As I reflect on the years passed by, I am ever-so grateful for the grace of God especially through times of adversity. Looking back there’s been many moments of joy and peace in my life and one of the most memorable over the holiday season is the singing of Amazing Grace to me by my niece and nephew when they were 5 and 3 years old.
The lyrics still strike a chord in my heart every time I hear them!
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
May the Grace of God be yours in abundance this come year my sistas!
WOW, we are rounding the corner to wrapping up the end of the year! Not only does December earmark the festive celebration of Christ but also a time to reflect. Have you taken a moment to reflect on 2009 and recount your pivotal actions that made a difference in getting you where you are today?
Keep in mind that you hold the power within to radically change your life in the New Year! So take hold of this moment and reflect on the actions that will transform your dream. At the end of the day, it’s YOU and only YOU who can manifest your future with positive thoughts and faith to overcome adversity.
If 2009 wasn’t the most invigorating, goal breaking year you desired it to be, don’t get discouraged. Think about weaving into your life something different next year that will make a difference not only in your life but the lives of others. By striving to serve and love a bit more each day with bring grace to you and yours. Think it, believe it and you will receive it!
May this festive season bless you with an abundance of love, peace and joy.
Happy New Year Sistas!
What you hold, may you always hold.
What you do, may you always do and never abandon.
But with swift pace, light step, unswerving feet,
so that even your steps stir up no dust,
may you go forward securely, joyfully, and swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness, not believing
anything, not agreeing with anything that
would dissuade you from this resolution or
that would place a stumbling block for you
on the way, so that you may offer your vows
to the Most High in the pursuit of that perfection
to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you.
~ Saint Clare of Assisi
Easier said then done, right! When times are tough and help is not at arm’s reach, faith is the first to dwindle. Whatever the situation, stay the course and don’t give up. God is always with you and in His perfect time will come through. Trust me on this one! Many times I’ve gone through the valley not knowing how I would ever get out, but looking back, there’s without a doubt that God was with me each and every step. Keep in mind that life is intended for us to learn and grow and if we never encounter pivotal circumstances then we will never attain the knowledge God’s word can teach us. His plan is orchestrated perfectly for us if only we take the time to be patient and listen in silence to His word.
Many times we are too busy chasing life and yearning for more that we forget to spend time with God. Then when something negative happens in our life, we question God. Did you take an hour of your time to give to God today? If not, you still expect for God to be there for you every minute of every hour, right? Going to church and saying your morning prayers are a start but building a relationship with God will reap eternal life in His Kingdom.
Don’t fight the path God has planned for you but rather embrace it and invite Him to lead you the way. Ephesians 1:10 “God has made us what we are and in our union with Christ Jesus He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared for us to do.”
As we move into the blustery end of fall season, be attentive to your emotions and environment. To avail the winter blues focus on the positive aspects of life and refrain from blowing a problem out of proportion. Start by removing all elements in life that are causing negative power around you. Then give each day to the Lord, adjust your sails and enjoy the journey!
The last couple of months there’s been media and journal coverage on women’s happiness. From the Huffington Post article “What’s Happening to Women’s Happiness” to “It’s a Woman’s Nation” reported by Maria Shriver.
I must say that if Maria Shriver is sharing with the world that “It’s a Woman’s Nation”, then why is there happiness lost in women? Statistics disclose the levels of happiness between men in women via General Social Survey statistics, but considering men and women’s thought process is different, the survey questions may not be thorough enough to gauge the difference in happiness. There are definitely a number of factors that play into the happiness of both genders so I would have to argue that women are in fact spiraling downward in happiness. The opportunities are limitless for women and with the abundance of empowering channels to reach for resources, one can only agree with Maria that today brings a new wave of happiness among women!
And if we take a look at it holistically, tune into Oprah’s latest coverage on happiness across the world wherein the US comes in at 23. Bottom line, happiness is a choice and reviewing the findings posted in this article will uncover the elements that bog down the grumbling in America. Ultimately resulting in, yep, unhappiness!
Women out there, if you are struggling with breaking in a new day because you just can’t seem to drag yourself out of bed to go to work, go to school or do whatever it is you do in a regular day, then STOP to find out why! There’s hope and you have the choice of how you want to live your life. Here’s a few sites to help refresh your mind:
To refuel your soul, listen to Mandisa’s “He Is With You” which is one of my favorite on a floundering day:)
A force of emotion
Like a tantalizing potion
What is overcoming me
The love I did not foresee
It hit like a crazy fire
Burning inside my hearts desire
Too strong to hold back
The excitement was a fact
Love can not be resisted
When real it is persistant
Unconditional natural feelings
Overtime take hold of our being
A longlasting sense of security
Never showing animosity
It doesn’t hurt nor disrespect
An opportunity not everyone gets
When it strikes you hard
Go for it, draw the card
Real LOVE can not be resisted!
