Category: Writing

Friday, October 16, 2026 — 6:00 PM

Friday, October 16, 2026 — 6:00 PM

Find Somewhere New to Meet Yourself

Beloveds,

We’ve spent this week talking about you.

Not me.

You.

The person who sometimes misses who you used to be.

The person learning what to do when simple things aren’t simple anymore.

The person remembering that being alone doesn’t always mean somebody is missing.

The person discovering that you can miss pieces of your old life without wanting the whole thing back.

And now it’s Friday.

So let’s bring this thing home.

🏡

Maybe one of the hardest parts of life changing is realizing that some of the places where you used to find yourself aren’t there anymore.

Maybe it was a job.

A relationship.

A home.

A routine.

A friendship.

A role.

A church.

A neighborhood.

A dream.

A Saturday morning ritual.

A crowded kitchen.

A quiet drive.

A certain chair beside a certain person.

Maybe that place still exists, but you changed.

And now you don’t quite fit there the way you once did.

That can leave you searching for yourself in places where an earlier version of you used to live.

Beloveds,

what if you don’t have to keep searching there?

What if the thing you loved wasn’t really the place?

What if it was what happened inside you while you were there?

Maybe that old place gave you peace.

Freedom.

Belonging.

Creativity.

Confidence.

Rest.

Joy.

Purpose.

Room to breathe.

Room to dream.

Room to hear yourself think.

You may not be able to return to that exact place.

And I’m not going to tell you that doesn’t hurt.

Sometimes it does.

But maybe the place was never the whole relationship.

Maybe it was simply where you and that part of yourself used to meet.

👀

And if that’s true…

maybe it’s time to find somewhere new.

Not somewhere better.

New.

There’s a difference.

We’re not replacing anything tonight.

We’re not pretending the new thing feels exactly like the old thing.

We’re not putting a pretty bow around what changed.

We’re just making room.

Maybe your new place is smaller.

Maybe quieter.

Maybe slower.

Maybe it looks nothing like what you pictured.

Maybe you haven’t found it yet.

That’s okay.

But don’t stop looking for you.

The you who still laughs.

The you who still wonders.

The you who still loves something.

The you who still has something to say.

The you who still wants to learn.

The you who still enjoys a song.

The you who still notices a sunset.

The you who still has dreams—even if those dreams changed.

The you who still needs rest.

The you who still deserves tenderness.

The you who is still becoming.

That person is worth meeting.

So before we leave this week, I want you to do something with me.

Pull out a chair.

🪑

Not for the person you used to be.

We’ve honored that person.

Not for the person everybody else thinks you should become.

They don’t get that chair.

Pull it out for you.

The you sitting here today.

Maybe you don’t know this version of yourself very well yet.

That’s all right.

Sit anyway.

You don’t have to interrogate yourself.

You don’t need a five-year plan.

You don’t need to figure everything out before bedtime.

Start with something simple.

Hello.

I’ve been looking for you.

And maybe, after everything life has changed, rearranged, taken, given, ended and begun…

you’ll discover something.

You weren’t gone.

You just needed somewhere new to meet yourself.

🪑🏡

Welcome home, beloveds.

The chair is yours.

loving me some you
Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe

There’s room for all of us — Bring it home.

There’s room for all of us — Bring it home

Friday, October 16, 2026 — 12:00 PM

Beloveds,

It’s FRIDAY! 💃🏿

And look at us!

We made it to the end of another week.

Some of us came through smiling.

Some of us came through wondering what in the world happened between Monday and today.

Some of us probably had to negotiate with hard just to get here. 😅

And some of us had a wonderful week.

Wonderful!

There is room for those stories, too.

I hope we never become so focused on life’s difficulties that we forget to celebrate the good.

A beautiful morning.

An unexpected kindness.

A laugh that caught us by surprise.

A little progress.

A good cup of coffee.

Sometimes the smallest things become the sweetest parts of a day.

But here’s what I want us to bring home this Friday.

There’s room for all of us.

Not just the people who think alike.

Not just the people who believe alike.

Not just the people whose lives are easy to understand.

Not just the people who know exactly what they want to say and how to say it.

All of us.

This week, we’ve talked about making room.

