The Season of 2020

Tags

2020, Christian, hope, Inspiration

For me, it takes a long look back to January when 2020 was pretty good. My husband and I visited my Sister and family in Riverview FL, walked the shore of Clearwater Beach and cruised the Caribbean visiting five ports of call and lazying a couple days away on private beaches. 2020 has not been ALL bad. Again, though, I have to rummage through a lot of months to remember that. Because, without a doubt, the rest of this year has been unimaginable.
I was inspired to write today because I just read yet another account of someone experiencing loss at the hands of 2020. Tragically, thousands of people have lost their lives during this pandemic and many others have suffered its illness. Yet others have missed out on milestone, even once-in-a-lifetime occasions such as graduations, national recognitions, travel dreams and more.
It dawned on me while reading her post, that we cannot get lost in our losses. As is the nature of time, 2020 is a season that will pass. We will survive and experience joys of living again. Not as we knew it, but prayerfully with more appreciation for life, our fellow humanity and for every blessing and opportunity we receive.
I’ve been reflecting recently on the seasons within this season. How for the past seven months of this season, I (as I’m sure many of you) have experienced what I will call inner-seasons. The emotions of them ebbing and flowing, highs and lows, fears and faith-emboldened courage. The Spring that was shut-in, filled with sleepless nights, ghost emotions, the onslaught of news alerts and bona fide fear for my life, health and family, for the world. Then Summer came (it always does). We cautiously ventured out, literally for air, to move, to feel the hope and promise of life. Even with the safety protocols, it was everything to spend time with our family, it felt good to move in familiar places, to enjoy a walk in nature, to be filled up with the rays of the sun. After much persuasion, we even took a road trip and went to the ocean for a day (one of my most favorite things to do in life). 
Now, on the threshold of October, it seems Summer was fleeting. With its beauty, still in the shadow of the pandemic, violence and social injustice, the countless ‘isms, bureaucratic corruption and lunacy. Autumn and Winter remain to be.
What remains settled in my spirit is God is with us (He always Is) and 2020 is a ‘season’ in time that will change. It will. That’s the thing about seasons, they change. 
I want to look through the lens of faith with hope and trust in a future that God has for me, my loved ones and His creation. I want that for everyone. What is before us has to be greater than what is behind. We must not lose hope. We must look unto the hills from whence cometh our help and our future; our help comes from the Lord. We must not give up on our future, nor its promise. Beyond 2020, or 2021, we must live and believe to see God’s goodness in our lives.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” ~ Romans 15:13 (ESV)
What is sustaining your hope for the future? Let me know in the comments.

There Is No Magic In The Vision Board

Tags

Apostolic, Career, Christian, dreams, Education, future, Goals, hope, inner strength, Inspiration, Marriage, Ministry, Motivation, Personal Development, Personal Growth, self development, Teaching, Women

This past weekend I created a vision board. One of the goals I put on the board relates to my blog. I started my blog in July 2011 (encouraged by my godniece, Katrice L. Mines of http://www.myvicariouslyfe.com) and did not write another post until March 2012. Since that time I have written over 100 posts, this is post No. 112. My goal is to write more consistently so that my blog is really effectual in inspiring, motivating and sharing sage wisdom and also for my personal development.

I am already beginning to believe there is something to this ‘law of attraction’ (like attracts like) vision board trend. In preparing to host a creativity event for the married couples ministry my husband and I facilitate at our church (Shout out to the Covenant Partners Married (& Engaged Couples Ministry of Zion Pentecostal Church of Christ, Cleveland OH, Bishop C. Wayne Brantley, Pastor) and to create my individual board at the women’s fellowship I attended this past weekend, I have learned some basic points and tips on how and why creating a vision board is a good idea. Not only writing your goals, but creating a visual display of them gives life to them, takes them out of your head and your heart and illuminates them to your mind’s eye which pulls you and motivates you to achieve them. “There is no magic in the board”, said Dr. Sabrina Ellis in her introduction of the activity, but it is the energy and the action plan that we put into achieving the goals and desires we display on the board. Somehow in displaying the images and words of the goals in your heart and consistently looking at them, makes you accountable to the “fruitful performance” of achieving them.

