Grounded by Grace

04/17/2026

It’s been about 6 months since I last posted on here.

And honestly… that wasn’t by accident.

A lot has happened.

Some of it external.
Most of it internal.

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Over the past year, I’ve had to slow down in a way I never really have before.

Not just with work—but with everything.

What I thought was just a pause ended up becoming something else entirely.

Reflection.
Confronting things I had ignored.
And realizing I couldn’t keep doing things the same way and expect anything to change.

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I was still “doing things”—but not grounded.

Praying, but not fully.
Moving, but without direction.

And eventually, that catches up with you.

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So I stepped back.

Not to disappear—
but to rebuild the right way.

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And what I’ve come to understand is this:

Faith isn’t about starting strong.

It’s about staying consistent.

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That’s where this comes from.

Grounded by Grace
and
Pray Until Something Happens

Not as ideas.

As a process.

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This isn’t a launch.

It’s a beginning.

And I’m building it in real time.

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If you’re in a place where you’ve been starting and stopping…

or just feel like you’ve lost consistency—

you’re not the only one.

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If you want to see what I’ve been working on, you can start here:

👉https://groundedbygrace.org

More coming.

— Christopher

11/27/2025

Grounded by Grace Thanksgiving Entry

“Seeing the Blessings in the Middle of the Storm” 🍂🙏

I didn’t write the post I planned last week, but today is Thanksgiving and something in me said, “It’s time.”
Not because everything is perfect or suddenly fixed, but because God has been showing up in small, quiet ways I don’t want to ignore anymore.

The last season hasn’t felt like a storm.
It’s felt like every natural disaster hitting at the same time.

Anxiety.
Financial pressure.
Relationship strain.
Old wounds resurfacing.
Nights where sleep doesn’t come until 2 a.m.

And yet, even in all of that, God keeps showing me small signs of grace, not by removing the storm, but by helping me see the blessings inside it. ✨

The Tire Incident: A Reminder in Disguise 🚗🛞

A few days ago, I pulled out of the garage and noticed one tire looked low.
I stopped for air. The pump said pressure was going up, but my car sensor said it was going down. Weird.

I was on my way to a meeting in Memphis and figured it was just the sensor glitching. I’d deal with it later.

When I arrived, it was still low but now much worse. I went inside, came back out, and it was flatter than a pancake. And not like the fluffy pancakes my wife makes. Those are amazing. I mean flat flat. 😅

Called insurance.
“You don’t have roadside assistance.”

Crap. 😑

Then I remembered the car came with roadside assistance when I bought it. I called them and they sent someone.

And yes, I can change a tire. That wasn’t the issue. The problem was the parking space was so tight I physically couldn’t get the jack under the car.

Within an hour, the AAA guy showed up, swapped the tire, and put the donut on.

Then he told me something that shook me:

Good thing you didn’t try to do this yourself. The donut is flat too. The tube and tire would've come right off.

Whew. 😳

He filled the donut up and got me safely on the road.

I used our Walmart membership (don’t knock it, one of the best memberships we’ve had) to schedule a next day appointment.

And the final blessing
I didn’t have to pay a dime for the patch. 🙌

Not the donut inflation.
Not the roadside assistance.
Not the patch.

Just covered. ✝️

And in that moment, I felt it again:

Sometimes God doesn’t remove the storm.
Sometimes He just keeps you from blowing the donut out on the highway.

Sometimes the blessing isn’t the miracle.
Sometimes it’s the protection in the small, overlooked moments.

Marriage: Honesty That Hurts But Heals ❤️‍🩹

One of the hardest truths is that our spouses see us at our worst.
They don’t always say things in the most helpful way, but I’m fortunate enough to have a wife who is brutally honest.

In the moment, it irritates me.
But after I cool down, I realize she’s right about 80 percent of the time (don’t tell her). 😅

God places certain people in our lives because they can reach us in ways no one else can.
It’s not always comfortable, but it’s real. And it’s needed.

My Son: A Lesson I Didn’t Expect 🎷🎯

My youngest son has always been my little mini me. And if you know him, you know we sometimes call him literal.

He inspires me.

He’s in band.
He plays the sax.
And somehow self taught himself to play the bassoon.

Recently he tried out for Lions Band. He put in the work, hit his goal, and even got the callback but didn’t make the final cut.

His response?

I hit my goal.

No anger.
No disappointment.
Just pride in the work he put in.

As a dad, that hit me.
If more adults carried that mindset, we’d accomplish so much more. 💛

My Church: What I Needed in This Season ⛪📖

We used to attend a big church. It worked for that season, but like many during COVID, we drifted.

Now I attend Simple Church and it feels like home. It reminds me of the church in South Carolina where I got saved.

What I appreciate most is how Pastor Frank Valenzano breaks Scripture down into simple, digestible truths. This past week’s message on Jacob, Esau, and Laban hit me hard.

Most of us live life in this order
Work → Pray → Know His Word

Completely backwards.

We work first.
Then pray for the outcome.
Then turn to Scripture when things fall apart.

But God’s order is different
Know His Word → Pray → Then Work

Pray before you plan.
Let His Word guide your next move.

I’ve been trying to retrain myself this week and honestly, surrendering control is harder than I expected.

A.R.T. Therapy: A Breakthrough 20 Years in the Making 🧠💡💔

For the first time in my life, I stopped running.

I walked into A.R.T. therapy ready to face something that has shaped me for over 20 years.

Before 5th or 6th grade, I went through a partial adoption. I remember my biological father giving up his parental rights because he couldn’t pay child support. As a kid, that moment planted anger, resentment, and abandonment deep in me.

