🥳Many people say it’s a new year and a new me, making resolutions, setting goals.🥳  That’s all great. Why not have a new mindset and choose New Years as a motivational mechanism.🎈 But there is one issue I believe some of us have when facing  new journeys. It is that we need resuscitation first! 🥴

Resuscitation is basic vocabulary in medical regards, the bringing back of life. But it is  also defined as ” the action of making something active or vigorous again.” 💃🏽🕺🏽  It’s great to set goals, but how can a goal be accomplished if the  spirit is burned out or the energy you need to pursue and accomplish it is just not there? Burn out is real! 😩😖🥺

I thought long and hard about the millions of goals and resolutions I have made over the years. Then I counted how many actually we’re completed. Shamefully, not many. However, the one thing I found was consistent was my lack of personal change. Setting a goal means doing something to accomplish it and if personal change doesn’t happen, then that set goal never stood a chance. In fact, it wasn’t actually a goal.  It was a dream! 💭

This year, I have an understanding that anything is possible if you simply resuscitate yourself. New life needs to enter the body, spirit,  and mind and revive the “can do” energy that daily events tend to drain out of you.

Doctors have machines and medicine to accomplish this. But what do I have? I have meditation. I have self reflection. I have bubble baths 🛁 and long, hot showers🚿. I have music🎵🎧 and 🕺💃 dancing.  I have movies and books📚.  There are so many things I love that have slowly disappeared from my life.  I am sure someone is saying what about prayers 🙏. Well, that’s a given in my world, something that is planned at times and spontaneous at other times. Prayer is always on the agenda. But the other things about me are seldom on my agenda. These are the things that resuscitate me as a whole person, the happy things that get lost. I’m sure everyone has a list like mine 📃📃. It’s time to reintroduce the items on your list back into your 🌎.

I think if any of us have a chance at accomplished goals or resolutions this year, the approach should start with resuscitation of ourselves. That’s what I have decided to do with my 2021, if God so grants me the time. With this, I will come a  refreshment and a refinement of myself.  I anticipate my goals, not my resolutions, will be accomplished because I will be revived and ready to see them to them completed🏆! God bless!

So, I use the phrase “the stuggle is real” often. It has always been in reference to financal situations💰. But I have come to understand that phrase relates to many other things in life. It relates to the body, family, emotions, and one thing in particular, spirituality.

Watching other people pray through things and give good advice looks simple. Some people seem to always have a positive word or scriptural reference to offer in an effort to enlighten you and support you. But it’s not always how it looks🥺. All people have spiritual battles with the flesh. We are all human👩🏽. And to this, I say “the stuggle is real”.

I have found myself giving up so many times in so many situations. That’s my personal definition of despair, my loss of hope and faith. I have also found myself giving up on people because my human side is no match for others principles. However, what I have learned is through the struggle to keep my hope and faith, I have always been reminded to never give up on prayer. 🙏🏽

Prayer is our communication with our Father. And without it, how can we confess, ask, declare, say thank you ,or anything else in Jesus’ name? Some days I find my thoughts headed to the serious question of why prayer? Is it even working? I am sure I am not alone with that question.

I have matured into understanding that prayers are like a masterpiece 🎨. If you pay attention to the details of your life, you can see all the small prayers combining to make a complete picture 🖼️. The blessings are shining in the details. But most look for the big miracles and ignore the small ones. Of this, I am guilty. The result of this mistake is giving up on prayers. I have had days I needed to pray but was in such a state I couldn’t. The one thing I needed to do more than anything got pushed aside and other actions and reactions took its place. 😪🥺 Please, let this be your reminder, when the struggle is very real in your emtional, spiritual, human world, remember prayer is also real. Don’t ever give up on praying ❤️ Whatever your reaction or action is, don’t leave God out if it. Your masterpiece is always in progress and one day you will look back and see the finished picture and all the little answered prayers that made it wonderful 🙏!

⏰Time! ⏰ People use the phrase “I don’t have the time” on a regular basis. I know I say it quite often. But I have decided to change that language. The only people who can truly use that phrase are dead people. They really have no time. In fact, I am convinced that if they could revisit life, they would make better use of the time they had.

