remember

 “…In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them… These stones are to be a memorial…”
- Joshua 4:6b,7b (NIV)
 
Memorial Day is one of those holidays that sometimes gets misunderstood. People see a Veteran and say, “thank you for your service.” And while it is always good to honor and appreciate Veterans, Memorial Day is specifically set aside to remember those who never came home. Veteran’s Day in November honors those who served. Memorial Day honors those who gave everything.
My family has deep military roots. My grandfather fought and was wounded in World War I. My Dad was stationed in Italy during World War II, and while researching family history on an ancestry site, I discovered his draft papers for Korea — something I never even knew about. I also have family members who served during Vietnam, and close friends and loved ones connected to Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and the wars that followed.
Some came home carrying nightmares and memories they could never fully escape. Some came home forever changed, only a shadow of who they once were. And some never came home at all.
That is what Memorial Day asks us to remember.
In Joshua 4, God instructed His people to build memorial stones so future generations would stop and ask, “What do these stones mean?” Those stones mattered because people forget. Time moves on. Life gets busy. But sacrifice should never be forgotten.
Memorial Day is more than backyard cookouts, mattress sales, or an extra day off work. It is a pause. A sacred reminder that freedom has always carried a cost paid for by sons, daughters, husbands, wives, parents, and friends whose families had to learn how to keep living after the knock on the door no one ever wants to receive.
Today, may we remember well. May we honor the fallen. And may we never take lightly the freedoms that came at such a high price.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible
 

I made it

Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
- Lamentations 3:22-23 (NKJV)
 
Life is not easy.
I could probably write for days about the things I once thought I would never survive. And I know I’m not alone in that. There are cancer survivors, domestic violence survivors, people carrying PTSD from deep trauma, people grieving losses nobody else can fully understand, and people silently fighting battles they never talk about publicly.
And the truth is, no struggle should be compared against another. Pain is personal. What crushes one person may not crush another, and nobody ever truly knows exactly what someone else is going through because every heart carries things differently.
But one thing many of us have in common is this: somehow, by the grace of God, we’re still here.
Most people who have followed my blog for a while know how much music speaks to me. Songs have a way of reaching places words alone sometimes can’t. There’s one song in particular that has become a personal anthem for me lately — “I Made It” by CAIN.
A few of the lyrics say:
“I’m coming out the other side stronger
One foot in front of the other
Hands still raising
Heart still praising
I made it, I made it, I made it, I made it
Through the storms
The hell and high water
I never left the hands of my Father
Lungs still breathing
Thank You Jesus
I made it, I made it, I made it, I made it”
Whew. That’ll preach all by itself.
Because when I look back over my life, there were moments I didn’t know how I was going to make it through. Times where I was exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious, heartbroken, or barely holding myself together. But here I am. Still breathing. Still believing. Still praising God despite everything.
That’s what Lamentations reminds us. We are not consumed because God’s mercy keeps carrying us forward. Every morning we wake up is proof that His faithfulness has not run out yet.
So if you’re struggling today, let this be your reminder: you do not have to have it all together to keep moving forward. Sometimes victory simply looks like taking the next step. Sometimes survival itself is a testimony.
And one day, you’ll look back at the storm you thought would destroy you and realize…
by the grace of God, you made it too.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible

through fire

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
- Isaiah 43:2 (NLT)
 
How many times have we prayed for God to just take something away?
Take away the pain.
Take away the fear.
Take away the uncertainty.
Take away the diagnosis, the grief, the heartbreak, the struggle.
If we’re honest, most of us don’t pray to go through hard things — we pray to avoid them altogether.
Even Jesus did this in the Garden of Gethsemane before the cross, He said, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Luke 22:42)
There’s something comforting about knowing Jesus understood that human longing for relief. He understood anguish. He understood asking the Father for another way. Yet even in that moment, He still trusted God’s will.
When someone is dealing with unexplained pain, chronic illness, anxiety, or just one hard thing after another, it’s natural to ask God to make it stop. Sometimes we grow weary from carrying things that nobody else can fully see or understand. We pray, “Lord, please let this be over.”
But what if some things are not meant to destroy us — what if they are refining us?
Gold is purified in fire. Strength is built under pressure. Faith often grows deepest in the places where we have no choice but to depend completely on God.
That doesn’t mean suffering is easy. It doesn’t mean we have to pretend everything is fine. But it does mean the fire is not proof that God has abandoned us. Sometimes it is proof that He is still working.
Isaiah doesn’t say if we walk through the fire. It says when. The promise was never that life would be pain-free. The promise is that God will be with us in the middle of it.
And maybe — just maybe — some of the hardest roads we walk are the very roads that lead us closer to where God wants us to be.
 
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Daily Inspiration from the Bible

take off

You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.
- Job 22:28 (NKJV)
 
