Get yo life

You guys! I have not written a blog in exactly ONE YEAR (I have a draft from May that I never finished). Geez, I really need to get my life together. I keep making excuses “my desktop is acting up” “the laptop is acting up” “when I get my new MacBook I’ll write everyday” – sike. The truth of the matter is whatever is important to you, you’ll do what it takes to get it done. And what you do before is what you’ll do after “I’m not gone cheat once I get married” yes you will. You have to start the process to do better before you get the blessing.

Anyway, I have a very nifty iPhone that has all the capabilities I need to create (I actually got the 6 today & it’s too big for my lil ole child-like hands). Anywho, my reality is that I’ve just been in my own way; I finished school (kinda) and I’ve just been working a regular job #whomp – it’s the pits. When I graduated I was like uhhh I gots bills! So I started working at a car dealership lol I have no idea how – I know NOTHING about cars…absolutely…nothing. Although it doesn’t have anything to do with why I moved to LA, it’s been cool because I found my purpose in being there & once that happened, I no longer had the urge to stab myself in the eye. But as of late, I’ve been feeling like God’s foot is on my back & He’s pushing me out of that place. There was a purpose for me to be there & now my assignment is done. Hallelujah. But an incident that happened today reminded me of how important it is to listen to God & follow His voice.

A customer’s kids broke my phone about three weeks ago right, I had an upgrade available so I wasn’t trippin’, but I could not decide on what phone I wanted. I’ve been walking around with a busted up phone because I am so dang indecisive (there will be a whole other blog about that). I went all the way to Connecticut for Christmas with my phone JACKED. Before I left, I went to Best Buy mobile in Northridge mall (they have the best staff by the way), and I drove the poor man crazy because I couldn’t make up my mind. So today my coworker was like ummm go handle that before you get glass in your ear & before you’re exposed to radiation. She use to work for a phone company & knows things that we uhhh…don’t. So I went.

My shondo (your spirit or your gut feeling) was telling me to go back to the store that I had originally gone to, but did I? No. First, I went to the Best Buy down the street from my job because it was closer. Distraction. I asked about the $1 per month lease special that had been explained to me before. They knew nothing about that, but I still had my name put on the list to see a rep. A guy I knew from church put it on there, so when I was getting an urge to leave I felt guilty because I didn’t want to knowing that he worked there. But I left. It was pizacked. Then as I was driving I called Sprint because I had a few questions about my bill (they be trying to get you). Anyway, after that was resolved, I asked about the lease special that had been explained to me prior at Best Buy mobile. Eric wasn’t sure about the $1 per month lease either, but he told me about the $5 lease special. So as I’m sitting in my car in the mall parking structure I’m thinking “hmmm maybe I should just go across the street to the Sprint store”. Distraction. But I got out of the car & went into the mall.

When I walked in, I didn’t look at the directory, I made a wrong turn & started in the opposite direction of BB Mobile. (That’ll preach). When I realized I was going the wrong way I turned back & began to head towards the store. As I walked back, I saw a Sprint kiosk & a sign that said “cut your bill in half” so that immediately caught my eye. Distraction. The sign was for Verizon & AT&T customers so that was of no use to me. But then I thought “hmmm I can ask them about the lease special”. Distraction. Yessie didn’t know about $1 situation either & tried to sell me on the $5 one and showed me the different color options. Sidebar: Apple, can you make a gold one with the black face please!? Gee whiz. She was so sweet & helpful, but something in my shondo said GO TO BEST BUY MOBILE. I excused myself & I told her that I wanted to go ask about the $1 lease & if it wasn’t still happening that I would come back to her. She understood.

I moseyed on down to the store & immediately the gentleman who helped me before said “welcome back” lol I guess I made an impression…or maybe it’s the braids. Anywho, he came over & I asked him if the lease program was still going on & he said yes! So long story short, I got my iPhone 6 for $1 per month. After going from store to store, calling Sprint, almost leaving the parking structure & going to the store… After aaaallll of that I got what I wanted. But if I had just stayed on the path I would have gotten it much sooner & would have been less confused.

We do that to God all the time. We pray “Lord, just lead me in the right direction, I will follow your word & listen to your voice”. Sike. We pray, we listen, we hear His instruction, and we pick the parts that sound good, seem easy, or won’t make us look crazy. We know that God will never steer us in the wrong direction, but yet & still, we question what we know He has already promised us! We know what’s at the end, but we get off course along the way. Whether it be a job, your kids, a boo, whatever. We see shiny things on the sidelines & it gets us distracted from the end goal. We get so caught up on the things in between that we take our eye off the finish line. When runners are racing, they do not look at the audience or the runners beside them & they DEFINITELY don’t look at the runners behind them. Their eye is on the prize. Their eye is on the goal. Their eye is on the finish line. It keeps them focused. It keeps them in line & it keeps them on their path.