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There are so many things I don’t get to do and I blame time for the problem. Truth is, allocation of my time is my responsibility. Time will keep moving regardless of my daily life and the same time I’m walking in, the next person is walking in too. So, why is it some people seem to be on their A game while I just can’t find the time. I am challenging myself to evaluate my life and make time to do all those things I claim I can’t. Today we live in a world of crazy and unpredictable things happening every day and any moment everything could be over. So, using the time we are gifted through God’s grace ,to enjoy every moment of every day, should be the priority. Saying I don’t have the time should stop being words spoken. One day you really won’t have the time and then it will be too late.

💗It’s ok to be ok!💗 It has taken me until my 45th year or life on earth to understand this truth.

So often people get caught up in helping others that they internalize their situations. It can be overwhelming and so stressful that you loose reality of facts.

💗The most important fact that gets lost is you’re ok! You are blessed! 😊

What is not realized is the calling and ability to help others in situations is a blessing. It is a job that has a title given by God, peacemaker!

Matthew 5:9

Peacemakers are particularly in a rough spot because while peacemaker may be the title, the job is problem solver! A peacemaker somehow becomes the fixer at any given moment.

🤪😳😔😞🤪It is the most challenging thing to try to solve issues in other people lives, especially when you have problems of your own! And it’s not a case of butting in. It’s a case of things literally falling into your hands and the inability to drop them. Most of the time it’s a persons personality, perception, or pride that causes the problem in the first place😡😠🤬! And the peacekeeper somehow becomes the mediator, the voice of reason.

The truth of it is, peacemakers have no definite resolution for anyone. They just find ways to balance what’s happening and lower agitation. 🤔It makes me wonder why do peacemakers bother with the stress and aggravation 🤔! Well, it’s simple. It’s a calling☝️. They have no choice. Somebody has to do the job and God has assignments for all of us. Imagine a world with no peacekeepers! Not a pretty picture!

In the end, God will be pleased with whatever peace His peacekeepers are able to manage and that’s ok with me!🤗 😊🙂

There is nothing wrong with keeping it 💯 with people you love.

I try to look for the good in everything but sometimes I can’t find the good. I see it later but in the eye of my storms, I don’t see the good.

💔Raging winds, thunder, lightening; it’s always unpredictable and concerning when a storm is raging near you. Some say it is peaceful. The storm relaxes them. Some go as far as to call it romantic, a time to snuggle and enjoy being trapped with a significant other for a while.💔

💔Regardless of how you feel about stormy weather, fact is that storms cause damage. How much damage depends on the type of storm. So, why do people tend to downplay the anxiety and stress for people in stormy life situations? I don’t think it is wise to dismiss reality of damage being done in the midst of a stormy situation. Telling a person it will all be ok is not helpful when obviously it won’t be okay. Giving realistic information, resources, and praying with them to help them through the harshest moments is more helpful than saying it will all be ok. Sometimes it won’t be ok and a person just need a hand to hold while going through everything.😢 

There is nothing wrong with keeping it 💯 with people you love. Just do it all with love and compassion. Afterall, you never know when the tides will change and you will be the one needing a hand to hold through recovery period after a storm. 

Advice…some people simply don’t want it.😵

Question…… is there such a thing as  good advice? Many people think they offer good advice. I, for one, think I have a lot of good advice to give people. But here is the issue, advice is never a one size fits all situation. What is good for one may not work for another. So that good advice I thought I was giving may just serve as the opposite.😵

Moreover, who says people want advice! If I have learned anything and gained wisdom about anything, it is people don’t want you to give them your two cents worth of information most of the time. People are content in their own ways and own thoughts.😳

I struggle with that reality because I welcome advice from people. I like having knowledge of what worked and what didn’t. Do I take everyone’s advice or agree with everyone’s advice….absolutely not! 😋 However, listening to what others say about things give insight into the human mind and what other people think about situations and that is priceless. Being able to see thing’s from a different view helps me to grow.

🌸🌸🌸Often what one person feels about something reflects other people opinions as well. That prepares me for how people may react during the course of specific conversations.🌸

So, 😂 my advice to everyone 😂, don’t give advice. That is unless someone ask you to do so. Even then, be prepared for a debate and don’t be offended if your advice is not followed. “Live and let live”. That’s all we are required to do! 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳 Be blessed!

 

🌞 🌞 Sunshine is a necessity of life.

Sunshine is what makes people smile. 😊 It’s that happy place where rays of light and warmth beings tranquility to the spirit. I have been questioning what my sunshine is these days. What rays of light touches me and gives me happiness and warmth?🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

To explore this question, I decided to  complete a questionnaire that I made myself for myself. I didn’t consider anyone else, just myself.

