Hello!  I’m Risa, and I’m delighted that you have decided to visit my blog. I’m a wife, mom, and nana to thirteen wonderful grandchildren, ages four months to fifteen. I serve alongside my husband, Mark, in a support role in Hope Preserved Ministries, the inner healing ministry the Lord called us to ten years ago (see www.healingthebroken.org).

I love to write. Journaling is how I most often talk to God. The Lord often gives me pictures to illustrate what he is trying to teach me. In prayer he showed me that I was like a little potted plant. If I am planted in good soil and nourished with water and sunshine, I thrive. But if there is one element missing, I wilt. The truth is we are all potted plants of one kind or another. We have these bodies of clay, but inside them are our souls that need feeding and our spirits that are aching to be connected to God, whether we realize it or not. 

I have been a stay-at-home mom and a career woman. I have worked full time, part time, and was a burned-out workaholic for a season. After raising my children, I retired early and was excited to focus on being a grandmother, mentoring young women, and just enjoying life. Then out of the blue, one hot summer day, I became a widow. I returned to work full time and tried to figure out how to be 50-ish and single. Three years later, God brought Mark into my life, and we’re about to celebrate 10 years of marriage this June, 2020! 

I started this blog in 2013 after the death of my mother. I’ve written about her passing, about my family, about our move from Arkansas to Texas for four-plus years, and then back again to Arkansas. Through it all, I’ve been on a pursuit to discover just how God designed me and where I need to be healed and whole in order to live in my true identity in Christ. I believe the Lord wants me to share my heart, my intimacy with him, my struggles, and my victories—to just be real.

Through every season of my life, God’s grace held me. I have walked through enough valleys to testify about the all-sufficiency of Christ. It’s my hope that as I share my heart through these posts, women will see the sovereignty of a loving God, that he is in control, and that we can trust him in every trial we walk through. Most especially, I want women to know that we have a God who pursues us and who wants to have an intimate relationship with us through Jesus.

I invite you to leave a reply about how you connected to what I’ve written. I’d be so honored to have you subscribe to my blog! I’d also love to hear your stories as well through “Contact Me.” We were never meant to walk on this journey through life alone. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

With love and great anticipation,

Risa