I bet we have all seen, heard, felt, or had an experience that left us with the phrase, “I’LL NEVER FORGET THAT.” I know I’ve said it many times in my life. While I was driving home from work, I was listening to a sermon and the pastor was telling a story about newborn giraffes, and their birthing experience. How the mom kicks the newborn down after it learns to stand so it doesn’t forget how to get back up. He compared it to the way sometimes God gives us a life experience that makes us fall, so that we learn to get back up. While the metaphor was neat, the last sentence he said is what really stuck out to me. “I like that comparison, I’ll never forget that.” 

Truth is, we all have experiences in life that impact us deeply and seemingly etch a permanent mark on our soul and deepen our understanding of life. We think we will have these memories and thoughts forever, and as long as we live. 

BUT WHAT IF WE DID FORGET them? In my experience as a rehabilitation nurse and CNA before that, I’ve seen what happens when people DO in fact forget what they’ve learned and experienced in life. I’ve seen brain injury patients forget how to eat, stroke patients forget how to use the bathroom, dementia patients forget who they are and where they are, Alzheimer’s patients forget their most dearly loved ones.  

And in the midst of forgetting the basic activities in life, they’ve also lost all recollection of the moments in life that filled their lives with passion, meaning, and depth. 

And we wonder why our patients are flat, withdrawn, depressed and angry. Next time someone requires more grace, more understanding, and more empathy from you than you think you have to give, remember this. Remember what they’ve lost. Remember why you started in the first place. Remember why you were called to this. Remember while you still can, because I bet your patients are sitting there wishing they did. 

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I’m excited to delve into this passage that’s constantly at the forefront of my heart and mind for this year. I asked God to give me a clear direction heading into 2026 with three young children, knowing I needed HIS help in prioritizing and managing my time. His answer was to TEND to them. At first I thought it was the obvious- to feed them, bathe them, dress them, care for our home, and give them a clean and safe place to live, learn, and grow. And while that IS part of what I’m called to do as a mom and wife who loves the Lord, as I’ve done a deep digging into Gods word and the translation of this passage, God revealed how much deeper this call actually goes! Hopefully I can break it down clearly so that it impacts you as much as it did for me!

First, there are three commands with three different meanings. I use Blue letter Bible to dissect God’s word and meanings with the original Greek/Hebrew.

1- verse 15, Jesus’ first command to Peter is “ Feed My lambs”
Meaning of “feed” – “providing spiritual oversight and nourishment.”

2- verse 16, Jesus’ second command to Peter is “Tend my Sheep”
Definition of tend- “to feed, to tend a flock, keep sheep, to rule, govern, to furnish pasture for food, to nourish, to cherish one’s body, to serve the body, to supply the requisites for the soul’s need.”

3- verse 17, Jesus’ final command to Peter is “Feed My Sheep”
The definition of this form of “feed” is different than the first. It is to “portray the duty of a Christian teacher to promote in every way the spiritual welfare of the members of the church.”

I am still in awe of God’s goodness in working through this passage to reveal these truths. I am called to nourish my kids with healthy food. To serve their bodies with my own. To supply comfort, encouragement, correction, and discipline to their souls. To care for them emotionally, mentally, and physically.

BUT MAY I NOT forget, that in the midst of caring for their physical needs, I am called to care for their spiritual needs as well. To TEACH them about God’s word and to DISPLAY His character in life’s every day moments (of which I fail time and time again).

As I’ve mentioned before, this calling and perspective is one that requires self-sacrifice, daily dying to my own desires, calling out to the Lord for HIS strength, HIS patience. It is not necessarily glamorous or self-satisfying, like most of what the world is in pursuit of. It is a call to be selfless. Humble. Patient. Kind. Gentle. It does not come naturally. It is a refining call of our own as we in turn display this transformed life to the upcoming generation that lives and breathes in our own home day in and day out.

In a world where children are seen as inconveniences, hard to handle, and draining, I pray this brings a mindset shift that they are BLESSINGS. Lambs at our feet yearning to be led and cared for. To be POURED into as if life depends on it-because it actually does. They are the future, and they are our arrows we will one day release into the world. Of all the things we pursue in life, if you are blessed to be a parent, I pray this encourages you to TEND the flock that God has entrusted to you !

