african american

Prayer for my People

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Lord Jesus,

You created us different for a reason. You darkened our skin and curled our hair. It was according to your magnificent purpose and your Everlasting plan. You operate in the spiritual and physical realms so you know better than us what is going on. But you have taught me, that if I cry out, you will hear and answer.

My heart is heavy and my soul cries out.

Lord, the devil is trying to annihilate my people. He has used many things in his arsenal including destroying our family units, but we are strong and have been able to push past that.  Now he has taken to killing us defenseless in the streets.

Lord, like you defended Israel in Egypt and Babylon, defend us.

You birthed us from the bottom of a ship,so I know there is a mighty plan at work.  We are your people Lord, you have seen to that. You taught us who you were before we could even read your word.  You put a song in our spirit that connects us to you. Some have strayed, but we are your people.

My prayer Lord is this. For every one of us that they kill, give us 10 more. Let us multiple to the point where this continent is so full of dark skinned people it makes the African continent jealous. Let our oppressors see that every time they kill one of us, 10 more will spring up.

Not only am I asking you to multiple my people Lord, I am asking to you bless whatever they put their hands to in your name. Make us many and bless our work in your name. Show our oppressors that you are a mighty God who decides what this continent looks like and who will run it.

Lord, I pray you will look upon our oppressors and change their hearts. Take the scales from their eyes and allow them to see that they are persecuting you.

Work out your plan and protect my people. I know you will do exceeding, abundantly above all I can ask or imagine.

Amen.

 

 

It is darkest before dawn

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It is not my favorite time of day, but when I am up, it is the most beautiful part of the day.

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It is always good to see light come breaking through. There are many dark shadows, but light is on the way. The Lord calls songs of joy out of the darkness into the breaking light, and it is usually sung by birds in that big tree in my neighborhood. (psalms 65:8)

The same thing with life. Just when you think it is over, God will step in and change things.

Traveling up and down I-35 is difficult these days because of the construction. It is hard on  the roads which in turn is hard on the cars. I had two bad tires because of potholes. I could only afford to change one.

I had to pray that the other one held out until I had the money to change it.It was starting to crack all around the edges. There were signs along the way to remind me of the dangers of traveling on poor tires.

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But God said. I got this.

Today as I was replacing the second tire, I met a lady with the same problem. Potholes had broken her rims and destroyed her tire. But we were in a place where someone could do something about it.

He reminds me that He has whatever I face in His hands. He has a purpose for each of us in life, for His name to be proclaimed. ( Exodus 9:16)

Sometimes as you are waiting for dawn in your situation, there are others who light the way. Sometimes you are alone. It is okay to be the only one in the parking lot.

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Some of the things God calls you to do, it is just for you. He is revealing himself to you. Not everyone is going to understand what you understand about God. Remember Jesus went up on the mountain alone to pray.

This week He performed miracle after miracle. He reminded me of the power of my tongue. He taught me to be more like Him. He showed me his beautiful work in the sunrises. Who could ask for more?

I am learning to live with the darkness because I know the sun is on the way.

 

 

5 Thing You Can Learn From Nature

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Enjoy the pond, even though it might not be yours

I was at the Duck Pond this week and was amused by the sight of the turtles.  You see it is called the Duck Pond. It was designed around the ducks. There were lots of ducks there, but the turtles didn’t care.

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The turtles did not have to deal with the current of the Trinity River or the other creatures that live in the river. They enjoyed the amenities of the Duck Pond with their friends. That is what we need to do. If you are a turtle, enjoy swimming in someone else’s pond.  Don’t try to change the name to the Duck & Turtle Pond.  Just enjoy your swim. When it is time to move on, move on.

Even birds have down time from the flock

One thing I noticed about groups of birds is that it is like an endless game of tag. They all fly to one point and before the last one gets down, the first one takes off again. It is kind of like a house with a bunch of kids, they are seldom all still at the same time.

 

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So as long as I have been walking at this place, there is always one bird like this one. It sits in the tall bushes and people watches. Like this bird, we need to get away from our flock and see the world around us for what it is. We need moments to sit in the tall grass, dip our feet in cool water and rest.

Everyday is the opportunity to make a masterpiece

The sun is starting to rise earlier. On one hand I love it because I can actually see the world around me instead of dark blobs. On the other hand, I hate it because traffic is much thicker because other people can see the road too.

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As long as the Lord paints pink morning skies, there are opportunities to be had during that day. Each day is an incredible work of art and we have the chance to make it a masterpiece.

