Letters to...

I have been thinking a lot about legacy lately. To clarify, I am not thinking about death just about legacy in general.

Legacy is like a letter that you leave for the folks around you when you are no longer physically present in a place...

Dwayne Wade left the Miami Heat basketball team after 13 yrs because he wanted to finish his career up at home in chi-town.  He was always a Chicago boy but he had made himself an essential part of Miami and Dade(wade) county during his time with this team. He started and participated in programs for children, the community and the fans. He was a role model to any Miami child in several ways, he left letters for these kids in his own way. Yet when it was time to go home, he left. Nothing would hold him back. At the end of it all, his heart was still in Chicago.

It should be the same with the believers in this world.

While God has deemed it right for each of us to be on this earth for a little while, there will come a time when all of us have to go home. What will your legacy look like when you leave? Have you given all your good to the world? Have you made it a better place? Are you a role model? Have you comforted the weak? Fed the hungry? Taken care of the widows and orphans? Most importantly, have you spoken about your God? Do people know where your heart is?

It's very important to note that no matter how long Wade was in Miami, he never became a Florida boy. He lived there, worked there and was part of life there.  He was always from Chicago.

God asks the same of us, he says that we should be "in the world not of the world."

If you are wondering, well what about the folks who don't believe? 

Here's the beauty of God, we all came from him, all our souls initially belonged to him so whether you believe in him now or not is something that can change by decisions and choices that we make. I was raised to know of God, but there was a time in my life where I chose to not be part of his family.  I wanted to believe in something I could quantify and explain.

How personal is my God? He gave me something that I could use to quantify and explain him.  It was his way of talking to just me. 

Ask God today to prove himself to you. He will!

Want to leave a legacy? What will your letter to the world say?

Love God and the rest will follow...

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...