Our eyes need to stay fixed on Jesus. His word needs to stay buried in our hearts. If our eyes continually stay on Him, then when distractions come our way, we can curve them like no other. I knew where the blessing was! But I kept asking around! I almost missed the Best Buy blessing! If I had done the $5 instead of the $1 I would be paying $120 as opposed to the $48 I’ll be paying. Another sidebar: People, the $ goes BEFORE the number, $120 = one hundred & twenty dollars. When did 120$ become a thing & who started that!? I digress…

Because I listened to my shondo, I’m saving money, and I have a brand new phone. Sometimes we’re so afraid to do what God said because we’re afraid of how our peers will react. But when the store was packed I left! I did what was better for me. Yessie was so nice & I wanted to give her the sale so bad, but that wouldn’t be beneficial to my pockets. I put people first all the time & sometimes you just have to think of yourself. AND, bonus! I met a couple who is starting a company for natural healing. They cured her MS naturally through diet & exercise. God didn’t give us these plants for show. I’ve been trying to stick to a plant-based food diet for my blood pressure (that’s what she’s doing also) & her husband was telling me about how essential oils helped her too. What you put into your body is so important; you’re either feeding disease or preventing it based on your food choices. Plants give your body life. Dead meat flesh, well… You get my point. Now I’m not saying I’m a vegetarian, not into all those labels, because if I feel like having an In & Out burger… I’m gonna. See how I get off track. Anyway. Back to the subject, I listened to my gut (aka The Holy Spirit) & that always leads us in the right direction. And don’t say if I was there earlier I wouldn’t have met them. It took poor Zach 85 hours to download my 3000 pictures 😂. I woulda still been there when they got there.

The Bible is our directory. It guides us on every step we need to take. And when we make a wrong turn its okay, just turn around & head back to the path. Get back on course.

Old School Lovin’

As I sit here with my son Christian watching The Prince of Egypt (his favorite movie), we get to the part where Moses has to tell his wife what God told him to do. Now this post isn’t about Moses, it’s about his wife, his better half, his rock, Zipporah…

One must wonder what goes through a persons mind when their husband comes home & says “honey, when I was out, God spoke to me through a burning bush & told me that I have to go back to my land & set my people free” I can imagine Zipporah’s extreme side eye.

I have a question for the ladies, well a few…How many of us can honestly say that we could have done what Zipporah did? Honestly, be truthful with yourself, no one is looking. Most women today won’t even stick by their man’s side in a dispute, nevermind being by his side when he’s called by God to lead a people out of a country & face the most powerful King in the land. The person who had the ability to double the Israelites work load, or worse, kill Moses & his family if they even stepped foot into the palace.

But back to Zipporah, when one reads Exodus it doesn’t go into the conversation that she and Moses had when he told her about his encounter with God. When he said that they had to leave the confines of her daddy’s home. But in Prince of Egypt it does…well kinda, I mean it’s a cartoon but I imagine they portrayed a pretty accurate response. She had the “blank stare” “huh, are you for real” look on her face followed by the hanging of her head with a sigh. I’m sure there were many thoughts going through her mind, the danger her husband is going to face going home & telling his brother (not blood but…now The 10 Commandments plays every year at Easter you should know this story) Ramses that he had to let his people go. (why did I just think of the jail scene on Fresh Prince lol sorry) But ultimately she says “I’m going with you”. In the Bible God never said to pack up & take your family, like with Lot, God was specific about who was to go & with Abraham that he was to go alone. So I’m assuming she didn’t HAVE to go, she had a choice and she chose to be with her husband through the battle with his brother & withstand the trials right by his side.

Later on, when God was going to make Moses very ill because one of his sons wasn’t circumcised, Zipporah took a flint & circumcised him herself! She did that to protect her husband. I did a blog a while ago “Who’s Got You Covered” about husbands being the covering to their wives, wives need to have their husband’s back. Am I married, no not yet but the Lord has been preparing me lately. Now what if Zipporah had stayed home chillin with her pops Jethro & her sisters? Poor ole Moses would have been a goner…

A few months ago my friends parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. I think that’s soooooo awesome! Why can’t couples these days last 4 years, or 4 months!? Couples back in the day stuck it out! They didn’t run at the first sign of danger, they respected their vows. Why are so many couples today divorcing or shacking up like that’s really OK!? It’s not! Vows between a man & woman are sacred and marriage isn’t a contract. It’s a vow under God. Stop playin house, acting like a wife & wondering why he won’t marry you!! Get married!!