Sometimes our enemies can’t be seen

One of the most sinister enemies in the State of Texas is the heat. We all feel we have been around long enough to manage the heat or that it is not that dangerous. But heat will sneak up on you and destroy you. You may feel tired, sleepy or weak. Manage your time in the heat and hydrate.

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During the winter and spring months I could walk late in the afternoon. But as summer rears its hot head, I am making plans to walk in the cool of the mornings. Just because you don’t see your enemies, doesn’t mean they are not out there trying to destroy you. Sometimes God holds things back from you to protect you. Just like the heat, respect your enemies.

Sometimes the skies are blue and road ahead is full of obstacles

We are all on the road to somewhere and there are usually things in the way. This week I was encouraged by Muhammad Ali’s life as told by Billy Crystal in his 15 Rounds. Despite all of the obstacles, Ali continued to see himself as the Greatest. You are great too.

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We are all going somewhere and your perception of the journey will determine everything about it.  We need to be like the birds. Praising God for his timely provisions with songs. Everything about this life He has designed for you. He is telling you through all of the things around you. You only have to “Be still and know He is God.”

 

 

 

End of a Chapter

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I love it when a story end well.

This week started out stormy. It rained and flooded. I read countless jokes about building an ark. My theory is that our lives are so dirty, God is washing away the filth.

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I remembered worrying about how I would navigate through the storms. All of my morning drive times was supposed to be filled with storms. Yet, every time I thought I would have a battle, God stepped in and handled it. Not one storm during my drive time. Although I did get soaked a time or two this week. Yet there is something about the water that falls from heaven. It makes things grow. It will destroy man made things, but it will make things of God grow.

I found that one of the benefits of this wet spring is flowers. I have been able to smell the fragrance of flowers before I am ever close enough to see them. That is some powerful fragrance.

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When something out of the ordinary happens, it causes a ripple effect. All of this rain also keeps birds on the ground because one of their main sources of food come up for air. I just get a kick out of a bird standing under a shade tree. They have the ability to soar through the sky, but they stay on the ground.

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The sun came out, the skies were blue with white puffy clouds. I was able to get many steps in frustrating my friends in our Fitibit challenge. (If you need to lose weight, get your competitive friends fitbits. My friends and I almost kill ourselves trying to stay ahead of one another.) Yet sometimes during the most common moments of our lives, the greatest moments come.

During this dreary rainy week, my daughter graduated from high school completing something she had been working towards for 12 years.  In the few minutes walk from the car to the staging place for the graduates, life fell apart.  The shoes she bought didn’t fit like they did in the store and began to come off with each step. We left the umbrella in the car and it began to pour rain which would make her beautifully straight hair into a nice sized afro. We were getting wet. (But I was getting my steps in)

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She didn’t fall walking across the stage. She graduated. We made it. Even though storm struck in the final hours, God held it all together. This is what life is like.

Today, I officially offered her my blessing as she entered adulthood. I had good friends write blessings to her reminding her of His faithfulness in the past. And I prayed for her. An old chapter ended and a new one began. God is faithful.

 

You can’t follow if you are in front of me

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When my kid was little I would constantly tell her that. She was always in a hurry to get to wherever we were going. To be honest, we were probably running late. She would be out in front of me, but going the wrong way. We finally got to a point where I would just look at her, and she would say, “I know, I can’t follow you in front of you.”

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She was a pushy little kid who would have talks with me asking if we could leave early because she didn’t want to be late. She was always in a hurry and talked constantly until she passed out sleep.  She hated naps and sleep. She loved going and doing.

She has matured since then and this week we will celebrate a major milestone. The time for her to follow has come to an end and it is time for her to blaze her own path.  I am so excited!!! (I am so tired of bumping into this child because she is trying to slow down for me)

Even though I am a single parent, I cannot say that I did it by myself. I truthfully have to say, God did it and used me and an awesome community of Family and Friends.  I could not have done it alone. But let me tell you the secret: You let your child know up front Joshua 24:15 is your motto and stick to it. (No you don’t get to choose when you go to church and you don’t get to choose when you go to bible study.) It was my duty to teach her God’s ways (and you can’t teach His ways without His Word.) Then surround that child with people who will pray for them daily. (Pick people who actually know God and have a relationship with Him)

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Our lives have been filled with storms and sunshine, but the fragrance of prayer to Jesus has always been present. He has been faithful through the cloudy days, torrential rains, high winds, lightning and thunder. He has outlasted jobs, homes, churches, people.

