Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us;
It’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. ~Matthew 19:6
Artist: Henry Lee Battle
Whisper your heavenly love to the wounded soul oh Lord. Heal broken hearts with your divine touch.
For again someone feels they have fallen short of your glory by not guarding their heart. Lord replace their sorrow with joy. Because in all sincerity they thought they were doing what you expected of them as spouses; and as a result of truly trusting their loved ones their hearts were broken by infidelity.
Their spouses silence, without complaint, lead them to believe all was well with the their lives as a couple and as a family. But as infidelity deeds are and were being uncovered the illusion of perfect relationships and family units are being destroyed.
Lord, please help the victims of infidelity in this delicate moment; as you spiritually work on their companions moral values by cutting away relationship deceptions and replacing spiritual corruption with Fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Strengthen these victims Lord with your words, presence and unconditional love. Give them the ability to forgive quickly. As you sustain their marriage with the bonds of holy commitment. So that both will continue nurturing a lasting matrimony. Lord quiet inner turmoil of shame, anger, deception, hopelessness, selfishness, disappointment, lack of trust, and the feelings of loss by replacing each emotion with love and understanding. Amen
¹²While Jesus was in one of the town, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ¹³Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing.” he said. “Be Clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.“
Lord, some people talk too much because they want other’s to hear their “know it all” speeches; then again some people talk too much because of nerves chatter; and, then, Lord, some people talk too much because of self-absorption. But this prayer is for those that talk to much because of emotional and mental pain that overflows into their daily conversations.
Lord, help the person that is in emotional or mental pain to see that you enter into their lives everyday. Lord help them to understand you know their spirits are filled with worries. Let them know Lord they are no different from the man with leprosy when it comes to your unyielding love for your creation. Lord, allow them to feel your presence; and gently convey to their spirits that you stand waiting to heal their brokenness. Lord, give them the words to ask in prayer for guidance and healing as they create a dialogue between you and them.
I am asking for you to do these things Lord because: I have found those that unwittingly share life experiences have been greatly wounded. And because of their sorrows I come humbly before your Throne of Grace. So, once again, Lord, I am asking for divine healing for those that talk too much as they try to ease their emotional and mental pains. Lord, I ask that they find a true friend in you. Lord, I pray that you begin to peel the layers of untold anguish from their unconscious minds. Exposing their raw emotions for what they are as you help them to deal with each heartache privately. For in lessening their spiritual suffering they can find hope. And in finding hope they will find wisdom in who to share your blessings among and their tribulations with.
The First Thanksgiving, painting by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching I am at a lost for a dinner menu.
Honestly, I am so over turkey and dressing, collard greens, black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes covered in turkey gravy, corn, candy yams and sweet potato-pie with a dollop of cool-whip. But if I met one person that has never feasted on such a lavish Thanksgiving meal I would find the strength to prepare it and cultivate an appetite to eat it once again.
Yesterday my cousin Theresa told me I was not the person she once knew. She said, “You’ve changed.” She went on to express how she remembered my tearful outbursts and moments later how I would be extremely happy, or short-tempered. Honestly, I had forgotten those moments and the young woman that felt life was not worth living. And I find it spiritually amazing how God will allow others to remind you of days gone by. And how the kindness of others helped transformed your life during difficult moments. As a result of my transformation I am grateful for all things.
So today I am taking the time to search for and post inspiring messages to help someone along the way. If the message I share is not for you please pass it on. You never know who will need words of encouragement. So to kick off my inspirational Friday messages is the below video of a businessman’s compassion for humanity.
Lord for the past couple of weeks I have notice people searching for prayers on low self-esteem. So today Lord I bring those that suffer from lack of confidence to you. Lord I am asking you to help them overcome whatever stole their self-assurance. Lord I’m asking you to gently speak in their ear that if they had been the only person in the world, you would have come from Heaven and saved them alone. Lord, I’m praying today that they understand they are special and you love them much more than any mortal man. I’m asking Lord that you wrap your loving spiritual arms around them. Allow their wounded souls to nestle in your spiritual being and take comfort in your ability to heal. I’m asking Lord that you give them hope by affirming them as only you can. I’m asking Lord that you give them a spirit to forgive the person or persons that have hurt them as they move on with life.
