Author: mslauraasmith

There are a few things I know for sure. 1. Fear is the driving force behind many of my decisions and reactions. 2. When I surrender and allow God to take over, miracles occur. 3. The space in between the fear and the surrender is painful, uncomfortable and unnecessary. 4. All feelings pass when I…

There is just something powerful about words, written and spoken. While in Italy, at the Basilica of Saint Francis, I attended a mass, the prayers spoken in Italian. Even though I am not a religious person, and didn’t know what was even being said, I felt the power of the words as first the priest…

Someone shared a story the other day about how he would allow pedestrians to cross in the crosswalk, but he couldn’t allow them if they weren’t between those magic lines. Something about this anecdote  jarred me into an aha moment, or a realization about myself, a very uncomfortable, painful realization. I can be a meanie…

Last week I was sitting on a rock abutting the sea, having a little one on one time with God. It took me a while to realize that the other rocks, near were my feet were dangling, were teeming with crabs, large and babies. They blended into the background and my senses didn’t register them…

Usually when I am out of town I hit a point where I am ready to go home. This was not the case this time around. Yes I missed my friends, my family, my dogs and my boyfriend, but I was also beginning to become attached to a new landscape, a new language and the…

check out Girl Goes Global, my travel blog at: http://www.gratefulgirlgoesglobal.blogspot.com/ Coming soon, my first book of poetry, Spring’s Third Day, available in July, published by Planet Media.

I needed to pray. So first I went to the two churches in town, and then I went to the sea. In the churches I found silence but for the voices, murmurs of people filtering in and out. I found art, sometimes over 500 year old art, gazed upon by many awed worshipers, recognizing beauty…

Q: How many paths up the mountain? A: Just how big is the mountain? The size of an anthill? Maybe one or two. The size of Kilimanjaro? Well, if you say one, I will just have to politely disagree. A couple of dear friends of mine are ultra conservative Christians and I just finished an email…