Winter is coming to an end... Or at least that's is what we keep telling ourselves.

I don't mean presently seasonally, I mean in the seasons of your lives.  Some of you are at a point in your lives where it feels as though you have been enduring the winter season for a few years.  Folks keep encouraging you in their own way. 

They say, "It will end soon" or "it will be sunshine and roses when it ends" and of course there's the standard, "you will look fondly on this time of our life." 

Do you just want to cry out, "how do you know it will end??" or you just want to cry... I would like to say, "I know what you are going through" but let's be honest NO ONE really knows what any other person is going through. Every event can have a common thread but the reality is very different.  Your childhood may cause you to react to an event in a completely different manner than even perhaps your sibling would react.

As much as I want to help, ONLY GOD CAN HELP.  I can pray for you, I can spend time with you, I can cook and clean for you but in the end, you have to call out to God. He created you, He knows you, He has been there with you through the good and the bad. You have to choose to let him into your heart and world. He can help you, heal you and restore you because He loves you.

Love God and the rest will follow.

P.S.

If you need to know how to reach out to God, lemme know and I can walk with you through that journey.

a woman of character...

So did you do it?  Did you sit in silence?  I did albeit for only an hour or so and then pandora went on which eventually led to Netflix.

The good part though? I gave the Lord an hr and He gave me so much peace and such good insight in that time!

Today would have been my grandmother's 95th birthday, I am reminded today more than ever about how she carried herself in the society after her husband's demise.  She raised her children alone and was very careful to ensure that her good name was not tarnished.  She was very regimented, she had her routines and seldom did she get distracted away from her schedule.

She was a passionate woman who held on to rules and regulations, and as such, growing up with her was hard sometimes.  She was very strict and logical, she had fun but it was guarded. As a child I did not understand her, I always felt like I was about to get in trouble with her.  and I did, a LOT!  As an adult, I miss her and I understand her ways a little bit more now.

She enjoyed her quiet life, her books, her Bible and her time with her Lord.  She was very strict about how her family should behave and how she wanted the world to perceive us.  She never sugar coated anything and she wasn't fake. She didn't have many friends and the ones she had respected her.  She didn't trust many people but somehow everyone trusted her.  There is a lot to be said about that especially in today's world with facebook,instagram,snapchat and all the other social media.

I have learned that you need to spend your time wisely, you can't always be spending your energy on other people and not expect to be drained.  I have learned that not everyone needs to know every breath you take, hold your cards close.  I have learned that if people really care they will invest in your life. I have learned that ONLY God deserves your undivided love.  I have learned that God will love you even if you dont give him your undivided love.

She was a woman of her rules and regulations and while I think that I need to love a bit more loudly than she did, I am beginning to the wisdom in a lot of her ways.  I miss her a lot and I talk to her often. In her honor today, I choose to respect myself and my time a bit more than I do.  I know God has been working on breaking my addiction to Netflix.  I know my grandma is helping too.

I want to help others more than i do now.  I want to pray for others more than i do now and most of all I want learn from God's Word more than i do now.

Love God and the rest will follow...

I woke up today in a mood.  I am not quite sure how to explain it.  I have 31 emails in my work email inbox that need my attention.  I have 42 projects that are clamoring to be tended to as well.  However, I just want to put some music on and just close my eyes.  I want to tune out the world for a day and just sit in silence.  

I find it very hard these days to just sit still or in silence.  I am constantly distracted or looking for things to distract me.  How often do you get to sit in silence these days?  even if you had the chance, do you let yourself do it?   We live in a world of constant stimulation. our phones, iPods, televisions, Netflix, games, and of course pokemon go!

When was the last time you spent even 15 mins in silence?  Can you?

Do you know that your mind and spirit need to be rejuvenated?

Are you aware of your own spiritual needs? Are you in tune with Our Creator?

I dare you to take 15 mins today and close your eyes and try to get in tune with your soul.  Turn off the phones, computers and Netflix.  Can you do it?  Can you allow your soul to call out to its Creator?  

My soul is yearning for its Creator, I can feel it!!

I am challenging myself today to turn off the Netflix and sit in silence so I can allow my soul to commune with my Jesus.

I have been convicted in my spirit for my lack of prayer for the persecuted Christians/church and so today, I shall sit with my Jesus.  I hope you find some time in your day to do the same.

Love God and the rest will follow.

From 4/6/16:

2 become 1...

Know that song?  We talked about it at lunch after church the other day.  We all laughed and reminisced about the Spice Girls.  we discussed how we sang along without really knowing what we were saying to not just this song but so many others.

That phrase came up again today but it was in a different context.  I was catching up on sermons from my home church and my pastor said, "the two need to become one."  What was he taking about?

The two people that live inside every single one of us.

Each of us have 2 personalities living inside of us.  One that responds to the spirit of the world and the other that responds to the Spirit of God.  You might not agree with me or believe in God, but the truth is that there's no other explanation.  The spirit of the world appeals to our temporal side, it craves adoration and instant gratification however, every human being has a longing for another world, an eternal world.  All the various interpretations of the 'world to come' is proof of just this.

The real fight for a lot of us is the essential merging of the 2 spirits. It can only be done when God allows it and that is when you find contentment.  In my case, God's spirit has to be stronger than the world's spirit and that's the only way I can be balanced.  It doesn't make any earthly sense but then again when God is involved, nothing ever does...

On a completely unrelated note: Sometimes you just need to sit and allow music to wash over you. there is something very powerful about music.  Here's someone I learned about recently.  He has definitely helped me get through some tough days and I have never even met him.

http://www.kylenolan.net/#/music