Tag: Blogging

Grateful Friday

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Giving thanks always for all things unto God… (‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭20‬ KJV)

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Here we are at post three for July and at somewhat of a celebration for my blog. I’m six months in and I am enjoying every minute of it! Grateful Friday is a week early this month, and today I’m sharing a few words and passages that I keep close to my heart as I make my way through this writing journey. Or really, through life. I have plenty others that are favorites and for which I’m thankful for how they’ve shaped me, but I’d be here all day if I shared them all. So…

First, my own early words. Sorry, but I HAD to start here. The picture below shows a recipe I copied by hand from a magazine, which I then presented to my grandmother as a letter. (As you can see, I had motive.) On more than one occasion when I was little, I’d find something to copy, not knowing that it was a sort of foretelling. I appreciate that my grandmother, rest her soul, kept a few of my “letters,” and every now and then I pull them out and remember my meager beginnings.

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Next… “Want to know God’s will for your life? Then answer this question: What ignites your heart? Forgotten orphans? Untouched nations? The inner city? The outer limits? Heed the fire within! Do you have a passion to sing? Then sing!… Do you hurt for the lost? Then teach them! As a young man I felt the call to preach. Unsure if I was correct in my reading of God’s will for me, I sought the counsel of a minister I admired. His counsel still rings true. ‘Don’t preach,’ he said, ‘unless you have to.’ As I pondered his words I found my answer: ‘I have to. If I don’t, the fire will consume me.'” (Passage from The Great House of God by Max Lucado)

Third… “Living in God’s true love is a process. First, God loves us, and by faith, we receive His love. We then love ourselves in a balanced way, give love back to God, and learn to love other people.” (Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional) Understanding love is so important in any type of ministry, right? It has to be at the center of it all. Joyce gives a concise but clear statement on the process of love, how it flows from God to us. I pray my words always come from a place of love. And speaking of…

And last… “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” This is from 1 Corinthians 13. You can read the full chapter here. This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It’s beautiful and poetic. And as I just mentioned, love must be at the center of our work if we are to fulfill God’s calling.

How about you? What verses or quotes have inspired your journey?

43 Reasons Why Life Has Been Good

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March 16 marked my 43rd birthday! So blessed to see this milestone, and it was one for me!image

It’s not Grateful Friday here on New Day, but I want to share 43 things for which I’m thankful, that have brought me from there to here, and that have made the journey worth it:

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Melchee

Family

The gift of words and writing

March 15 – the day my Tony and I were married

Ratchford Road

School days

Friends

All the days that taught me hard life lessons

The realization of God’s presence in my life

Work

Turning 30, because it marked the point when I truly began to focus on being me

The pages in my journals

Church

The Golden Girls

Summer Fridays

IHOP

The privilege to vote for the nation’s first black president – #BOPOTUS

Sunsets

Sweet potato pie

Genesis 1:1

John 3:16

Jeremiah 29:11

iNation

Tar Heel Nation

Christmas

Sisters in Christ who’ve blessed my spirit in so many ways

PRAISE!Magazine, which I founded and published from 1996-2003

Simplicity

Peace

Help

Max Lucado books

Mornings

The touch of my grandmother’s hand as she was transitioning to Heaven

What was

What is

What is to come

The Word of God.

The Son of God.

The Spirit of God.

The Love of God.

Larry and Brenda who birthed me physically.

God the Founder, the Father, who birthed me spiritually, who called me to be His.

To Everything There Is a Season

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imageWinter seems to have left its cold, gray days behind. While it was often harsh, I learned to appreciate the quietness of the season, and certainly the beauty. Hot chocolate, warm cookies, and favorite blankets also made the season special.

Our hope now is for spring! Colorful blooms and sunny days await our beholding. Some see spring as a time for newness and starting over, a time of refreshing. A time for life again. The brightness of the season, I would argue, is best captured on Easter Sunday. Dresses, hats, and fun baskets filled with crazy eggs seem to make spring official.

Before the eggs and the hallelujahs of Easter, we face the season of death. Not just reading about Christ’s crucifixion, but looking at the destructiveness of our own sin – the reason Jesus went to the cross to begin with. It is dark and horrible, a place I don’t think one would normally visit voluntarily. But as faith followers, that is what we must do. We have to face the monstrous, distorted look of sin, the look that was put on our Christ as he bore it all for us, before the entire world.

We must face what we were, what He did, before we can face who we are. With Christ’s resurrection, we are raised to life also. We are resurrected. We can face who we now are:

Redeemed.
Saved.
Freed.
Forgiven.

Our hope might now well be for spring, but I’m aiming for something higher in this season. I’m aiming for Jesus and the hope of my salvation. My soul longs to be saved by my Savior, to be raised to new life in Him.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… (‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ KJV)