Making room for our feelings.

Making room for uncertainty.

Making room for the parts of life that don’t fit neatly together.

And making room for people without deciding they must become more like us before they belong.

That’s important to me.

Because the world is full of people who have spent much of their lives trying to fit somewhere.

Trying to be understood.

Trying to be heard.

Trying to be accepted without having to explain every little thing about themselves.

Some people have been told they’re too much.

Others have been made to feel they’re not enough.

Some have been dismissed because they speak differently.

Some because they move differently.

Some because they believe differently.

And some because somebody looked at them and decided they already knew their entire story.

Beloveds, we have got to do better than that.

A person is not an assumption.

A person is not a category.

A person is not somebody else’s idea of what a life ought to look like.

A person is a whole human being.

With hopes.

Memories.

Preferences.

Questions.

Experiences.

And a life that matters.

You know something?

We don’t have to agree on everything to treat one another with dignity.

I can listen to somebody whose beliefs are different from mine.

I can respect someone who makes a choice I wouldn’t make.

I can offer kindness without expecting that person’s gratitude to become a lifetime obligation.

And I can invite someone into my life without deciding they have to accept.

That’s what makes an invitation beautiful.

It leaves room for an answer.

Now, there’s something else I want us to remember.

Being welcoming does not mean having no boundaries.

And being kind does not mean allowing somebody to mistreat you.

We can love and still say no.

We can forgive and still acknowledge what happened.

We can offer friendship without demanding it in return.

We can receive care and still remain the people making decisions about our own lives.

That applies to everybody.

The one giving.

The one receiving.

The one sitting.

And the one who isn’t quite ready to come through the door.

Nobody has to surrender their humanity for the privilege of being treated like a human being.

Imagine carrying that thought into the weekend.

At the grocery store.

At church.

At work.

At home.

In the doctor’s office.

Or in an ordinary conversation with someone whose life looks nothing like ours.

What might happen if we listened a little longer?

If we asked instead of assumed?

If we respected somebody’s answer even when it wasn’t the one we expected?

If we allowed another person to be fully themselves without making their differences a problem?

And what if we extended that same dignity to ourselves?

Because, beloveds, we belong in this conversation, too.

We are not standing outside the circle handing out kindness while pretending we don’t need any.

We are people.

Just like everybody else.

And our lives matter, too.

Now, I promised to bring us home.

So here’s our little Friday compass. 🧭

Let kindness be our direction.

Let dignity guide how we treat one another.

Let compassion remind us that there may be more to someone’s story than we can see.

Let freedom remind us that love doesn’t have to control someone to be genuine.

And let hope remind us that tomorrow still holds possibilities we haven’t discovered.

That’s a pretty good direction to travel, don’t you think?

We don’t have to solve everybody’s problems this weekend.

We don’t have to have all the answers.

We can do something wonderfully ordinary.

Be present.

Be thoughtful.

Enjoy something good.

Make a little room for somebody.

And perhaps find a moment to appreciate the life we’re living, even when it hasn’t turned out exactly as we expected.

Some of us are heading into a busy weekend.

Some are looking forward to a little peace.

Some will be spending time with people they love.

And some will be enjoying their own company.

There’s room for every one of those possibilities.

So here we are, beloveds.

At the end of another week.

Still learning how to live alongside people whose stories aren’t identical to ours.

Still discovering that kindness can be both gentle and strong.

Still making room.

And still carrying that beautiful invitation into the world.

Come as you are.

Bring your laughter.

Bring your questions.

Bring your whole humanity.

And remember to make room for someone else’s.

Because this world has enough people trying to make one another smaller.

I would rather we learn how to make room.

There’s room for all of us.

And there’s room for you.

Have yourself a beautiful weekend.

loving me some you

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Keep on Keeping On 🌅💛.

Keep on Keeping On 🌅💛

Friday, October 16, 2026 | 8:00 AM

Good morning, Beloveds! 🥰☕️

Just stopping by to remind somebody of something this morning.

YOU GOT THIS! 💪🏿❤️

I know.

Life has a way of throwing things at us that we never saw coming.

Sometimes we get tired.

Sometimes we get discouraged.

