Remembering

By: Gabriela Yareliz I always cry on Memorial Day. The closing ceremony of the parade always gets me. Usually, it’s when I hear names read off of people we refuse to forget, or when they tell the stories of heroism we shouldn’t lose sight of. I cry when I see the gold star moms holdContinue reading “Remembering”

Baby Jesus

“Oh my word, we have one more. I didn’t see that one. Someone left us another baby Jesus!” Lady with the blue eyeshadow at the Citrus Welcome Center in Ocala By: Gabriela Yareliz Everywhere we went, we found baby Jesuses. At the citrus center, restaurants, coffee shops, and even our captain on the glass bottomContinue reading “Baby Jesus”

Random Acts of Opportunity

“What God is giving you is not a destiny but an opportunity.” Erwin McManus

This Week’s Favorites 05.21.26

By: Gabriela Yareliz It’s our first week back home after some time away, and we are on the verge of summer. It’s so close you can taste it. Summer fridays just around the corner, even though we had hail yesterday. I have this itch to clean. To work out. To plan. To be tan. ThisContinue reading “This Week’s Favorites 05.21.26”

Sunrise Teacher

Sometimes, our greatest teachers are places. By: Gabriela Yareliz I was reading Cleo Wade’s newsletter about her new book launch, In a World of Sunrises, and she said: “New Orleans has been my greatest teacher in resilience. The wisdom of this city flows through many pages of this book.” It made me think of Florida.Continue reading “Sunrise Teacher”

Discipline

“That’s why optimism is a discipline. It takes discipline to see the good when things are going bad. It takes discipline to see beauty in the midst of tragedy. It takes discipline to see the best in people when they let us down. It takes discipline to forgive when the person does not deserve it.Continue reading “Discipline”

This Week’s Favs 05.13.26

I write to you from one of the most zen places on earth— North Central Florida. It’s so still, all I hear now is the hum of the refrigerator, crickets outside and a slow drip coming from somewhere. I’ll write more about the hometown later— but for now, just know that I have been baptizedContinue reading “This Week’s Favs 05.13.26”

The Gift of Vision

“Never forget that the gift of vision was so important that when the world was first created, the first command was for Light in order to see, and after finishing each day’s task, the Great Creator glanced back and ‘saw that it was good.’ We need to see how good it is, too.” Sarah BanContinue reading “The Gift of Vision”

Everything

“Our job is not to get better at predicting, projecting, or becoming attached to uncertain possibilities, but having sincere faith that what we know needs to happen next is the key that eventually unlocks everything we’ve been waiting for, everything we’ve ever wanted to be.” Brianna Wiest