Lord please help them to understand you want us to have good thoughts, and that includes how we feel about ourselves. For Psalm 19:14 states:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Today as I was surfing the web for international inspiration I stumbled across the blog of Fahrenheit Creative Group. The admin of this wonderful blog gives people motivational and inspirational quotes and messages to live by. After stumbling upon this wonderful blog site I almost forgot what I was looking for.
Oh. Yeah. I was searching for something that could be passed on to the American nation in a time of uncertainty.
I guess after listening to the opinions of those in my circle about America’s current insufficient funds status I have found their comments mind-boggling. I really want to respond with “do you really believe that crap your voicing!” And my response would not be in question form. I would hope my statement would awaken their intellect in using commonsense [which is no longer common].
It seems everybody is running on scarcity.
Personally, I think the American people, that are generations rooted by birth, are tired of feeling left out. Especially when it comes to the freebies given to those that are illegally living in our country and profiting from the American overtaxed entitlement programs.
It seems that everyone has lost sight of what made America great. The economical dismay of our economy has brought forth spirits of defeat and disdain. Especially for those we find different from our personal and professional communities. The havoc that is being wreaked on lives as dreams are no longer a vision of hope makes me ask: What ever happened to the all American dream?
One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.
–Benjamin Disraeli
The American dream died when the government made it easy for a person to be given a fish when hungry. And the quest for self-worth plummeted when the public demanded more entitlement programs from their local and state government officials. And, sadly, these programs were implemented. As I see things, these handouts removed the instinct for self-preservation. And hinders people to remember and believe in a quote from our founding fathers’:
That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
Lord there are so many social issues to pray for that I’m not sure which one I should bring to your feet this morning. There is the issue of HIV among the porn stars. There is the issue of homosexual’s committing suicide because of personal fears. There are the social issues of gun control in America. Lord as you can see from my small prayer list, that could easily grow, there is a need for you.
Lord as you know I started this prayer last week after coming home from church. Pastor Robert Gelinas spoke on Your mercy. He mainly spoke from the book of Jonas. He talked about how people want your mercy but often hate when you extend the same mercy to those deem unworthy. With great surprise the end of his sermon took a tailspin. He held up a rock and said it represented people who had not forgiven themselves.
Lord as you saw I sat listening in bewilderment. It was then I realized I was Jonas. I had not forgiven myself for becoming a teen-mom. I had not forgiven myself for countless other things I had done with the life you gladly gave me. Lord so long ago, I realized I had wasted and was wasting my life. I’m sorry! Please forgive me for wasting the life you created before you formed it in the belly of my precious mom’s womb. Please stop me from living a life of regret. Please help me to live in the footsteps you ordered for me. Please help me to be a gift given back to the greatest gift giver. Lord, let me be a wonderful gift for you!
Lord this morning someone woke up unsure about life. Lord, I pray that you give this person a dream or a new dream with new hope. Lord, I pray that you help them to learn to put one foot in front of the other. Lord, I pray that you help them to understand “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lord, I pray that they realize the cliché I just used apply to all aspects of life. But more so Lord, I pray they understand “Great is Thy faithfulness.”
Lord help those that have contracted HIV. Give them your peace that surpasses all human understanding. Lord help those that have confesses in their hearts that they are homosexual. Lord help those that own guns and those that don’t own guns to come to mutual agreements. But most of all Lord help the world to know ‘Great is Thy faithfulness.”
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!“
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
As my sister celebrated her birthday this year she was and is unquestionably delighted to turn 50. I on the other hand did not look forwards to turning another year older. Yet my 52 birthday was creeping closely and did manage to arrive on scheduled. My birthday is never late! Honestly, I really wish after I had turned 30 my birthday would come around once every 10 years.