My blog, is just one of several goals I placed on my board. I also inlcuded images relating to my career, my finances, my fitness, travel, and a quote, “… SHINE without permission.” When I decided to change my Facebook cover photo, I thought I will choose a photo for Black History Month; about Love; another fitness photo; but my blog logo suddenly made the most sense. Shine. (Thanks for your impactful ministry, professional and personal development workshops Karla M. Randall) Then, today, in a conversation with my fitness trainer (angelfittrainer, reroutingyourself.blogspot.com), she asked me “What about your blog?” What?!, I thought. You read my blog?, I thought. I mumbled something about needing inspiration to write, yada yada. She replied, what? Just take all the inspiration you put out on Facebook and write it on your blog. A light came on. So, post No. 112.

“The first key to writing is to write, not to think!” “You must write your first draft with your heart.” ~ from the movie, “Finding Forrester“

Note to self, stop overthinking and write. “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” (William Wordsworth)

“Simply Phenomenal” a space for self-expression, to Inspire and motivate others to be their best selves. It has taken me a long time to embrace my ‘better self’ because I’m not my best self yet. It is a process of learning, growing and performing that I must pursue everyday. But the will to do it, the letting go of who we are to become what we can be, that is the key! To no longer wallow in the murk of our usual, comfortable, sometimes self-loathing, confidence-lacking self, just the murkiness of who we don’t want to be, to be who and what we want to be. To not blame others for who or what we are not, to actively engage in what we must do to be who and what we desire. That is how we become our best selves.

To purposely determine the goals, the action plan, the strategy, the implementation and to perform it, that is how we achieve success. The goals, dreams, and desires I have illustrated on my individual vision board and the one my husband and I created for our marriage is giving me/us a lot to work toward.

This is a good start, stay tuned. I’m anticipating my ‘kairos’ moment.

Don’t You See It?

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, hope, Jesus Christ

This is what God says,
the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
who carves a path through pounding waves,
“Forget about what’s happened;
don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? – Isaiah 43:16, 19 (MSG)

An Aromatic Perspective for Life

Five Minute Friday: BLOOM

We live in a world where everyone is consumed with their devices, checking social media, surfing the ‘net, living life through a brightly lit screen.
We’re missing the blooms. The blooms of God. What He is doing, saying, commanding, in and of us.
Even in His Sanctuary, we’re recording and capturing photo moments, scrolling the timeline, texting our neighbor, checking dining menus. Ouch!
He is blooming new things in a realm so much higher and wider than who, where, or what we are or think.
No, we don’t see it. We’re missing it, we’re missing Him.
Every day it seems we’re running, but we’re not gaining any ground; we’re striving, but we’re not increasing … we don’t see it.
We’re taught that vision is not in the eye, but in the mind. In the mind is where we see what God is doing in ourselves and in His Kingdom.
We must be alert and present more instinctively by our spiritual nature to see the blooms (the evidence) of His planting in and through us.
The blooms of His redemption plan for mankind, of His call to holiness, of the great hope He gives us of eternal life in Him.
My son said recently, ‘we must never become a spectator church’, but we must remain spiritually engaged and connected to God, Who He Is, and what He is doing that we may be representative of Him in the Earth and to a world that does not know Him.
The evidence of God’s doing is always in bloom, springing forth, bursting out!
Look UP unto Him, don’t you see it?

My Life Is In YOUR Hands

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, faith, future, hope, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, love, Prayer, Trusting God, Women, worship

Throwing caution to the wind, writing for five minutes, linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker for Five Minute Friday, http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/

The prompt for today is HANDS

[This print is the beautiful work of artist/photographer Georgia O’Keefe. I captured it last month while visiting her Museum in Albuquerque NM]

The Choir pulled out an old one this past Sunday, a Kirk Franklin classic.

