A sweet heavenly surprise she was. The thought of having another child terrified us but the possibility of a baby girl made us smile and dream of endless tea parties and giggles, tutus, and everything pink. So, we began to make room for this new life God blessed us with.

Having another child was not on our agenda. We had Boogey and he was a handful. We poured everything we had into him. Given that my pregnancy with him was (emotionally) one of the hardest things I’ve gone through, we both decided that one child was all we could handle.

Fires can be deadly however fires are necessary. It’s necessary for survival. It provides warmth, sterilization, light, and can even be used as a distress signal.

Our marriage had been burning for years. Slowly but surely. We ignored it as much as we could but just like any fire, without an effort to extinguish, it will eventually consume everything in its path.

To start a fire you need three things: fuel, heat and oxygen. You can’t have a fire without all three. Separately, they are all safe and all needed for a different purpose. But when together, they can make a deadly combination.

Our marriage had its own combustible components: Control, unhealthy communication and mistrust; and it all came together to a point of ignition that completely burned our marriage to the ground…or so it seemed

To start a fire you need three things: fuel, heat and oxygen. You can’t have a fire without all three. Separately, they are all safe and all needed for a different purpose. But when together, they can make a deadly combination.

Our marriage had its own combustible components: Control, unhealthy communication and mistrust; and it all came together to a point of ignition that completely burned our marriage to the ground…or so it seemed

I still remember the first time I saw him…On the weekends, I would come home to wait tables at a restaurant in Dallas. Papa was in the Air Force and was recently relocated back to Texas. Needing something to do, he got a job at the same restaurant. It was love at 1st sight. We locked eyes and I knew he would be the one I would spend the rest of my life with…doesn’t that sound romantic? Here’s what actually happened…I saw him and I went on about my business. I can say, he had his eyes on me. Soon after, we were introduced; opening the door for him to slowly squeeze his way in.

I was home one weekend from college, in my room, sitting on the bed, crying. I was tired. I was broken and I was alone. In walks Deshawn. My then 3-year-old nephew. He quietly walks past me and into the bathroom. Seconds later, he emerges with one small piece of tissue paper. He climbs onto the bed and sits right next to me. He reaches up, wipes the tears from my face and holds my hand. He didn’t say a word, he never asked me what was wrong, he just sat there quietly while I cried. Every now and then wiping the tears from my face…