It appears my regretful and wounded soul continues to look for the life that was lost so long ago.
My person questions all of life’s ambitions, my life’s ambitions, to a point where I’m silently asking the following: What makes the aging graceful and ready to grow older and old? What makes the aging mean and bitter as they do grow older and old? And what will I become as I age and my physical beauty continues to fade? Will I be a sweet old woman that has few regrets? Or will I become an old bag of bitter bones that is mean because I failed to live my life to its fullest?
Truthfully, I would say at this point I am becoming by default ‘an old bag of bitter bones that is mean because I failed to live my life to its fullest.’
Are you shocked at my brutal conclusion of my self awareness examination? Are you shocked that I can be as truthful about what I inwardly harbor? Don’t be shocked because there are other’s just like me. Perhaps you are like me. Maybe you are worse than me. But it is never too late for us to change the course of our lives as long as we continue to breathe hope.
At this moment my beloved Colorado is under flood watch. Because of flooding many of the smaller cities and towns have been force to evacuate. Lives are being uprooted by force of nature and people have to take shelter of safety in unfamiliar places. Uncertainty about the course of their lives looms over the evacuees’ heads as they wait for the storm to subside.
After carefully watching video footage of flooding areas in Colorado I have come to the conclusion, it is the amount of life’s storms and their surges that determines if we will age gracefully or bitter.
And regrettably sometimes our personal lives from beginning to end are under flood watch or in the eye of the storm.
At least my life is consistently under storm watch; and often my poor choices continue to place me in the midst of raging floods. And, since, I didn’t know how to swim to safety I have found myself spiritually and emotionally drowning over and over again. As a result, I regret a few things I have done, moreover, my biggest regrets are the things I failed and continue to fail to do; therefore, for me aging is a big reminder how I wasted my talents and my life.
With remorse I must write, my life [outside of my children] was squandered on people and things that could not validate my existence. In a nutshell, I confess, I spent the majority of my life looking for validation from people who had never been validated themselves. So when I turned 50 I felt life was over for me. I felt nothing about me depicted a life of success and that included the children I dearly love.
But as I continue on this journey we call life, every day I am reminded people age 50 and over that are living wonderful lives with little to no regrets. And Lillie McCloud is one of those people. She is an amazing singer. She has an amazing outlook about her life. She does not regret putting her singing career on hold to raise her children. At the age of 54 she feels now is her time to fulfill her dream. I just love her confidence during her X Factor audition. She selected the right song. She wore the right outfit. Her persona said what she stated “I’m here to win” as she sang Cece Winans’ song “Alabaster Box.” Everything about Lillie says age 50 is where it’s at! Check her out:
As I reflect on heart-felt thoughts in celebration about motherhood, this is a painful memory of a barren woman I understood.
There’s no prescription that can help her out.
There’s no one who can hear her inward painful shouts.
She suffers alone the shameful thoughts of being barren
And feel there is no one who really is truly caring.
She can never see rays from morning sunshine’s.
In the deepest of her barren womb despair
Her companions love can never compare
To a little one that is not there.
So as she looks upon baby bumps you see
All she understands is there no child within me.
She feels she’s to blame for being barren you see,
As she continues to recite there is no child within me.
She questions the universe as to what she has done
To deserve the unbearable fate of having no little one.
Her womb will not give birth to little Samantha or Nate
She feels she will never hear the patter of little feet herself proclaim fate.
As a mother and a woman with total compassion
I would like to express to the woman with a barren womb
Please don’t bury yourself in an unnamed tomb.
For I feel you are more special than I
Because the creator walks by your mournful side.
So in celebration of motherhood everywhere
Let us take time to remember the barren woman in despair.
For the burden of being barren make her special you see,
Because she has taught us to cherish the children given unto thee.
