“Be of  good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well!”  MATTHEW 9:22 

When she touched his garment, Jesus turned and he saw her! Then he said those words! The simple lesson to be learned is this: Jesus sees us, always! 

For 12 years she suffered an issue of blood. And all the doctors and would be healers she saw, all the lame recommendations from so-called medical experts of how to cure her came up empty. How discouraged she must have been! 

The journey through Alzheimer’s with my mom, felt like an eternity on some days! And taxing and completely depleting on others! But we can never lose heart and give up our faith. Why? Because Jesus sees us!

First of all, this woman must have heard about Jesus. Besides his eye-opening preaching, whenever he encountered a sick or lame person, Jesus healed them. She probably saw some healings in person. Or at least she talked with people who joyfully shared their story of recent healing. And in their rejoicing, hope started to form in her despondent heart. If Jesus healed all of them, is it possible that he would be willing to heal her?

 The worst part of her illness must have been her shame. A woman who had an issue of blood was officially “unclean”. Nobody could touch her; they even had to distance themselves from her. Especially a godly Rabbi. 

So what could she do?  

A plan began to form in her mind. If she could quietly get near Jesus, and touch the hem of his robe, maybe  his spiritual healing power would be transferred over to her. 

  She saw a crowd gathered, with lots of energy and excitement. Jesus was in the middle of the crowd. He looked like he was walking purposefully, as if he were on his way somewhere to do something significant. Her chance to try out her plan was moving away. She hurried along, trying to move quickly and get close to Jesus, and still manage to not be noticed. 

   She repeated to herself, “If I could only touch the fringe of Jesus’ robe, I can be healed.”   She came up behind him, reached out and touched the fringe of his garment. Immediately her discharge of blood ceased.” Luke 9:44

   The moment she was healed, Jesus stopped. He sensed that healing power had gone out from him.

Matthew says, “Jesus turned and saw her. He said, ‘Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well.”  Matthew 9:22 (NIV)

Friends, I am a daughter too! I am a biological daughter of Linda Kay. She named me Lisa Kay after herself.  Watching her go through Alzheimer’s and feeling like she was disappearing from me made me feel like the one who had loved me most on earth and seen me best on earth could no longer wait to see me. There were days that felt lonely and sad. But when God reminded me of this beautiful story, it was like he was reaching down and comforting my hurting heart with his amazing truth: that I am his daughter, and he sees me! Even greater than that was the realization that my precious mom was his daughter, and he saw her as perfect and whole and complete, just as he always had seen her.

Another lesson that I learned on this journey was that God sees each one of us as his own precious child, no matter what condition we are in, altered state we are in, or physical condition we are in. We are his child and he sees us!

TRUTH BOMB

Reach out and touch the Savior, no matter where you are, because He sees you!

Speak Truth Love

Happy Truth Bomb Tuesday, Friends! 

I can’t begin to express the joy that fills my spirit as I am back writing and sharing God’s truth with you!

Another truth I learned through the journey of my mom‘s disease and graduation into heaven, is that God is good even when my circumstances are not!

One of the scriptures was spoken into my life when I was only a teenager and going through a very dramatic time, with my father leaving my family and me feeling broken and abandoned, was God saying to me, “ I am your Father. I will never leave you nor forsake you.“ Hebrews 13:5

God created me, who I am, just as He has all of us. I am an extrovert by nature and a people person. I am energized and built up around people! The relationship that God desires from me is so intimate and special and is my lifeline. It is the same relationship that God desires for every single one of His children.

The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s brings immediate fear of the unknown. Not only to the person diagnosed, but also to every loved one in that person‘s life. I remember the day of the diagnosis like it was today. The neurologist’s name was Dr. Tyler. I will never forget his face, his voice, his demeanor, or the truth that he spoke to my mom and all of us standing around her. Immediately my mind went to: What must she be thinking? What is she feeling? And what does she need? As the days and months and years progressed, those questions became more profound and felt unanswered. Does she know me? Is she frightened? Is she anxious? Does she know her surroundings? And worst of all, does she still know God and Jesus?  My greatest fear was that her disease would steal her relationship with God.

