Grace in Motion: The Principles That Define How I Live

There are moments in life — after heartbreak, after loss, after the quiet rebuilding — when you realize that your life is shaped not by what happens to you, but by what you choose to stand for.
I’ve learned this the slow way, through ache and grace, through faith and relapse, through learning to begin again and again.

So, what principles define how I live?


✨ Grace Is My First Language

Grace is the way I keep breathing when the ache rises.
It’s how I forgive Mr. California for the silence, and myself for waiting by the phone. I love this man with everything in me, but the complications and distance hurt me, hurt us.
Grace is how I turn pain into prayer instead of poison.

Grace doesn’t erase the past — it redeems it, thread by trembling thread.
It’s what carried me through four years of sobriety,
teaching me that healing is a thousand small surrenders,
each one whispered: “Not my will, but Yours.”

I’ve learned to meet myself where I stumble, not where I wish I was standing.
That’s where God meets me too — in the wreckage, in the real.


💗 Love, Even When It Costs

The Legion of Mary taught me that love isn’t just emotion; it’s mission.
It’s handing out rosaries when your heart is breaking.
It’s comforting the lonely when you wish someone would comfort you.
It’s praying for the one who walked away — not because you’re a saint,
but because you remember what it feels like to be lost.

I still love Mr. California.
Not as an idol, but as a soul I once touched with light.
And loving him now means releasing him gently into God’s keeping.
That, too, is service.


🕯️ Adoration Is My Anchor

The hours I spend before the Blessed Sacrament aren’t penance — they’re medicine.
When I look at that small circle of white, I remember who holds the universe.
I let His silence speak louder than the unanswered calls.

It’s where my heartbeat syncs again with heaven’s rhythm.
I whisper names — all my beloved friends across the distance and miles —
and trust that grace travels where I cannot.

Sometimes I think the monstrance holds not just Christ, but all our waiting.


🌧 Truth, Even When It Trembles

I used to think strength meant composure.
Now I know it’s confession — the willingness to say, “I’m still healing.”

Sometimes I go to Mass with tears still wet on my cheeks.
Sometimes I feel like a saint one moment and a storm the next.

But truth, even messy, is holy.
It’s what keeps me human in a world that rewards pretending.
Sobriety has taught me that honesty — especially about weakness —
isn’t failure. It’s freedom.


🌌 Beauty Is How I Worship

A candle flame, a choir voice, the sky through my new telescope —
they are all hymns in disguise.
I see God in every shimmer, in every constellation He flung across the dark.

When I find beauty, I offer it back.
Because every lovely thing is a reminder: He hasn’t given up on me.
Even the ache is beautiful when I surrender it.


🌿 Becoming Is the Only Rule

Every day I am learning to live slower, holier, truer.
I am learning that waiting doesn’t mean wasting.
That silence can be sacred, not punishment.
That loving without demand is its own vocation.

I am not who I was when he first said, “I see you, Lynn.”
But I hope I am someone who keeps seeing others that way —
through eyes washed in grace.


🌹 Benediction

If you asked me again what defines how I live,
I would say this:

I live by grace,
by love that costs,
by faith that doesn’t need proof,
by beauty that resurrects,
by truth that trembles,
and by the quiet miracle of becoming.

And when my heart aches for what was lost,
I place it back on the altar, whispering —
You can have this too, Lord. All of it. Even him.


“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

Daily writing prompt
What principles define how you live?

This Man Lights a Fire in Me

I remember the night of sex with my ex-husband, that was so orgasmic, I never thought anyone would match. But with Mr. California, my legs can’t stop squirming on a daily basis. Tonight was one of those nights. I just was on the couch talking to him, imagining what it would be like if he was on my couch with me, (we were trying to watch some really cool Justice League cartoons and a really good Stargate SG1 episode), but in between commercials, there was so much heavy flirting and teasing, I was dying for him so much.

This new chapter in our relationship is an interesting one. In the beginning, it was just as explosive, probably more so, because he was so openly in love with me and couldn’t contain how much he wanted me – marriage was even mentioned. Since then, through all the trials and tribulations, the heartache and pain we caused each other, the need and the chaos, the forgiveness, and desperation, we have come to this sort of compromised state. I am still blocked, and I know why I am; I lost that privilege when I showed him the real meaning of crazy. He said he would unblock me eventually, but I honestly feel a bit at peace with it. I leave him voicemails filled with prayers and love, and emails full of teasing and want. His calls come regularly and nightly, and to some that may seem incredibly unfair – even he said it all feels uneven, but to me I love him so much that I will take him in whatever form he is willing to give me.