About a week ago on a Facebook page I follow titled “White Men Who Love Their Black Women” the administrator posted the following:
I over heard a conversation among several White women today and they were talking about a couple of girls that didn’t seem threatening to them when it came to getting men or their boyfriends. Within the conversation they mentioned some things that they knew these girls possessed that made them seemingly, “less attractive”. The 1st notable remark that was made was the fact that one of the girls was heavy set—that almost automatically took her out of the game (according to these women). The 2nd comment was that another one of the girls was “universally unattractive” (according to them NO ONE would ever deem her pretty under anyone’s microscope). But the grand finale of a statement that was made that the last girl was Black—yes BLACK—that was why she didn’t pose a threat . These White women seemed to think that their White skin ordained them to be a peck above Black women getting White men just because they were White. My thing is this: I’m good as any girl of any color and I’ll be damned to think that a girl just being White and me being Black would take me away from even being considered an option of a White guy or for that, White men! Questions? Comments?
Due to time restraints I could not make a comment. So today I sit and write my feelings about the brutal honesty of those that publicly spoke on less threatening women when it comes to them dating and them maintaining marital security.
Love comes in multiple colors with surmountable reasons for loving. Only shallow people with low self-esteem will build outwardly with bitter words for mortar a false wall of security. The women gathered at this loathing banquet walked away more empty before they sat to fellowship. It is clear to see these women are not busy living productive lives. Surely what they say or think about women they consider less than is irrelevant to the cause of women of color progressing in life, personally and professionally.
Let’s speak truth: It is not women of color that seek tanning salons to darken their skin. Our skin tone is a birthright given to all colored women by God genetically. Subjectively, if I had problems with people of African descent I would never tan. The process of tanning would be in such a situation as hypocritical. Because to me non-colored people who have problems with Black people due to darker skin pigmentation are jealous, simple-minded, human beings that should have their mouths tape shut. I am only speaking about non-colored people who dislike for the sake of disliking and using color as a scapegoat. IT IS NOT LOGICAL TO TAN WHEN YOU DESPISE OTHER PEOPLE FOR NATURALLY HAVING WHAT YOU PAY TO ACQUIRE! Suchactions provoke the question why are you making your skin the color of those you hate for having it!
As far as I am concern, I feel all people are beautiful . . .
And Black women do give to the rainbow of love. The only difference between Blacks and non-colored people are skin pigmentation’s. Outside of that! Nothing else is different when it comes to being human.
Sad to write, but unfortunately the White woman who made the harsh comment about Black women was correct based upon social stereotype. Therefore, at this point what is relevant and not irrelevant is how long it will take Black women to realize we must shift the way people think of us. We must show others as single people and as a group that we are worth dating and marrying (outside of our brown skin tones).
Women of color we need to change the dating and marring game to our home courts! We need to learn positive ways to effectively market us as people and a gender race group. We need to help other Black women that slipped through the cracks of life. We need to create dating and marring game plans that potential mates can understand; and in doing so we will inspire all men from all walks of life to crossover and play on our team as boyfriends and husbands. In addition, we need to first seek to understand so we will be understood.
I can only end that dating and marrying should be a personal choice. How a person arrives to dating this person or that person, and, or, marrying this person or that person again is a personal choice.
In my journey I have learned to cross over and date men from other races. To me the equipment all works the same despite hearsay! Laughter!
Have a great day! And remember Black women really do have it going on!
Lord for the past couple of weeks I have notice people searching for prayers on low self-esteem. So today Lord I bring those that suffer from lack of confidence to you. Lord I am asking you to help them overcome whatever stole their self-assurance. Lord I’m asking you to gently speak in their ear that if they had been the only person in the world, you would have come from Heaven and saved them alone. Lord, I’m praying today that they understand they are special and you love them much more than any mortal man. I’m asking Lord that you wrap your loving spiritual arms around them. Allow their wounded souls to nestle in your spiritual being and take comfort in your ability to heal. I’m asking Lord that you give them hope by affirming them as only you can. I’m asking Lord that you give them a spirit to forgive the person or persons that have hurt them as they move on with life.
Black Women Have It Going On 