🌞What do I love to do?

🌞Where do I love to go?

🌞 What’s my style?

🌞 What’s my favorite foods?

🌞  Who do I enjoy hanging out with?

🌞 Do I like animals?

🌞What is my dream job?

In the end, honest answers revealed some interesting facts about me. I am closer to relecting light from my personal sunshine because I had some clarity and reminders about who I actually am versus who I have to be for others. Not what my family likes or what I need but what I actually enjoy. I was reminded through this process that I am quite an interesting person 😊.

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When we shine, others feel that warmth.  Our rays help others grow. But I have realized that I can only be sunshine when I am aware of what makes me bright and glow from the inside out and that I have to own it and live it. What is your sunshine?  🌞 Take time to find it. You are worth it. 🌞

 

 

 

I’ve come to understand the people pray for who they want to pray for not for who they need to pray for and that’s a huge mistake!

📣There are  those who choose to go to a restaurant or store or anywhere and see something wrong and never say anything about it.  As for myself,  if I’m dissatisfied, I immediately asked who is in charge and try to get some type of resolution for the issue. Most of the time that means a conversation between myself and a manager or the owner.📣

🙏So, I approach praying the same way. Prayer is the greatest thing that we have in our possession. It is the communication directly to God in the name of Jesus. 🙏Prayer is so versatile. It can be silent. You can do it alone or you can do it in the group. Even if you can’t talk you have the power of prayer through your thinking, just thinking out loud to God. Praying is power!🙏

👀I have a friend who has taught me to always seek praying before all things. Now  I know this already. I have been taught this my entire life. However, there has been many times she called me out on not following through with it. She says “there is no time for rolling around on the floors and crying right now. You know what we need to do”. That’s her way of saying be quiet, calm down and pray. And when great things happen, her first words are always ” praise God, thank you dad” followed by any other excitement she feels. 🌟She celebrates and she cries after she talks to God and she calls me out when I am not doing that myself. I have learned from her to acknowledge my emotions after I acknowledge God’s presence. That is a complicated thing to do in the moment and takes focusing.👀

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There are those who only pray for the people who they choose to pray for and the people they see that absolutely need prayer get neglected.  It is always in the best interest of everyone in this world if we pray when there is a need for it as well as when we want to. If you see someone who’s down, if you see a lost child, if you see someone who’s desperate, don’t talk about them, pray about them. Pray with them! Go to other people, join hands, and do a general prayer for them.

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It seems to be if we don’t like the person we’re not going to pray about them!  But the Bible doesn’t say to live that way. The Bible says to pray for your enemies and love your enemies. The Bible is very clear about this.  Loving your enemies means you pray for them. Prayer is the one weapon we have that will change a person’s heart! God works on a human heart, not man. But if nobody is willing to pray for that person, then the bad continues and the good is lost.   God is LOVE!  Refusing to pray for a person based on your own emtion is not Godly at all and at the end of the day nobody is helped and the kingdom of God is not expanded.   🙏🙏As a Christian, we need to build up the broken, build up the misguided, pray for lost souls, broken hearts, and mixed up minds to be changed. We need to pray for them because  they’re not praying for themselves! 🙏🙏If  you’re blessed to know how to pray, then why not use that as a source of resolution just as you would in a restaurant when something is not right and you call out for a manager to get help?🙏🙏🙏 You have to go to the source  and the source is God.🌟🌟🌟 To get to God you only have to pray in Jesus’ name! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟Ask God to strengthen your heart and your mind and your soul and your spirit!  For we are all sinners and ALL need prayer! 🙏🙏🙏There are many wonderful, wonderful people out there who are being lost in a spiritual battle because of lack of righteous praying.   Prayer is a privilege that we have with our father to  talk to Him about anything and to ask anything of Him and He demands of us to love one another. He demands us to treat one another as we want to be treated.

💜❤💜I want people to pray for me at my worst and my best times so I intend on doing the same for others.  Pass on that gift to others. It will change the world 🌎!

I have five children ranging from 20 years old down to 1 year old. I love all of them with every fiber of my heart. As a child, I baby sat everyone’s kid. It was ok most of the time. My sister was the most challenging. She was, and still is, head strong and just did her own thing. All of that babysitting was nothing compared to being a parent.