And sometimes we wonder how much more we can take.

But, beloveds, look at you!

You’re still here!

You’ve made it through days you weren’t sure you could get through.

You’ve survived storms that nobody even knew you were facing.

And you’re still standing, sitting, crawling, or doing whatever it takes to keep moving forward! 🥰

That’s something worth celebrating!

Listen.

You don’t have to conquer the whole mountain today.

Take one step.

Say one prayer.

Try one more time.

And if today calls for some rest, take it!

Rest isn’t surrender.

There’s no shame in taking your time.

Just don’t forget how far you’ve already come.

And don’t let a difficult chapter convince you that your story is over.

The Father isn’t finished writing. ❤️

So lift that beautiful head, beloveds.

There’s still life to live, love to give, and joy waiting to surprise you!

Keep on keeping on!

And remember…

You matter to me. ❤️

Cassandra 🥰

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note📝: Nuff Said!

Thursday, October 15, 2026 — 6:00 PM

Thursday, October 15, 2026 — 6:00 PM

You Don’t Have to Want Your Whole Old Life Back

Beloveds,

Here’s something we don’t say enough.

You can miss parts of your old life without wanting the whole thing back.

You can miss the house and not miss what happened inside it.

You can miss the job and not miss what it did to you.

You can miss the relationship and still know leaving was right.

You can miss having little children running through the house and still be proud of the adults they became.

You can miss the city and not miss the life you were living there.

You can miss who you were and still be grateful for who you became.

You can miss the laughter without wanting the pain that came with it.

You can miss the good days without rewriting the hard ones.

Missing something does not mean you made the wrong decision.

It doesn’t mean you should go back.

And it certainly doesn’t mean everything about before was better.

Memory can be funny like that.

Sometimes it walks into the room carrying one beautiful moment and conveniently leaves three boxes of foolishness out in the car.

😏

Bring the boxes in too.

Not because we need to sit around reopening every painful thing.

But because we don’t have to romanticize yesterday to honor what was good about it.

Maybe there really was something beautiful there.

Keep it.

Maybe there was something you learned there.

Keep that too.

Maybe there was something that hurt you.

You don’t have to carry that forward just because it came from a chapter you sometimes miss.

And maybe there are parts of the old you that deserve another look.

Your curiosity.

Your confidence.

Your creativity.

Your silliness.

Your willingness to try.

Your ability to rest.

Your dreams.

Your boundaries.

Your joy.

Maybe those things don’t belong to your old life at all.

Maybe they still belong to you.

👀

That’s worth thinking about.

Because sometimes when life changes, we accidentally pack parts of ourselves into the boxes marked BEFORE.

Then we assume we can’t have them anymore because that chapter ended.

Beloveds,

everything from before does not have to stay before.

You are allowed to bring some things with you.

Not the whole house.

Not every box.

Not every person.

Not every hurt.

Not every habit.

Not every version of yourself.

Just what still belongs.

Take your time deciding.

Keep what helps you recognize yourself.

Keep what still brings life into the room.

Keep what you learned.

Keep what you loved.

Keep what grew you.

And whatever needs to remain back there?

Let it.

You don’t owe the past a moving truck.

🪑

Tomorrow we’ll pull out one more chair.

Not for who you used to be.

For the person you’re meeting now.

loving me some you
Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe

Two things can be true, beloved.

Two things can be true, beloveds.

Thursday, October 15, 2026 — 12:00 PM

Beloveds,

Yesterday, we talked about giving ourselves permission to feel.

Today, I want to talk about something else.

What happens when we feel two things at the same time?

And neither feeling wants to move over and give the other one some room? 😅

You know what I mean.

You can be happy and sad.

Hopeful and uncertain.

Grateful and disappointed.

Excited and afraid.

You can want company and still need some quiet.

You can love someone dearly and still need a little space.

And beloveds, BOTH feelings can be real.

I think sometimes we make life harder than it already is by insisting that everything has to fit into one neat little category.

If we’re happy, we’re supposed to stay happy.

If we’re grieving, somebody wonders why we’re laughing.

If we’re hopeful, somebody decides we must not be struggling anymore.

And if we’re having a difficult day, here comes somebody with a speech about being positive.