Author ~ Annemarie Smith
Face it, no matter what you do or say, there’s always a pea in a pod who won’t agree or criticize your actions. Even Oprah experiences lash outs, offensive liberations and “haters” which is unfortunately reality in today’s society.
Here’s a writing piece I recently came across that I identified with and thought I would share because for all those “haters” in the world, there’s an abundance of good that out numbers the bad.
Haters by Maya Angelou
A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all their time
trying to make you look small so they can look tall. They are very negative people to say the least. Nothing is ever good enough.
When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters…
That’s why you have to be careful with whom you share your blessings and your dreams, because some folk can’t handle seeing you blessed…
It’s dangerous to be like somebody else…
If God wanted you to be like somebody else, He would have given you what He gave them ! Right?
You never know what people have gone through to get what they have…
The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don’t know my story…If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you can rest assured that the water bill is higher there too!
We’ve all got some haters among us!Some people envy you because you can:
a) Have a relationship with God
b) Light up a room when you walk in
c) Start your own business
d) Tell a man / woman to hit the curb (if he / she isn’t about the right thing)
e) Raise your children without both parents being in the home.
- Haters can’t stand to see you happy.
- Haters will never want to see you succeed.
- Most of our haters are people who are supposed to be on our side.
How do you handle your undercover haters?
You can handle these haters by:
1. Knowing who you are and who your true friends are*(VERY IMPORTANT!!)
2. Having a purpose to your life: Purpose does not mean having a job. You can have a job and still be unfulfilled. A purpose is having a clear sense of what God has called you to be. Your purpose is not defined by what others think about you.
3. By remembering what you have is by divine prerogative and not human manipulation.
Fulfill your dreams! You only have one life to live…when it’s your time to leave this earth, you ‘want’ to be able to say, ‘I’ve lived my life and fulfilled ‘my’ dreams… Now I’m ready to go HOME!
When God gives you favor, you can tell your haters, ‘Don’t look at me… Look at Who is in charge of me…’
‘A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.’
If I truly stressed about what my family, friends and colleagues thought of me, I would not have 1) lived in the middle east 2) married my husband and 3) returned to school at almost 40!
Now go out there, embrace who you are and let your dreams unfold before you!
Grace and Peace read more…
Just short of 200 pages, The Love Dare is a manageable read for young to mature adults. If you are searching for a new perspective in a relationship and want to incorporate the love of God in your life, then this book is a fresh start.
Don’t let the short piece on the back of the book or the preface sway you away from adding the book to your nightstand. Or if you are not up for a challenge, not to fret, you can still read the book and incorporate the inspirational messages and 40 chapters of encouragement into your life.
What I learned
- Be who you are and don’t try to shape yourself into being someone your family, friends or spouse influence you to be.
- Accept those in your inner circle for who they are.
- Stop manufacturing your life and the lives of those around you.
- Relationships are a continuous growth cycle – keep them fresh.
- Learn to forgive (period)!
- You have a choice to live your life and take control ~ your actions create your future.
- Take responsibility and stop passing blame.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
From all ends of the world, there’s a media blast of some sort, predominantly revealing stories of sadness, grief or loss.
In the last couple of weeks I was brought to tears by stories of families who have buried their children as a result of violence in communities. What has America come to? War in the mid-east is broadcasted regularly but there seems to be little said about the unnecessary tragedies killing people living in the land of the free.
Of course there needs to be focus on the market, health care and employment but what about community awareness of what is happening in our backyards? As society refrains from teaching values, traditions and religion to children, more and more violence and tragedies tend to erupt for no good reason – hate and/or outrage which has no place in a righteous life. There is no worth communicating harsh words or entertaining wrong-doing for it only causes shame and distress, sometimes hardship on the entire family.
The public media scrutiny puts a tremendous amount of pressure on lives, sometimes leading to drastic results, depending on the scrutiny displayed in the public eye. Where to run when this happens? No where other than to face it head on, but how when there are tumultuous events happening around you? How do you embrace a life event without having a meltdown?
Drawing upon the depths of your divine source will lead you and faith will carry you through the storm. Be wise and cautious at all times. Be steadfast rather than reckless emotion. And lastly, be forgiving and refrain from casting judgment.