God‘s truth became cemented in my heart, my mind, and my spirit when I walked in to visit her one day. She reached out and took my hand, looked directly into my eyes, smiled and began to sing, “Jesus loves me.”  That was my gift from God that my mom still knew God and Jesus! And that God had her! Through all of the years that followed, my mom‘s disease progressed. Her mind went further from us, and her body grew smaller and smaller and weaker and weaker with each passing day. But never did my mom stop smiling, holding our hands, and singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” 

TRUTH BOMB

God is good, even when my circumstances are not! 

God demonstrated the truth that He really does never leave us nor forsake us! Even Alzheimer’s cannot steal our relationship from God!

Friends, my prayer is that in the midst of our hardest days and our worst trials, we will still cling to God and allow our weary hearts and our tired eyes to see His goodness. It is always there because He is always good!

Speak Truth Love 

I told you I wasn’t fooling. I’m back! Happy Truth Bomb Tuesday!

During this season, I have felt God piercing my heart with many TRUTHS!

The number one truth above and beyond any other is the faithfulness of God!  

My pause from my Blog began last year at Mother’s Day.

God called my Mom home to heaven on December 3rd of this last year, 2025. 

When Mother’s Day hit last year, He was preparing to take her home, and I was preparing to let her go. So many thoughts were whirling around in my head, and so many feelings were flooding my heart and my spirit that I had a hard time putting any of them into words. I had ultimate joy in knowing that my mom loved Jesus, and had accepted Him as her Lord and Savior many years before. The knowledge and the truth of this gave me joy in knowing she would be forever with Him in heaven, soon. I had fear in letting go and knowing that for the first time in my life I would have to live on this earth without her. I had peace in my spirit, knowing that she would be pain-free, and her memory would be fully restored to her when she got to heaven. I had sadness as I realized I would never again get to hold her hand, kiss her cheek, or hear her sweet voice sing Jesus loves me! Ultimately, I had grief, human grief in letting go of someone I adored and called my best friend!

For over eight years, my mother suffered from severe Alzheimer’s. And now another Mother’s Day had come, and she was closer than ever to being in heaven with her Savior, and I just didn’t know what to write or how to write it.

There are many lessons, and Truths to be shared through those eight months that followed until God did, indeed call her home, but the one that was with me, then, and with me every single moment of every single day, through all of it was God‘s faithfulness! Through every thought and every feeling, through every up and through every down, through every pain and every struggle, through every doubt, and every fear, God’s faithfulness never left my side. I was never truly alone, I was never desolate, I was never hopeless. God was always with me!

“But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.” 

2 Thessalonians 3:3.

Death was not God’s original plan, but relationship was! When we love with all of our hearts, and we are loved with all of someone’s heart, we experience the true love of God! When death separates us, it feels wrong because it is! Death was not God’s original plan for a relationship. It hurts, it causes pain, it causes grief and sorrow. and it brings great loss! The beauty of understanding God‘s love, and His design for relationship is knowing that it may not have been God‘s original plan, but because God loves us so much he made another plan. A plan that would be a final plan. A plan that would defeat any scheme of the enemy! A plan that would allow us to yes, be separated for a time by death, but then would provide us the opportunity to be in a forever relationship with those that we love who choose Jesus, and best of all with God, himself, the author and perfecter of love!

Death is the great separator. Death drops a curtain of silence between us and those we live! But praise God, it is not final! Death hurts, and it causes us, grief and loss and separation, but because of God and His faithfulness death does not have the final word! I miss my mom, and it’s been hard to put that into words. But I praise God that He has walked beside me through it all every step of the way and because of Him and His great love, I will see my mom again and be with her forever in heaven! 

TRUTH BOMB

Death is the great separator here on earth, but praise God it is not final!

I have missed being with you here on Tuesdays and I look forward to sharing more of God’s truths with you as I have walked through this season. See you next week!

Speak Truth Love

IT’S TRUTH BOMB TIME 💣 AND I’M NOT FOOLING!

Happy April Fools Day Everyone!

I’m not FOOLING when I say,

“It has been way too long and I have missed you!”

THIS HAS BEEN A ROUGH YEAR AND A LOOOOOONG SEASON  IN SO MANY WAYS! But I am telling the truth when I say, God‘s blessings far outweigh the struggles!

God promises that our struggles serve to strengthen us when we put our trust in Him!

I am a living testimony to this TRUTH!

God is faithful, God is true, He is compassionate, He is loving, and He is kind and praise Him…HE IS PATIENT!

He has waited for me to be ready and to know that I am to always continue using this gift that He gave me to,

To SPEAK His TRUTH in LOVE!

