Quiet Return

Quiet Return 52 — Essay 0017 The Vision That's There and the Unknown Path This week's essay almost didn't happen. I've been talking all day, thinking about everything going on around me, yet couldn't figure out what I wanted to write. Funny how that works. Somewhere between fear, patience, old memories, new friendships, and a world of technology I never imagined I'd be involved in, the words finally came. I don't have all the answers. I'm still learning, still making mistakes, and still trying to understand where Father is leading me. But the vision is there, even if the path isn't clear. Here's my seventeenth essay. I hope something in it speaks to you. Quiet Return 52 drive.google.com/file/d/1Mr_…

LIVED IT was built on something simple. Every one of us has a story worth telling and experiences that shape who we become. Different lives, different journeys, but we're building something meaningful together. Grateful for everyone who's part of this journey. We're just getting started. No mascot. No theory. LIVED IT. Quiet Return 52 @LIVEDITglobal

Quiet Return 52 — 0016 | How Close We Come What a week. I don't remember the last time I experienced so many emotions in such a short period. This one took me places I wasn't expecting to go, and putting it into words wasn't easy. Some things in life just have a way of changing how you see everything. My 16th Sunday essay is now published. I hope you'll take a few minutes to read it. Much love to you all. drive.google.com/file/d/1l1h…

Sometimes a song is more than just a song. Sometimes the words reach places inside you that you didn't even realize needed revisiting. What started with a few lyrics became something much deeper. QUIET RETURN | ESSAY-0015 NO THEORY. LIVED IT. drive.google.com/file/d/1f1M…

In 1976, I kissed my first girlfriend on the cheek during a first-grade movie. A quick peck. We liked each other and hugged all the time. The teacher saw it. Off to the principal I went. Decades later, I was at a friend’s house with Jennie. We were talking in the kitchen when she asked my real name because everyone was using a nickname. I explained that my name was the same as the governor’s. She suddenly said, “You kissed me on the cheek during a movie in first grade!” My jaw hit the floor. It was her. I hadn’t even finished first grade at that school. Yet all those years later, there we were. She remembered my name. I LIVED IT. — Quiet Return @LIVEDITglobal

ESSAY-0014 Another Sunday. Another page of the journey. Fourteen weeks of putting life into words. Not because I have all the answers, but because I've lived through experiences worth sharing. Some lessons come quietly. Others take years to understand. I write what I've lived, what I've learned, and what I'm still learning. No theory. Just life, as I experienced it. — Quiet Return 52 ESSAY-0014 👇 drive.google.com/file/d/1UID…

🐈 A LIVED IT Story — Simba's Trip to the Vet 🤣 So, Simba has a history of throwing up EVERY time he gets in a car. Six weeks ago, I took him to the vet for the first time myself. I was prepared for everything. Garbage bags, plastic bags, paper towels, the whole nine yards. And wouldn't you know it? Perfect trip! Not a single problem. He was relaxed, comfortable, and didn't throw up once. Fast-forward to Monday. After that last successful trip, I figured we were good. Didn't even think twice about it. BIG MISTAKE. 😂 About a mile and a half down the road, I hear this deep, horrible MEEEEOOOOWWW. You know the sound. The one that says something VERY unpleasant is about to happen. I pull into a parking lot, and sure enough... 🤮 CAT PUKE EVERYWHERE! All over the side of his carrier! So naturally, I yank Simba out before he can roll around in it. Now I've got cat puke all over my hand, a squirming cat in my lap, and another 35 minutes to drive! And this isn't a cat you can just let wander around the car. Oh no. Simba would absolutely find some tiny opening under the dashboard and disappear into a place I'd need a mechanic to retrieve him from. 🤣 So what do I do? Wipe the puke off my hand onto my jeans, hold on to Simba, and drive the remaining 35 minutes with a few scratches, a lap full of cat, and the lovely aroma of partially digested cat food filling the car. Eventually, he relaxed. Me? Well, I made it. But HOLY MOLY, did that car stink! 🤣 Just another one of those moments you can't make up. NO THEORY. LIVED IT. EVERYONE BELONGS. 🌎 @LIVEDITglobal @DoCorpOfficial @Deviant_Cor @_n0tnova @NyteWolf22 #LIVEDIT #TrueStories #CatLife

