God Give Me Strength

“God give me strength” do you know that in just those four words there is power?  how many times have you been in position or better yet trying to meet a deadline but just did not have the physical strength to push through? Daily we are faced with challenges and experiences that require us to give more of ourselves, like being a parent, running a business, and even the simple but meaningful things like building relationships, and learning how to communicate. Many times, we are defeated physically but how often do we tap into our spiritual strength?  some may say not often, and others may say how do I tap into my spiritual strength. It takes a trusting heart to surrender and ask God to help us in our time of need and expecting it to already be done. Words have power that can either help us or hinder us it is all in how we use them.  The problem that most of face is in thinking that we are alone, the lie that we tell ourselves that we have to fix it all, and our constant desire and need to be in control. To not be in control is to be submissive to God’s will and order of operation working and waiting patiently.  How do you work and wait? by continuing to show up with the right attitude and having the spirit of expectancy and gratitude in advance for what is to come.

We all go through different phases and struggles in our lives with some of the same thoughts or bad habits, so much that we forget to pay attention to the details and be present with self to know what season we are in. Being in tune with ourselves puts us In space of preparation, we are better equipped to go through each season or transition in our lives. The last two weeks I have been experiencing   a shift occurring on the inside and I felt it but what I proceeded to do was I tried to be in control and as a result I became physically ill. The lessons I had to relearn again in that moment is that there is a time, a place, and a season for everything, this is my resting season, but I was busy working and striving to be in position. I had to be reminded through the Word that rest is important is important and that not only is it important to be in position physically it is most important to be in position spiritually to receive what is in store for us. Restoration is key especially when you are in the business of serving others, the thing to always remember that we are no good to others if we are not good to ourselves. You cannot give what you do not have and the little that you do have you cannot afford to give. Being mindful of who we are being and what season we are in is important, just like our cars needs service and maintenance to continue to run so do we. It is always important to know the difference between when you need rest and when you need to call on God for the strength to get through our day.

We all have responsibilities in our lives personally and we have responsibilities as children of God. As we go through our daily experiences there are three very important steps to practice daily. The first step is praying making time to restore your energy through the day. The second step is having faith, to trust and believe that we have what it takes and knowing that we even more effective when we allow God to be in control and first in our lives. The last but not the least step is doing the work faith and prayer without work is dead, so after we have prayed and trusting God to have his way we have to keep working patiently. Life is simple but filled with a lot of unexpected changes that teaches us flexibility and understanding. It is okay to ask for help and it is also very important that we know how to use our mouth and words to speak life and victory, to surrender and ask God for help. God helps who helps themselves if you spend more time trying to be right, in control, or prideful you are only putting yourself at a disadvantage. We are stronger, wiser, and even greater when we are not afraid to be transparent and free, what people say or think about you does not matter. The most important thing is what God’s says about us and what you believe you are worth. Remember do all things in moderation and trust the timing and process of your life. God provides, restore, and strengthens us when we have been weekend all we have to do is ask.

“I Love You Lord;
You Are My Strength.

Psalms 18:1 ”

The Power In Just Being You

Have you ever reflected on how you were as a child? As kids we were fearless about life, of course some of us may have been afraid of being alone,  being in the dark, maybe even scary movies scared us but not life or any of the simple things that we grow to become afraid of. It dawned on me as I sat in church on Sunday and I watched the children choir on stage perform before the whole adult church as fearless as can be not the least bit concerned with if we would love their performance or hate it. I watched them being unafraid to open their mouth and sing for a church filled with people. what I witnessed was how comfortable they were effortlessly they remained themselves. By them just being who they are added such a special light to their performance I did not just enjoy the performance just because they were kids I enjoyed their fearlessness and freedom to just be.

In that moment it brought me back to me as a child, growing up I was an all-around kid to say the least. Track and Field was my first love which I was the captain of my track team, then came music I was a part of dance class and singing, then came writing I was always excited when told to use my imagination to create a story and was never afraid to share.  I can still clearly remember this one particular event back when I lived in Jamaica where my mother, my aunt and I were walking one Sunday evening.  there was this big plaza around the corner that night they were having a karaoke singing contest I had to be at least 5 or 6 and, I remember walking up to the man with the microphone and asking him "can I go next and sing”. I remember him saying can you sing what do you want are you going to sing?  as he smiled, never the less he gave me the opportunity to sing before the crowd. whether or not they were going love it because I was a kid or they would genuinely enjoy it or hate didn’t stop me from going up there and doing what I really loved to do, what they thought about me did not matter.

“Your Super Power Lies In Your Ability To Be True To Who You Are .
-Shanett Mcneill ”

which brings me to this point what if for every moment in our adult life we took on being just like the kid we all use to be. Just being fearless, being confident, and not letting others opinion limit us from being or doing what we love. Not being afraid to dance when there is no physical music playing but the joy in your heart, not being afraid to smile even when our life is upside down for that moment. not being afraid to ask and expect to get it and no matter how many times we hear no to keep asking until that no is a yes. I took a moment to visualize what my life would look like if I acted with courage and confidence just like that 5-year-old girl inside the vision was beautiful. We were all once so full of life and care free as kids not because we didn't have responsibilities but in our innocents, we never knew what it meant to take things personal. It is as adults we grow into our own emotions and become fearful, worry some and  caring too much what others have to say. Starting today I challenge us  all to be free, be unapologetically happy, unapologetically you, like nothing else matters.

Forgive It Is Not About You

The definition of forgiveness states that it is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense, let’s go of negative emotions such as vengefulness, with an increased ability to wish the offender well. Do you believe it is easier to forgive or not to forgive? Forgiving is an action that can be a challenge for the best of us, but learning how to choose to forgive others is beneficial to our peace of mind and a valuable characteristic to master. It takes a lot of practice, praying, and patience daily for us get to a place in our life to be able to do so, the level of hurt or the intensity of the act can have a negative effect on the process of forgiving each other. It can be twice as difficult to forgive a person depending on the level of significance or role this individual plays in your life. The hurt we experience can be from having an absent parent, failed relationships, family disputes, friendship wars etc.  For me it was my father from my pre-teens up to the age of twenty-one I was unable to forgive my father for his absence in my life. In my mind there was no explanation in the world that would change my mind on why I was angry and why he was not worthy of my forgiveness.

I quickly learned that the truth was choosing not to forgive him was hurting me more than it was hurting him, and if I continued to hold on it was going to only get worse for me. I create my own stories and belief system where I believed and continued to remind myself daily that he did not care about me and that the strain in our relationship did not affect him. The truth was all I had was assumptions and stories I allowed myself to create around his absence, I was stuck living in the past wishing for things that were already gone. I spent a lot of teenage years replaying the last day I remembered seeing my dad before he got sent away. The moment I began to do the work and reclaimed my time to begin  my healing process I quickly was present to the fact that the cost of not forgiving was too high I was punishing myself  with my own selfish thoughts years I  began to take responsibility for something that I had no control of . It is so easy for us to take the blame of someone's actions as if it is a reflection of something we did. "IF YOU KNEW BETTER YOU WOULD DO BETTER “literally, after plenty of time praying and soul searching, taking steps to heal and grow I began to understand why it is said that  Prayer brings forth revelation, it also helps you find compassion for that very same person that did you wrong. It is our job to invest time to look deeper than what you see beyond just that action that was done we would develop a greater understanding for that person.

In conclusion we must always be mindful of who are being and our selfish ways of thinking. It is important that we allow ourselves to get to know who a person is get to know their story. The moment we begin to connect to a person’s story and not what we have seen is when we will begin to change our perspectives and attitude. Life is not always about us the things we experienced is attached to God’s plans for our lives simply for us to learn what our purpose is and activate them knowing that we are in demand. The one thing to always keep in mind is that a person actions has nothing to do with us and who we are but everything to do with them. Once I was able to get complete with who my father was and what his past was like I understood that he did not even have the proper tools to be the father I needed him to be he was being a father the best way he knew how to be. I am now and will forever be grateful for him because even in his absence he was able to teach me a lot. The next time we are in a position to choose to forgive or to not forgive ask yourself “is the cost of not forgiving more rewarding than to just pray and let go"? with gratitude. Forgiving someone for all that they do to you does not make you a weak person, it just means your strong enough to love again. Who are we not to forgive, every day we are not always taking the right steps, but God loves us just the same?  love on those who hurt you they need You.

“When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God’s light shines upon you.
― Jon Krakauer,”

Work Through Distractions

“Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.

- John Wooden”

Distraction: a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something or extreme agitation of the mind or emotions. Have you ever noticed that when you are just taking each day as they come not being focused, in action or focused on your goals, steady in cruise control there is less challenge? Everything seems to just be going right in our favor or so we think, but the moment we finally take a moment to focus and set some goals with great intentions, once we put them out into the universe things begin to happen. It seems like everything is working against us, the feelings of anxiety, irritation, frustration takes over and our goals and plans go right out the window. We then give power to that thing and we put off our dreams for the next day, and the next day, and the cycle goes on. The reason why is we tend to be a little closed minded to the fact that everyday there is going to be stuff life happens daily to test us, we must understand that life does not happen to us it happens for us. It is a lot easier to just give in and keep putting things off that are important to us but note to self that when we do that we are only hurting our future self because time waits on no one.



I know for me there was a time and even sometimes now not as often as before, I have moments where I have my goals set out for the week from the time I wake up throughout the whole day. The moment something happens to disrupt my schedule I would instantly be over that day. I had to really sit myself down have a conversation with myself basically a reign check on the things that I say I want and what they mean to me. The second thing I did I started to look for books that were based on where I was in my life the things I was feeling, and practice taking on the things that I read. I also started working on my spiritual life making more time for prayer and devotion, understanding that without God present nothing works. I have learned that personal development, investing time working on myself is one of the biggest challenge I have taken on. However, it is one of the most valuable challenges and most beneficial, it takes discipline and hard work. If it was easy everyone would be doing it and there is no need to beat ourselves up we all make mistakes they do not have to define us, they don’t have to take over our life and every thought.

Recognizing the areas of struggle is an act in growing and getting better at being the best version of ourselves. It is about being able to remain focus even through distractions and adversity they are needed to test and build our strength. A jeweler cannot make a diamond without applying pressure, we are all diamonds in a rough just must apply pressure to shine we have keep moving no matter what. Majority of the time the things that distract us are what is dear to us like family, spouse, kids, parents. They are also a lot of our why’s in life so we must keep moving forward, majority of the time we are our own distractions our thoughts, our feelings stand in the way of putting on our big girl and boy hats on and get the job done. The great thing about the universe is once you put it out there once you ask for what you want you are now responsible for how to accomplish it. Excuses and complaining will not get us any step closer to our dreams they only take us closer to regrets and frustration. Pray, plan and take immediate action no matter what happens receive them collect the stories, they will be valuable in the end to share with others how you made it here.

Embrace The Seasons

In life we must understand that everyone in our life has a specific role that they play. You will have some that will test you, some may use you, some will love you, some will teach life long lessons . The important thing is learning how to pay attention to the people that brings out the best in you, they are very rare but amazing people who remind you how much we need each other .A lot of the times this is hard for most people to accept especially when you grow to love someone we get comfortable and entitled to their existence . This can be present weather in our friendships or with a significant other we never just want to let them go no matter how necessary it is. God has designed our life in such a unique way that he never needs our permission he decides for us when they go and when they stay. in every relationship especially in toxic relationships he is constantly showing us signs that we chose to ignore based on the story we have already written. In our mind we already have our future planned and it involves this friend or this significant other so there is no other option but hold on and continue to force things to work according to our plans.. In the midst of being stubborn God will allow us to go through somethings in these relationships not to harm us but to teach us valuable life lessons. you see everyone will not make it on your journey but the lessons we learn will last a life time.

Once upon a time not that long ago understand that there is a season for everything and every one was a struggle for me.I never had a lot of friends growing up but the few that I had I loved and treated them as family. My thought process led me to experiences that has hurt me but it also taught a lot of things about myself and how to accept people for who they are and not settle for the things i did not like. I learned that there will be times when you are only valuable to others because of what you can do and who you are to them, meaning that there is no special meaning of your existence in their life because the moment that they come across someone else that can do more or better you are no longer needed. In Addition, you also have the relationships that will really test you, takes you to new emotional levels that you never knew you could go to. The beauty about learning these lessons is to understand that this too is all just a part of the process of life . Our job is to not get so caught up or tight about the hurt and the disappointments from previous relationships it is our job to allow ourselves to feel and then take action to heal and move forward with the lessons learned.. We cannot allow ourselves to become so cold and blind that we miss out on those rare diamonds that are placed in your life for a greater purpose.

“Every season is one of becoming, but not always one of blooming. Be gracious with your ever-evolving self.
— B. Oakman
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