Do you know the meaning of your name? I found out the meaning of mine when I was about 10 years old and it was such a special thrill to me to find out that my name actually had meaning to me.

I was born Amy Carol Duvall, which means Beloved Song of the Valley.

I am a singer and it meant so much to me that the meaning of my name reflected my love of music — of course, I never thought of the full meaning of being a love song “of the Valley”.

Over the past twenty plus years of my life, as I have walked and lived in some very dark valleys, I have had much time to reflect on my name and the full meaning and implications of actually being the beloved song of the valley—I can’t help but think it was somehow not just chance that I received that name.

In 1990, at a very crossroads in my life, I began questioning my whole belief structure that I had been taught was true and I began to question.

I didn’t know who I was, or even wanted to be, but I knew for sure that I wanted peace, love, joy and happiness in my life and I  knew that I did not want to be an angry or bitter person.

I remember begging God to help me and to show me if He was real or not.

I believe He led me to the words of Jesus in the New Testament book of Matthew , chapters 5, 6, 7.

As I read through those chapters for the first time I felt excitement as the truth of the words became clear in my soul—this was what I was looking for and what I felt being a Christian should be! I read those three chapters every day for a month and they totally changed my life.

I would never tell anyone they need to follow the same path as me, or that I have things all figured out.

The more I learn the more open I become and the less dogmatic I become in telling others what they should do. I also become more and more aware of how much I don’t know about all of these mysteries. I am just telling you what changed my life and  has helped me.

I really believe that if anyone is  honestly searching for peace and happiness, sincerely seeks truth  asks for answers—they will find what they need.

Each persons life journey is personal. My hope is that each and every person will find for themselves peace, love, hope, goodness, gentleness, patience and joy along their way and that the path will lead them to learn and grow and become who they want to be.

My own valley experiences have taught me many things, and even though at times I have wondered if I would make it through some of the adventures I have experienced, I have found God’s promises to me to be absolutely true—ALWAYS.

Over these years, my faith has grown stronger and more determined and I have found perfect peace in my heart no matter what my circumstances in life happen to be.

I have so much to feel blessed and thankful

for, and I am so glad to be able to share my journey through this

newsletter and with

people I meet every day. I love to meet people with a smile that truly comes from God and a heart full of joy and peace.

I now feel, even more, that my name is a special gift to me and as I move into a new time in my life I believe that soon I may have a change to my name and the name of this newsletter to Songs from the Mountain!

God of  our lives

you are always calling us

to follow you into the future,

inviting us to new ventures, new challenges,

new ways to care,

new ways to touch the hearts of all.

When we are fearful of the unknown, give us courage

When we worry that we are not up to the task,

Remind us that You would not call us

If you did not believe in us.

When we get tired,

Or feel disappointed with the way things are going,

Remind us that You can bring change and hope

Out of the most difficult situations.

The Pattern of Our Days

Liturgies and Resources for Worship Edited by Kathy Galloway

Lies

Rolling off a sliver tongue

Lies

Talk about communication but it means nothing when it’s lies

Lies

Giving an anti-drug speech

                                While you’re sending a text that your waiting in a parking lot to do a deal

Lies

                                Telling me what you think I want to hear

                While you do the exact opposite

Lies

All Lies

How can you know the truth?

                The only way to the truth is to shut off the sound

                Suspend belief in the words

                                Empty them as soon as they are said

Look only at actions

What are you doing?

Where are you going?

What happens when you stop talking?

When will you face the truth of your lies?

How will you stop?

The truth is found not in words but in the deeds that you do – ALWAYS

Why did it take me so long to remember that?

  1.You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
2. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
3. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
4. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion.  Today is special.
5. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
6. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
7. Forgive everyone for everything.
8. What other people think of you is none of your business.
9. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time!
10. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
11. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
12. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
13. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
14. The best is yet to come.
15. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
16. Do the right thing!
17. Call your family often.
18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: “I am thankful for __________.”
19. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
20. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don’t want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride. 

 1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant. 2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.3. Buy a Tivo (DVR), tape your late night shows and get more sleep.4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement,     “My purpose is to___________ today.”

5. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

6. Watch more movies, play more games and read more books than you did last year.

7. Make time to pray. It provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of six.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are       manufactured in plants.

11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon,    broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

14. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip,  issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class ……. but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and Laugh more often.

18. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

Yesterday was a struggle and my blog yesterday dealt with a little part of that.

Last night I went to a Bible study and don’t ya know that it was EXACTLY on target to what I had been daeling with for the past three days! Wow!

It was amazing…I talked out my grief and frustration and left there with my load lifted to God and shared by women of like-mind (and Joey the dog).