*Dismounts high horse*

Anyway, the whole point of this blog was to say ladies, let’s get it together. We’re always claiming that there are no good men, but I mean, one attracts what one gives off so…

I don’t know everything, but I do know what the Lord has been teaching me in the past month or so, changing my mind about somethings. Things I just had to have in my marriage…or not have. Like me saying that I never wanted to struggle with my husband until my wise sista said that the struggle brings you closer. Or that I HAD to get married in Connecticut, but one day God said to me “what if your future husband has someone who can’t travel?” I was like dang, OK Lord (but I really want to get married in Connecticut BUT now I’m open lol). Yeah so, God has just been pruning & working on me in that area. And having my husbands back will be #1, just like women did back in the day…

How Deep Is Your Faith…

So I’m sitting here, and I’m thinking, and I’m chit chatting with Jesus…I do that pretty often, just like I would do with a friend, without running the risk of my business being in the streets in 60 seconds flat (if that offended you, well…). Anywho! I have this gift right, He trusts me with peoples secrets because He wants me to pray for them. I’ve always been that friend all of my friends trust. I know her side and his side…knowing the two people I put both stories together and come up with the truth. I say all of this to say He was training me up all of that time to make sure I could be trusted with the secrets He had for me.

I’m talking to Him and I’m like umm Lord, OK I’ve been praying for my family, friends, my twitter fam and whatever strangers You tell me to pray for! (yeah I was yellin’…walking down the street…on my prayer walk) How come when I pray for myself it doesn’t happen!? Or it takes a LONG time! But my friends call me the next day like “Thanks for praying”! (Like they KNOW that He used me to get their prayer to Him). I know, all bad, but hey I’m human…I apologized. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that He uses me, and I LOVE that my friends trust me and they know that it’s a gift that He has given me, but I’m like dang Jesus!? Now I feel like Job! (Oh yeah, I did say that I wanted you to have faith in me like you did Job didn’t I?) That was about a three weeks ago…

As we were chit chatting the other day I’m thanking Him for my new niece, I was layed out on the floor cryin’ and snottin’ and…OK you get the picture, but He gave me a word that lead to a revelation…Faith. I say “OK, Lord you know I have faith in you”, but as I wiped my tears and blew my nose I thought about it, and I realized what He meant. He knows that I have faith in Him, because I do. I trust Him with all of my heart and soul! But when I pray for others my faith in Him is so much stronger! I get on my knees, I pray and I give to God. I don’t dwell on it or worry about it. I KNOW that whatever they need He will provide, but with myself I lack that confidence. I still worry and wonder, I’m not releasing it to Him like I’m supposed to. But by not releasing it to Him I’m showing a lack of faith. Why? Why do we do that, because I know I’m not the only one. Think about it, in life, when we’re pros at something we walk in BOLDNESS with our heads high and our chests out because we KNOW that we have learned whatever it is we need to do. We, we learned, us by ourselves by our own understanding (what does Proverbs 3:5-6 say?) Now we all have God given gifts…Hello! Given! He GAVE us something, we didn’t have to earn or work for it, it’s free! Something made from Him which is perfectly and wonderfully made, custom designed for each and every one of us. All we have to do is use it, share it to help others which is really helping ourselves because YOU GUYS He’s gonna bless us if we follow His word and do the will He has planned for our lives!

I have faith that when I ask my friends to pray for me that they will. I have faith that when I ask them to pray for strength in my nieces lungs that she will be OK because I’m confident in their relationship with Christ. That’s what it all boils down to, how is your relationship with Him? What does that say about me? How often am I studying my bible, not reading a passage and checking it off for the day but really digging deep and studying His word? The fact of matter is if our relationship with Christ is where it should be then there shouldn’t be any doubt in our minds. Our faith in Him should be strong.

I believe our lack of faith comes from us judging ourselves by our pasts. “Why would He bless me I’ve done x, y & z not to mention l,m,n,o,p”…We want others to forget and stop bringing up stuff that we already gave to God so why do we hold ourselves in bondage? I shouldn’t be secure in my prayer for others but shakey in my prayers for myself.

The crazy part is that He has faith in us…yeah us, ha! Our flesh, our spotty pasts, our pride, our mess ups. He has faith that we’ll do right by Him, once we get to know Him. Haha! He has faith that we WILL get to know Him! The Almighty, Most High, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Giver of Life has faith in us but we can’t have faith that He can pay a light bill or save a marriage!? With a single touch one can be healed from terminal cancer, He doesn’t even have to say a word. There was a woman in the bible who bled for 12 years, she was healed by simply touching the hem of Jesus’ garment. The instant she did her bleeding stopped! When He asked who touched Him she was afraid and it says she came trembling and fell at His feet. She told Him why she touched Him and you know what He said? “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” He was the man! Is that the problem? Are we afraid? Yep! Leaving that job is scary, leaving that relationship is scary, moving to a place where you know no one is scary. But if we have the faith in Him like she had what do you think The Lord will say to us? “Daughter, Son your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” All we have to do is have faith.

Oh, and last Sunday at church I was reminded that Job was blessed double after he prayed for everyone else…