Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
I recently viewed Phil Robertson’s celebration of life ceremony. I was profoundly moved by his service for numerous reasons. However, the primary reason is that his legacy was grounded in truth. It is all too common for us to attend funerals where inaccuracies are presented about the deceased, either to enhance their reputation or to detract from it. During such moments, the atmosphere becomes laden with an unsettling heaviness, creating a sensation that the spirits are lingering, unable to transition peacefully.
In my family, we experienced the loss of a relative, and their offspring spent years proclaiming to anyone willing to listen that they represented their deceased parent’s legacy. Unbeknownst to them, many were laughing and speaking disparagingly about the parent, as their shortcomings were significant. And what was even more chilling was their behavior as they embraced their parents’ deceitful legacy as their own.
During my observation of Phil’s funeral, I arrived at the conclusion that it is not the deceased whom I fear, but rather the living individuals who perpetuate deception that instill a sense of apprehension within me. Consequently, I have chosen to forgo a traditional funeral in favor of a brief graveside service. My intention is to protect my children from the deception of those I have spent years shielding them against. I do not wish for my children to find themselves embroiled in disputes over possessions they did not earn and were only bequeathed to them upon my passing. It is my belief that my life should signify more than mere financial gain. I desire for them to understand that the time I dedicated to self-improvement, so I could become a better person and mother, is what truly matters, as I could not have achieved either without the guidance of Christ. And! This is what I witnessed at Phil’s services.
PRAYER
Father God, I humbly ask that you sweep over the souls who follow you and desire to follow you. Amen
Today as I began my day I found this post among my published writings. It was just what the doctor ordered for a Monday! The content got my heart pumping and my spirit moving! So! I’m reblogging it! Have a great day living your best life! ~Annette
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,”
Ephesians 3:20
Yesterday, I did something unexpected and amazing! I took down the once white faux plantation blinds in the kitchen window. Sadly they had turned several shades of brown, ranging from near white to a dark dirty scary splotchy browns. And adding to their unsightly appearance was the heavy gray dust that probably was hosting a party for germs of all sorts. Honestly, I’d seen the condition of the blinds a month or so ago from the outside and made a mental note to clean them. Yet, cleaning those blinds didn’t seem as important to me as nursing my depression, disappointments, anger, and etc. But, yesterday, as I stood at the kitchen window listening to Priscilla Shirer, I felt the spirit of the living God move within me. It was clear it didn’t matter what choir I did as long as I did something to show I was still in the game of life. So, I got the small ladder we use to climb in bed. Took it to the sink cabinet. Climb up. Unlatched the brackets holding up the blinds. Took the blinds down. I filled one side of the sink with one third of water and added a large amount of Clorox to a few drops of Dawn. The process of washing the blinds was not easy because my mind is filled with everything. Yet, I managed to clean the blinds and was blessed with a feeling of accomplishment at the end. A feeling I’ve been longing to experience but couldn’t because of my mindset of feeling overwhelmed. Let’s pray!
PRAYER:
Father God, most times we are blind to the meaning of our emotions. Please remove the scales off our spiritual eyes that prohibit us from seeing spiritually and let us see why we do what we do. Afterwards, give us your peace, your understanding and your strength to make necessary changes that will help us grow in you. Amen
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’ve become addicted to YouTube. Yes, you’ve read correctly! I’m always surfing the following topics, homesteading, remodeling, how to make vanilla extract, genealogy and quilting. And as you know I should be cleaning and decluttering. I have one year to gather the fragments of my life before my husband, me and possibly my youngest son move to another part of Colorado.
But in the meantime, for some strange reason a channel keeps popping up on my feed as something I might enjoy. So! One day I decided to watch it after a title grabbed my attention. The video was of a husband and wife remodeling their [new to them] doublewide.
As I sat watching them install fake beams I concluded the wife was extremely annoying; therefore, I stayed clear of clicking on their channel. Well! In the wee hours of the morning guess what channel popped up for me to watch again! Yep! The annoying woman!
I gave her another chance! This time she did not disappoint! She was talking about decluttering her children’s bedroom, being an understanding mom, addressing her shortcomings and arriving at a junction where things work for her. But! The one thing she said that struck a chord with me mentally and emotionally was “no one wants to live in clutter.” Let’s pray!
PRAYER
Father God, no one wants to live in clutter. Yet, life happens. Clutter happens. And sometimes people find themselves living in conditions they would never live in otherwise. Help them to fix the problem that hinders them from becoming the person they are destined to become. Amen
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
Let’s pray!
Today, Lord, I’m praying a worldwide Valentine’s prayer of love. I ask the following of you because all people deserve to live a fulfilling life. I pray for people in power that think and act and like children. Their immaturity has a negative impact on those they lead and the world. I pray that you will show them the level of their thinking in such a way that it gives them the desire and ability to change. Amen
When they were filled, he said unto his disciple, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
John 6:12 KJV
Learning to stay steadfast on your decluttering journey during times of uncertainty is truly hard. You’ll find yourself falling off the wagon many times when it comes to keeping your home neat and tidy. And, as a result you’ll wrestle with discouragement from time to time. But keep going! The prize you’ll win at the end of your decluttering journey is discovering the love of self.
Over the weekend I called a contentious cousin. Why? I don’t know! I guess I love punishing myself. If I say the sky is blue she will say it’s black. The funny thing about her is that she’s always talking smack about one of her sister’s she feels does the same to her. Yet, she treats me like her sister treats her as she feels she’s being positive. People like her is why I love the song by Michael Jackson “Man In The Mirror.” And I’m sure we all have one or two people in our circle that are negative and extremely delusional that their positive.
As I fought being overwhelmed I found my mindset was somewhat different. Instead of letting her put a damper on my good intentions and or zap me of my energy, I said to her, “Wow! You can’t hear me gasping for air trying to sort through items. I’m trying to figure out who gets what because it was meant for me to buy all this stuff to be a blessing to others. Yes, my home is overrun with stuff but I can be a blessing to others because of it!” [Silence]
So! If it takes you a day, days, a week, weeks and even months to sort through your clutter, then it takes you that long because healing starts over and over with everything you touch. Let’s pray!
PRAYER
Father God, thank you for the power of healing. Help us gather the fragments of our lives as we let go of things that we don’t use nor need. Let the things we give be a blessing to the new owners. Amen
P.S.
On Friday I started with cleaning my food pantry. I was able to salvage some items to keep and some I donated to a senior citizen complex but I had to throw a ton of canned goods away. I feel bad about having to put food in the trash when so many people go hungry but they are two years past their expiration date.
Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is you unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Psalm 36:5-7 NIV
Yesterday, I got a call from a friend. She’s leaving today for her yearly holiday vacation. Each year she and her sister fly home to spend Christmas and New Year’s with their mom. She was calling me to let me know she would be gone. And, each year I let her know how much she means to me.
She was once my therapist. She and I covered a lot of emotional ground. Addressing issues I tucked away as not important. My issues weren’t important because I’d been taught I wasn’t important. Sadly, during my early years of being a young adult with at least one kid in tow, I didn’t know what love looked like; therefore, I equated love with sex!
OMG! Life is so funny! I can remember at least two or three sessions where she and I worked, truly worked, on my mindset concerning love and the types of love. But! Love nonetheless! Unfortunately, I would find guys that had more baggage than myself. And! Usually they came into our new relationship abusing me emotionally and physically. Every so often I would get lucky and they would only do one or the other. However! Neither is okay! I stopped dating because I kept finding the same type of guy. But! I never stopped the behavior when it came to interacting with family, friends and loved ones.
Oh! Wow! I just realized why I would date guys that had more baggage than myself [eyeroll]! I wanted to be loved. Now, I just might cry! Cause that makes me sad. How can a person be born into a family and grow up feeling unloved. That’s just sad! Let’s pray!
PRAYER: Father God, someone feels unloved and needs to hear from you. Comfort their tormented souls. Healing them with healthy examples of your love. In Jesus name I ask and pray. Amen
I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.
When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me. Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
I cry to you, Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.
Psalm 142
I began writing a post that made my soul feel uneasy. It was clear it didn’t want to share the content I found noteworthy, therefore, I deleted what I wrote. And, I asked God to give me a prayer for today. He gave me Psalm 142:3, “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way.” That verse is so profound. I read the entire Psalm to see what the author was writing about.
Ah! Awh! Psalm 142 is David praying when he was in the cave! I love that moment! I’m sorry David had to endure such. But! OMG! That moment has been my benchmark for dealing with enemies. Really! Let’s pray!
PRAYER
Father God, someone is under great stress. They are being heavily pursued by their enemy/enemies. Hide them under the breastplate of righteousness. Shelter them under your protection. Let them enter into your rest and dance in the rain. Amen
Trust in the Lord with all you heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
Now that I’ve sorted, distributed, opened, saved and scanned one bag of mail, I can write a post.
Today, I would like to tell you about “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I remember the first time I heard this proverb. I was doing a crafting project reluctantly for a former pastor’s wife. It seems she was always calling on me to do this and to do that, while my young children went without my guidance.
As I stood at the fabric counter complaining, forgoing all the dirty little details, the clerk’s life experiences had given her a birds eye view of my “good intentions.” Somewhere in-between me taking a breath, she took the opportunity to say, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions.’ Her words hit me like a ten ton brick! Why?
During that time I was a single mom that desperately wanted to be accepted. As I write this post and have moments of reflections, I just gotta say, “Boy! I was stupid!”
I was a single mom with little to no help financially from my children’s dads. And whatever money I had my kids were entitled to it first! I should have been at home with them, because they deserved home baked cookies. And most importantly they needed structure! Doing such would have helped them transition easier in every area of their lives as they grew into adulthood. Sadly, I couldn’t give my children what I didn’t have, my poor spirit felt abandoned. Let’s pray!
PRAYER
Father God, today I pray for the souls that seek to be a part of something greater than themselves. Help them until you can help. In Jesus name I ask. Amen
Stress acts as an accelerator: it will push you either forward or backward, but you choose which direction.
Chelsea Erieau
I notice with each coming day I silently ask myself “how did you get here!” Meaning how did my home become filled with stuff! And! Most of the stuff I often stumble over I have no clue of what it is.
Well sometimes if I’m honest with myself, I got here because of many reasons. Most of those reasons can be found under “Being The Nice Person.” The issues I face today are because I tried to be a nice person. But, should I change? Absolutely! Not! I just need to realize that you can’t help everyone. As I learn to ask myself how my decisions affect my life and those I love and love me. Hence, there’s something to playing “the devil’s advocate!” Let’s pray!
Father God, your word says, “The Lord is a safe place for the oppressed–a safe place in difficult times.” We call your words into action. We speak them over our lives and the lives of our family. We ask that they hide us in your strength. Never letting bad days rob our mind, souls and spirits of giving you praise for being our protector. Amen
Black Women Have It Going On 