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Showing posts from 2015

Happy Kwanzaa - Nia - Purpose

Purpose – Nia – To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. Today’s Kwanzaa reflection is fitting for this time of the year. With one day left in 2015, many are thinking and planning their next move going into 2016. Purpose. Are you living in the purpose and vision that God has given you? Are you currently in a place of employment where you no longer belong? Have you achieved your goals in any way? These are very important questions to ask yourself. Many are content and more complacent in their living, not listening or understanding the call of God to do more, to do His will, to come out of a land that He has said is dry and barren. Fear of the unknown will paralyze, but faith and assurance will drive you to the next level. Today is December 30, 2015. Will you remain focused on that which no longer serves you, or will you focus on God’s voice and rise up to the occasion of doin

Happy Kwanzaa - Ujamaa - Cooperative Economics

Cooperative Economics – Ujamaa – To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together. Statistics are showing that the black owned business is far, few and in between.  Many businesses have closed their doors due to the lack of support from their communities. Dreams deferred but surely not denied. You can walk around the neighborhood and see the success of the corner stores owned by families that have put their minds, money and physical abilities together. I have heard the conversations such as, why are those people coming over here and opening businesses? Those people? Before I educated myself on the dynamics, I too use to say those very same words. Those people are our Asian, Indian, Ethiopian and Sudanese brothers and sisters. Those people, are families who have banded together to create. They have stepped out of the box of just dreaming and talking, they are doing. Even if they did it and it failed, they did it and most likely w

Happy Kwanzaa - Ujima -Collective Work & Responsibility

UJIMA– Collective Work & Responsibility. To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers and sisters problems our problems and solve them. When I was growing up, all neighbors had a say in my well-being. If I got caught doing something I had no business, or was in a place I shouldn’t have been trust me, I got got. LOL. Then I was marched home if the offense was bad enough, and you know what that meant right? Yep! I got got again. This does not happen much today. As a child in the late 60’s and early 70’s, because of the relationship my parents built in the community, I was given notes to take to the corner store and whatever was on that note, I was given to take to my mother. One of the big stores was Safeway and the manager’s name was, Mr. Black. I remember because this was part of my upbringing and it taught me about relationship and trust. I watched my mother as she talked with those store managers and built relationships. My mother was trusted based o

Happy Kwanzaa - Kujichagulia - Self-Determination

Self-Determination – Kujichagulia – To define ourselves, name ourselves, to create ourselves, and speak for ourselves. Today’s reflection for Kwanzaa is, Self-Determination, in Swahili it is called Kujichagulia. Self determination to me is just like empowering self. Many wait on someone or something to get them in motion. Many wait for a word from someone, or wait on a devastating event to push them to do something they should have been doing all along. This type of mindset is stagnating and debilitating. Yes, there are countless ways to get motivation, but the best way to rise up is to be determined. We must continuously evaluate, remind, and speak into ourselves. We must pray for godly wisdom and direction. We must be humble enough to understand what God is saying to us, and to do what He has asked us to do. God has already ordered out steps. We must know where we are and know exactly where we desire to go. We must shed the weight of waiting. We must stop talking ourselves

Happy Kwanzaa - Umoja - Unity

Unity – Umoja – To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race. Today is the first day of Kwanzaa. Many around the African American community are celebrating this beautiful time of reflection, preparing to get centered, and grounded in the principles that has created a living foundation of life and love. Today is a day of Unity in the English language, Umoja in the Swahili language. Merriam Webster defines unity as:  A quality or state of not being multiple: oneness. A condition of harmony: accord. A totality of related parts: an entity that is a complex or systematic whole. Unity. What is it? Looking back over the past 11 months of 2015, do we see unity? Can we look back even further and see this thing called unity? Do we see unity with the multiple killings of men, women, and children? Do we see unity when it appears that division is more powerful? Unity, how can we hold tight to this principle and really live it? Though many devastating eve

Running Won't Bless You

None of us are exempt from the consequences God will place before us for the disobedience we as His children walk in. For every action there is a consequence. We may suffer immediately or it may take years, but it will come back to us. We all have choices, but God desires that we seek Him fully and completely. As we give our lives to God, we have a daily chore to walk right, talk right, and think right. We are to do good things and point others to Him. How are we to do so good in a world full of hate and anger? Though we will find our fleshly selves getting involved in things that do not concern us out of passion, anger or even love, how do we discern what steps to take or not? Prayerfully and on purpose.   I have attended church, Sunday school, bible study, and many other events geared towards the edification of Christ like living.  I have spoken before woman, sharing what thus says the Lord. As of late, I have not been in fellowship as in going to church. I have been a member

Embracing

For many years I have dreaded this time of the year. Christmas. Since 1979, December has been one of the most depressing months of all. December is the month in which my mother was called home. The month where all of my dreams were shattered. How can a 16 year old girl within 2 months of delivery of her own child grasp the magnitude of such a horrific crushing of the soul? The month I wanted to sleep away like a bear who makes its way into a cave for that great hibernation. No, I did not leap with joy for the Christmas season to begin, it was a month that I desired desperately to escape without notice. After much prayer and many tears, I have long since come out on the other side of that dread. I have long since learned to embrace this time as with all time, for no day is promised us. Though my flesh and selfish nature would rather have my mother here with me regardless of her state of being, I am thankful to know where she is and that I will one day see her again. On that glori

Spectators Never Win

1 Corinthians 9:24-26 in the NLT Paul tells us, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing”. I am reminded with every breath, the race I am running. I know that God has given me the vision and because He alone is omnipotent, having unlimited power, I have won, I just have to run. I may stumble and fall, I may get scratched up and bruised, but run I must.   An athlete does not go into a race with doubt and fear. They are not concerned with who is cheering them on. A runner cannot focus on the runner next to them thought they are aware that they are there. A runner is focused on the run, the finish line, and the score board that tells them if they have beaten a previous record for the win.   Being a runner on the track is the same as

In The Silence

    In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest for truth. –Mahatma Gandhi Silence to the mind is just as important as sleep is to the body. There are at least 3 stages of sleep. Stage 1, is that state of drowsiness. Stage 2, is where you are close to a state of relaxation, and stage 3, is where your body has totally relaxed and is now in rejuvenation mode. Silence can affect our bodies in the same fashion. Being in silence opens up the way for clarity and peace. My internal clock dings way before the crack of dawn and I love the early morning hours. This is where I find my clarity. I appreciate the world outside stopping, the chatter ceasing, and most of all, I appreciate being able to hear clearly what my soul has to say, and to hear clearly what my heavenly Father has to say. It is in the silence that I reign in my thoughts and appr

Your Destiny Awaits

The past 6 months have been absolutely aggravating. I suffer from Cervical Spinal Stenosis and let me tell you, when things flare up in the physically body, it is like the 4 th of July in the sky. Though I have been walking with this for a few years, the last few months have been different with new symptoms and increased pain. Not good. This past Monday and Tuesday it felt like every bone in my body, eye balls and fingernails hurt and I wanted to crawl under any rock that could cover me completely. Instead I got my Bible and daily devotional and started in with prayer and praise.   Just know, God will use any situation to get your attention and my attention He did receive.      I have two mandates on my life and I am very clear on what they are. My mistake has been desiring support from those who have no capacity. I have reached out to many with no reply and if I did receive a reply, it was a negative one.   I encounter more negative people than I do the positive. I hear the wor

Everlasting Peace

    I make a conscious effort in finding and keeping peace within my spirit and around me. I can feel negative spirits fast and let me tell you, I try to avoid it at all cost. With everything that can and will take place in a day, it is easy to get angry, frustrated, speak ill will, and even want to physically harm someone. Go ahead and be honest. I know I am guilty. I can go back to childhood and fast forward to today, and see many areas where there was no peace. In doing so, I am reminded of all of the many, many blessings that God has placed in my life, and for those blessings, I am forever grateful. In John 14:27 NLT, Jesus says this, I am leaving you a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. I spent many years self-medicating with alcohol and other substances. I had come to many close calls of my life being a vapor, either by my own choice or by getting to close to someone who meant me no good. I tried to fit into o

Be Not Moved

Today, the world is experiencing another tragedy. Paris, France was shaken by multiple bombings with the killing of over 100 people. This latest event marks the worst this country has experienced in decades. Is it the last? No. Can Paris recover? Yes, and recover they will. Nowhere in God’s word does it tell us that we won’t face persecution, but to the contrary, it tells us that we will. The persecution that has taken place not only in Paris, but in the United States, Africa, in Europe just to name a few, should not be looked at as some fly by night event. No, we should be reminded that evil is everywhere and death follows evil. We must remember that our will and resolve will continuously be tested, and in that testing, our faith will be shaken. A test of wills, a test of the fight to stand naked amongst those whose soul desire is to annihilate and destroy the peace and freedom that so many of us have taken for granted. For those of us who read and study God’s word, this sad e

Catch Your Wind

The wind is a mysterious force, a stirring of the air by nature. When the winds blow nothing can remain still. Today I am reminded that the dreams and visions God gives to us are of no surprise. Every goal, every step towards that goal was spoken into existence long before we were birthed.   Our goals have life because God has blown the wind of creativity from His heart into ours for such a time as right now.    For the past month, I have been in a major slump, physically and emotionally. I have not been able to focus on anything that God has set in place for me to do. The Holy Spirit speaks to me, ushering me to move, to take action, but I feel blocked by the sudden winds of life. Blocked due to brokenness and dread. Blocked due to fear and uncertainty. Blocked by my own thoughts and even the lack of thought. What I do know is that God did not give me a spirit of fear and for that reason alone, I must get up and show up.   As hard as it has been, I dredge along, taking small s

A Mothers Fear

September 24, 2015 started out like the previous days. Got up, said my prayers, and started my day.   I sat at my desk and wrote in my prayer journal as I do every day.   The email notification read emergency call. I read the email. My heart leaped just a little. The email read, emergency phone call from your son Sean please call right away. My heart raced. Immediately I took my break and made the call. Oh hell is all I could say, when I heard the words from my son that my youngest son Marcus was in an accident. I stopped breathing and my son must have known it, he said mom breath, he is alright. In my head, I knew he was only saying that so I would not freak out. I gathered my things and jetted out. 15 miles away by freeway, I hit the exit and connected with the middle lane and drove as if there were blinking lights and sirens on my car and a loud speaker announcing, GET OUT OF THE WAY. While driving all I could say is, Jesus you got this. Jesus you got this. I arrived at t

You Are Your Choices - Choose Wisely

  For the past few months I have not been myself. This is not a bad thing for I see that God is doing a mighty work in me. Things that used to bother me no longer matter. Things that I thought to be important feel like a waste of time. I find myself totally content with my life instead of being aggravated by life. Does this mean that I am happy? No. It means that I am aware that each day I must make the choice to keep moving towards the goal. I must keep rising and pressing towards the goal. I am finding my focus and learning to be more specific about my choices. I have learned that not everything or everyone for that matter needs my attention. Martha was wound up. I am sure she wanted to snatch her sister Mary up by the collar. Jesus and his disciples stopped by for a visit and she was busy in the kitchen preparing a meal, a meal she no doubt made the choice to make. She was not happy at all because Mary was not helping her prepare this meal. Mary made the choice to sit at the

Meet Vanessa Davis Griggs

Welcome to September's author of the month, Vanessa Davis Griggs. I read, Redeeming Waters and let me say, the book was a blessing to me in so many ways. The one thing that spoke was the significance of water. Water is a powerful force and when acknowledged, can bring great peace and clarity. At the end of her book I came away with a powerful message. I am not going to hold you. Meet Vanessa Davis Griggs. Bio: Vanessa Davis Griggs is a motivational speaker and author of 18 novels, two that were published by BET BOOKS/New Spirit ( Promises Beyond Jordan and Wings of Grace ) now e-books; twelve published by Kensington/Dafina ( Blessed Trinity, Strongholds, If Memory Serves, Practicing What You Preach, Goodness and Mercy, The Truth Is the Light, The Other Side of Goodness, The Other Side of Dare, The Other Side of Divine, Ray of Hope, Redeeming Waters, Forever Soul Ties ); the others self-published and/e-book only ( Destiny Unlimited, The Rose of Jericho, Promises Beyond Jord