Tag: focus

The Great Interrupter

I told myself earlier this month that I would write a new post about my journey to landing an opportunity of a lifetime. Weeks passed and though it never left my mind, I didn’t allow myself to slow down enough to get my thoughts together to be able to share the magnitude of what happened; especially in a year that has been nothing less than tragic. I promise that I’ll get to that story but today I had to stop everything to share the most simplest moment that happened to me just this morning.

Like many of you, I have been hit hard this week. The news of Jacob Blake… followed by the teen vigilante shooting… while watching the repeated history displayed at the March on Washington… and the looming frustration of have no arrests in the case of Breonna Taylor… and then news that Chadwick Boseman dies at age 42. THE Black Panther. Wakanda Forever. Gone. It was too much. So this morning I purposed myself to take control of the mood that I wanted to set for the day. I decided to set aside hours of no television and no social media. Instead, I would light candles, have breakfast, fold clothes and maybe I would break out one of the books I’ve been trying to read for over a year.

Continue reading “The Great Interrupter” →
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I Don’t Know

I-Don’t-Know.

Three words I absolutely hate to say and definitely never like to hear. But I uttered those words last night. I actually said them a few weeks ago and both times I couldn’t believe I actually said them out loud. I don’t ever claim to know it ALL but what I do believe in is finding out. If ever someone asked me a question related to work and I didn’t have an answer, it was never just “I don’t know.” It would be either “I’m not certain that I have all the information so let me review and get to back to you close of business” … or “Give me a moment and I’ll find out.” Both insinuate that I don’t have the answer but it’s never a blanket statement of “I don’t know.”

The biggest no-no for me is to always, and I mean always have a plan and what bigger plan can you have than the one you have for your life. I mean it’s your life! If you don’t know then who else is going to be able to tell you?? That has been my thinking forever and in many ways it still is so when I said “I Don’t Know” when asked about my life plans last night I felt like a complete loser. But I had to be honest and I truly had and still have no idea what’s next. Scariest feeling ever for someone who has always known her next move. I had to slow my mind down enough to get back on course and I can say now that I have a new and refreshed understanding of what all this planning is about. Continue reading “I Don’t Know” →

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PARK IT!

I don’t know why I still get so amazed at how God speaks to me. It starts with me noticing something that is so common place and seeing it through a new perspective. It’s like I have new or child-like eyes that are trying to process something that, on a normal day, I would walk by without a glance. Let me paint the picture for you…

smartcar1Everyday I go to work, I park in the same garage. I can admit, I’m not the most fond of the parking attendant and it often drives me nuts when I’m unable to find a space and then forced to leave my key with him. Well this particular day, I found a space albeit a bit further away than I’d like. As I’m walking to the door, I see what I thought was a space right outside of the doorway but as I got closer I realized that someone parked their “toy car” in the spot… okay, okay it was a smart car or something! Very miniature!!! And the first thing I’m thinking is, “they don’t even need that big ‘ole GOOD parking space!!!!” I was so annoyed for no other reason than I wanted to just push it out the way with my big ‘ole “normal” size car! I know it’s petty but that’s just how I was feeling that day.

Little did I know, God had a lesson in all of that. Here’s the picture he painted… Continue reading “PARK IT!” →

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Drop Your Anchor

It’s been a minute my friends! I know some of you may have thought I had thrown in the towel. Nope! I just had to regroup. The last few weeks of 2014 were chaotic. Not so much in my personal life but in the world that I woke up to everyday. My mind just couldn’t settle on one thing. I was angry about the injustices and feeling helpless in it all. I was disappointed in the faith community that I hold in high regard and want to see as leaders beyond the pulpit. I was distracted by my disappointments of not meeting certain personal goals. On top of that I had worries about family and trying to close out the year with a bang while still planning for the new one staring me in the face. I had so much to talk about and absolutely no idea what to say. I know that sounds weird but one thing that you will always get when you read my blog is transparency. The last few Tuesdays of 2014 I felt pressure to keep up with my perfect record of never missing a week. I felt the need to just write something but when I settled myself, I realized that I needed a break. I needed to clear my head, regroup, refocus and just take a breath. This blog has never been stressful before and I was determined not to let it become that way so I stepped away for a bit BUT here I am, back at it for the first Tuesday of 2015 and it’s GO TIME!!

anchorSo many people inspired this post today. I truly could write about a multitude of topics but today it’s all about “commitment.” I’m not even talking about New Year’s Resolutions. Never been interested in those. I’m talking about those things that God placed in your heart years ago. There are dreams and visions that we have carried around for years and have either never put our all into making them our reality or have never even attempted because of fear and excuses. I imagine a lot of us look like wandering ships sailing across waters too afraid to drop our anchors. The purpose of an anchor is to hold a ship in its set place. Even when the engine is not in use, without an anchor, the ship can be moved from its set place by the motion of the water. The only real security that ship has from not getting off course while it’s not in motion is its anchor. The anchor represents commitment. Where is your anchor this year? Continue reading “Drop Your Anchor” →

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Make ‘Em A Believer

I could moan and groan over the fact I spent an hour drafting a blog that never officially saved and at the moment I was about to post it my computer froze and I lost everything…

…OR I could decide to skip this week and chalk it up to it being a bad day.

…OR I could just repost an old blog and make up some deep meaning behind why I’m recycling a previous post for today. (Not that I haven’t done it before. It’s just that it was for a specific purpose. The only purpose for me doing that today would be done with the frustration of having my thought perfectly aligned and ready to go only to have it disappear in an instant.)

… OR I be determined not to be distracted by taking my focus off what’s important and dwelling on what’s least important …my emotions!

stick to itLife is always about perspective. My original writing for today was all about staying focused and not allowing yourself to get off track by circumstances or people. Well, here was a true test of my faith. I choose to be a living example of what I originally wrote in my lost draft. Here’s the thing I’m learning, our behavior is not for God. God is less concerned with our actions than he is with our heart. How we live is important to drawing others closer to God. Men and women can’t see our heart, only God can do that. So people only know what we believe and what we are about by our actions. Start acting like what you say you believe.

Over the past few weeks, Nehemiah 6 has been a reoccurring theme during my study time. Nehemiah was focused on completing the plan that God designed just for him. While he worked, other men got wind of what he was doing and summoned him to meet with them. He repeatedly turned down their requests to meet for the sake of staying on track with the work he was doing unto God. Frustrated at being rejected, the men shared with him the rumors circling about what he was doing and why he was doing it. They were all lies made up by people who had no understanding of what God had promised him. Instead of letting them be a distraction and trying to defend his name and his mission, Nehemiah never left the wall and was even more determined to finish what he started because of their ill intentions. Continue reading “Make ‘Em A Believer” →

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Real Comfort Food

sunset-straight-road-1920x1080In the perfect world, I would get up every morning excited about the day that lies ahead, especially on Tuesday when it’s time to release my blog post. The truth is, although I’m grateful for every day that God blesses me with, I’m not always all that thrilled about what the day brings. For the past few weeks, I’ve had quite a few down moments. Moments when I wish I was under an invisible cloak so that I wouldn’t have to deal with anyone or anything until I could get it together. Of course, that wish never came true and when I thought I was about to completely lose it, I retreated to the Word. It’s a shame to admit that much of what I was going through was because I was focusing on all the things that were not going in my favor. Instead of praying, I was worrying… and worrying a lot. Eventually I stilled my mind long enough to disappear into the pages that redefine the meaning of comfort food. Continue reading “Real Comfort Food” →

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The Voice

Everyone says when you hear God’s voice move in the way that he instructs you to move. No hesitation. No second opinions. Just go! That sounds good in theory but lets take in to account someone who has been unsuccessful at shutting down all the other clutter that fills their thoughts. What’s the secret to extracting His voice from all other voices that fill your head with things contrary to what you believe He is telling you to do. Not all things contrary have to be bad. They can just be logical, safe, or comfortable. In other words, if you chose to follow the contrary, you wouldn’t necessarily be doing yourself or anyone else any harm… or would you? Continue reading “The Voice” →

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Perfect Timing

So the last time I was here, I wrote about my drive home and how God spoke to me about being prime real estate. It was just another example of how he was using my love for shopping as a teaching tool. Well on that same ride home, He spoke again a few moments later. I guess you could say it was a lively conversation that day. I couldn’t figure a way to tie it all together so I decided to save it for the next week. Sadly, it turned into a month later but I believe the message is timeless and ironically something I needed to read for myself today! Continue reading “Perfect Timing” →

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