Black Women Have It Going On

Friday, September 18, 2026

Good morning from Colorado! This week, we’ve looked at something as ordinary as a few pecan seedlings and discovered that God can use the simplest things to teach us something much bigger. What began as a story about a squirrel hiding pecans in a flowerpot turned into a week of thinking about what we recognize, what we’re willing to learn, what we do with what we’ve been given, and how we see the circumstances around us.

As I look back over the week, I realize that none of these lessons are really about pecan trees. They’re about how we approach life. Sometimes we don’t recognize an opportunity because it doesn’t resemble what we expected. Sometimes we become so comfortable with what we know that we aren’t open to learning something new. Sometimes we have more in our hands than we realize but haven’t figured out how to use it. And sometimes we’re so close to a situation that we can’t see it clearly until we step back.

I’ve had to learn that I don’t always need to have an immediate answer. There is freedom in being able to say, “I don’t know,” and then allowing myself to learn. There is also wisdom in realizing that another person’s perspective doesn’t have to threaten mine. I can listen without surrendering my judgment, consider without automatically agreeing, and pray before deciding what belongs in my life.

That’s a different kind of maturity.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more aware that life doesn’t always give us the neatly packaged answers we would prefer. Sometimes we’re handed something unexpected and have to decide what we’re going to do with it. We can become frustrated because it isn’t what we wanted, or we can pause long enough to ask whether there is something worth discovering.

That doesn’t mean everything that happens to us is good. Some experiences hurt. Some disappointments are real. Some doors close that we desperately wanted to remain open. Faith doesn’t require us to pretend otherwise. But faith does give us another question to ask: “God, what are You showing me through this?”

That question changes the conversation. Instead of asking only why something happened, we begin asking what we can learn from it. Instead of focusing entirely on what was lost, we begin noticing what remains. Instead of demanding that God explain everything immediately, we become willing to trust Him while we’re still waiting for understanding.

And perhaps that’s one of the greatest lessons I’ve taken from this week: we don’t have to understand everything to be faithful. We don’t have to know how the seed will become a tree. We don’t have to know where every opportunity will lead. We don’t have to see the entire road before taking the next step. Sometimes God gives us enough light for today and asks us to trust Him with tomorrow.

I’ve also been reminded that we shouldn’t measure the value of something by the size of its beginning. A small idea can become something meaningful. A simple act of obedience can affect someone else’s life. A conversation can change a direction. A lesson learned in an ordinary moment can stay with us for years. We may not recognize the significance of a moment while we’re living it.

Sometimes the blessing isn’t in getting exactly what we asked for. Sometimes the blessing is in what the experience teaches us. Maybe it teaches us patience. Maybe it teaches us humility. Maybe it teaches us to listen. Maybe it teaches us to stop comparing. Maybe it teaches us to use what we already have. Maybe it teaches us that our way isn’t the only way. Or maybe it simply teaches us to trust God when we cannot see what He’s doing.

The Takeaway for Us

This week has reminded me that I don’t want to move through life so quickly that I miss the lessons hidden in ordinary moments. I want to pay attention. I want to remain teachable. I want to recognize the gifts, opportunities, and possibilities that may already be around me.

Most of all, I want to remember that God doesn’t have to use something extraordinary to get my attention. Sometimes He can use a conversation, a movie, a person, a disappointment, a little seed, or even a squirrel with questionable gardening habits. The important thing isn’t always the messenger or the circumstance. It’s whether I’m paying attention to the lesson.

The Call to Action

As you close out this week, think about something that has happened in your life recently that you didn’t understand at first. Instead of asking only, “Why did this happen?” ask yourself, “What might I be learning from this?”

Maybe there is something you need to recognize. Maybe there is something you need to release. Maybe there is something you’ve been given that deserves another look. Or maybe God is simply asking you to trust Him a little more than you did yesterday.

Take a few quiet minutes with Him today. You don’t have to solve your entire life. Just be willing to listen.

Scripture

Romans 8:28 (KJV)

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

I don’t believe this means that everything that happens to us is good. It reminds me that God can work through all things for His purpose. There is a difference, and sometimes we don’t recognize what God is doing until much later.

A Weekend Prayer

Father, thank You for the lessons You place in ordinary moments. Thank You for reminding me that I don’t have to understand everything immediately. Help me become more observant, more teachable, and more willing to see beyond what is directly in front of me.

When something doesn’t look like what I expected, give me the patience to pause before I dismiss it. When I don’t know what to do with what You’ve placed in my hands, give me wisdom. When my perspective becomes limited by disappointment, help me step back and see the bigger picture.

Teach me to recognize the difference between what I need to hold onto, what I need to let go of, and what I simply need to give more time to understand. And Lord, when I can’t see the blessing, help me trust that You can still use the lesson.

I don’t need to know everything. I just need to know that You are with me.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

I’ll see you Monday for another 15 Minutes with God.