A friend of mine retired a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been so excited watching her step into a brand-new season of life. It also got me thinking — which is usually a dangerous thing. 😊
I started working like a lot of teenagers do: fast food, waitressing, cashiering, line cooking, prep cooking. After high school I landed a factory job, and eventually I somehow worked my way into corporate America, where I still am today.
But the workforce has changed a lot over the years. Job security feels more uncertain than ever. The first Fortune 500 company I worked for downsized multiple times. Between the two of us, Randy and I have been “reorganized” — which is a very polished corporate way of saying our jobs were eliminated — three different times. Even after moving to a larger company, we’ve still experienced being “displaced.”
It teaches you pretty quickly that sometimes the ground beneath your feet is not nearly as solid as you thought it was.
So we decided to do what a lot of people do when uncertainty creeps in — we started building something of our own. Randy earned his FAA drone license, and together we launched our little hobby-business, Surface 2 Sky Productions LLC. He records events, creates “then and now” photography, captures drone footage for events and real estate, and now we’ve even invested in a 360 photo booth for fun event videos.
And honestly? It’s exciting… but also scary.
Starting something before you know whether it will succeed feels a little like riding a motorcycle at night. Your headlight only shows part of the road ahead. You can’t see every turn, every bump, or exactly where you’ll end up. But you keep moving forward anyway, trusting the light you’ve been given for this moment.
That’s what faith often looks like.
Job 22:28 reminds us that there is power in stepping forward in faith and declaring what God has placed in our hearts. Not arrogance. Not pretending we control the future. But trusting that God can guide the path ahead even when we cannot fully see it yet.
We don’t know exactly where this journey with Surface 2 Sky will lead. Maybe it grows into something big. Maybe it simply becomes a blessing in smaller ways we can’t yet imagine. But sometimes faith means trying anyway. Planting anyway. Dreaming anyway. Moving forward anyway.
And trusting God to shine light on the road ahead one step at a time.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible

seen differently

You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
- John 8:15-16
 
Last week, I shared a very personal part of my story on social media — my lifelong battle with weight. It was vulnerable and honestly a little scary to put out there, because people can be cruel, even when they don’t realize the lasting impact of their words.
I’ve struggled with my weight since before I was even a teenager. I know what it feels like to be judged by appearance before people ever know your heart. I remember wearing an outfit my freshman year of high school that I thought was cute — soft lavender, something that made me feel confident for once. Instead, I got mocked and called “grape ape” by other students.
Those kinds of moments stick with you.
I also became very familiar with backhanded compliments like, “You have such a pretty face,” or “You’re beautiful inside.” Even when people didn’t mean harm, it reinforced the feeling that I was being measured by human standards and found lacking.
The truth is, people are often quick to judge what they can see on the outside. Jesus understood that better than anyone. In today’s verse, He reminds us that human judgment is flawed, shallow, and incomplete. God sees differently. He sees the heart. He sees worth where others see imperfections. He sees beloved children where the world sees labels.
And friend, that doesn’t apply only to weight. People judge jobs, appearances, mistakes, past failures, finances, families, personalities — all kinds of things. But God’s love has never been based on whether we fit someone else’s standards.
I think one of the hardest things to learn is that our value was never meant to come from the opinions of others. It comes from the One who created us.
So if words from your past still echo in your mind sometimes, remember this: people may define you by what they see, but God defines you by who you are to Him. And His voice matters most.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible

mass destruction

 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV)
 
Saturday night, my husband and I took the grandkids to the demolition derby for the very first time. We came prepared — fair food plans already mapped out, little “Mickey Mouse” headphones packed to help with the noise, and enough excitement to fill the whole grandstand.
If you’ve ever been to a demolition derby, you know it’s organized chaos. Engines roaring. Metal crunching. Car parts flying. Drivers intentionally smashing into each other until only one vehicle is left moving. Between heats there was amateur wrestling that felt straight out of WWE, and honestly, the whole thing was loud, wild, and hilarious.
My granddaughter and I picked our favorite cars each round and cheered like crazy for them. Of course, our picks didn’t win most of the time (ok, ours did not win at all). By the end of the night, the cars that started shiny and whole were completely wrecked. Bent frames. Blown engines. Crumpled doors. Those cars will never be the same again.
On the drive home, I kept thinking about how life can feel a little like that sometimes. We get hit from all sides — disappointment, stress, grief, bad choices, heartbreak, exhaustion. Sometimes we even participate in our own destruction by carrying things we were never meant to hold onto.
The difference is this: when a demolition derby car is destroyed, it usually ends up in a scrapyard. But when we are broken, God doesn’t throw us away. He restores. He rebuilds. He heals what looks beyond repair.
Maybe today you feel dented up by life. Maybe your spirit feels crushed under the weight of everything happening around you. Friend, God is still in the business of restoration. What feels ruined to you is not ruined to Him.
And unlike those derby cars… through Him, we really can become new again.
 
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Daily Inspiration from the Bible

missing pieces

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
- Proverbs 16:9
 
I raised three boys, so pigtails and Barbie dolls were never really part of my world. My house was more noise, amphibians showing up on the counter, muddy shoes, video games, and endless amounts of food disappearing from the kitchen.
My husband used to joke that it was probably a good thing we never had girls because we wouldn’t know what to do with them anyway.
And honestly, there were moments over the years when I would see mother-daughter events or walk past tiny dresses, bows, and sparkly little girl things and feel a quiet sadness. Not overwhelming grief, just one of those little missing pieces in life I assumed I would never experience.
But God.
Years ago, when my son took a friend’s daughter to senior prom “just as friends,” her mom invited me to go prom dress shopping with them. And suddenly there I was in the middle of a frilly, laughter-filled day of dresses, shoes, accessories, excitement, and memories I never thought I would get to have.
At the time, I thought maybe God was simply letting me borrow a beautiful moment.
But God wasn’t finished yet.
Now I have this amazing woman and granddaughter in my life, and suddenly I do get to enjoy those things. I get to buy the pink froo-froo stuff. I get to enjoy the sparkles, the little girl moments, the laughter, the sweet memories I once thought would always belong to someone else.
And looking back now, I can see something important:
sometimes God fills the missing pieces in ways we never could have planned for ourselves.
Life does not always unfold according to our expectations. Some prayers are answered differently than we imagined. Some dreams arrive through side doors we never noticed before.
But God sees the quiet places in our hearts too.
He knows the things we never say out loud. The little disappointments. The silent longings. The pieces we think are permanently missing.
And somehow, in His goodness, He has a way of weaving beauty into places we thought would always stay empty.
Maybe not always the way we expected.
But often in ways that become even more meaningful.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible