Hey everyone! Quick intro - I'm 24, graduated in 2024 (UGA), building a service business in my college town (Athens, GA). I met David on a mission trip in Costa Rica about a month ago. In January, I went through a breakup with a girl that I thought I would marry (been dating for a year and a half). She had almost every quality that I've been looking for in a wife besides us being misaligned on family. That rocked my world, but also woke me up to the fact that I have been living life on autopilot for the last year. I've been saying I want to build a personal brand, move out of my college town, run my business remotely, break 3 in the marathon, find a mentor, and get in the Word consistently. The environment you are in holds you back more than you know. Over the last 3 days I went to Austin, Texas. I've been seeing so much content online about how active it is and I was influenced to go there lol. I couldn't tell if it was God calling me there or social media before I went. Well, God spoke to me in amazing ways on that trip. I broke down crying in church on Sunday, overwhelmed by how confusing life felt. The sermon was on Job, and the key message was that God can take anything away from us at any moment, and we don't know if we truly have faith until he does. My identity was heavily tied up in my relationship, and I've felt extremely lonely since ending things. The city I'm in makes me feel like I can't progress any further even though my business is here and on paper things would look like they're going great. To sum this up, I decided to take another leap and move to ATX in three months. I won't know anyone besides my friend who is going to be rooming with me. I don't know if my business will survive, or what I will do when I get there. I obviously have a plan, but things could change in a minute. God wants us to live by faith. The times that have changed my life or the times when God has given me an opportunity and I've jumped and tried to bite off more than I can chew.

I have had the privilege of going to the gym with each one of my kids (now 24, 21, and 16 years old). I am so grateful to have had so much time with them that so many parents don't get. Even when I visit my married daughter we don't say "are we going to lift?" it is "when are we going to lift?" My youngest is now a sophomore and his gym journey started at the beginning of this school year. The kid has shown up and put in the work. He weighs 150lbs and hit a pr 1rm last week on Bench Press of 235lbs. Some days are easier than others getting out the door. We go before school most of the time so during winter this comes at the wee hours of dark thirty. Today I heard his alarm go off and I waited a few minutes before going in to see if he needed some encouragement. He said that he slept terribly and I was also on the struggle bus. I gave in and went back to bed for another 90 minutes. I got into work and had that defeated feeling. I mean we go to the gym 99% of the time and we just don't miss (rarely). We hit it 5-6 times a week. I shifted my perspective to grace. I was struggling because I fall into the trap of not feeling worthy or worth it. So I pack in those measurable things like lifting and going to the gym X times a week. I am grateful for grace and I am learning to give it to myself. Today is a full day of work and then family dinner and then worship night at church. No time to get to the gym and that is ok. I will get back to it tomorrow. God teach heal me and teach me to love me more so I can love others well.

Sometimes we are surrounded by chaos… like we’re being attacked from every direction. It can get very overwhelming. An unexplainable peace that makes no sense can embrace you when you’re walking in Faith. Find your peace in the chaos.

Hello to everybody and may God and love of Jesus Shinedown upon you and your family today