#anspiration828 #reflectiveliving #annalogies #828ministries #grizzlyfilmco #thebloggerandthephotographer #sonya74

For those who think/process the way I do, I think you might appreciate the process of choosing a word, verse, or phrase of the year. For 2026 mine is….drumroll please…..

TEND.

Seems a little anticlimactic. It isn’t epic, pushy, driven, or even inspiring. In fact, it is the opposite.

It is lowly, humble, selfless, and honestly, a LOT of hard work. Here’s my story so far :

I was reading my new morning mercies devotional one day during the kids’ nap time, and it was about Jesus talking to Peter and telling him to tend his sheep. He asked him if he loved him with agape love, and Peter kept answering with a different kind of love, but Jesus’ answer was to tend his sheep if he loves him. A few days later at church, my Pastor preached on the exact same message!!! and it was my first time back after my son’s birth so it was a big day anyway! And the way God brought it full circle was definitely not coincidence.

That’s when I realized maybe my word for 2026 needs to be TEND- to remind me my priority is to care for our sheep; our three precious young lambs, that we’ve been gifted, which is our children.

So naturally, I looked up the specific definition of TEND -“be liable to possess or display (a particular characteristic)”

My job as a mom is to encourage my children to display God’s characteristics. WOAH. What a high calling, and something I don’t take lightly. I’ll expound how this word reaches far beyond just my own children in future entries, but for now, I just want to soak up this HUGE, holy, hard calling that could have ONLY come from the Holy Spirit.

Just like Peter had denied Jesus three times, he was restored to Jesus’ ministry with three commands in John 21:15-17… “Tend My sheep….Feed my lambs….Feed my Sheep.”

What is God calling you to do to be more obedient to this command? Who in your life needs to see God’s characteristics on display like a shining light in the dead of night? If you are called into the fold, you’ve been called to “lead, guide, and provide spiritual nourishment” to those around you who are more vulnerable, younger, and impressionable. And may we seize EVERY opportunity that comes our way to do so!

#anspiration #grizzlyfilmco #reflectiveliving #tend2026 #textartapp

#anspiration #textartapp #photography #reflectiveliving #grizzlyfilmco #tend2026

I have to share this, because THIS is the God I serve. This is How He works wonders and speaks life to His children. This is an example of the things God will show you when you seek Him. And if you pay attention, He will show you things more than once as a confirmation- there is no such thing as coincidence. There will be some details in here that are very personal to me, but I feel led to share anyway. So here’s my Luke 1:37 story!

Luke 1:37, “for nothing shall be impossible with God.”

Context- Mary is talking to the angel after she is told she will give birth to a son as a virgin. She is surrendering her life to God’s will and God’s plan, even when by human standards, they are impossible. Luke 1:37 is her response to a seemingly impossible scenario.

Around Christmas time, we were studying the gospels and as I read Luke 1 one day, verse 37 JUMPED out of the page in a way it never has in my life before even after the many times I’ve read it or heard that chapter. I remember highlighting it, taking note of it, and even sharing this with my mom that it just stood out to me in a beautiful way! The next week, our messsage in church was heavily focused on Luke 1:37! I looked at my mom and she knew exactly what I was thinking- God is so so good when He shows us over and over what it is He wants to teach us! I call it a confirmation from the Lord.

During our time off in January, I started journaling my “impossibles” for this year- desires of mine that seemed, or felt impossible in the moment, but also situations that I surrendered to the Lord to see what He would do with in 2022 and future years to come! When I was done and closed my journal (which was a new journal I was given at our womens retreat), I realized the front of it was LUKE 1:37 😱😱

Fast forward to February, I woke up from napping after night shift, and my husband had put out a few gifts for Valentines Day, including a very familiar looking charm necklace. (Background to the necklace- we had given each other a very similar version of these for Valentines Day in 2014- but we didn’t know we got the same thing for each other so we just wore them together as a charm necklace. But when we moved to our house in 2020, I lost my necklace and to this day haven’t found it.) I was ecstatic when I saw the necklace because we now had our charm necklaces back!!! But when I took a closer look at the dumbbell, I realized it had Luke 1:37 written on it!!!!!! How amazing right?! Jacob had no idea how much this verse had come to mean to me but I got to tell him that day!!!

