one in New York and D.C.

I learned much from that frightening experience. What I know is that God is always with me and if I can rest in his presence when chaos abounds I have all that I need. I had my father and my Heavenly Father looking after me.

• God is always with me. - Isaiah 41:10

Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strenghten you and I will help you.

God bless America and keep us safe.