From the Abundance

  February 6th marked 10 years in Daytona Beach.  I could say a lot about what's happened over these last ten years, but I'll save that for the book I'm writing.  What I will say is this: when God tells you to go, you pack your things and GO! Moving was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but the best act of obedience and decision I've ever made. In the past 10 years, I've made some beautiful friends who became my second family, and worked with incredible families in the community. written books, been on TV, Podcasts, and in the newspaper, won an award for my work, helped plant a ministry, started a singles ministry, and even opened my own practice.  Why does all that matter?  Before I moved, I was praying, and nobody knew what I was praying about.  I spoke with a friend for the first time in about two years,  and she prophesied, telling me what the Lord was showing her about my life and my relocation to Florida.  She told me in a nutshell...

Photo by  Sydney Zentz  on  Unsplash Over the past two weeks, I've gone through some pretty big things.  I went to the hospital 3 times, was admitted and spent the night, saw my primary care  4 times and spent several days and nights in excruciating pain.  After several attempts to get some relief from the pain, I was finally sent for a CT Scan only to discover that my spine is pressing on the nerves in my spinal cord. Suddenly the thing that the rude ER nurse told me I should manage at home was a legitimate issue.  Suddenly I had a reason for screaming out in pain in the ER.  Suddenly I was a patient and not a burden.... Suddenly I went from being healthy to taking 6 different meds and being in a medicated stupor just to manage the pain.   Suddenly I had high blood pressure and high blood sugar.. the things I've worked so hard to avoid.  Suddenly, I was unable to drive or perform most of my normal functions wit...

Sometimes when we pray and God doesn't answer the way we expect Him to, it can make us question Him, our faith, our prayers and everything we believe.  It's easy to have faith and trust God when He answers the way we expect, but what about when He doesn't?  What about when we've prayed and believed God for a miracle and we still lose the person we were believing God to heal?  What about the husband or wife we've been waiting on for years that hasn't come?  Will you still trust Him when you've given your all and done everything you can and His answer isn't what you wanted?  What about when the answer is flat out NO?  Will you still trust Him? A few days ago my cousin had an accident and ended up in the ICU clinging to life.  We did what we knew to do.. we prayed, we sought God, we declared his healing, we believed God for a miracle, we trusted God for the impossible. As we waited and believed for manifestation of his healing on this side my family...

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...

In a few days I will hit my four month mark here in Daytona Beach.  It has truly been an adventure.  In these four months God has connected me with amazing people that feel like home, I've done things I never had the opportunity to do in KY, completed several projects that I'd been trying to finish forever, and opened up the door for me to use all of my gifts for ministry and to generate income.  Oh what a difference location can make!  Now I'm not telling you to jump up and move, but what I am saying is this. If you know that God is calling you to a different location, go! Don't hesitate, don't make excuses, just go as He leads. The pastor has been preaching a series called unstuck and the lesson last night was 5 signs you're stuck. You feel like you're going through the motions You make excuses to avoid change You have no plan for what's next and worry about what's coming You feel scatterbrained You don't feel like yourself  (yo...

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...

One of my favorite worship songs is Oceans (Where feet my fail).... It's a beautiful song about stepping out beyond where we know our feet can carry us.  If I were to guess I would say that this song was inspired by the story of Peter walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). The chorus of the song says... Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders Let me walk upon the waters Wherever You would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior If you stop and think about the faith it would have taken to step out of a boat and actually believe that you could walk on water... I don't know about anybody else but I probably wouldn't have stepped out in the first place.. I'm not a real strong swimmer and I don't even like to go in the 12 ft end of the pool.  So imagine all that Peter must have been wrestling with on the inside... It was late at night, they're on a boat that's b...