You don’t have to worry and don’t you be afraid
Joy comes in the morning; troubles, they don’t last always
For there’s a Friend named Jesus Who will wipe your tears away
And if your heart is broken, just lift your hands and say

THIS!
I know that I can make it, I know that I can stand
No matter what may come my way, my life is in Your Hands
With Jesus I can take it, With Him I know I can stand
No matter what may come my way, my life is in Your Hands

So when your tests and trials, they seem to get you down
And all your friends and loved ones are no where to be found
Remember there’s a Friend named Jesus Who will wipe your tears away
And if your heart is broken just lift your hands and say
I know that I can make it, I know that I can stand
No matter what may come my way, my life is in Your Hands
With Jesus I can take it, With Him I know I can stand
No matter what may come my way, my life is in Your Hands

Anticipating the birth of his firstborn (our first grandson), I remember something my son said. While contemplating all the things on his plate at the time, decisions to be made and his baby, at that time, still comfy in his mother’s womb past his due date … My son said, ‘there are so many things out of our hands”.
Isn’t that the time our faith pulls us into all that we believe and trust God for, the time when we must realize, accept, embrace and rejoice in the fact that our life is in His Hands. What an assurance that whatever comes our way, our lives are in His Hands. He holds us and all that concerns us in His Hands and we can trust His ability to hold us, to cover us, and to protect us.

With Jesus iIcan take it, With Him, I know I can stand!
No matter what may come my way, my life is in Your Hands.
Listen hear, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzTITwcnT9w

Thank You, Jesus
I’m in Your Hands.

My Promise Is Finally Here Because God Never Fails

Tags

adversity, Apostolic, Christian, Education, faith, Family, Fear, hope, inner strength, Inspiration, miracle, Overcoming, Personal Growth, self renewal, Sisterhood, Women

Today, my Sister taught a lesson entitled, “Dancing In Purple Stilettos” (Psalm 137:1-4). (It is a copyrightable piece-classic. By the way, you should invite her to teach it.) It is an eye-opening lesson about “sister-assisted transformation” taken from the characters and nuances of the book-adapted to film, “The Color Purple”. This is my second time hearing it and I have come away with something different each time.

Her key points, followed by my nuggets.
#1 Change your attitude about your life experiences.
Don’t be bound by your life experiences. Do not give your voice away and do not let anyone take your voice.
#2 Open your mouth.
When you’re wounded, you won’t care or give a second thought about wounding your sister. (Celie told Harpo to beat Sophia … What the world?! Because that was her frame of reference from her own life experiences.)
When there is an infraction or conflict, the way to respond to it is to go to the source …. Sophia went to Celie, spoke of the significance of what she had done and exclaimed her response to it (All my life I had to fight …) That forthright communication changed (transformed) and established a sister-assisted transformation, relationship and understanding. There was no speculation, just a straight-forward meeting of the minds.
#3 Have integrity and do what is right in whatever situation.
(Live out your God identity every day of your life, never compromise who you are) don’t let any life (past or present) experience, man, family, failure, nothing make you lose or devalue your personal worth or your Christ identity.
#4 Forgive unconditionally!
(Learn to accept the apology you never received).
Your sister is not your enemy. Forgiveness is a movement toward the point when offenses no longer have an affect on you.
Don’t let your situation name you or define you.
#5 Laugh out loud! … (I missed the rest)
Some things in life, the tricks and traps of the enemy are so ludicrous, you should just go into a hysterical insane LOL. Release the toxins in your spirit by opening your mouth in praise or a soul cry to God, a wail or unceasing knock that will command His attention and favor … He will answer.
#6 To get delivered, you have to get fed up with being bound up!
When you get delivered, your sister will get delivered too. Someone (maybe a whole ministry or community of people, your family or your household) may be tied to your deliverance. Get delivered! Stay delivered!

Then, ultimately! like Celie on the porch in the final scene, with all the characters with her or in view of her PROMISE, take that Frankenstein walk toward your promise, because what you see, you cannot believe it is finally here, in your view, in your grasp. See your promise!!! Take hold of it. Live in it!
(You’re FREE, do not be bound again!)
Then take your dance with God in your purple stilettos.

