Want growth in Your Life? Appreciate the little things.

 

If you want to be bless with greater things in life, you must FIRST appreciate what you already have.

1. You want a new job but you're complaining about the job you already have. Or, you do the very minimum at work but you want a raise or promotion. Those type of efforts aren't efforts to get to the next level. #stagnation #WoeIsMeAttitude

2. You're tired if being broke but you either have no saving plans and/or you spend every dime of your paycheck unwisely and/or you won't pick up a 2nd job. #stagnation #livingpaychecktopaycheck

3.You want a new car but you don't even take care of the maintenance of your current car. or, you let junk build up inside your car. Let's practice sanitary please. #stagnation #onceahoopty #alwaysahoopty

4. You want a new home but you're not even taking care of the one you're currently in. Pick up after yourself. Don't let something be on the floor for over a day. Wipe down the coffee table. Sweep and mop. Make your bed. Wash your bedsheets. Clean the toilet. Don't clean your toilet and imagine all the germs in it. Feces!!! Feces carry toxic waste from your body. #stagnation #freshenyourhome #loveTheRoofOverYourHead

5. You want to be in a relationship but you complain about how the opposite sex isn't any good, you don't get out to mingle, or you're not trying to better yourself, like doing 1-4 that is mentioned above. #stagnation #complaining #workonyourself

I could go on and on. But the point is to learn to be appreciative of what you have and take small steps to get to the next level. If can't even make these small steps above, how can you really grow on bigger goals??? How can God even consider you for a bigger blessing when you're not grateful and taking care of the smaller blessings?
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Matthew 25:21 NIV

I share this by experience. I had to learn to be grateful and faithful for the little things in life. I had to learn not to complain but replace complaining with a praise. I wanted my own apartment so I had to take of the one I lived in prior to. I wanted a car but I had to be grateful I had two good strong legs and shoes on my feet. And not only God bless me with a car BUT a brand NEW car, no cosigner. Well, HE was the cosigner.

I'm not trying to save feels. Out of love, I'm trying to help your life. When advice is given, don't be too prideful to receive. And I don't mean to offend (or maybe offense is needed) but if you're offended and DON'T take the advice then PRIDE is swallowing you down and the word tells us pride comes before destruction.

Proverbs 16:18 NIV Pride goes before destruction, haughty spirit before a fall.

And for those who have also been broken, share an example and how God bless you. Unbelievers and Faith-Strugglers need proof/testimonies.

Benefits of God and HIs People

The benefits of having God in your life.
The benefits of having friends of God in your life.

This morning I woke up with a flat tire. I had recently purchased this tire Tuesday. And since then I had to keep putting air in it. I went to the tire shop where I purchased it from b/c they guarantee 1 year. They took the tire off and BOOM! There's a nail in it. This makes the 5th or 6th time in the year I have gotten a nail in my tires. I was so frustrated and upset because I truly believe my neighbors are doing it. I was texting my friend Angela​ how frustrated I was about this. But then immediately corrected myself and said that I need to stop complaining and thank God I have enough money to replace it.

--Benefit of God--
I told them to move forward with putting the tire on. When they finished, I stood up asking how much is it. The guy said, "Nothing. The boss said you're good." I paused and stared at the guy and said, "Seriously??"  He said yes. I thanked him but asked where was the boss.
I went to the boss and said, "Thank you."
He said, "You're welcome."
I said, "I'll be back."
Him: "I know you will."
Me: "I'll tell all my friends about you."

--Benefit of friend of God--
I got in the car and called my friend Angela. I told her how I believe if I never corrected myself and thanked God I don't think I would have received the blessing. She said, "Yeah, girl I wasn't worried about. I said, 'she'll be aight', said a prayer, and went back reading my bible." I laughed and said, "We were touching and agreeing and we ain't even know it." LOL


God is real. And His people are real, too. Try Him. Surround yourself with people of Him.

Below is the picture of my friend who prayed for me. I am so grateful to have her in my life. It's important to have friends but SO important to have friends of God.

(And excuse our pose. This was during my birthday weekend and she just HAD to be photogenic..lol.)

Last Girl Talk Sleepover of the School Year

Last night I attend the last Girl Talk sleepover of the year. One of the Board Members of Girl Talk was the Guest Speaker for then night. Her speech was sooooo inspirational. So powerful. It was about her growing up in the mountains as a poor little girl. She talked about how she made poor decisions and how she overcame those poor decisions.

As a little girl, she remembered looking in a Sears catalog and seeing women in there with pretty jewelry on. She would only see her teachers wear pretty jewelry like the women in the catalog. She made a statement to herself saying she wanted to be like those women with the pretty jewelry.

One important fact she hit on was about having an imagination and how important it was to have it. She always imagined herself as a teacher.

When she turned 18, she ran off and got married. She had 2 years of college and ended up having a baby and having no money to complete college. While she was working a man who own the place where she worked at told her she was smart and gave her more encouraging words. She knew she wanted to finished school. She worked, went to school, and raised her daughter. And she continued until she completed college.

She stressed on how important it was to imagine herself to what she wanted to be. Now she has her degree, her masters and 1 Dissertation away from completing her Doctorate degree.

She said she was 75 years. She did not look a BIT of 75 and she said the reason why is because she hangs around young people. :) She hangs around young people to continue to learn and be ambitious. She texts her grandchildren, uses Facebook, and etc.

She concluded about start imaging what we want to be and then set goals for it.

I have taking the speech and have implanted it in my heart. I have some imagining to do and will began do the necessary steps to get to what I have imagined myself to be.

Asking God for something and accepting it when if comes...

I asked God for something and He answered. But let me be honest. I was hurt from the answer. For a split second, I didn't want to receive the answer. I wanted to go back and change things. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to be angry at the way I received the answer.

But because I have grown spiritually in wisdom, deep down I knew the answer was best. The things is, you have a choice. A choice to be hurt by God or...be hurt by your own doings.

I was angry because I was hurt. The answer came dramatically and in two directions. I received the answer one and then immediately another way. It was like someone kicked me on one side and slapped me from another. I felt hurt and humiliated and a shame to share with anyone what was going on. (I opened up to my close friend eventually.)

Because of the wisdom God has developed in me, I knew and trusted that God had greater. Had I not accepted the answer I knew I would have faced several consequences.

One. The physical being in me wanted to go and change things. But if I had went back and made things stay the same, I would be missing out on the blessing God is preparing for me. Move the old out for the new. Also, what if I would have change it back? My feelings would have probably been hurt even worse. Do we want to be hurt by God or by our own doings? Example. Our parents spanked us when we did something wrong. Now our feelings were hurt and we cried because the spanking hurt. But of course, our parents spank us for discipline, out of love, and learning/training. What if they didn't spank us though?

Another point is that if we try to go back or change things back, we've put our trust in our own selves and not Him. One word: FAILURE! We have put our selves before Him. (Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.)

I also thought about how the angriness transformed into motivating me to stay focus on the vision God has for me. If I had stayed in that position I truly believed I would have lost vision or gotten comfortable with my current living. If we pray to God to get us closer to our vision, He keeps us uncomfortable including changing our now-position.

There are other consequences. However, these two are what stood out to me the most. I'm sure those who mature or maturing in the faith can see more consequences. But I encourage those to trust God and His plans, even when it hurts or you don't understand. Do not act out on feelings but stand still until you hear Him give you directions.

Be encouraged!

Be Sensitive to Others...

We as people of God should be sensitive to others. Everyone has imperfections. Everyone has areas to grow in. Everyone will always have weaknesses. If you are able to identify someone else's weakness, help before you talk. It is our duty as servants of God to serve His people. Take the time to review over your own imperfections and areas to grow in. We could all use a little improvement. Intercede in prayer for one another. Be bless and encouraged Loves!

Wait patiently...

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

The Bible teaches us to ask and we shall receive as long as it is in the will of God (1 John 5:14). So before we asked God, we should ask ourselves "how will this benefit the Kingdom of God?" (Matthew 6:33) After we ask, we wait. How should we wait? Patiently. In this waiting period so many distractions can come that will make you lose hope and slowly start doubting, ultimately, not believing and trusting in God. This is a mixture of flesh, the world, and the prince of the world coming at you. This is when we start taking control of our own situations. But remember to not be anxious. Ask Him and give thanks to Him before the blessing comes and He will bring you peace about it. (Phil 6:4)

One of the toughest things to do is KEEP our mind focused on the promise and motivated. Our eyes is the gateway to our thoughts but we must remember to not get distracted by what we see. No matter how bad it looks, we must praise the Lord. (Habakkuk 3:17-19) Remember the vision/dream and keep our minds on excellence and praiseworthy. (Phil 4:8) And remember to walk in the Spirit, live by the Spirit, and think like the Spirit. Importantly, pray in the Spirit. And when you don't know what ask for remember Romans 8:26-27. The Holy Spirit will search your heart and intercedes for us.

I am currently waiting on some things to manifest in my life from God. To be transparent, I am constantly battling with my mind to not lose hope. So I constantly remind myself of things He has done before. What more can He do now? Very soon I will be sharing what the next promises in my life will be to you. Stay tune.....

Gonna catch hell. Point blank. (Referring to previous blog.)

Sitting in God's presence and I was told to go to John and read about how Jesus leaves us for a moment to go to the Father who is greater. But He promises us the Holy Spirit. These scripture then stood out to me.

John 14:29-31 NIV

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.

It always seems like Jesus has left us hanging. No. We have to learn, or not even learn but to just trust the Holy Spirit. We are of the world but not in it. Jesus does reveal Himself to the world. So we have trust the Holy Spirit when dealing with the prince of the world.

Okay, so we're gonna catch hell. Point blank. But we just gotta endure and trust the Holy Spirit.

I am done thinking...

Since I've been on this Christian journey, I have always known that if I do what can and gotta do God will meet me half way. And for the most part, it has happened. I am always going and going, making sure my house is in order, constantly thinking of ways to get and stay ahead, and thinking and thinking. Now every blessing that has come, I always say, "Thank You Lord" because I don't want HIs favor to turn from me. I'm scared to live life without Him.

Now yes, it's true, if you do your part, He'll meet you halfway. Or even past the halfway point. However, I have been thinking and thinking and doing things to stay ahead until I’ve been doing more thinking than praying. So you hear the saying "Give credit to where credit is due." How can I give God credit if the things that are happening now are because of me? Of course God understands that I’m still striving to live right according to His word. But I have started seeing hell after hell.

At this point I can’t distinguish if it’s storms that I’m supposed to go through, or if I’m doing something I’m not supposed to do. I’ve been asking questions now like "If God won’t put more on us than we can bear, then why I feel like I can’t bear?" Or questions like, "God, are You mad at me?"

So at first I’m thinking (see there I go thinking), I’m thinking "Well, maybe I need to go into overdrive and started working harder. But it seems the more I try to work harder, the more hell I catch. So at this point, I give up. I give up as far as trying to figure it out. And immediately, I realize I need to go into prayer. And not just say a prayer, but to dwell in a hiding place and go into worship and to be in His presence. I got to go into worship and praise and set the atmosphere because whatever you need, in that atmosphere, things can change for the better.

So the point is, I'm not necessarily going to stop thinking. But there has to be balance between thinking and prayer life. Once cannot out weigh the other but depends on each other

So now, let me go, turn my music on, and began to go in war zone in prayer.

The Single Life - Movies and the Thrift Store

Friday I took myself to the $2.50 movies. Yes, I took myself out on a date. As mentioned in an earlier blog, I decided to start doing a lifestyle change. My normal routine for over a year has been go to work and come home, go to church and come home, go to the grocery store and come home. Yet I complain about how I'm tired of being single and not having many friends. However, my money is tight, right? So everything I do has to be included in the budget. Yes, ballin' on a budget. So I'm starting off with the $2 movies. Yeah, I know, you can't meet people while at the movies but at least I'm out and doing something I will enjoy instead of sitting at home being bored and lonely.

So yeah, I watched the movie and there's a thrift store not too far from that always have nice items in it. I'm looking around and found a cute sweater and skirt. I went to the cashier to ask for a key to the dressing room. The guy was handsome, and Hershey chocolate skin tone with a white teeth, and beautiful smile. So I couldn't help but give him the best smile I had. (So I've been practicing my beautiful-girl look in the mirror lately and hoping it will work now...you are welcome to laugh.)

So I'm headed to the dressing room thinking about how handsome he was and if I should make a move. (I've been in this particular city for almost 2 years and have not been approached. So even though I've said to myself I'm letting a guy approach me, I', actually thinking about approaching this guy.) Tried on the sweater, cute. Skirt, too tight.

Headed to the register to buy the sweater. The only thought I had was "What I'm gonna do?" Get to the register and he's checking out someone. So I go look at the CD's nearby to build up some type of confidence. The store phone rings and he answers. He's naming things that sounded like toppings for a pizza. Some of his words aren't clear because I guess he's trying to talk low and not get noticed. I'm thinking, "Wooow..he has a nice voice!" Then at the end of the call, "Thanks, baby."

Me....everything stopped in my little world. (This is your opportunity to laugh at me because I sure in the heck did.) It was not funny but it was funny. Then I justified in my spirit that I didn't hear him clearly and that he could have said anything other than "Thanks, baby."

Yeah, so, I go to the register. He asked me if everything was alright. I smiled making sure my dimples were showing because I have been practicing this smile in the mirror, I opened my eyes wider because I feel like they give more expression when wider and I say, "Yes."

Now I'm thinking, "That's it? That's all I'm gonna say? How old am I? 16? 'Cause I'm acting like one." He bags me up and I walk out the store.

As I'm walking to the car, I call my god sis. I tell her I wanna give this guy my number. So I'm sitting in the car for 5 minutes and we're going back and forth about whether I should do this or not. Really, it's me talking to her debating if I should do this.

So one of my Christian male friends pulls up out of nowhere! I immediately thought, "LET ME ASK HIM! A CHRISTIAN MAN WILL NEVER LEAD YOU WRONG!" I tell him the situation, I tell him I feel awkward even going through this, and him and his sisters give me a few pointers along with confidence to approach him.

I finally came up with thought to ask him first if he's involved. NOTE: One thing about most guys is that they will not tell you they're involved if you don't ask!!!

Y'all, I went back into the store, walked to the counter, and said with my dimple-smile, "Excuse me, are you involved?" He smiles and he says, "Uhhhhhh..." and immediately I say, "Yup! You're involved because you wouldn't take too long to answer." He took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I am." I said okay and walked off.

I got back in my car and started laughing at myself because I know this is going to be one heck of a  single life adventure and I know importantly that I am going to have to wait on God.

But in the mean time, I'm blogging about my single life to give you and me a good laugh. Peace and blessings :)

Psalm 27:13-14

I remain confident in of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.