I am thankful today for the gift that God has given me to speak His words of Truth in love.

I have to be honest and admit that I have struggled to do this for the past eight months. God gave me this gift and affirmed it in me and called me to write this Blog over 10 years ago! But on Mother’s Day of this year, it became really difficult for me to decide what to write.

It was Mother’s Day, and God blessed me with the most amazing mother! She had me when she was only 19 years old! She loved me unconditionally and always made me feel cherished and special! To this day, all of the traditions I do with my own children, and grandchildren were taught to me by her!

I would’ve loved to give her a tribute on Mother’s Day, she is so worthy of it! But every time I started to write the words, the tears poured as the reality of her severe Alzheimer’s and her being on hospice, and given only a few months to live, set in and took over my emotions. I paused that week and didn’t write and figured I’d write the following week, however she was still here and it still didn’t seem fitting.

Week after week went by and then month after month and she lost more and more weight and grew tinier and tinier, but God still had her here on this earth!

Eight months have gone by and God still has not taken her home to be with Him yet. It is still overwhelmingly difficult to think of life here on this earth without her! Even though I want her whole and healed and perfect in the arms of Jesus. But as I read Psalm 100, 

I could hear Jesus reminding me to Give Him thanks even when it is hard!

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the Earth! Serve the Lord with gladness, come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us and we are his, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name! For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100

My heart breaks at the reality of saying goodbye to my Mom here on earth. But it is filled overflowing with thanks for the gift of her and the blessings, too many to count, that she gave to me!

God is faithful and His steadfast love endures forever! I thank Him and praise Him for that most of all!

He is faithful to all generations!

The photo with the letters from my grandkids fell out of my Bible today as I was reading Psalm 100!

My mom’s first grandchild was my daughter Christina! They shared a very special bond and she was blessed by my mom and her unconditional love and special traditions which she passed down to her daughter, Cami! These were notes and pictures she gave to me when she was just a little girl! She is 13 now and my mom‘s traditions are starting to live through her as well! She bakes my mom‘s cookies with me and she decorates like my mom did and she loves so big like my mom!

God truly is faithful to all generations, and I have so much to be thankful for!

More than anything, I am thankful to God for his faithfulness, and never giving up on me! By gently and beautifully reminding me to thank Him even when it is hard! His goodness and his mercy endure to all generations!

I love my mom with all my heart, and I am so thankful that God gave her to me!
For as many days as God has for her on this earth, I will thank God for her and cherish her! The best news of all is that because we both know Jesus, we will be together forever in heaven with him!

I am thankful to God for all of you! My prayer for you this Thanksgiving is that you will know God and His Son whom He sent because He loves you more than anything! And that you will be able to give thanks to Him for his faithfulness to all generations, forever and ever!

Happy Day of Giving Thanks!

TRUTH 💣 BOMB

NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH, GOD IS FAITHFUL!

Speak Truth Love

“THE LORD REIGNS FOREVER, YOUR GOD, O ZION, FOR ALL GENERATIONS, PRAISE THE LORD!”  PSALM 146:10

The words of this Psalm, put into song, rang throughout the fifth region in Chile from five dedicated voices, that couldn’t carry a tune in a paper bag! 

My fiancé was one of those voices, I was another, my soon brother-in-law to be,  was another, and two of our very best friends were numbers four and five!

We were on a two month long summer internship as missionary wannabes!

It was truly one of the best times of our lives!

We returned stateside and Jim and I were married only one month later! That was the summer of 1984!

We wrote our own marriage vows, and in them repeated these words to each other and to everyone in attendance, but mostly we spoke them to our God!

“Knowing that we are better together then apart for God and His purposes, we dedicate our lives to God First, to each other next, and to raising up a godly generation!”

James Swaney and Lisa Dye-Swaney 

We meant those words with all of our hearts! In our 41 years of dedicating our marriage to God, and to raising up a godly heritage in His  name, we have succeeded, and we have failed! But the faithfulness of our God has never failed!

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another, they tell of your mighty acts.” Psalm 145:3&4

“Your faithfulness continues through all generations; established the earth, and it endures.” Psalm 119:90

“We will not hide them from their descendants, we will tell the next generation the praise worthy deeds of The Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done.” Psalm 78:4

God‘s faithfulness has been demonstrated through our daughter and son-in-law as they accepted God’s call to serve Him with their whole lives as lead pastor at Crossroads Christian Church.