There's so much on my heart and mind right now that I really need to release... things have been locked up for weeks and months and I just haven't been motivated to write.  I really haven't known where to begin.. Feb 24 I got the most devastating call of my life.  It was about 2:30am and I was a little restless and my phone rang.  I immediately knew something was wrong  when I saw my older brother's picture on the screen.  I answered the call and received the news that our father had been murdered in his home.  I was in shock, numb, in disbelief, and devastated wasn't even close to describing it.  I maintained my composure through the call but when I hung up and the heaviness of the words I had just repeated hit me, I crumbled. With tears running down my face, I called my mom and told her.  She was on her way immediately.  During the time that my mom was driving to my house I sat in the middle of my bed, cried and prayed, prayed and c...

  One of the things I set out to accomplish this month was writing a letter of interest and support for the upcoming ministry things that I'm working on.  So as I wrote the letter I found myself asking the recipients to make an investment in souls.  When I wrote the letter I was thinking investments in terms of planting seeds.  In the week following, I had several conversations with friends who were in the Valley of Decision, self included.  As I talked relationships with one of my friends, I asked if she was willing to invest in the guy again and give him the opportunity to get to the point he needed to be.  So later that week I was asking myself that same question. This made me think...  Investments require risk.  Anything you're willing to pour into, you have to consider if the risk is worth taking and if so, how long are you willing to wait on the return in your investment?  I thought long and hard and definitely prayed about it....

Dear Pastor Chaconna, In lieu of coming to you directly I wanted to take this opportunity to offer you a few friendly reminders for your call and appointment.  First let me start by saying, I know it's not the easiest thing in the world to walk in the calling that God has placed on your life.  I know you had plans and things you wanted to do with your life and probably even some dreams and goals you'd set for yourself as a young girl.  Nevertheless you chose to answer God's call.  I can't say that everything will be peaches and cream, heck you may not even see any of those hopes and dreams you had for yourself come to pass, but know this... the plan (Jeremiah 29:11) He lined up for you is greater than anything you could have imagined. You'll have to compromise much of what you thought was normal and completely switch your way of thinking... church to kingdom... I know it's crazy but you'll never get it right until you can do this.  Trying to figure ou...

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 today is the first day of Summer and I don't know about anybody else, but I feel great!  I'm a few days closer to moving and a few steps closer to releasing some of this purpose.  I don't know what it is about summer that just makes me happy.. It's hot and humid and my hair is usually a frizzball but I love it nonetheless. There's nothing like sunshine and warmth on your skin, a good BBQ or  picnic, a popsicle, and swimming pool! The only thing that can make it better is a gallon or two of Chic-fil-A lemonade that's ice cold... Now that's the business!! Today as the seasons officially change I just wanted to take time to remind somebody that even though the season has changed, God has not changed His mind about you.  His promises haven't changed, the plans He has for your life haven't changed, His love hasn't changed, and neither have His grace, mercy, or willingness to forgive. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. H...

                    Lately I've been having dreams about prison and jail but I know for sure that they have nothing to do with a natural jail or prison.  The thing about spiritual bondage is the fact that it can have so many faces, facets and sources.  Think of those pretty winding topiary bushes that form animals, zig zag shapes, words, or even people.  On the surface they look like one big bush or tree, but in reality they can have several sets of roots that end up growing together to create the fullness of the bush.  The same thing happens with spiritual bondage.  I can't say that all bondage is of the devil and all imprisonment is ungodly because Paul declared himself a bond-servant of Christ. First let's look at what bondage means: 1.  slavery   or   involuntary   servitude;   serfdom. 2. the   state   of   being   bound   by   or   subj...

I have this little necklace that I made for myself a few years ago for a New Years Eve Service.  The theme that night was "in the trenches" so these little tags became a part of my dog tags.  I wore this again recently and took the time to really read what was on the tags. I thought it very fitting considering all that has happened this year so I'd like to share what I've learned with you in the last days of this year . Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;   In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 More than any other time in my life, trust has been a HUGE theme this year.  Not in a sense of "I don't trust anyone", but more of being open to trust myself with the things God has given me, trust God COMPLETELY, and even tearing down some walls and trusting that my heart won't be broken again.  Earlier this year I graduated with my Master of Social Work and ...