Shaving Mister …
My ultimate takeaway was that Shug was running (sacrificing herself for her sister) to save Celie, her sister, (not Mister). When we get to the point where it is more important to protect and love each other than it is to wound, outshine and dismiss each other, WE will be so much more empowered as a collective body to do damage to the kingdoms of this world and to be effective change agents in every setting of our lives.

Presenter: Jo-Ann Lipford Sanders, Ph.D.
Professor, Heidelberg University

Brand New Mercies

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, health, hope, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, love, Loving Life, self renewal, wellness, Women

(Linking up with http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/. The prompt is PAINT)

God gives us a brand new, clean slate, blank canvas on which to PAINT each day of our lives.

New Mercies, new opportunities to live the more abundant life He has already given to us. The paint palate has all the colors of the rainbow and the dark ones too. It is our choice which ones we will choose to highlight, which ones we will appropriately blend to make our lives fulfilling, well, joyful and promising. All the paint colors are necessary to create the most true canvas of our lives, the bright, the mellow, the brilliant, the subtle, the muted, the dark too. They are all elements of the beautiful masterpiece that we we are. Take your brushes and create the artistry of your life so that it is one that firstly pleases God and one that gives you fulfillment (which is not necessarily perfection) with the truth (your life reality) of what is on the canvas.

[We spend Fridays writing. One prompt, just 5 minutes, a community of nearly 300 writers.]

My Story Matters (Yours Too)

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, Fear, Goals, hope, Inspiration, Motivation, Overcoming, Personal Growth, Purpose, Self-Expression, Trusting God, Women

I still haven’t gotten into a regular groove of WRITing here. I believe Lisa-Jo expressed it so well in “How to Write and Live Brave”. It is the ‘Fear Factor’.
A minister recently preached a sermon entitled, “Fear Factor”. One key point I took away from it was that fear is produced from our interpretation of what we see, not actually what we see. The point of writing and not having control of who and what is perceived or said is a little unsettling. “It takes courage to become what you really are.” I’m always seeking God’s inspiration for writing here and I want to trust the process. I know when He inspires me to WRITE, it will be a blessing, it will encourage, inspire and motivate my secret followers as well as those who leave a comment from time to time. I know WRITing is a therapeutic tool that enables me to get out what God has put inside of my heart and mind, to share my experiences, and to pour out my life-learned wisdom. That is part of my fear too, that even though my WRITing is not scholarly, it still matters, I still have something of value to say, I still have a voice. Even when I have no idea how small or great my community, I still have a story. Everyone has a story and the chapters and pages of our lives, when well lived, when God-breathed, can bless others. So we must tell our stories, we must WRITE.
“When God gives you a gift, it is an investment that He knows you are capable to work, to accomplish.” — “Fear Factor” (Matthew 25:14-30)
Linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker for Five Minute Friday, http://lisajobaker.com/2014/02/how-to-write-and-live-brave-when-youre-terrified/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thegypsymama+%28thegypsymama%29

Do Not Feed The Seagulls

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, hope, inner strength, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, Overcoming, Personal Growth, Trusting God, Women

My Daughter-in-Love-to-Be bought me this beautiful book for Christmas, “Devotions for the Beach”. I love it. All of the devotions relate somehow to the beach which I love (Victoria knows that).
The devotion I read last night gripped me with its crystal clear analogy of seagulls and insecurities.
I could see the visual because it happened to me a couple summers ago at Cleveland’s North Coast Harbor.
I didn’t intentionally feed the seagulls, but I think a crumb dropped from my bag, I can’t recall.
Somehow though there was food, a speck, in front of me and then they started to descend from no where and squeal.
What the writer was saying in the devotion is that insecurities are like seagulls.
When you feed them they crowd you and follow you.
Specifically, she writes, “Insecurities are like seagulls. In a way, they identify where you are in your spiritual journey, and they reinforce your humanity.” When you entertain them, they grow and when you try to run from them, they follow … just like seagulls. Don’t feed them, the seagulls nor your insecurities.
I know this is true, I can relate so well because my insecurities bound me to my sofa for so many years of my adult life. How liberating it was to finally be free of all the craziness in my mind and emotions, to finally say this is it, I’m going to live. Thankful for that day and every Word that God sent to empower me and build me up to the place where I am now, not totally free from the seagulls of my emotions, but more aware. When my insecurities descend upon me, I have more fight in me now and I don’t blame it on someone else or some other thing, I take hold of it and give proper place to it so that those seagulls do not bind me.
The promises of the Lord are sure. We can trust Him to deliver us because He Is a Deliverer.
My friend, He can transform your life but it takes real desire and real surrender.
Don’t miss your God-moment with Him. *Q