Whew.

Sometimes folk need to put those speeches on a shelf and listen.

A person is not a single emotion walking around in shoes.

We are complicated.

Beautifully, wonderfully, sometimes inconveniently complicated.

And that’s part of being human.

Let me give you an example.

Someone can be looking forward to a new chapter while still missing the life they had before.

They can appreciate the people helping them while wishing they didn’t need so much assistance.

They can celebrate progress and acknowledge how much they still have to navigate.

Neither feeling cancels the other.

A person can be grateful without pretending everything is wonderful.

And they can be disappointed without becoming ungrateful.

I especially want us to understand that.

Because sometimes we don’t give people room to tell us the whole truth.

We want them to pick a side.

Are you happy or sad?

Are you hopeful or discouraged?

Are you okay or not okay?

Well, beloveds, sometimes the answer is YES. 🤣

Both.

All of it.

And perhaps a few other things we haven’t found words for yet.

I think about music.

There are high notes.

Low notes.

Beautiful melodies.

Unexpected changes.

And rests.

A rest is still part of the music.

Just because the instrument isn’t making a sound doesn’t mean the composition has ended.

And just because someone is quiet doesn’t mean nothing is happening inside them.

Maybe they’re thinking.

Maybe they’re processing.

Maybe they’re simply enjoying a little peace.

We don’t have to turn every silence into a problem that needs solving.

Now, here’s another thing I’ve been thinking about.

The same freedom we want for ourselves ought to extend to the people around us.

If I want room to be complicated, I ought to remember that other people are complicated, too.

Someone may love us and disagree with us.

Someone may enjoy our company and still need time alone.

Someone may be interested in friendship but cautious because of what they’ve experienced before.

Someone may appreciate our invitation and decide not to accept it.

That doesn’t automatically make either person wrong.

It means we’re dealing with whole human beings.

And whole human beings have histories, preferences, boundaries, and choices.

I love Jesus.

I love my ABBA.

My Father has been with me through some things that I never imagined I would experience.

And I can tell you that loving Him doesn’t mean every moment of my life has been easy to understand.

Faith and questions have occupied the same day.

So have laughter and pain.

So have gratitude and longing.

And here I am.

Still living.

Still learning.

Still finding reasons to smile.

Still loving me some you.

Now, here’s our Heart Check.

Are we allowing people to be whole, or only accepting the parts of them that make us comfortable?

And what about ourselves?

Have we decided that one feeling makes another feeling invalid?

Beloveds, there’s room for both.

Room for hope and uncertainty.

Room for joy and tenderness.

Room for yesterday’s memories and tomorrow’s possibilities.

You don’t have to divide yourself into acceptable pieces to be worthy of kindness.

You are one whole person.

Even on the days when your feelings haven’t agreed on what kind of day we’re having. 😅

And I think that’s something worth celebrating.

Two things can be true.

And you still matter.

loving me some you

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 — 6:00 PM

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 — 6:00 PM

Nobody Was Missing From the Room

Beloveds,

Can we stop treating being alone like somebody forgot to show up?

Sometimes nobody is missing.

Sometimes the room has exactly the right number of people in it.

One.

You.

There are people who love being surrounded by people.

There are people who love a quiet room.

And there are plenty of us who enjoy both.

But somewhere along the way, being alone started getting confused with being lonely.

Those are not the same thing.

Loneliness can hurt.

It can make a full room feel empty.

But solitude?

Solitude can be something else entirely.

It can be your music playing without anybody asking you to turn it down.

Your movie.

Your book.

Your coffee.

Your walk.

Your drive.

Your favorite meal.

Your ridiculous little show that nobody else understands why you watch.

Your thoughts getting enough room to finish themselves.

Or maybe absolutely nothing.

No plans.

No productivity.

No need to make the evening impressive enough to tell somebody about tomorrow.

Just you.

When was the last time you enjoyed your own company without treating the time as something you had to fill?

That’s my question for you tonight.

Not because people don’t matter.

They do.

We need one another.

We need friendship.

Community.

People who will laugh with us, sit with us, tell us the truth, help us carry things and remind us we’re loved.

But, beloveds, you live with you too.

