Before There Was A White House

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” 

-Jeremiah 29:11

The days we are living in are the type of times where we can easily allow ourselves to be so consumed by things that we have no control over, that we neglect what we do have control over.

So tonight, I am interrupting my scheduled post to sincerely check in with you and ask each of you,

Continue reading

Release It!

Regret is looking for you. It wants to suck the life out of your hopes, gimg_6617oals, and dreams for 2018. It wants to remind you of all of the things you set out to do this time last year, but you did not accomplish in 2017. It wants to prove to you that you are not enough, and it wants to convince you that there is no use in even trying because you will end up with the same results.

What I want you to know is that regret is a LIAR. You are enough,  you don’t have to stay chained to  the should-haves, could-haves, and would-haves of your life. Your freedom has already been divinely purchased, and it is God’s will that you walk in your freedom, be released from guilt, shame, and defeat and begin to move forward. Continue reading

Where I Live – #30Layers30Days + #BlogLikeCrazy

Growing up it bothered me when I’d hear people say, “I stay there,” in reference to their home, opposed to saying, “I LIVE there.” I would often correct my friends,  “Don’t you mean live there?”   Most people use those two, live and stay, synonymously in this context.  Yet, to me there is a significant difference between the two.  Continue reading

“Over Too Soon” #30Layers30Days + #BlogLikeCrazy

Had you caught me several years ago,  I would have had  no problem writing about some experience that I thought was “Over too Soon.”  I likely would have written about the unexpected death of my mother, how the loss of her tangible presence had devastated me, and how I was certain that at just 49 years old, and fairly healthy, she was gone “Too Soon.”  Or maybe I would have kept it light and discussed some pleasant vacation, event, or moment that I desperately did not want to come to an end. Those options would have worked perfectly then, but certainly not now.

Continue reading

Hope for the 4th Quarter

img_1074

Welcome to the 4th Quarter of 2017! I don’t know about you, but I have spent a good portion of this year being shocked by its pace. At the beginning of each month, I have found myself stating,Is it [insert month] already?!” Only to discover the same definitive answer each time,  “Yes it is“!   I can’t count the number of conversations I have had with loved ones, friends, coworkers, and others in passing,  who have not only confirmed by sentiments about the pace of this year, but who have also shared in my anxiety laced fear that,  THERE’S JUST NOT ENOUGH TIME!!!!!.

But, What if I told you that  there IS enough time?  Will you accept that? What if I told you that the culprit of your anxiety is something you and I have full control over?  Will you, for the sake of this discussion, entertain the notion that the deficit has not been in seconds, minutes, hours, and days, but instead, that the true deficit, has been in your FOCUS?  Does that encourage or discourage you? Continue reading