 From left: Me (Chris Tracy), Victoria, and PJ Right now I'm at Starbucks in Brownwood, Texas, sipping a latté and eating a rice krispy bar in memory of Victoria. She was such an unusual friend. Older and wiser; very British; and full of youthful life at 80 years old. She considered me her mentor. But it was really the other way around. We so loved our meetings full of encouragement, strategizing, and idea generating. We were both writers and businesswomen, and always talked of new dreams. We helped each other set and meet goals. Together we were like a happy explosion of inspiration. I was going to help her write her story and she was helping me learn how to shoot and edit videos for my You Tube channel.
When Rick and I moved to Texas from Denver, Victoria and I continued to meet by Zoom along with another friend; PJ. We all laughed as we navigated this new technology, and continued to encourage one another in even more new dreams. One day, Victoria just didn't show up. I miss my friend so much. She truly loved me and deposited something so special in me. We hear a lot about finding coaches and mentors to help us along in our life. I'm thankful I found Victoria, and I just want to tell you there is someone like her out there for you, too, if you look, stay aware, and say "yes" to opportunities. I pray I am that kind of friend to someone. To Victoria, thank you. I'm now smack dab in the middle of living all that we had planned and dreamed together.
You know the question people ask about "When a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?"
​Sometimes I wonder that about my writing...and the media...especially right now. If there is no one around to read or listen...is there really a message? Or if only the people that agree with you are your readers or listeners...do you really make a difference? One human did make a difference way back when. A wilderness wind carried a message from a strange soul to a scared and hungry people. A prophecy was fulfilled. People were strengthened. A King was revealed. A difference was certainly made. Isaiah 40:3 - The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God."  I've had several holes in my heart. They appear when loved ones pass; when my children have been hurt; when I feel fear, or lose a sense of what I was created for.
Holes have been repaired, filled, and stitched back together when there has been resolution, joy, peace, and solutions...when time has passed and healing has prevailed. Today, even with the tumultuous year we have all had, I don't feel any holes or any stitches torn. It may be because I keep tuning into and praying for the truth of my being so that I can walk in that truth. I'm not there yet, but my focus is in the right place. I'm so thankful for the One who brings healing and strength; purpose and solitude; grace and forgiveness; purpose and identity. I am not flailing in the abyss of virus or politics. But I do see the need for extra peace right now that can only come from the presence of God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. The enemy would have us believe his lies and deception as we revel in controversy so that we become ineffective to fix what is broken. I don't want to go there. I want to rise above and stay connected heart to beating heart to the One - the only one - that is able to overcome. I love you, my readers. I pray you, too, have a whole heart - free of confusion. I pray you are able to repel deception, walk in love and kindness, and trust in your Father in Heaven. I pray you are able to overcome and see clearly as I pray the same for myself. www.christinetracy.com Find my book, "Tapestry - The Divine Design for Your Life,"on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3iavMYH  Used to be when I skied my chest and head cold would clear like the parting clouds of a storm. Sun would enter into my heart through my eyes, and fresh air would invade my lungs thanks to the cold, fresh, thin air. The exhilaration of a mogul run would spring my body into action and into healing. By day's end my cold would almost be gone! No doctor would prescribe that. I broke the rules and it worked. So how, today, can I apply that to the congestion of my mind...a mind that needs to kick in to creativity...to write...to solve problems...to relate to people? What rules can I break that don't make sense, but ultimately will bring me into new clarity? Rather than sit at my blank screen, today I will play my guitar, paint a picture, run instead of walk, call a crazy friend, read good fiction, and dance in the living room. I'll dance and laugh at writing rules until that inkling of brightness breaks open in my line of vision and inspiration explodes.
 Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you? It's a Christmas Carol rich and resplendent with thought-provoking lyrics; and yet this one verse makes me awe at the brilliance of what God did. Through this divine, miraculous birth of the child of our living God, Mary and the rest of humanity was given the gift of deliverance from dark to light, death to life, chains to freedom, grief to celebration, chaos to peace, sadness to joy, brokenness to wholeness, shame to acceptance, and loneliness to family. The great and amazing love of the One who created us all invaded history and changed life forever. Merry Christmas season everyone! Enjoy "Mary Did You Know?" from the Pentatonix! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE  Our life in concert with humanity plays a special part that, if absent, would change the full effect of how our expression can bless the earth. What poem, painting, song, instrument, thought, invention, course, is your life's expression? Whether you know it or not, you are making a difference through who you were created to be! Thank you for making that difference!
"Every soul (in heaven) is as a note in some concert of delightful music, that sweetly harmonizes with every other note, and all together blend in the most rapturous strains in praising God and the Lamb forever. - Jonathan Edwards Psalm 139:16 - "You saw who you created me to be before I became me!" TPT)  I love the arts. I love artists! Some of my friends are painters, poets, and musicians. Yesterday I met a goldsmith. I love to write and take photos. Every day I encounter people who are pursuing a passion to create beauty. Where does this come from and why?
Our Creator made us in His image. We are made for creativity. Nothing can draw people into the awe of Creation and the heart of God like a beautiful song; a painting that brings hope and healing; a creative idea that boundlessly blesses a child with cancer; a story that lines up with a grieving heart and brings peace; a piece of jewelry that cheers with sunlight; a voice raised in praise that draws us to heaven; a cello piece that makes us weep. What are you created for that can bless a hurting world? Today, will you please enter this holy place inside you and release your brilliance? Take a listen to these carpenters who bring heaven to earth in a freshly sheet-rocked garage. Merry Christmas! Psalm 45:1 - My heart is on fire, boiling over with passion. Bubbling up within me are these beautiful lyrics as a lovely poem to be sung for the King. (The Passion Translation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-In6ZXYR1A |
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