Parenting is the hardest thing I have ever done. It is also the greatest thing I have ever done. There is nothing in comparison to hugging one of your own children and feeling the unconditional love that exist. I understand the blessing I have as many people will never have that experience. But it is not an easy job.  There is no book in the world that adequately prepare anyone for realities of parenthood.

People quickly judge your parenting choices and make you feel bad.   Money runs short more times than you can count. You get little to no sleep for many years. Most days you feel the full weight of the world is on your shoulders and pray God grant relief. Still, still I wouldn’t change being a parent and grandparent for anything else in the world.

I was once asked for an honest and candid response to the question  ” what is it like to be a parent?”

My response was ” it is the most rewarding and disappointing role you will ever have. Kids can be your biggest joy but also your biggest disappointment. You don’t get to choose what child you get, but the one born to you is yours ,no matter what, and you love them with everything you are in all situations and circumstances as they are challenged to love you back the same way.”

I have grown to understand that even the dissapoimtment you own as a parent is not because of the child, it is because a parent’s projection of personal expectations onto the child. What a parent has to accept is when you have a baby, it is an individual. It is its own being with its own thought process and eventually it’s own path and we may or may not approve of that path. We can teach them all we know and in the end they will walk away into adulthood and choose what they want to do in life. At this point, it’s not about us as parents. Instead, it’s about that individual you birthed into the world. So being disappointed is often a misguided emotion that every parent need to tackle and replace with love, support, and prayers.

What I have learned is even when disappointed, I fiercely love my  kids.  Somedays, the responsibility is so overwhelming I have to take a moment to cry. However, most days are filled with good stuff and happy moments. At the end of the day, the good has always outweighed the bad! I learned to focus on the good and remember God blessed me with them and to love them no matter what.

I have learned that my will and my way belong to me and the biggest mistake parents make is projecting our will onto our kids. Discipline is necessary to raise a child but sometimes they just don’t respond. I have been told I don’t discipline right or enough but I have come to see that is not true. They are individuals with their own will and thoughts and it is dissapoimtment overload for them to watch as their children do the exact opposite. Usually their is a hard lesson in these decisions for the child; however, it can break a parent’s heart ,as well as make a parent angry, to watch the process happening. And it is ok. I have learned not to feel inadequate when my kids are not doing 100 percent what I envisioned for them but  to instead  be proud when they are 100 percent of what THEY envision for themselves. As a parent, you pray for them, no matter what. You stand with them, no matter what. You love them, no matter what.

 

 

Raising kid…..hard work!! I am thinking about my kids today and how much I love them. I have dedicated the past 20 years of my life to them. From the womb to the current day, nothing has been more important to me than keeping my kids safe and loved. But parenting takes a toll on you. If anyone claims it is aimple, they are lying.

One of the most difficult parts of parenting is watching your child hurt and knowing they have to heal on their own. When they are small, you kiss the boo boo and hug them. But as they grow up, the scrapes and boo boos turn to heartaches, struggles, and personal choices that they have to endure. I have had to learn it is not my job to fix there issues, it is their job. I am just guidence. It took me so long to realize that fact.

I taught them to pray and look to scriptures for answers. I taught them to go above and beyond to reach their goals. I taught them love is stonger than hate. I have not been a perfect parent by any means. I have made mistakes and still make mistakes. However, I acknowledge them whenever possible because I want my kids to see me as imperfect and know I don’t tell them to do things I don’t do myself. They see and hear me pray. They see me when I am broken down and they see me when I am glorious and joyful.

It is easy to remember harsh words people say to you as a parent when things are not going well. People can be cruel.  I have learned that I can’t fight or fix people or the world. Neither can my kids.  But I can call on God to work it out.  I can stand with them and go through situations with them and let God handle the world while He is holding our hands.

I have learned it is not my job to fix everything but instead watch God work on them while He gets them where they need to be. It is not easy letting go and letting God with your own children, but is it necessary.

I teach my kids if you fall down, the important part is getting back up. I always want them to understand if you fall, which we all fall, don’t stay down. Get up and show the world you are ok. People will wait to see them stay down but they have the power to get up. I made my older kids listen to Unbreakable by Alicia Keys everyday!! And I made them declare they would never let this world break them. It is important they understand that.

Overall, parenting means teaching and loving them. It is not taking over their life choices and it takes tremendous faith in God.