A few weeks later, I was pondering my “Hope 2022” and asking God to give me a scripture to go along with my word for this year . There are so many verses about Hope but I wanted the verse specifically for me, then God gently nudged me in my heart and brought Luke 1:37 to mind. Even though it doesn’t have the word Hope, it is a statement of Hope- Mary had hope that what God said was true. She would give birth, even as virgin, to someone who would save the world and bring everlasting hope to a hopeless world. Everlasting life collided with never ending death through Jesus’ life and death on earth. For me, God gave me hope in that moment that He would do some amazing things in my life in the next year but also all my years on this earth and in people around me too.

Fast forward to March, we just experienced a miscarriage- and this was our first baby. And with the devastation and grief, there was a loss of dreams and what we thought this year would look like. Along with that, came some fear (from the devil) of our future. For a few days, I struggled and fought with that fear (fought it with God’s word, prayer, and talking to others ). I started to fear the ability to get pregnant again. I feared having another miscarriage if we did get pregnant: or multiple miscarriages. I asked God if we are even meant to be parents at all, and feared that maybe we aren’t. I feared not being good enough to be a mom. Or all the things we will encounter as parents: losing our kids once they are on earth, or watching them go through heartbreak of their own. But the thing about God is that He is not a God of fear. And as I acknowledged this, I reminded myself that these fears were lies and anxiety from the devil.

As I processed this fear and grief, I clung to God’s word and worship music. And one of the biggest helps was remembering Luke 1:37.

I still don’t know the future or what it holds, but I do know God has a plan for us. For me. And that plan is good. And something else I know and can cling to, is that nothing is impossible with God. And if His plan is for us to be parents, there ain’t nothing in heaven, hell, or earth that will stop Him. And I trust that plan, whether we get to parent children on earth or not. No matter how many babies we have on earth or in heaven that we will meet one day. I will cling to His promise and declare His glory: come what may.

But another yet amazing confirmation from the Lord happened after our follow up OB appointment yesterday. We were sitting in the car with the radio on in the background. But these lyrics basically jumped out of the radio and grabbed my attention:

“I pray for your healing
That circumstances would change
I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus name
I pray that a breakthrough would happen today
I pray miracles over your life in Jesus name
In Jesus name”

And I looked up the song and it’s called “God of Possible” 😳😳😳😳

I’m sure this isn’t the last time God will use this verse in my life, but I sure am grateful to reflect on how God has used it so far in just these few, short months of 2022! To think He had prepared my heart and paved the way for this season of life before we were even pregnant or knew what this year would hold. He made a way to prepare us for this but also to use it to show us His goodness and everlasting faithfulness!

Y’all, God is SO good. He has brought this full circle in my life and I pray this blesses you and gives you hope for anything you are going through right now.

hope2022 #GodofPossible

BE THE PERSON I MET AT THE DOG PARK TODAY- I took Sophie to the park which is usually our normal Saturday routine but she hadn’t been in two weeks because she’s been healing from a dog attack at day care. This dog mommy (me) didn’t take into account all her pent up energy from not going and when we got there, this already high energy pup when 0 to 100 on all the dogs and the humans 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ I hate saying this, but she actually got aggressive with another dog. And she jumped on a kid for them to scream “I’m actually scared of that dog.” This is the LAST thing I want to happen and the last kind of person I want to be. I was so embarrassed (more than our usual embarrassment). I took her to the empty side of the dog park and I’m not going to lie, I was really emotionally upset. About five minutes later, this lady brings her dog over to our side. She didn’t say anything at first, she wasn’t judging me. she was calm. She was quiet, and she radiated understanding and acceptance. She even came near me but still was silent, letting me sit there upset, tears still rolling down my cheeks. Her dog played with Sophie, and we had to calm them a few times but for the most part they actually did okay. She waited there until I started talking then we had a really good conversation about our dogs being high energy, she even said “been there, done that.” It was the presence of a stranger and the friendship of a dog that made me smile while leaving the dog park instead of crying. I learned a really good lesson today in life- be the one that goes towards the people who might run away because of their shame. Be the person that will sit with someone in silence until they are ready to talk. Accept those the way they are instead how we want them to be. And love them out of their shame. Forgive them and befriend them. That’s what Jesus did for us. He came to earth, silent as a babe. He didn’t come to “condemn the world, but to save the world.” He came as a friend, accepted us the way we are, yet rescued us knowing we couldn’t save ourselves. I’m not sure if the lady at the dog park even knows she was the face, the smile, the love, and the friendship of the Savior in my life today, but maybe she will read this one day and know. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #bestill2021 #lookup2021 #anspiration28 #anspirational #norainnoflowers #onestepatatime #welcometoourgarden #perspective

This is a personalized edit to a story that was in the paper a couple weeks ago, and God gets all the glory! Check out what He has done in my life!

