<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Graced Goods and Faithful Finds LLC]]></title><description><![CDATA[Graced Goods and Faithful Finds LLC]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 20:48:08 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Finding joy in... Paper doilies]]></title><description><![CDATA[My father once told me: "Always right now baby Just burn and light the darkness with your flame Be fearless in bearing your soul For that is the true light Be true to your heart Be kind to your mind Love those around you Keep yourself as clean as possible Watch where you step Precious things grow in the most unlikely of places. Take the time to spend there In those small precious moments and places" And now here I am, fully grown, standing in my kitchen, emotionally moved.... by a paper...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/finding-joy-in-paper-doilies</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b5a38cdf183e0230a4357</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:54:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_6133835070374a9282b8891dda3fc97b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bird Watching is more fun than I Remember]]></title><description><![CDATA[Theres something truly fascinating about bird watching as if any of us are really out here with spare time tucked neatly into our back pockets, ready to just slow down, look up, and notice things. And yet there he is. This tiny, redbreasted nuthatch, completely unbothered by my existential crisis, my to do list, my need to feel like I’m doing something important. He’s just.. chiseling away at a tree. One microscopic fleck of bark at a time. No rush, no applause, no five year plan. And as i...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/bird-watching-is-more-fun-than-i-remember</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b59ba950c73fdcf7b4e00</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:52:46 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_dbfa0e8da9d34a53b7d18a208ef2c983~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_946,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unmasking]]></title><description><![CDATA[There’s a strange paradox in healing generational trauma. It’s the most undull, extraordinary journey I’ve ever been on rich with emotion, breakthroughs, reckoning, and rising and yet, from the outside looking in, it appears... boring. Like I’ve chosen the slow lane. Like I’ve traded chaos for quiet in the most uneventful way possible. But I know the truth. Because there are these moments still, sacred ones where I pause long enough to really feel everything I’ve survived. And in those...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/unmasking</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b53b4950c73fdcf7b401c</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:27:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_708d62d056f341b0ad3aab5c46e0b947~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Finally me]]></title><description><![CDATA[For as long as memory reaches back, I called myself a tomboy. Climbing trees, busting knees, covered in dirt and mud like a second skin. I never saw myself as “girly.” In fact, I flinched at the word. To be called girly felt like an insult, a softness I wasn’t allowed to hold. So I wore those comments like armor, those labels like a shield. If I was tough enough, strong enough, unbreakable enough, no one could take it from me. Because getting dirty didn’t scare me, working hard didn’t scare...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/finally-me</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b5340d055a51adf14f97f</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:24:49 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Smell the flowers, blow out the candles.]]></title><description><![CDATA[My body walks in familiar memories of survival. Clenched teeth. Chewed cuticles. Hair twisted tight. Eyes on a swivel. Counting exits. Learning every detail the moment I walk in. Eyes glazed to shifting lights and noise. And then suddenly I realize I am back in the memories that made me this way. In those moments I close my eyes. Smell the flowers. Blow out the candles. I remind myself it’s in the past. No longer relevant. But how can I convince myself it isn’t when my body remembers before I...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/smell-the-flowers-blow-out-the-candles</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b5220d055a51adf14f710</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:21:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_47007ed80d9b4a78be36ee02605eae51~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_978,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[She would be so proud]]></title><description><![CDATA[Some days are hard. So hard I forget how blessed I am. So hard that anger rises before gratitude ever gets a chance at the table. So hard that resentment creeps in quietly and sits heavy on my chest. Because why does this keep happening? Why do obstacles show up the moment I finally find my footing? Why does it feel like the universe is out to get me just when I start to breathe again? And before I even realize it, I’m back in that old mental cycle. Why? Why me? This isn’t fair. I don’t...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/she-would-be-so-proud</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b51eecdf183e0230a3054</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:19:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_100c9f5610f847dd95e17b41aa975db3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[From ice to water]]></title><description><![CDATA[Life keeps teaching me the same lesson in different voices, different faces, different endings and I wish I could say I learn it the first time, tie it up neat, and carry it forward like wisdom. But the truth is, some lessons don’t settle gently. They have to break you open more than once before they finally make a home in your bones. and I keep nodding like I understand, only to find myself back at the same doorstep, knuckles bruised from knocking on a truth I didn’t want to accept the first...