Fifteen years later, I confronted him. He told me he believed Tom, my mom’s husband, could give me a better life.

But because I held onto the pain, I never connected that it was actually an act of love.

That realization in therapy hit me hard.
I cried. And honestly, that’s an understatement.

For the first time, I saw clearly
My dad, Tom, whose middle and last name I took, stepped into a role that changed my life.

This Thanksgiving, I’m seeing life clearer than I have in 20 plus years.
And I’m not running anymore.

Finding Blessings in the Storm 🌧️➡️✨

The storm isn’t over.
But I’m learning to see the blessings within it

the tire situation that could’ve gone much worse
a son showing me real resilience
a wife who speaks truth even when I don’t want to hear it
a church that feeds my spirit at a pace I can absorb
a therapist helping unpack wounds I buried
financial stress revealing unexpected provision
nights of anxiety turning into nights of prayer

A couple books recommended to me recently:

Total Forgiveness
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (currently listening on Audible)

Two songs on repeat:

Counting My Blessings by Seph Schluester
Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher

Closing 🍁🙏

This Thanksgiving feels different.
Not easier.
Not lighter.
But clearer.

I’m learning that God doesn’t always calm the storm.
Sometimes He calms me first.
Sometimes He provides protection where I didn’t even know I needed it.
Sometimes He uses a flat tire to show me I’m still covered.

And sometimes
He lets me see blessings I missed the first time around.

I’m grateful today, even in the storm, especially in the storm.

Posted on Grounded by Grace 🌳✝️

11/27/2025

For a lot of people I’m connected to on here, this may feel like it’s coming out of left field.

But for a good portion of my life, I’ve battled with or completely denied my ADHD, shame, guilt, and depression. These things have haunted me for years, and because of the trauma I went through growing up, I became a master at hiding behind walls. The one person who has always seen through those walls is my wife.
She has consistently encouraged me to get help, but like most stubborn people, I thought I could just outwork it or outrun it.
As many of you know, over the past 5 years I put everything into building a startup. We were trying to create something completely different from just an idea. But as of this past April, we had to close the doors. I thought I had bounced back within 30 days… but I was wrong.

What I learned is this: I was chasing the wrong kind of greatness.
My mom always told me I was “set for greatness” after all the close calls I had as a kid. For most of my life, I assumed that meant chasing the world’s definition of success. I sacrificed time, peace, and relationships trying to follow a version of greatness God never asked me to pursue.

After the startup closed and after struggling to land stable employment because of things I still haven’t fully forgiven myself for the depression and the feeling of being a failure came back with a vengeance. I did what I’ve always done: stuffed those fears and doubts down and tried to muscle through it. But this time, it didn’t work.

A week ago Saturday, I hit my breaking point. My head was in a dark place, and combined with my ADHD, I spiraled harder than I ever expected. I’ve pushed away a lot of people in my life over the years, not intentionally, but because I didn’t know how to deal with what was going on inside me.

And yes, I know the holidays can bring out all kinds of emotions in people. But this wasn’t just “holiday stress.” This was my past coming back to collect.

I wasn’t a danger to myself or anyone else, but I knew I needed something stronger than what I had been doing. I tried to admit myself into inpatient care, but unless you’re suicidal or dealing with substance issues, they won’t take you. So that afternoon, I scheduled time with a therapist.

After our session, I went home and looked for a Bible plan — something that would refocus my mind. But everything I found was surface-level, bland, or just didn’t connect. Nothing lit a fire in me. Nothing helped me see God clearly in the middle of my mess.
Over the next couple of days, I dug into research both spiritual and about my ADHD and it finally hit me:

What I needed didn’t exist yet.

I needed structure.
I needed clarity.
I needed something that would help me see what God was trying to show me.

So over the last week, what started as a personal project slowly turned into a mission — for myself, and possibly for others who don’t understand forgiveness, or who haven’t forgiven themselves.
That’s where this phrase came from, clear as day:

“Grounded in God before Growth — Grounded by Grace.”
I’ve already built out three workbooks for myself and started listening more intently than I ever have. God is working in ways I didn’t expect, especially in a season that’s usually heavy for so many people.

More to come when the time is right.
For now, I’m just trying to stay grounded and grateful.

Originally shared on my personal profile — posting here for the Grounded by Grace blog.

Send a message to learn more

11/15/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT:
I’ve officially transitioned this page from ClarityAxis to Grounded by Grace.

Over the past year, God has been reshaping my direction in a way I didn’t expect. What started as a season of building startups turned into a season of healing, reflection, and spiritual growth.

Grounded by Grace is the foundation of that journey — a place for honesty, faith, and learning what it truly means to be grounded in God before growth.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of the past chapters. This next chapter is one I’m walking with clarity, intention, and purpose.

10/28/2025

You don’t need to be a developer to build something great — just start.

10/08/2025

🚀 Big News from ClarityAxis 🌐

We’re thrilled to announce early access for a small group of testers to explore our newest innovation — CAIROS 🧠
(Content + AI + Routing & Orchestration System)
developed under The Startup Kit, our educational and development arm.

If Google Workspace were Super Mario, then CAIROS is your power-up 🍄 — giving your everyday Docs, Sheets, and Slides new superpowers to research, write, and publish automatically.

We’re looking for 5–10 early testers to receive 30–60 days of full access at no cost.
💡 The only requirement: you must have a Google Workspace account (and if you don’t, we can provide one for you).

Want to see it in action and join the pilot?
👉 Book a demo & claim your tester spot here:
🔗 https://tidycal.com/clarityaxis/cairos-demo