QUIET RETURN — ESSAY-0013 ✍️ “Father Sees It All” Another week of reflection. Another piece of the journey. Some things are better understood through living them than explaining them. This one brought a smile to my face. ❤️ drive.google.com/file/d/1pux… NO THEORY. LIVED IT. @LIVEDITglobal #QuietReturn #LIVEDIT

ESSAY-0012 — He Changed This one is personal. Sometimes you don't get to choose how a story ends. But you can choose what you remember about the person who lived it. This is how I choose to remember Michael. Quiet Return 52 drive.google.com/file/d/1fLT…

Drugs don't destroy one life. They work their way through entire families. Someone can know the danger. They can want desperately to change. They can ask for help, go to rehab, find faith, make plans for tomorrow—and still lose the battle. And when they do, everyone who loved them is left carrying a piece of it. A phone call. A text message. An empty chair. Plans that will never happen. That's the devastation of addiction. Sometimes there isn't another chance. Love the person. Encourage the fight. Never underestimate the drug. Some of us don't know that from a textbook. We LIVED IT. — Quiet Return 52 @LIVEDITglobal @_n0tnova @NyteWolf22 @Deviant_Cor #LIVEDIT #QuietReturn52 #Addiction #Recovery #Family #EveryoneBelongs

ESSAY-0011 — WHAT WE CARRY This one took something out of me. Another piece of the road, another Quiet Return, and another story I needed to put into words. No preview this time. Read it for yourself. drive.google.com/file/d/1nm_… NO THEORY. LIVED IT. @LIVEDITglobal @_n0tnova @Deviant_Cor @NyteWolf22

Some stories stick with you because of what happened. Others stick with you because of how fast everything changed. This is one of those stories. 😂 Another moment from real life that I can say I LIVED IT. @LIVEDITglobal NO THEORY. LIVED IT. EVERYONE BELONGS.

ESSAY-0010 — TEN Ten weeks. Ten Sundays. Ten essays. This one hit me differently. Ten weeks ago, I had no idea where this journey would lead. Today, I realize I don't need to know. I'll do the work. I'll keep paying attention. I'll keep following. Father knows the plan. That's enough for me. ESSAY-0010 — TEN drive.google.com/file/d/1rVY…

When I first moved to the coast, I had never experienced a hurricane as an adult. One morning I read a weather report about a tropical depression that had just come off the coast of Africa. It didn't even have a name yet. And immediately, I had this feeling: That storm is going to hit you. Back then, I called it intuition. I started asking people around here about hurricanes. Many had lived through Hugo and knew what a real storm could do. Most told me the same thing. "Don't worry about it." But that feeling wouldn't leave. I tracked that storm across the Atlantic. Day after day. Eventually, it got a name. Hurricane Matthew. And sure enough, it came right to us. We prepared everything we could. Yard secured. House ready. Then I stayed up through the night watching the storm, listening for tornado warnings and watching the surge push water over Ocean Boulevard just a couple blocks away. Then morning came. The eye passed directly over us. After an entire night of wind and rain, suddenly there was complete calm. Blue sky above us. Almost no wind. Standing there inside the eye of my first hurricane was something I'll never forget. Then the backside came. We made it through safely. A couple of pine trees broke, the power went out, but our home was okay. And there was one little thing I'll never forget. Before the storm, that same "intuition" told me: Brew coffee. Save it in a pitcher. Why? Because if the power goes out, you've got a gas grill. Sure enough, it did. And after spending the entire night riding out my first hurricane, I could heat up my coffee. ☕😂 At the time, I thought I was listening to myself. Today, looking back on that storm—and so many other moments in my life—I see it differently. I knew Father then. But I was still denying Him. I wasn't following Christ. I called His guidance intuition because I didn't understand where it was coming from yet. The storm didn't even have a name. But somehow, I already knew: This one's coming to you. I lived it. @LIVEDITglobal NO THEORY. LIVED IT. EVERYONE BELONGS.

ESSAY-0009 Another Sunday. Another page of the journey. I don't write these because I have life figured out. I write them because I lived it. Some lessons only make sense after you've carried them for a while. Some answers don't arrive until you're finally quiet enough to hear them. This is this week's piece. No theory. Just life, as I experienced it. — Quiet Return 52 ESSAY-0009 👇drive.google.com/file/d/1shN…