Welcome to the Journey Hey there! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m Raquel, preacher’s daughter, firefighter’s wife, mama, storyteller, and...

January always feels like opening a brand-new notebook, full of hope, clean pages, and the bold belief that this will be the year I keep my planner organized. (If you’ve seen my past planners, you know this is faith in action.)  Looking back on 2025, one word keeps echoing in my heart:  Becoming. This was the year of stepping out of familiar spaces, some I’d lived in for over twenty years, and trusting God with a future I couldn’t quite see yet. Walking away from an industry

There is something sacred about December. Not the quiet, candle-lit kind (although we love that too), but the holy chaos kind, where joy shows up in unexpected places and God gently reminds us to slow down and remember. And for me, December has always meant one thing: 🎄 Christmas dance recitals. 🎄 Except… plot twist. This year, I’m a retired dance mom . No backstage call times.No costume racks taking over my living room.No frantic “WHERE ARE YOUR TAP SHOES?!” moments bef

They say if you hear something long enough, eventually you start to believe it, even if it’s not true. For me, the loudest lies have never come from other people’s mouths. They’ve been the whispers in my own mind: You’re not a good mother. You’ve let God down. You’ll never measure up. Those voices grew louder through the hard seasons of my life. I’ve walked through my parents’ divorce, my own divorce, and the heartbreak of losing my father. Each moment left me questioning my

When Faith Meets Black Friday... from the Break Room of Heaven This year, for the first time in over a decade, I won’t be at the front doors at 5:00 a.m., keys in one hand, lukewarm coffee in the other, praying that the barcode scanner works and that no one asks me where we keep the 3-in-1 curling wand set (again).   No, ma’am, this year I will not be running the floor like a half-baptized drill sergeant with a headset.  I will not be scraping perfume testers off the tile or

Halloween at our house is always… an event . Every year, I tell myself I’ll start costume planning early. Every year, I lie. I have this wild mom dream of my kids matching in the cutest themed costumes because if I’m already stressed, I might as well be stressed cohesively , right? One year we were the magical Madrigals from Encanto (and yes, we don’t talk about Bruno, but we do talk about how much glitter that year involved). Another year it was Toy Story , my son got to be

It’s been seven years since my dad was called home, and the weight of his absence is still something I carry every single day. Grief has...

There’s nothing quite like standing at the front doors of your store at 4:59 a.m. on Black Friday, keys in hand, heart racing, and a...

With Father’s Day around the corner, this time of year stirs up so many emotions. For some, it’s a joyful celebration. For others, it’s a...

My Son is done with Kindergarten 2023 was a year etched into my heart forever. My oldest daughter graduated from high school. My son had...

This past Sunday, as I sat in church listening to the sermon, my pastor said something that hit me deep in my soul. He asked,  “Ever feel...

There’s a different kind of Hallelujah, the kind that doesn’t come from a mountaintop, but from the valley floor. It’s not clean or...

Today was one for the books. You know those stories you hear and think, “That would never happen to me?” Well, buckle up because today, I...

There’s a kind of pain that doesn’t just hurt, it changes you. It’s the kind that lingers, that shows up in quiet moments when you...

Me and My 3 Littles on Mother's Day 2025 Mother’s Day has always looked a little different for me. I’ve spent one Mother’s Day yelling...

There’s a unique kind of heartache that comes when you believe you’re doing everything right, praying, waiting, stepping out in faith and...

After 20+ years in Retail Management and seven of those as a Retail Operations Manager for a Beauty Company. I finally did it. I quit. No...

Pator Santiago Morales leading a prayer. If I had a dollar every time someone told me, “You must live an easy life, knowing the Bible...

I thought I had a pretty good handle on what grace meant until I became a mom. Before kids, grace sounded like a church word. A...

My Husband on the Mart Fire 2017 Loving a First Responder: What It’s Really Like I’ve lost count of how many times someone has said to...