This Sunday we were eyewitness to God’s continued faithfulness as our son and daughter-in-law accepted His call to be lead pastor at Bayside Church Orange County!

The words of Psalm 100:5 ran through my heart and head as I witnessed my son accepting His call to God and His church through the power of His Son Jesus Christ!

“For the Lord is good and His Love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations!” Psalm 100:5

As I sat in my son’s church on Sunday and listened to Him speak powerful words of God’s Truth about “Relationships,” I was struck by the fact that the most important relationship we have is with God Himself!

After that it is with those closest to us that we have an opportunity to model a life lived for Christ Jesus!

Not a life of perfection!

Not a life of prosperity!

Not a life of anything else, but loving and living for Jesus!!!!

This is what every generation needs! Yesterday, today and tomorrow and forever and ever and ever, until Jesus returns!

I am so very proud of my son! He is deserving of all the credit for every choice he has made on his own for Jesus! It was pure joy to witness him on stage, preaching God‘s truth and accepting the call to Shepherd and love and model Jesus for God‘s people!

God is FAITHFUL my Friends to do more than we could ever dream, think or imagine!

I give Him ALL THE GLORY for His Faithfulness to me and my family! I know His faithfulness will continue to the next generation!

IN HIS NAME!

TRUTH BOMB

GOD IS FAITHFUL TO ALL GENERATIONS!

Speak Truth Love

Happy Truth Bomb Tuesday Friends! I have missed you!

I woke up today knowing TODAY IS THE DAY!

I need to write My Truth Bomb! God has given me a gift and a calling and I must exercise it!

That’s right! The EXCLAINATION POINTS are back!!! Did you miss them?

I took a break from writing My Truth Bombs every week, not because I was discouraged! I didn’t take a break because I didn’t have enough followers on social media. I don’t write My Truth Bombs to gain followers!

I didn’t stop because someone told me to. 

I simply stopped because my “To Do List” had gotten too long.

So, I thought I would take a break and chip away at reducing my “To Do List.”

Long pause…

The more I chipped away at it, the longer it seemed to get! And I woke up this morning, all these months later, and 

I FEEL LIKE I ‘M GETTING LOST IN THE LONG LIST OF “TO DO’S!”

As I rolled out of bed and put my feet on the ground and spoke these practiced words to God, 

“This is the day that you have made, I will rejoice and be glad in it,”

He said to me ,

TODAY IS THE DAY!

WRITE YOUR BLOG!

Have you ever felt like life is a battle? You forge ahead and feel like you have gained a bit ground, just to find yourself not far from where you started.

You get back up again just to get  knocked down. You find that all the ground you seemed to have gained, is lost?

And you ask yourself…

What is this battle I’m in anyway?

What am I fighting so hard for? 

Is it worth it?

I think that Gideon felt exactly like this!

In the book of Judges chapter six we find Gideon hiding.

His “To Do List”

had gotten too big big for him and his “Get Er Done” gumption had got up and went!

Gideon was hiding! Hiding from God!!! He was scared, tired, hopeless and done!

Then God speaks to him through an angel! 

God doesn’t tell him that he’s blowing it!

God doesn’t tell him to get up and get on with it!

God doesn’t say he failed!

God tells him he is a WARRIOR!!!!

Instead of condemning him and making him feel worse than he already feels, God reminds him of the greatest truth of all.

We are not how we feel! We are not even how we act! We are who God tells us we are!

Gideon is a warrior because God has made him a warrior! Gideon does not have the ability on his own strength to be a warrior, but through God and his strength in Gideon, Gideon is a warrior! He can accomplish all of the “TO DO’S” that God has given him to accomplish!

His ability to “Get Er Done,” is not found in his own gumption, but in the strength of the Lord, his God and who God has called him to be!

God has put a call on my life, and I cannot accomplish that call in my own strength! I can only accomplish that call through my obedience and willingness to allow God to make me who he has called me to be!

God has called me to SPEAK HIS TRUTH IN LOVE!

If God is first in my life, then He needs to be at the top of my list! 

God has called me to read His word, pray, and listen to Him and to write and speak His Truth In Love!

I’m going to keep chipping away at my list, no matter how long it gets! 

I’m going to trust God for my “Get Er Done Gumption”when my to do list gets the best of me! 