He taught us to join a group of believers and serve. We were members at several churches and served there. We participated in bible study. I taught her to put feet to your beliefs. Don’t listen to what people say. Look at what they do. Many will say they are Christians, but will live like the devil. Live like Jesus told the truth.

Your children will do what they see you do. If you are a whore, they will be whores. If you are a drunkard, they will be drunkards. If you are a Trekkie…

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I am excited because this is not my work. It is God’s work. I am reading C.S. Lewis’ The Weight of Glory. He explained we like to talk about what we sacrifice, and not so much the love God has lavished on us. The Lord has lavished amazing love on us through this journey. I have met some amazing men and women of God who have prayed us to this point. Thank You, Lord.

He has begun a good work in my daughter’s life and will see it through.(Philippians 1:6) His plans are higher than my plans because He doesn’t think like me. (Isaiah 55:8-9)  She is about to start a new path where there will be sunshine and storms. She knows prayer will lead her safely through.

What A Day

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It was amusing for me to have a type of day that started at 7am and will end well after midnight. The sad thing is that I did not get all of my 10,000 steps in. (And I was too busy to take extra steps.) And true to my personality type, there were lots of tasks to be done and they were done.

Duck

As I waited for my photo client in the park this morning, I saw this duck. unlike all of the other ducks at the pond, he stayed in this position. The birds around him walked, swam, flew and interacted with one another. This one flipped around occasionally, but this is what he did the couple of hours I was there.

I assumed something was wrong with it and could not help but feel sorry for it. It had the power to fly, swim and walk but did not use it. It is like people and their gifts. They have the power to do amazing things, but stay cloistered in their little worlds and never spread their wings to do the things they were designed to do.

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Had an awesome photo shoot with this lovely young lady who is about to graduate high school. It was a good time capturing the moment of her life when she is about to take off in flight. I can’t help but think that if God gives wonderful gifts to birds, what amazing things He places in us.

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I also got to meet new people at church and spend fun time with my daughter. One of the things that I love about my daughter is that she is concerned about my growth as a Christian as I am hers. She challenges me and I will miss it as she moves off to college.

Turtle

Yet here is a lesson I caught. (LOL) Even though this pond was titled around ducks, full of ducks and that is who the people came to see, this little turtle didn’t let it stop him from enjoying the duck habitat. Sometimes we can’t enjoy a place because we are all caught up in what it is called.

This turtle swam in the water, sat on wet concrete sides and probably ate the food intended for the ducks.He did not let not being a duck stop him from enjoying the world he was in. A lesson well taught little turtle.

You Know You Know

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I started researching my family history when I was in my early thirties. This was before websites that had tons of information on people. I used to sit at the library and read census records  and anything else I could get hold of. I compiled lists and made charts.

I traced my family back to about 1820 Farmington, Tennessee. I was very proud of all the work I had done, but it was speculation based on family legends and documents I found. I filled in my family tree with names and dates. There were a long list of people who were were related too. Some had great accomplishments and others were ordinary, but we were related. I shared it with other family members. Not many were interested.

The other day I got a message telling me my DNA matched some other peoples’ DNA and we should form a circle around a certain ancestor. This ancestor takes me earlier than I was. I laughed thinking I knew we were related before there was a DNA test to prove it. This just confirmed what I already knew.

This process reminded me of what heaven will be like. Some of us are going through things that seem tedious because we believe something.  We kinda of have an idea about it, but don’t really understand the details about it.

One day we are going to have the best giggle when Jesus tells us we are apart of his family. I mean we know it now, but when He tells us. That will be a day.

 

Privateers

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He tried to driver her insane and burn up everything she owned, but Claire would chase the pirate who wrecked her life with everything she got. Would it be enough?

 

Privateers

A single young woman is tricked by modern day pirates losing everything she owned. As she tries to figure out what happened to her belongings, her world crashes around her as government and private agencies treat her as a suspect. Determined to find the man who did this to her, she stumbles onto a government top secret. Finding this modern day pirate turns into a race against lethal forces.

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Privateers

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It was the stuff dreams were made of: nightmares. Claire fought with pirates, local and federal authorities chasing the truth and learning that she was much stronger than she thought.  Would it be enough?

Privateers

A single young woman is tricked by modern day pirates losing everything she owned. As she tries to figure out what happened to her belongings, her world crashes around her as government and private agencies treat her as a suspect. Determined to find the man who did this to her, she stumbles onto a government top secret. Finding this modern day pirate turns into a race against lethal forces.

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