{"id":1575,"date":"2011-05-09T04:57:51","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T04:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/?p=1575"},"modified":"2011-05-09T14:35:39","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T14:35:39","slug":"there-is-a-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/2011\/05\/09\/there-is-a-reason\/","title":{"rendered":"There Is A Reason"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

As I help my Alabama neighbors salvage anything from the desolation that is now their life, I am being overwhelmed with powerful messages. And you need not be a tornado survivor to gain from them. These messages are for anyone who wants a wake-up call about what truly matters in this one life we have been blessed to live. <\/p><\/div>\n

When I began this Hands Free journey nine months ago, I did not know where it would take me.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t plan to come here, to a place of introspect so deep that it hurts.<\/p>\n

But this journey has taught me the most meaningful things come from the unexpected, from the unplanned.<\/p>\n

And then there are The Reasons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a reason I decided my journey to grasp what really matters<\/em> should be open for the whole world to read.<\/p>\n

There is a reason I am privy to people\u2019s most inner pain and struggle to find meaning in their life.<\/p>\n

And as of late, there is a reason I found myself hugging my daughters against my chest in a dark basement praying for the safety of our lives.<\/p>\n

And there is a reason my husband was among the first responders to the destroyed homes and collapsed lives of incredible survivors.<\/p>\n

And there is a reason that \u201cNow Is The Time<\/a>,\u201d the entry posted one day after the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina occurred, has become my most popular post to date.<\/p>\n

There is a reason my blog subscriptions have dramatically increased in the past ten days.<\/p>\n

There is a reason I wake up at 3:00 a.m. with words so moving that I stumble to the kitchen to write them down.<\/p>\n

There is a reason the messages derived from the killer tornados of April 27th<\/sup> are coming faster than I can write them.<\/p>\n

And the reason is yet to be revealed.<\/p>\n

But I do know one thing: These messages are at the heart of what it means to truly grasp what matters<\/em> in this precious life that could so easily be gone tomorrow.<\/p>\n

And to be changed by them does not require that you survived a tornado, ever witnessed a tornado, or even heard the word \u201ctornado.\u201d<\/p>\n

You merely have to have a tiny, yet undeniable inner urge to make the most out of this one life you have to live.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And you do. Because that you are here.<\/p>\n

And I hope you will stay as I write these messages that were created in the chaos and rubble of a tornado, and in the hearts and souls of its survivors and angel helpers.<\/p>\n

And these life-changing messages will fall into the category, \u201cThere Is A Reason<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

These messages will come on no particular day and will be in no particular order. They will come when I least expect them, yet they will come when someone most needs to read them.<\/p>\n

They will come simply because I have no other choice than to write them.<\/p>\n

And to deny these messages would crush the very heart of what it means to be Hands Free\u2026which is what brought me here in the first place.<\/p>\n

And there is a reason.<\/p>\n

You may find yourself in a place you didn\u2019t plan to be,<\/em><\/span>
\nSeeing things about yourself you do not want to see.<\/em><\/span>
\n <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

But I implore you, even beg you, if I may,<\/em><\/span>
\nNot to shield your eyes, not to look away.<\/em><\/span>
\n <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

For it\u2019s when delving deep that a silhouette appears,<\/em><\/span>
\nAn outline created from hidden hurts and darkest fears.<\/em><\/span>
\n <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Of the person you have always longed to be,<\/em><\/span>
\nThrough the eye of the storm, we can finally see.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

My friends, I hope you will stay to see your silhouette.<\/p>\n

There is a reason.<\/p>\n

*****************************************************************************<\/p>\n

Do you ever feel like your life is a chaotic storm? Do you find the way you live your life in conflict with what your heart and soul truly feel is important? Do you ever long for a \u201cwake up call\u201d about just how precious each moment here on earth REALLY is? Well, I didn\u2019t plan to come here on this journey, but my eyes have been opened. And I am not going to look away.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Where I am going is painful; it is not pretty, but through it I am gaining momentum against the excessive distraction that blinds me from what really matters. Through the eye of the storm, I am able to see. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope you will stick by my side. Together we will get to the heart of the matter. And that is where I long to be. How about you? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I began this Hands Free journey nine months ago, I did not know where it would take me. I didn\u2019t plan to come here, to a place of introspect so deep that it hurts. But this journey has taught me the most meaningful things come from the unexpected, from the unplanned. And then there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[334],"tags":[343,342,10,336,337,339,341,340,1524,338,1527,335],"gutentor_comment":4,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/IMG_1005-e1304916206555.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1fUJF-pp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}