The Malibu Skies.

"Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." 
-Garth Brooks 

My dear little blades... Life is all in the timing. I am grateful to God for not answering some of my prayers. I am grateful for the gift of time. For the feeling of everything being right. Ready to shine. Breaking glass ceilings. Being a glowing star.

And I definitely had times when I felt so annoyed that things weren't happening. But now I see why -- so that I was ready. In my skin. Confident. Centered.

And this 4th of July, I was reminded of God's greatest gifts. And always to trust the light. To know that we are being saved for something extraordinary.

Rodney Dangerfield was 45. Natalie Portman was 11. Oprah Winfrey was the first African American female host. Betty White was the oldest SNL host. James Dean starred in 3 films and was nominated for 3 Academy Awards.

Extraodrinary is following our own star. Knowing we are the brightest the dark sky has ever seen. Knowing in our souls that there is a hole we are bound to fill. 

That no one but us can fill this space in time. That there will never be another like me. Like us. 

And that there have been times, we all must admit, when we have prayed to God for something we knew  was right, knew we wanted.

And looking back... We sigh a great big sigh and say... Thank you God for knowing more than me.

We thank you for our timing. For it being right, right now. For all that work leading to this. Nothing is late, nothing is early, nothing is finally and nothing is a regret. Everything is perfect. Divine even.

And we shall mark. Already are.

I think of those brave souls today who came before us and created the freedom, in which we live.

They too had dreams, wildly ambitious dreams. And they fought and protected our land so thatr we, generations later, can dream our wild dreams.

And so today... as I feel "time's wing'd chariot drawing near," as Andrew Marvell wrote, I salute the men and women who fought before us. And for us.

And I thank them just as I thank God for unanswered prayers.

For both have brought miracles and unexpected dreams upon me, upon us all.

Let us think tonight on praying for what God knows is best for us, the God inside of us. The light that leads us towards our dreams, as children seeking chilled milk for our homemade chocolate chip cookies, fresh out of the oven.

I remember listening to that Garth Brooks song in my aunt's Buick after my mom had passed. We drove along Arapahoe Road in Boulder, Colorado. She had a cassette tape of his. And the road was loopy, dippy in that romantic open country road kind of a way.

And the song touched me.

Because seeing my mom live was my unanswered prayer. 

But even tonight, in the glow of the 4th, I thank God. I bask in the light. I send love to my mom. And I send prayers to all of my little blades.

Let us know that we are loved. Cared for. Safe. Protected.

We are all stars.

Let us shine as brightly as is humanly possible -- brighter even. Let us burst open the darkest sky.

Like the juiciest, brightest, soaring, screaming, colorful fireworks that decorated the Malibu skies tonight.

And today, I loved sooo much and was loved sooo much. And had I had my prayer just last week answered, I'm not sure I would have had a day like today. And now -- this is not a prayer, it is a knowing. A delicious certainty.

Now. Is. The. Time.

To. Shine.

Star.

Love... Always.