 Graduation was getting closer every day and Anna was excited about receiving her associate’s degree. She looked forward to launching her career as a nurse and wondered where God would send her to fulfill the calling He had placed on her heart. 

  There were times when Anna’s path to purpose was covered in storms of pain. Through strong faith and with the help of a therapy center she has found peace at last. 

  Energetic and even playful by nature Anna was jumping on a trampoline one day in April 2015 when something went wrong “I was jumping from an 8′ platform” Anna recalls “but there was no give in the trampoline.” 

  Anna’s foot slammed into the surface. Her ankle twisted and her leg broke, the bone piercing through her skin. After surgery to place a rod and screws in her leg Anna had to finish school at home. 3 weeks later she suffered a blood clot.     

  Determined that nothing was going to keep her from her calling, Anna kept pushing forward. With treatment and some physical therapy she felt she was ready to achieve her goal.

  Anna went on to receive her bachelor’s degree in nursing and started working in June 2017 after graduating in May.

Her work was rewarding but she spent long hours on her feet and gradually began to find herself in a storm of pain again. 

  “I started getting weaker and weaker and in more and more pain to the point where I didn’t know if I was going to be able to keep working they are” Anna says” I could barely walk. I was lumping all the time.”  

  Piercing nerve pain shot from her foot and ankle into her shin and at times she felt like her foot was on fire. The pain kept her awake at night but she couldn’t even get out of bed to get her own medicine. “That’s when I decided OK something’s got to change.” 

  She went to see her doctor for a referral to a surgeon who removed the screws in her ankle. “I told them I really needed to get back into therapy, and that I needed help strengthening my leg.” 

  Her physical therapists guided Anna through exercises to strengthen her gate and strengthen the muscles in the lower half of her body. They also gave her a personalized exercise regimen she could do on her own at home or at the gym. Following the expert advice of her physical therapist, Anna became stronger and her pain began to fade away.

  Today she can work without worry and she’s also free to play. “I feel like I can finally go on a hike if I want to go on a hike and I can dance if I want to dance around and be silly. Those things seem so minuscule but for someone like me it was really important to my quality of life.” 

  When she looks back on the past few years Anna doesn’t see just a storm. She sees a blessing and God’s purpose fulfilled. She quotes a favorite scripture that says  “the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in their trouble” 

  I knew I was going to be a nurse but I had no idea I was going to end up in a rehab facility” Anna says. LIttle did I know that God was preparing me for the kind of patients I see today. I can definitely relate to what they’re going through. I can empathize with what they’re going through and offer them advice beyond their hospital stay because I’ve been there. Only God could take a dark part of my life and bring me full circle to being able to help my patients and families not only cope, but find hope and meaning in what they are going through. I’m a better nurse because of what God allowed in my life.” 

  Anna continues to take a mild medication for nerve pain and works out for strength, balance, and mobility. She is ecstatic to share that she’s practically pain free and getting around a lot better! “I feel like a normal 24 year old,” Anna laughs “I got my life back!”

Hello world. I honestly can’t believe I finally started my very own blog. Looking at it is so surreal to me. I’ve thought about this for a long time. Let me introduce myself.

My name is Anna. I am a Christ follower who lives in the green mountains of Tennessee. Born and raised ;). I am 25 years old. I am a certified rehabilitaion nurse who loves life. I am blessed with a tight knit family and I married my high school sweetheart almost 3 years ago. We bought a house this past April and have two cats and one puppy (who are basically our children). I am very passionate about my job and hope to make a difference one day. I am also very passionate about life itself. I love to write (always have), and I love to share what I go through and what I learn with the hope that I might encourage others around me (i.e. the reason for my long awaited blog!). I’ve had my own ups and downs in every area of my life from friendships to my relationship with the Lord to my health. You’ll learn all about these in my blog I’m sure:) I hope you will join me as I strive to get the most out of this life in keeping God first and living life with intentionality and passion!