GOD COMES FIRST! I’m going to fight to keep Him at the top of my list! I’m going to live my life believing and knowing that I am who God says I am!

I AM A DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF KINGS AND IN HIM I CAN DO ALL THINGS!

TRUTH BOMB

DON’T LET THE WORLD, THE ENEMY OR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE! ONLY GOD CAN DO THAT!

Speak Truth Love

CHRIST IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!

As I heard myself repeat this familiar phrase over and over and over again this Resurrection Sunday, I was impacted with its profound TRUTH!

Jesus appeared to His disciples after He had risen from the dead. In His resurrected, eternal body, the body that was broken for my salvation, He showed them His nail pierced hands, the hands that were pierced for my salvation! He ate with them, walked with them and spoke His final words to them, before He ascended into Heaven to return to His Father! 

“Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said.”

Luke 24:35-36

These powerful words were for His disciples then and for His disciples now! 

They are for me, and they are for you, and they are for every follower of Jesus from now until He returns!

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy Spirit. And teach them to obey all the things I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.“ 

Matthew 28:19–20.

As I spoke those powerful words on Resurrection Sunday I realized that they are to be followed by sharing “The Greatest Story Ever Told!”

TRUTH BOMB

CHRIST HAS RISEN INDEED SO GO TELL THE WORLD ABOUT IT!

Speak Truth Love

Today my focus began with Jesus on the cross. God quickly turned my eyes to the two criminals hanging beside Him, one on His left, and one on His right! One full of pride and the other pierced with humility!

One, so full of pride and selfishness, that he was blinded from seeing that hanging right beside him was the son of God.

The other, full of humility that allowed him to see past his horrific circumstances to view the Savior of the world, God‘s one and only son, hanging right beside him!

One, so full of pride and selfish ambition that he can’t see past himself as he cries out,

“One of the criminals began to shout insults at Jesus: ‘Aren’t you the Christ?’ Then save yourself! And save us too!’” Luke 23:39

“But the other criminal stopped him. He said, ‘You should fear God! You are getting the same punishment as he is. We are punished justly; we should die. But this man has done nothing wrong!’” Then this criminal said to Jesus, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!’”

Luke 23:40-42

Jesus speaks to him,

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Listen! What I say is true; today you will be with me in paradise!’” Luke 23:43

Two men in the same proximity to Jesus.

One on his left side and one on his right.

One looked only with his physical eyes and saw through his pride, a mere man who could help him out of his horrible circumstance.

The other looked past his physical eyesight and with spiritual vision saw the Son of the Living God!

With humility and conviction of sin he defended and proclaimed his belief.

TRUTH BOMB

TRUE HUMILITY GIVES US SPIRITUAL VISION!

Oh, God in Heaven, in this Holy Week, and beyond, may I see with spiritual vision and humility who you truly are and all you have done for me!

Happy Holy Week and Happy Easter My Friends!

HE IS RISEN!

Speak Truth Love

No matter how you look at it, we only have TODAY!

Yesterday already happened and we are not guaranteed that tomorrow will ever come.

I was taught by my Grammie to put two feet on the floor as I was getting out of bed and say out loud,

“THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!”

She taught me by example two very powerful truths!

First, that every day that I wake up is a gift from God!

And second, that I can make a choice to claim that day as good for God’s glory and purposes!

It is a statement of faith that sets my will in alignment with God’s will!

It is not dependent on my circumstances or anything that happens to me that day. It is a choice and a claim to live my day for JESUS!

I read something recently that reminded me of these powerful truths that my Grammie taught me. I loved the way it was put into practical and useful terms!

“There are two things we have everyday when we wake up, a chance and a choice.

Every morning we have the opportunity to decide whether we will follow where the Lord is leading us or turn the other way. Not an easy decision in many situations but making the choice to follow Him will produce incredible blessings in our life.”

God‘s Word affirms that when we choose life we will truly LIVE!

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; – Deuteronomy 30:19”

Let’s try to make this our practice each and everyday!

God loves us so much, He has given us the gift of choice and free will, but it is up to us to choose Him every day and His path for us. Take some time today and ask the Lord where He is leading you. What is He asking you to do right now? There is great blessing in choosing and following Him each and every day!

TRUTH BOMB

CHOOSING JESUS EVERYDAY IS TRULY A CHOICE FOR LIFE!

The choice is truly yours!

Speak Truth Love