Give Them Jesus, His Essence

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, faith, Holiness, hope, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, love, Trusting God, Women, worship

It was Sunday morning, the culminating service of a dynamic Women’s Conference that I attended in October.

The speaker prefaced her sermon by stating wherever she is and for whatever reason on a Sunday morning, she does not preach the theme of the event, but she preaches Jesus. She continued, ‘because there are people who attend church on Sunday who may never hear about Jesus’. I was so stricken by the reality, veracity and significance of her decision and commitment to preach only Jesus.  As she moved into her message with the passion and conviction of the Holy Ghost, preaching Jesus, the Holy Ghost began to fall, the anointing of God filled the Temple, you could feel yokes being destroyed, you could see Him drawing men, women, boys and girls to Him, you could not deny Jesus, He was in the room. His presence had been ushered in by the conviction of this woman that came from a truth that she lived and was able to powerfully transfer to those who heard her. It was  a phenomenal encounter to witness.

The atmosphere was so conducive for Jesus to come in, for the weight of His Glory to move, to work His purpose, to restore the young single mother, to put rejoicing in the heart and feet of the elderly mother, to the anoint the hands and voices of the minstrels, to release the tears of those who were reserved in their own anger or fear, to show Himself strong and real to the doubters, to save the lost, to transform the young man and to strengthen the old man, and to leave us all with an awe of only Him, only Jesus.

It happens every time, every time … I’ve witnessed it time and time again.  The visitation that comes when we lift up Jesus, when we present Him as the Sovereign One that He Is.  It is just the natural course of things. When our hearts are focused on Him, He inhabits every space, the physical space of a room and the human space of a heart and soul.  Oh, there’s no denying His presence, when He Is in the room. No man can stand in His presence, His intangibleness becomes tangible … He touches you and you touch Him.

He fluidly fills every space of your being with the glory of His essence. Can you feel Him?

I give you Jesus.

Give Them Jesus, The Cornerstone

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, faith, hope, inner strength, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, Overcoming, Prayer, Trusting God, Women

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. “

That’s the thing about our great God, He has the supernatural ability to give life to dead things, to really heal broken hearts and spirits, and to rehabilitate our tattered and crippled humanity.  He came that we might have life and that more abundantly, but what does that kind of life look like? It is certainly not devoid of struggle, pain, or failure, because as long as we are in the flesh, these things will be. But it is built upon a foundation that Christ Himself, not only laid, but is the chief corner stone.

The cornerstone is the first stone set that supports the entire construction of our life, that is what He Is. He Is the stability, strength, and surety by which, in our human frailty, we stand and withstand. 

He is the stone that, if we let Him, will stabilize the imbalances, deflect the attacks, and withstand the storms.

The prophet Isaiah writes, So this is what the Sovereign Lord says, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. So there we have it, right in God’s Word (where every answer is), all that we need to keep our minds from wandering into all-consuming doubt, worry, despair AND panic! Wow!

It takes a real relationship with Him for such confidence and assurance to override all the other stuff that comes against us.  That is why it is so important to continually build up and feed our faith with His Word, through Prayer, and through Worship. Relationship is about abiding. Abiding in the Truth that, if we have His Spirit, He lives within us and gives life to us. In abiding, we have His covering that wraps us comfortingly in the safety of His arms and the tenderness of His love.

I give you Jesus because when everything else crumbles, He will not.

I give you Jesus.