Nothing has changed as far as my situation - I have no more money than I did yesterday - my living situation has not changed - I still want the exact same thing as yesterday - but what HAS changed is that today I have been reminded of my hope and I know that I am on God’s mind and that He is active and concerned with my needs. He is coordinating and bringing me to all the places that I need and so I am reminded, once again, to wait on His time and His way and “Give thanks always for all things unto God” Eph. 5:20.

 I am so thankful for my journey and where I am in the pathway…it is really a very good place to be!

Why is it that I will be having a great day - feeling very positive about my chances of survival and future prosperity - when one very small thing can turn it all upside down.

It doesn’t take much as my chances and finances are in a fragile state and I have been so devasted, financially and in other ways, over the past 11 years that, even if nothing went wrong at all in the next year, it is still going to be extremely difficult to stabalize…and what are my chances of nothing going wrong? Slim to none I would say.

I have come so far and even as I experience the anxiety of my financial state and issues of the moment I try to keep myself focused on the big picture and picturing the moment when I can get past this….just like I have fought all the other hurdles in my life, I have to “eat this elephant one bite at a time”.

The helplessness and frustration gets pretty high sometimes, mainly because I want to be independent and responsible and it is hard to be those when you don’t have enough money to do it. You can’t grow money on trees.

All I know is I am committed to the way, I am trusting that God, as always, has the way planned, He knows my steps and will keep me from falling, and I will not not stop fighting until AFTER I am dead AND buried!

I am not and will never be a victim and I will not victimize anyone else either.

I know that it may seem strange after what I have just written….but I do feel very successful and I know this last area of my life that is still out of whack will be corrected in it’s time, and so I will seek to, once again, to put it into perspective and move my emotions back to the positive side!

One of my main definitions of my own success is how well I have stayed true to the principles I set out to live and how they have helped me or hurt me.  Regardless of the circumstances - right in the midst of rain or shine, hell or high water – how have I responded to what life has thrown at me?  Have my beliefs helped me or have they been a waste? Am I a better, stronger, smarter more open and more passionate about my God and my spiritual life than when I started or am bitter, angry, defeated or even arrogant and a know it all? Have my convictions been overturned or faded from desperation?  After 18 years of living this journey - I feel exceptionally blessed.

This was sent to me in one of those email chains that give you great words of encouragement and then threaten terrible things happening to you if you don’t send it on to everyone that you have ever met. I love the messages, but I do hate the threats! One of my pet peeves for sure.  I don’t have the exact message anymore but it talked about how to truly experience our life we need not only to laugh, which we all like to do - but we also need to cry with joy, sadness and pain and to keep learning and growing.  I had never really thought about the absolute importance of embracing the tears in life as much as the laughter, but it makes sense to me. Without tears, laughter or learning I do not have a truly full or real life experience.  Once again I turn to Kathy Galloway to express my feelings about living: Dazzle and GlowLove Burning Deep Did the sun ever shine so brightly again?Was there ever again a day of such distinction?Did the light and shadow ever compliment each other quite so gracefully? On that day, I remember, I ate chicken soup,And rode the tractor through the fields of heaven to certify the sheep. On that day, I put my head down on my arms and wept,And a friend told me he loved me. On that day, I hugged another friend in the glory-hole beneath the stairs. On that day, I thought I would die of feeling,But lived to wash the coffee-cups at midnight. On that day, we ran like children to the doorAnd stood and sighed like children at the northern lights,Painting the dark sky with a wash of silver. On that day, mystery and mundanity embraced, andCaught me in their arms for ever more. What a blessing of a day!The benediction of the dazzle of water in a ditch,And the glow of love, and light, and night.   I have looked at crying in a whole new way since, and many days I truly live a very full life!

“I do not believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense.  Everybody acts under external compulsion and in accordance with inner necessity.  “A person can do what he wants, but he cannot want what he wants”.  This has been an inspiration and continual consolation in the face of life’s hardships, my own and others.  This realization mitigates my sense of responsibility, prevents me from taking myself too seriously, and in particular allows me to look with some humor on sad events beyond my control.  I have never looked on material comforts, ease and happiness as ends in themselves.  The ideals that have lighted my way and time after time and have given me courage to face life cheerfully have been Kindness, Beauty and Truth.  And without the kinship with other people of like mind life would seem empty to me.”                            These are words of Albert Einstein and I love them. The lesson of the importance of Kindness, Beauty and Truth as ideals is just wonderful. I remind myself of it as often as I can. I incorporate them into the fabric of my thinking. Whenever I find something that sticks out to me like this, I read it over and over until my interpretation of it becomes a part of me - until it becomes a part of the way I think through things.  I received this quote in 2006 so this one is still in that pretty early process of becoming me, but I find myself coming back to it a lot, and thinking about it. That’s an important part of the process and I enjoy it every step of the way.