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/from-ice-to-water</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b51a4d055a51adf14f5b1</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:17:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_19d120698b90435f812e9b9ed1e9f41f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_990,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is This What Life is Really About?]]></title><description><![CDATA[There was a time I believed the path was already written for me. That if I followed it closely enough, it would lead somewhere steady. Somewhere safe. College looked like a promise. Work felt like security. Structure embodied something I could trust. And for a while, I did what most of us do I tried to make sense of it. I tried to keep up. Tried to believe that if I just worked a little harder, stretched a little further, I would finally be enough. But somewhere along the way, in quiet...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/is-this-what-life-is-really-about</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b502e950c73fdcf7b37a4</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:11:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_c60583be14c145adb02976ac375a30d2~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Postpartum Woes]]></title><description><![CDATA[When I first gave birth, I was on an emotional high I didn’t know existed. It was the first time I felt a love so consuming it quieted everything, and for the first time in my life, gave me real hope for the future. Before becoming a mother, I knew there were chains on me. Ones placed long before I had the awareness to name them. And when I saw my son for the first time, it felt like those chains disappeared, like they buried themselves beneath the surface. I stepped into a joy I didn’t even...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/postpartum-woes</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b4fd6d055a51adf14f197</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:10:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_53e975a3e13d4032b7ea0a12b7b51cb9~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_590,h_520,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Better than I imagined it would be]]></title><description><![CDATA[I used to think I was missing out because I didn't have the village so many people talk about. No weekend getaways or regular date nights. No dropping the kids off so I could work a traditional job uninterrupted. For a long time, I genuinely believed those things were somehow standing between me and the life I wanted, but this last year has completely changed my perspective. I've spent the last year building two businesses with my children by my side through every bit of it. They've come with...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/better-than-i-imagined-it-would-be</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b4e73cdf183e0230a282c</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:04:21 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[My Pain is no Longer Recyclable ]]></title><description><![CDATA[For the longest time, I was captivated by the idea that pain was meant to be recycled. You hear it everywhere," Turn your pain into purpose." I loved that thought. Truthfully, I survived on it. Because if every wound could eventually become something beautiful, then maybe everything I'd lived through wasn't wasted. Maybe if I just held onto it long enough, studied it hard enough, carried it carefully enough, I could transform it into something worth keeping. So I kept trying to recycle it....]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/my-pain-is-no-longer-recyclable</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b4df3d055a51adf14ed4d</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 23:02:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_eb1a283b795f4b8cab90e24c09bf3fd7~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_864,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[I'm Not Ready for James to turn Seven]]></title><description><![CDATA[I am not ready for James to turn seven. But if I allow myself to be still for a moment.. to really absorb it all... I think I actually am. Time moves quickly. That's no secret. In fact, it may be one of the few truths humanity can collectively agree on. But knowing time is fleeting and truly living like it is are two completely different universes. There are seasons where I catch myself praying for the next chapter, quietly waiting for the current one to pass. Then life gives me a moment to...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/i-m-not-ready-for-james-to-turn-seven</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b4d65f0d4752585093dfd</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 22:59:53 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[My Garden. Published 8/14/25]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sitting here the day after your birthday the second one since you’ve been gone I feel the tide of emotions pulling in two directions at once. Grief is rarely simple, and ours is layered with memories that are equal parts warmth and ache. My fondest childhood memories were never about grand events or perfect holidays. They were small, tender moments like waiting by the phone for your voice to travel across the miles. You’d ask about my day, and for those few minutes, I felt real. Not a pawn in...