The Quill and Me

 The Quill and Me Self-Love Devotional Series Quiet Grace Notes This entry is part of my Self-Love Devotional Series, a gentle collection of reflections and practices I'm trying as I heal. Quiet Grace Notes is where I share small, honest moments of surrender, prayer, and the little practices that help me breathe again. Morning Invitations I stumbled on a practice that promised to change a life: positive thinking, daily affirmations, and a short prayer to begin the day. The name that kept coming up was Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life — a woman who taught that our words and thoughts shape our experience. I watched a short clip of her speaking and learned she was inspired by others to explore how language and belief can transform a life. All Is Well With My Soul A Morning Prayer I’m Trying When I wake, I close my eyes and whisper a prayer. I add my own lines because my faith is the lens through which I receive this practice: Lord I give You praise. “All is well....

The Quill and Me Self-Love Devotional Series  Self‑Love – What is that? Discovering the Meaning of Self-Love My Story: A 50-Year Journey I was past the age of 60 before I discovered this phrase. About 40 pages into a self‑love workbook, I realized something terrible: I hated myself. That discovery explained so many things. My story goes back 50 years. As an unmarried mother working nights in a bar, my son stayed with babysitters. My family didn’t approve. They said, “Let us keep him until you get on your feet.” What began as temporary guardianship became adoption by my sister and her husband. I was told I wasn’t a fit mother. Less than a year later, I was banned from their home over a false story about giving him gum. From then on, I was shut out—no birthdays, no graduations, no family gatherings. No pictures. Nothing. It has been 50 years now. Not much has changed. But I am learning to forgive myself. And I am trying, at last, to learn to love myself. The Workbook That Found Me An...