Chocolate Covered Faith

Tonight, life is blessing me with a rare second chance to get something right. I am humbled and truly grateful to start my second chocolate journey from the exact same spot where I began the first time. I will be sampling my exquisite artisan truffles for Wine Down Main tonight inside the Franklin Mercantile. What a joy!

As I have come to realize, during my time with chocolate, God will use any way He can to be present with us, to teach us of His affection for us and to show us His unwavering faithfulness. For me, chocolate has been the vehicle. This very personal and intimate time learning about God through chocolate has changed me, enlightened me and saved me and my family.

I refer to this understanding of God’s nature, Chocolate Covered Faith. It is my very personal and practical glimpse into the heart of God that He, by His grace, allowed me to witness first hand. Just like chocolate, His grace, His love and His provision is rich, thick and good, covering our imperfections perfectly and beautifully.

Oh, how I wish to share this faith with the world. It is so different than the faith that I was taught in Sunday School. It is the truth of God from His own heart, unbiased and unwavering.

I want you to join me in my journey to share chocolate with the world and along with it, the truth of the LOVE of God...it is for everyone and it is so GOOD!!

This is what’s in my heart. 

Good Morning, Starshine!!

...the Earth says, “Hello!”

(If you know where that quote comes from, comment below for a free truffle. 😍)

The quote is significant for where I am at in life right now...coming out of hiding in my wonderful, private world and announcing that I’m ready to share my thoughts again!!  Lucky you!! Haha...

It has been a long time since I have shared my chocolate perspective, there have been a lot of pains and a lot of joys in my personal life...and in all of our collective lives that we share here on this beautiful, broken planet that we call home.

One thing I keep coming back to is chocolate. :)  Not just because it is a type of “home” for me, but also because it continually reminds me of all that is GOOD in the world. Love, laughter and pure delight can be found in the taste and smell of this miraculous “food of the gods.”

I truly believe that chocolate can change the world one bite at a time. As we contemplate it, as we share it, and as we let it teach us how to slow down and TASTE the delicious life that is happening all around us.

I apologize for my 5 year absence on this topic, I had to be reminded of a few things. Now, I am back...stronger than ever, broken, but healed...and ready to share again.  I have a new confidence that my voice can make a difference in this life.

As always...I leave you with this reminder...

Love, Laugh, Think Chocolate!

My Best~

Picture Perfect?

I am not able to write like I used to.  I feel that the part of me that believed that anything is possible, the person who found endless inspiration in the beauty of the world has taken a cold hard blow to the gut.  I have a lot to write about and no words.  Words used to run through my fingers like water through a dam, but I guess the source is dry.

I am feeling it begin to well up from somewhere inside me, but even in those moments of inspiration I sit down to write and just end up staring at the last ten years and *feeling the last two.  My heart was broken, more significantly... my naive trust was shattered.  I realized for the first time that things really aren't always what they seem.

Perspective is everything.  Viewing my life from the ground up is daunting.  I have to continually remind myself that the only perspective that matters is the one that comes from heaven down.  God is molding me into the eternally framed *picture perfect being that He intended for me to be.  ~reminds me of an old Amy Grant song...All I Ever Have to Be...is what He made me.  Huh, it seems a lot different now than it did all those years ago.

525,600 Minutes

The last year has been the slowest year of my life. Every tick of the clock brings a different thought and a different emotion. As I look back through the last 525,600 minutes I am overwhelmed by all the changes that life has brought my way.

In a million years, I never thought that I would be a single mom...again. I never thought I would be divorced...again. Lots of things go through my mind and my heart, mostly things that don't need to be shared in the same way in which they were experienced.

I know that God has a plan for me and for my children. I know that He has not let His grip on us loosen. We are safe and sound in His care, and feeling His continued grace and faithful provision has been a beautiful reminder of His unfailing love for us.

It was a year and a half ago that my life suddenly changed and everything that I thought was true was stripped from me. I have had to relearn what I thought I knew about love, trust and honesty...the foundation of human existence and the fundamental elements of genuine relationships.

The emotion has been overwhelming and debilitating at times, but I feel that by facing my fears of inadequacy and by continuing to require myself to go through honest thought processes that challenge my own shortcomings in relationships - I have found myself at a stronger place mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

I look forward to the years ahead to the love that I will find and the new perspective that I will bring into my relationships. None of us deserve the grace of God ~ may we all continue to fall on Him as we stumble along this broken road...

I Am an Artist...

So, here I am. At the blank page again. A familiar posture for me that seems to make a little more sense now that I can look back and see myself sitting here all these years - feeling the things that I feel that force me here, compelled to [get it out] whatever [it] is.

I am an artist. It is apparent now. I have always been one, but never realized the impact that [being] an artist had on my life. As I sit here, looking back, I realize so clearly, so beautifully, all of the bizarre twists and turns that I have taken - the forbidden doors that I have opened; it has all been part of the [being] that I am - an artist.

It is a way of life, a way of feeling - not thinking. Thinking gets in the way, it blocks out the child like approach that we must bring to the canvas. I observe the way a child loves - purely, unexpectedly venturing into life, not even realizing that there is a destination. Then she becomes aware that she is [supposed] to go somewhere. Where? When? How? It all gets muddled, foggy and adult like.

Those of us blessed [and cursed] with this ability to stand back and feel the world moving around us, knowing that we are not in control of it and actually reveling in that reality... we may seem odd to the rest of the world, but we know how lucky we are. We are the ones who create. We are the ones who inspire. We are the ones who choose to be fragile. If we didn't, who would? And then, where would we be?

My life so far may be a mess. I may not have all my ducks in a row. I may not be holding any cards. I might have spilled my milk a time or two. But I am living, I am breathing, I am playing, I am drawing, I am writing, I am painting. I am an artist and I like it - no, I love it just the way I am.

So, here I am. The page - not so blank, it is now filled with words. So, I did my job, the one I was born to do. I hope you felt something, maybe it even made you stop and ponder a thing or two. If it did - maybe you know now that it has to be this way. I have to feel this way. I have to live this way. It is better for me and it is better for you.

Questioning LOVE?

Have you ever loved someone who didn't want to love you back?

Have you even been changed by a broken heart - residual change...irreversible change?

Does love fit in a box...does it need a label, a title, a good reason?

Why does loving have to be so complex? Why are we so scared?

Why can't love just be...just be...love?

What a Difference a year makes!

One year ago today, The Cocoa Tree in Franklin was closed by circumstances beyond my control. I was devastated, but heard a still, small voice inside telling me to "have faith." I chose to listen, to believe, to trust the order of things...

I am in awe as I sit here today, looking around at what God has allowed. What an amazing journey! I can't wait to see what this year will bring - maybe some good, maybe some bad - who knows? All I can do is have faith and know that it will be exactly what it is supposed to be.

God is good - all the time.

"Trust Sick"

You know when you are in love, but you can't let it out? - you can get “love sick”. That is because love is meant to be given, not held on to.

Trust is meant to be given – just like love. Sometimes anxiety is caused from letting your trust stay inside.

If you are feeling anxious, maybe you just need to share your trust. Maybe there is someone around you who would be glad to tend it with you.

Even if it isn't a person, the concept is the same. Trust left inside can make us "Trust Sick". Trust God. Trust the process. Trust your resources. Trust the order of things.

It isn't easy to do...trust me ;) ...the girl who has 5 kids and a small business. Trust is what helps me go to sleep at night.