A Purpose-filled Life | Tyra Garlington

Every day is immediate.

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

I like to greet the morning with gratitude. I intentionally focus on my body celebrating that I can move, see, feel, think, hear and care. I am aware it didn’t have to be this way and I remember there was a season when it wasn’t. Then as I tune into messages from the world, I long for a day without war, a time where empathy is an effective weapon against hate and when all human life is considered worthy. Apparently not yet. Sometimes my sense of powerlessness to make things better feels like grief. It was like that Sunday. I……
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What are you leaving behind?

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”[1] Was Cicero profiling you? “I will never forget the gut-level conviction he had that we are all expressions of God and that we all should step up and live our God selves. And now that he is gone, I remember the haunting lines of a song he sang beautifully though he did not write, What if God was one of us?”[2] This is Harriette Cole remembering Prince this week. Based on what I have researched and heard since his death leads me to believe that Prince’s biggest……
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Are you in need of your immediate inner strength?

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

She had disappeared from my life years ago. I was so happy to hear her voice. She had been a wonderful friend to me in my time of need. Her story unfolded amongst sobs. I listened. She recently became singular as a result of rejection from her significant other. She was unemployed, about to be homeless and estranged from her only daughter. I listened. The few times I asked, “Have you…?” Her response was, “I can’t because…” I realized her pain had her stuck in anger and shame. I was reminded of how proud she was. She was used to……
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I can’t shut up. Children are our future.

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Imagine: “Tears streaming down, her heart is broken. Because her life is hurting, so am I. He wears a frown, his dreams are troubled. And because he stands alone, his dreams will die. So humbly I come to you and say. As I sound aloud the warfare of today Here me I pray. What about the children? To ignore is so easy, So many innocent children will choose the wrong the way, So what about the children? Remember when we children? Were it not for those who loved us And who cared enough to show us Where would we……
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Did you know that the ugly duckling was always a swan?

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Most people think this children’s story by Hans Christian Andersen is a story of transformation when in fact it is a story of misperception. I know I did. I kept thinking as a little girl that the ugly duckling somehow turned into a beautiful swan. I landed on this thought as I was walking through the grocery store and overheard a lovely young lady say to her companion, “I sent my photo to AmIUgly.net last night.” “What?” My head snapped. I could not believe what I was hearing. As soon as I got home I googled amiugly.net. The AmIUgly subreddit homepage delivered 102,000 results……
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What does it mean to you to go off script?

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Martin Luther King who graduated from Morehouse College after studying medicine and law had not intended to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the ministry. Martin went off script when he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, an influential theologian and outspoken advocate for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class. In 1953, Coretta Scott who was studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music……
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I’m sorry, I forgot to explain.

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

As I turn to face the New Year I am hesitating less about pursuing my passions. In this life season I am passionate about the strength to be vulnerable and the courage to be authentic. Admittedly I am not always successful. And I have learned to look at my imperfections as unique gifts of opportunity. Today when I look around I see a world struggling to breathe. Yet I believe in each of us is the ability to provide life-saving air. Each of us is a potential encouraging game changer even as we live life full out on our own……
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Can you cradle these transitions in 2016?

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Last week I asked you, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” To answer that question you had to empower yourself to believe that impossible is merely a word to describe the degree of difficulty. This week I ask you to consider as you move from the no longer of 2015 and step into the not yet of 2016, how well you are prepared to face the typical transitions that come with the passage of time. Change can come in forcefully like a tidal wave, or creep along incrementally like a glacier. It might have the face of a devastating……
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How do you spell Christmas?

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

What is your favorite Christmas movie? There are about as many Christmas movies out there as there are secret compartments in an Advent calendar. You could watch one a day for months leading up to Christmas! The iconic It’s a Wonderful Life consistently ranks among the top contenders for Best Christmas Movie Ever, and today you are invited to journey to Bedford Falls and discover the faith lessons found in It’s a Wonderful Life. When George Bailey sidles up to Martini’s Bar on Christmas Eve, he’s at the lowest point of his life. In the span of only a few……
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Sometimes cliches are necessary.

Posted on December 19, 2015 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

“Let’s see what happens”, she replied. How many times had she heard and said those words? But this time was different. She was different. She had been divorced ten years. She had been alone ten years. It had taken her that long to learn to love herself again; to see herself as worthy. Now she was ready to dip her toe, perhaps her whole foot into the water. She was tired of being “singular”. Initially she had tried online dating. Perhaps because then she still saw herself as damaged, she attracted unsatisfying companions with her words. Oh, but now she……
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