That’s a relationship worth tending.

Maybe life has kept you so busy being somebody’s parent, partner, friend, caregiver, coworker, helper, problem-solver or safe place that you haven’t spent much time lately being simply…

you.

No role.

No performance.

No explanation.

Just your own company.

And if you’ve forgotten how to enjoy that company, you don’t have to make some grand project out of finding yourself.

Start small.

Play the song.

Make the coffee.

Watch the movie.

Sit outside.

Take yourself somewhere you like.

Turn the phone over for a little while.

Laugh at something nobody else heard.

Let a thought wander without immediately turning it into something useful.

Get reacquainted.

You might discover something.

The person you’ve been waiting to have a little time with…

has been there the whole time.

And if tonight finds you sitting somewhere by yourself, don’t automatically look at the empty chair and decide somebody is missing.

Look at the occupied one too.

🪑

Somebody is already there.

And, beloveds, I hope you’re learning that somebody is worth knowing.

loving me some you
Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe

Stuck between two worlds.

Beloveds,

I feel stuck. Stuck between two worlds:

Hopeful, yet wondering.

Able, yet, hesitant.

Joyful, yet, wandering.

Stuck in the middle of…

New life.

Old life.

Future life.

Nevertheless/however Cassandra lives.

Ah, God, why must I be stuck in the middle.

I trust You. I’m learning to trust me, too.

Thank You for loving me enough to let me remain…

Stuck in the middle.

grateful for my life,

Cassandra

Note 📝: Beloveds, be patient with yourself as you find yourself stuck in the middle…

It’s okay to wonder. It’s okay to wander. You aren’t lost. Even if you are lost, that’s okay, too. He knows where to find us 🥹💯

In case no one has told you today: I love you and so does He!

Give yourself permission, beloveds.

Give yourself permission, beloveds.

To:

Feel.

Fear.

Cry.

Worry.

Fret.

Fuss.

Holler.

Howl.

Whatever.

Whenever.

However.

Beloveds, it’s important to give yourself permission and room to feel however you feel.

Folk ought stop lying 🤥 about how they truly feel.

Yesterday, my heart ached. I had to pick up my bifocals and reading glasses 👓  .

When it hit me how much damage the stroke did to my vision, I wanted to weep. I didn’t.

Sis, realizing I needed her, began teasing me, unmercifully.

She made me laugh when nothing was funny.

There was a man who stared at me with obvious pity. I wanted to yell at him to have pity to take two seats and he with it.

Truly, I don’t feel sorry for myself. 

Not now.

When I first had my stroke, beloveds, I was truly terrified.

I was:

Dismayed.

Horrified.

Scared.

Devastated.

Despairing.

When I was transferred to the Rehabilitation Facility, I was over everything.

I had lost:

Hope.

Faith.

Peace.

Joy.

Belief.

I ❤️‍🩹 was heartbroken.

I told family and friends that I couldn’t do THIS.

Thankfully, I had family and friends who allowed me to BE 💔 devastated.

I was incontinent. I couldn’t move, speak or do anything for the first couple days.

I could hear everything.

It only took a few days for my spirit to tell me to get a dose of act right!

I’m glad I did. I’m looking forward to my future.

Yes, pain and I spend our days together.

But, laughter, joy, hope and peace are my constant companions and friends.

Jesus and ABBA are with EVERY step I take!!

I just stopped by to encourage someone. Starting with me.

Be encouraged.

Give yourself permission, beloveds.

Feel.

Process.

Then…

Proceed.

We got thangs to, remember?

asking for A Friend,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Tuesday, October 13, 2026 — 6:00 PM

Tuesday, October 13, 2026 — 6:00 PM

When Simple Things Aren’t Simple Anymore

Beloveds,

Yesterday we talked about missing who you used to be.

Tonight, I want to talk about something that can come with that.

Sometimes the things that used to be simple aren’t simple anymore.

Getting out of the house.

Going somewhere alone.

Making dinner.

Paying the bills.

Getting through a workday.

Taking care of everybody.

Concentrating.

Sleeping.

Trusting somebody.

Starting over.

Making friends.

Going into a crowded room.

Getting through an anniversary.