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/my-garden-published-8-14-25</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b4cf8d055a51adf14eb1d</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 22:58:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_bc8c49a3c7ae4b67afe562c5f76f7c73~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_552,h_508,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[No Longer Where I Started]]></title><description><![CDATA[It might seem silly that I find pieces of myself in flowers, in mountains, in the quiet language of life, but if I'm being honest, I haven't found anything I've related to more. Every mountain carries the evidence of what it has endured. Every tree remembers seasons it never asked for. Every wildflower has fought its way through something to reach the sun, and maybe that's why I see myself in them. I've come a long way. I can finally look back and see the growth I was too busy surviving to...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/no-longer-where-i-started</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b4c08d055a51adf14e993</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 22:57:06 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Permanently out of the loop...]]></title><description><![CDATA[I have spent much of my life believing being the outcast meant I was missing something. A rhythm everyone else knew, like a script I had somehow failed to memorize. But what if the places we once called our greatest downfalls were actually our greatest sermons? We live in a world that is always chasing the next thing. The next trend, update, obsession, controversy, and somewhere along the way, I think we began mistaking being in the loop for being fulfilled. But crowds have a way of making us...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/permanently-out-of-the-loop</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9b4b78950c73fdcf7b2e04</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 22:51:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_b5dd705f7cfa487d8786597beb0ae7f1~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Flowers are Cliché]]></title><description><![CDATA[Growing up, I hated flowers. I told myself they were cliché. I never understood why we seemed to measure love, worth, or importance by the number of bouquets we received. I thought they were too girly for me anyway. Too basic &#38; predictable. To me, they all looked the same. So why bother slowing down long enough to notice the differences? Why pay attention to the curve of each petal, the stubbornness of each stem, the way every fragrance carries its own quiet memory? And honestly, don’t even...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/flowers-are-clich%C3%A9</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a09156aff1c06f8d4a653f5</guid><pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2026 01:13:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_29925e31b66a4907b1dcd596f4f4c2fd~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_750,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[They Call it the Big Sky]]></title><description><![CDATA[They call it the Big Sky for a reason, but no photograph can capture its weight. No frame can stretch wide enough to hold the endless breath of it. You have to stand beneath it, let it tower above you, let the horizon swallow your edges until you feel small, and somehow infinite at the same time. In that vastness, where beauty reaches further than your eyes can travel, you begin to wonder: if something can be this boundless, this breathtaking, then surely, there must be a reason for me to...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/the-importance-of-sustainable-living-in-today-s-world-1</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a08b567df43effc8ce013a8</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2026 18:20:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_c2dd01d00a614298a28ead2ecdbc84d8~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_946,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Even the Small Things in Nature Carry lessons]]></title><description><![CDATA[The changing of the leaves reminds me that no season lasts forever. Each one comes to an end, only to give way to the next.  Life is no different.  Every stage we walk through has a beginning and an end, each one shaping us for what’s ahead. Yet, in the middle of our seasons, it’s easy to forget they are temporary. Easy to forget they are not punishment, but preparation. Nature is the perfect mirror of this truth. The leaves change and fall. Seeds are carried away by the wind to begin again....]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/the-importance-of-sustainable-living-in-today-s-world</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a08b55eb5a26725fc917165</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2026 18:20:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_9788669cb5c34437bf844156a8582a3d~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_946,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[My Bones Remind Me]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most people don't know this about me, but I have carried a chronic nervousness that never left my bones. As long as I can remember, there has been a fatigue in my cells, a hum beneath my skin I could never quite brush off. I remember it from so young. Be tolerable,  my mind would whisper. In every room. In every moment I endured. That voice controlled everything my actions, my reactions, my thoughts, my movements. It lived in my bones. And when I wanted to take up space, when I wanted to be...]]></description><link>https://www.gracedgoodsandfaithfulfinds.com/post/the-power-of-mindfulness-in-everyday-life</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a08b5590b9e4f37fd281c46</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2026 18:20:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38306c_a8ea9aaed71546ddac2df469ac8d8213~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mickala Gillispie</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>