Just when you think you know it all...

Midlife had arrived and I was ready for new adventures. My husband's business registered him for a personal growth experience, and I was put on the waiting list. It was three months before I knew I was accepted. Thrilled and utterly unaware of what was to come, I signed a notarized legal document releasing the workshop facilitators from any liability. That should have given me some idea of what could unfold.

But it didn't...When I was young my nickname was "Pollyanna," meaning I only saw sunshine and rainbows no matter what happened. So without a clue, I walked right into the lion's den of personal growth and development. I would leave this childhood persona far behind in the desert and would never see her again.

We were picked up from the airport and drove for several hours down a long, isolated road. The dust swirled up and around the van as it bounced across the potholes carrying a global group of seekers who would spend ten days together off the grid with no outside contact. It all sounded exciting until I was in the big middle of this ten-day adventure. I was soon catapulted out of my comfort zone with my inner child screaming for something familiar.

Suddenly, through a dusty view, an oasis appeared. The elegant retreat center was in the middle of a desert and had once belonged to a Japanese businessman. It was equipped with beauty, detail, and opulence - right down to the rock swimming pool built into the side of the mountain surrounded by unforgettable views.

I was sure I knew a lot about most things in life when we all arrived at the oasis. After all, I had raised my sons to be fine young men. I'd even run barrels in a rodeo and been bucked off a horse! In high school, I was in a movie, now a cult classic, "The Legend of Boggy Creek."  I mean, not everybody has those experiences, right? Yet, I felt like a wide-eyed spiritual infant when the retreat director asked me this straightforward question, "Who are YOU?"

I look a deep breath, proudly ready to recite all about my husband, children, accomplishments and the church where I was christened. I was smiling my best southern girl smile when he stopped me before I could exhale the words of my story. He stated, in front of forty-seven more retreat attendees, "Don't tell me about your husband, don't tell me about your children and for God's sake, don't tell me your parents were divorced."

My heart dropped into my stomach. Could I be that transparent?? In one statement, he had taken my entire story away.  That's precisely what I told the group as laughter rumbled through the circle of people who sat barefoot and crossed-legged on a beautiful lilac carpet. After that, I didn't speak up much (ok, at all) in the group meetings again. However, I watched, observed and participated in "energy" activities that would leave an imprint on my soul for the rest of this life.

It was here, strangers from around the globe became friends and had gathered for a holy and life-changing experience. It was here that I saw the truth of humanity. The truth behind all the worldly trappings and how we present ourselves in life.  We all have the same basic wants and needs - no matter where you are born, what you believe, or how you show up daily.

The experience in the desert awakened my understanding of the spirit, soul and heart connection. I left the desert forever changed by grace, soulful relationships, and new values for spiritual prosperity in life, love, and leadership. Surely this was the be-all and end-all of growth in spirit. I truly felt like I had arrived. And very slowly daily life began to settle in again.

But wait. Could there be more? Where did those thoughts come from and how could I even go down that path? What more could possibly be out there to discover? God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, will answer prayers. He responded to my question and my prayer in one of the allegedly most dangerous places on planet earth... Jamaica! YAH Mon'

Oh! My aching southern belle. Yassss, there was more to come. I soon learned God does not exist in any box or only in a physical structure. He is truly omnipotent, and He never stops revealing the "MORE" to those who are open to knowing. My adventures were not over just yet. What began in the desert oasis was just a beginning to what would occur during a recent trip to the jungles of Jamaica.

Roots run deep for women in the south. I was raised surrounded by beautiful souls who were strong and long-suffering. I was raised to be an iron fist in a velvet glove. This strength carried me through just about anything life handed my way. What it didn't prepare me for was stark isolation in nature and the rawness of a jungle experience.

I was walking through history past structures undisturbed for centuries. Nothing made a difference on this day but climbing up steep, uneven slippery rock steps carved out by sugar cane plantation slaves in the early 1700s.

I had to remember to breathe the hot air on this sweltering tropical day. When I found myself deep in a remote jungle well past my physical limits. It was "gut" time, and I was entirely out of options.

I heard the words, "Dear God," a whisper from my lips as I began to fall into the black void of unconsciousness.

I would, for the first time in my life, surrender complete control. To be face to face with the Light, the Divine,

to "meet Jesus in the Jamaican Jungle."

NEW RELEASE! BOOK coming in 2021!!!