Getting through a holiday.

Getting through a Tuesday.

Things change.

Bodies change.

Families change.

Finances change.

Relationships change.

Responsibilities change.

Confidence changes.

Life changes.

And something you once did without giving it much thought can suddenly require planning, help, extra time, extra money, extra energy, or courage you didn’t used to have to gather first.

That can be frustrating.

Especially when somebody else looks at the thing and thinks,

What’s the big deal?

They may not know what it costs you now.

You do.

So, beloveds, I want you to hear this tonight:

Harder does not mean you are failing.

Needing more time doesn’t mean you’re lazy.

Needing help doesn’t erase your independence.

Having to plan something you once did spontaneously doesn’t make the thing less meaningful when you finally do it.

And doing something differently doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

Sometimes we are so busy comparing today’s effort with yesterday’s ease that we don’t give ourselves credit for today’s effort at all.

Yesterday you could just do it.

Today you have to figure out how to do it.

That’s different.

And different deserves some grace.

Maybe the win today isn’t doing everything the way you used to.

Maybe the win is finding another way.

Maybe it’s asking for help without deciding that needing help says something terrible about you.

Maybe it’s doing half.

Maybe it’s trying again tomorrow.

Maybe it’s deciding that one thing simply isn’t worth the energy it costs anymore.

And maybe it’s celebrating something other people would call small because you know exactly how much it took.

Let them call it small.

You know what it cost.

I hope you’ll give yourself credit for that.

Life may have made some simple things complicated.

That doesn’t make you complicated.

It makes you somebody learning how to live inside circumstances that changed.

And, beloveds, learning takes time.

So tonight, don’t measure yourself only by what used to be easy.

Look at what you’re carrying now.

Look at what you’re working around.

Look at what you’re learning.

Look at what you’re still doing.

Then pull your chair a little closer.

🪑

There’s nothing wrong with you because something got harder.

Sometimes…

hard is just hard.

And you’re still here figuring out how to meet it.

loving me some you
Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe

Monday, October 12, 2026 — 6:00 PM

Monday, October 12, 2026 — 6:00 PM

When You Miss Who You Used to Be

Beloveds,

This week isn’t about me.

Something I wrote recently got me thinking about how easy it is to miss who we used to be when life changes on us.

But I don’t want to spend this week telling you my story.

I want to make room for yours.

So this week is for you.

Maybe there’s a version of you that you miss.

The you who laughed easier.

The you who had more energy.

The you who wasn’t carrying quite so much.

The you who could pick up and go without thinking twice.

The you before that relationship ended.

Before that job disappeared.

Before the children grew up.

Before you became the caregiver.

Before the move.

Before the grief.

Before money got tight.

Before life changed in whatever way life changed.

Or maybe there wasn’t one big before at all.

Maybe one day you looked around and realized you had changed so gradually that you couldn’t remember exactly when it happened.

And every once in a while you think,

I miss who I used to be.

Can I tell you something?

You are allowed to.

Missing who you used to be does not mean you don’t appreciate who you are now.

It doesn’t mean you’re living in the past.

It doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful.

Sometimes it simply means there were parts of your life—and parts of yourself—that you loved.

Of course you miss them.

You don’t have to talk yourself out of that.

But, beloveds, don’t spend so much time looking for the old you that you overlook the person sitting right here.

You.

This you.

The one who has lived some things.

Learned some things.

Lost some things.

Survived some things.

Changed your mind about some things.

Started over in some things.

And maybe you’re still trying to figure out some things.

You don’t have to become who you used to be to be somebody worth knowing now.

Read that again.

You don’t have to become who you used to be to be somebody worth knowing now.

Maybe you miss the old you.

Okay.

Pull out a chair for that version of yourself.

Remember.

Smile if there’s something worth smiling about.

Sigh if that’s what comes.

Keep the good memories.

Tell the truth about the hard ones.

But pull out another chair too.

For the person you are becoming.

You may not know that person very well yet.

That’s okay.

This week, maybe we can get acquainted.

I’m not going to spend these evenings telling you who you should become.

I’m just pulling out the chairs.

You bring your story.

We’ll talk.

🪑

loving me some you
Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe