From the Abundance

Photo by  Dariusz Sankowski  on  Unsplash I took a very unintentional hiatus from blogging over the past few months and tonight  friend reminded me that I needed to get back to it.  So here I am!  I have so much to say but I often find it difficult to express or struggle with just putting things out there.  This post will be the first of several.  There are lots of things on my heart and mind so it's time I get back to sharing. John 4:24 NLT says, For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. In order for us to render proper worship unto God we have to walk in our truth, no matter what that is.  When we refuse to or don't acknowledge parts of our truth it can hinder our worship.  Honestly, our truth isn't always pretty, it isn't always what's expected or considered "proper", but it is what it is.  So here are a few of mine... Even though I live a life poured out, I often don't feel ful...

One of the many things I've learned over the past few years is that just because there's a scab on something, doesn't mean it's healed.  When I had my first spider bite it was pretty nasty. The hole in my leg was so deep I could stick my finger in it.  After it was cut open and packed it began healing from the inside and the outside at the same time.  A layer of skin grew over and closed the hole in my leg but it still wasn't healed on the inside.  I had to go pull that layer of dead skin off and leave the hole exposed so that the wound could heal from the inside out.. Each day I had to clean the wound out and apply Neosporin... I had to expose it, clean it, oil it... expose it, clean it, oil it... expose it clean it oil it... every day for several weeks. I don't know if anybody else has been on God's operating table for open heart surgery but I just found out I was on the table in the middle of a marathon surgery.  When God began to show me the con...

It's taken me a while to get to the place where I could write this blog.  I've been struggling with writing for the past few weeks and hadn't really realized why.  Tonight all of that changed.  I needed some couch time, for those who don't know me couch time is when my friends and I play therapist for one another.  I'm fortunate that most of my close friends are actually social workers, therapists or ministers/Pastors.  So I was talking to one of my friends an explaining to her all the things that had been going on in my head, the things God had been showing me about myself and how I'd just been a bit overwhelmed with it all.  Then it hit me.  The light bulb came on and I knew exactly why I was struggling and what I was struggling with. I'm in a season where everything in my life is new.  New city, new state, new people, new church, new job, new relationship, new everything... That's all great but what I forgot was that with all that newness ...

About a year ago I was having a conversation with a friend and we were talking about God's instructions and being obedient when He speaks.  Fast forward to a couple of days ago and that same word was spoken by another friend with myself and the first friend present for the conversation.  I can't begin to explain to you how excited I was.  God had just awakened me from a deep sleep with a specific set of instructions, then sent vessels to confirm it.  It didn't take a long time, it didn't take a bunch of extra stuff.  It was a simple coming together of believers. In the initial conversation I had with my friend she spoke to me about how things would start to fall into place once I started to move in obedience.  It's been an amazing journey so far and I can't even express all of the things God has done and is doing.  This morning on the Prayer call Bishop Walker was speaking from Psalm 23:2 on the topic of He Knew what I needed...  Rest, Resto...

Have you ever grieved for something that you haven't lost?  I bet you have and didn't even realize it.  I went to the movies tonight to see Me Before You and I cried my little eyes out.  It was such a great movie!  I laughed, I cried, I reflected on my own life and things I often take for granted, and I left with questions.  As I left the theater I sat on a bench and talked on the phone with a dear friend about old times and the neighborhood we grew up in. We talked about the changes, things in our lives that have changed, some things we'd hoped would have turned out other ways and things we aspire to have.  His voice became a little sad as he talked about not being able to see his daughter and how everyone around him seemed to be celebrating graduations and birthdays.  I reminded him that he wasn't alone in longing for those celebrations and someone to share them with.  I have the same issue with everyone around me celebrating births. engagem...

Today the world lost a musical genius, an icon, an amazing entertainer, humanitarian, and extraordinary musician.  His gifts touched people spanning various generations, nationalities, racial groups, ethnicities, and age groups. There's a lot of folks who got capes slapped on their backs today and became SUPER SAVED at the thought of the "saints" mourning the loss of Prince.  I have a few things to say about that.. 1.  He was a person that touched, inspired, and reached more than most preachers ever will in a lifetime.  2.  It's sad when anybody dies because there's loss there..He was someone's family.. without the titles and accolades, he was still a son, a cousin, a husband, and worthy of being mourned; and 3.  Most importantly, He's a soul that will have an eternal resting place just like the Super Saints... no different than you or I in those areas. So leave people alone and let them mourn... Any great music lover, saved or unsaved felt that loss t...

I am so excited to have made it to my 100th post!!  I've paused and stopped writing so many times there were days I didn't believe it would come.  So since this is my 100th post I figured I'd just take a moment to keep it 100 and hope to encourage someone in the process. For those who don't know, this place I'm in right  now is completely new for me.  At the leading and directing of the Lord, I packed up everything I own (after giving, donating, and selling a lot) and moved about 12 hours from home.  It might not seem like a big deal to some, but I am a people person so my family and my friends are where I draw energy from.  I spent time with my babies every chance I got, hung out with friends all the time, lived close to my family pretty much my whole life.  So being alone, 12 hours away, and not a familiar face in sight is quite an adjustment for me.  I know  it takes time to meet people and make friends when you move to a new place s...

So I'm all settled into my new place and I'm beginning my job search.  I haven't looked for a job since Graduating from Asbury in 2012.  I loved my job and needed the two years of experience that everyone expects you to have, but no one is willing to give you a chance to earn.  I know somebody else is on this journey with me so I jut had to share some of the things that I've been experiencing. Since I moved to a new state the licensing system is completely different, the way supervision hours is handled is completely different and I find myself in foreign lands when it comes to navigating through some of these things.  No worries though, I've always been good with maps and directions!  As I sat down to begin my job search I realized I was looking for a job in an area where I was kind of rusty.  I truly believe that Social Work is my outside the walls call to ministry and that I have everything I need to be successful already ingrained in my DNA. ...

image :http://www.jeanniebottles.com/geniebottles/ I find myself in a position that I'm sure somebody else is in right now too... I'm in transition.  I know that may not seem like a big deal at the surface but when you really think about what that means it becomes a bit more tricky. I guess I should explain myself.  When I say I'm in transition, I literally mean moving from one place to the next in every area of my life.  Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing.  I'm moving forward to bigger and better.  The frustration comes from not being able to release certain things the way I need to in this place.  For the past few years God has been giving me tons and tons of stuff, but with the tag "for later".  It's like getting a gift on new years day that says don't open til Christmas.  I have so many thing in me that I want and need to release, but I have to do it in God's timing for them to be effective.  I want His perfect will, not...

It's been so long since I've taken the time to sit down and write, I should really be ashamed of myself.  That's what happens when you let go of the things you love. This blog isn't about the love between two people, but about the things you love and how easily they can get lost in the wind.  A lot of times things slip right through our fingers without us even realizing it.   When I started this blog it was a way for me to share my excitement about what God was doing, the experiences I was having, my trials and victories. all the things that might help encourage somebody else.  But this year I seemed to have lost that zeal and passion for writing.  SO many things have happened, and so quickly, that it just kind of knocked the wind out of my sails.  I shut down and I allowed the enemy to take away my voice for a while.  I felt like Ariel when the Ursula had her voice in a shell.  There was a lot that I wanted to say but I just couldn't ...

Since everyone has decided to jump on this bandwagon of 30 Days of Thanks for November I decided to do something a little different.  So I'm going to give you my list but with a twist... it's things I haven't always been thankful for (in no particular order of importance, just as they come to me).  So here goes.. 1.  I haven't always been thankful for my intelligence.  I know that may seem arrogant or strange but let me tell you why... when I was in Kindergarten we were placed in reading groups.  The groups were identified by the color of yarn necklace we wore.  Mine was ALWAYS green and I never knew why.  I HATED that green yarn necklace.  I wanted to have different colors like everybody else and to change colors like my friends.  One day I cried and cried because my necklace was always green and FINALLY my teacher explained to me that it was a good thing to have a green necklace because it meant that I was a good reader. 2. My crazy ...

Most of us have probably heard the story of the prodigal son, some of us have probably been that son. For those of you who may not have heard it let me share it with you.. I'll paraphrase & summarize but you can find the story in Luke 15:11-32. There's a father with two sons, the younger son asks the father for his part of the inheritance (which he wasn't entitled to until after the father died).  The father gives him his share and he gathers up everything he has and goes off to a foreign land. He foolishly spends everything he has on wild living.  In other words he said #turnup! and went ham. Well after he'd wasted everything, there was a famine in the land and there he was with nothing.  So he goes and hooks up with some locals and take a job feeding the pigs.  Well this might not seem like a big deal but he was Jewish, so he shouldn't have been anywhere near the pigs let alone feeding them and down in the mudhole slinging slop.  He was so hungry...

So I've been absent from my blog for about a month now and I truly do apologize for those of you who read regularly.  Thank you for thinking what I write about it important enough to read and share.It was not my intention to be away for so long, and I did have some post finished that I was ready to share but I soon learned those posts were just for me.  Sometimes I write something I think I'll be sharing with you guys and God just won't let me share at the time... So to that end let me tell you what's been going on and why I haven't been posting anything... and I pray this helps somebody else stay in the race and press on Some of you know and some do not, but a few months ago I made a huge leap and left my church.  Before you even ask...I didn't just leave because I felt like it. lol  The decision really wasn't even mine, the act of obedience was the requirement.  Nevertheless... I left.  This wasn't just my church home, it was the place where I had g...

I was watching an episode of the Carrie Diaries where she and her friends were having a conversation about the mentality of the people in Manhattan.  She was smitten with the luxe and glamour of NY and how everyone was so posh and had exciting lives. But her friend pointed out that in Manhattan everyone was their own little individual island... trying to keep up, outdo, and make the other little islands jealous..it was lonely being an island. Over the past few weeks I've found myself extremely irritated with this spirit of selfishness and self-exhalation that seems to be running rampant these days.  NO I am not about to get on my soapbox and just rant out of frustration but I am about to share some biblical truths with you concerning this foolishness right here... what I have termed Me Me Island Syndrome... There are times when we all have a lapse in judgement and think we don't need anybody else, we can do everything on our own, or that this show is all about us. ...

                                     Several years ago when I started blogging I had no Idea I would still be blogging 10+ years later.  Although the address and the platform have changed, my love for writing has only grown.  I am so blessed and amazed every time I sit down to write.  I'll be honest and admit that I got a little discouraged when I was writing and writing and noticed that nobody was responding or commenting but then the strangest thing started happening.... I would run into one of my mom's friends or a person I met on Facebook telling me something about what they had read on my blog.  I said wow, people are reading!  So I said ok, maybe the comments don't matter so much as long as someone is reading and the seeds are being planted. A few months later I was fooling around in the control panel of the blog and saw the stats section.  So being the ...

Every now and then, an artist needs a blank canvas.  Sometimes that blank canvas comes out of a fresh package, other times it's made by hand, and even still there are times when a blank canvas is created by sanding and painting over an old canvas with Gesso.  Well... this is where I am right now.. God is sanding me and has begun painting over the old painting to create something new. There are times in life when everything around us seems to come crashing down around us and everything we knew to be true is ashes.  The good thing about that is God already said He would give us beauty for our ashes (Isaiah 61:3) . The process of reworking a canvas amazes me but also expresses exactly where I am right now.  Imagine this... you're a canvas that's had a picture drawn on it and as you've walked through life that drawing has been filled with color and texture... brush strokes, flicks of the artists brush, scrapes of a painter's knife, and even some thinn...

I don't about anybody else, so I'll speak for myself, but I am a HUGE fan of cartoons. And as odd as it may seem, I loved the "boy" cartoons as much as the girlie ones... That really doesn't have much to do with what's on my mind other than the Transformers tag line... More than meets the eye! I was thinking about this in reference to Samson (His story can be found in Judges ch 13-16).  You're probably wondering why I thought of Samson and Transformers in the same setting.  Well... let me tell you. Most people tend to believe that Samson was a big muscular man but the scriptures say people question where his strength came from.  That lets me know that maybe he didn't appear to be big and strong, maybe he looked like a regular guy... Looking at Sampson the people had no idea where his strength came from, they knew he was strong because of demonstration.  Not many knew the true source of his power.  Such are most of us... looking at you ...peo...

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Psalm 126:5 As the old saying goes... after all that I've been through I still got joy!!  That is definitely my testimony for this year.  Life in general really, but I thank God for continually bringing me through.  I am an overcomer!!  I love this scripture because the word for sow, zara`, is not only in the context of planting seed, but it also means to become pregnant.  Many of the things that have caused me to shed tears are the things that God has impregnated me with, or sown into the fiber of my being .  Even thous some of those things have cause me tears... I know when it's harvest time, it's all joy... Proverbs 10 :22 s ays The blessing of the Lord , it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.... so even when I creid a few tears, it wasn't because of God.  Sometimes it was the burdens of those connected to me, other times it was the con dition of the wor ld, and at times it was just...