This opportunity of freedom gives me the chance to go out and be in the world. I saw my bestie in Raleigh today, then my sci-fi friend, then took a nice drive to my parent’s house while they are out of town to take care of the property. The drive brought on tears, revelations, eighties music with thoughts of him, adventures I fantasized about and the realization that this exactly where God wants me right now. Everything that led up to this beautiful day, is the place and the duty that I was given since the floor of that jail cell, where I promised Jesus that I would never drink again, and join the church he founded by his apostles. Since that promise, I lost my husband, was homeless, lived with so many dramatic women in sober houses before finally finding my own place, then met Mr. California when I absolutely wasn’t looking and definitely didn’t expect to fall in love so hard and so deeply.

I don’t know what lays before me, but since taking my vows to Legion of Mary, and my promise to Christ to do his work and pursue a jail ministry, preaching God and sobriety, I think I am in the exact right place at the exact right time.

Stay tuned.

Remarkable Strides

Sometimes in life we don’t understand why we are called to a purpose. I am trying today to understand all the chaos in my head. Is it Jesus who speaks to me? Or is it my bipolar disorder and I am knee deep in mania? I am going to follow this rabbit hole. Alice followed the rabbit – so here I go.

Understanding mental illness is very difficult. For years, I never understood Jesus’s calling. He calls to me. He speaks to me. When I was crawling on the floor of the psych ward year after year every Easter for 15 years, He kept saying, “take on the demons Lynn, you need to show them the Devil, so they can understand God.” Emily Rose – that was her name. Read her story or watch her movie. It is important that we understand that in today’s world, we think we can remedy it all with Ozempic to lose weight really, really fast, then diagnosis people with diabetes in order for the insurance to pay for it. We give people Haldol, Seroquel, Trazadone, Risperdal, Adderall, Lexapro (the culprit that took me out for 20 years), and we think it will solve the chaos of the mind and soul. But it is a battle. A battle we have to fight every day between Good and Evil.

I was driving to get my new best friend, (who I have only met once), and take her to an AA meeting today because she really needed it. I was calling her and calling her because I am driving into a neighborhood of my town that I do not know, and this NYC girl feels really out of sorts out here in the country, lol. When I got to a stoplight, I got distracted by something, I don’t know what but became really disoriented and cut in front of someone by mistake when I made the right turn at the red light. He/She honked at me really loudly and then passed me – I immediately slammed on my gas pedal, and pushed my beloved little Corolla, which I immediately regretted, (be nice to your cars they love you), and pursued this person in rage who honked at me. Then I slowed and realized my friend wasn’t answering her phone. Who is this girl anyway? Do I really know her? Am I walking into something unsafe? The thoughts started coming – “she’s going to set you up” “you’re going to die” so I turned around at a gas station and started driving in the other direction towards the meeting. She texted and let me know she was waiting, and when I called her, she said she was in the shower and didn’t realize her phone was ringing and ringing with my frantic manic calls of utter nonsense and hysteria of “doom.” Once I heard her sweet voice though, I knew I wasn’t in danger, and immediately went to pick her up. It wasn’t easy though. Google Maps, and I swear on the life of me I AM going to do something about Google, kept redirecting me all over the place so I couldn’t get directions to her house. It froze, went into “preview” mode, did all kinds of bullshit for about 5 minutes, when I finally tricked it into taking me where I needed to go.

Was that all craziness? Or was it real?

One can question what is real and what isn’t. Reality isn’t what we think it is, at all. It really isn’t, and they lock people up in all kinds of psych wards just because they are warriors for God, and they are just trying to save us.

Crazy thoughts run amuck can change the face of the world, especially the entire nation in which we live. My amazing boyfriend helps me through all of this with his utter kindness and gentleness. My ex-husband is currently committed in a state hospital in New York. We wonder about the people in our lives and how they think about us. This girl wasn’t trying to set me up – she is the kindest, dearest, sweetest person I have ever met, and we have so much in common. I invited her to my house to hang out and talk after the meeting and we had such an amazing afternoon, and we plan on spending lots more time together. I acquired a brand-new best friend today! And imagine, if I would have let those crazy thoughts stop me, I would have stood her up, and she wouldn’t have had a ride to the AA meeting today, which we both desperately needed. I desperately need AA every day, it’s a fact. Addiction and mental illness crippled my soul, but Jesus set me free.

Stay tuned.