A Sunrise Conversation on Healing, Service, and Faith

A Sunrise Conversation on Healing, Service, and Faith

This morning, I took the dogs out for their usual golf cart ride to the end of the subdivision. When we got there, I hopped onto the back of the cart, let the dogs wander, and started my breathwork as the sun began to rise.

Out of the stillness, a fellow human came walking by, clearly in the rhythm of her morning exercise. I let her know the dogs were safe, but she had her podcast going and had to pause it before we could talk.

That simple pause opened up a rich exchange. She told me about Dr. Ben Edwards from Lubbock and how she follows his subscription-based content, learning from his “four pillars” of health: mindset, movement, hydration, and the benefits of getting into nature. We talked about sunrise, healthy choices, nutrition, rest, recovery, and growth mindset.

I shared that I’m a certified mental performance coach, and she opened up about her life—growing up in Seminole, moving to Odessa, her passion for restoring furniture, and her love for teaching. She told stories about her family, her grandbabies, and how she journals every night.

The conversation naturally turned to deeper ground: the trials and seasons we face, false words spoken about us, and how we work through perception and reality. We spoke about healing, restoration, service, surrender, and living a life of trust in God.

We reflected on the Golden Rule—loving your neighbor as yourself—and the importance of blessing others, even those who wrong us. We talked about forgiveness as the way to remove the layers covering the love within people.

It struck me that in all my countless early-morning walks, bike rides, and golf cart routes—sometimes as early as 2 a.m. and as late as midnight—I had never crossed paths with her. Yet here she was, wanting to meet my family, to connect.

I left that moment with a renewed hope that Bella will see what it looks like to surround ourselves with people who live in kindness, who give, contribute, and create moments of joy and peace. May we keep building pockets of life where love and faith can flourish—and may others catch us in the act of living that way.