Its a New Year!

Watch "Fred Hammond & RFC - When You Praise" on YouTube
For some, the realization of a new year is not a joyous, clarion call to come up higher, but I appreciate all that God has done, is doing and will do in my life.  I sense a breaking free of the things that has bound me for so long and pray your release also.  I know I haven't blogged in a long time.  I appreciate the silence also.  Yet, He still speaks.  Every revelation you get cannot be publicly shared, though it is treasured and held closely to your heart.

Resilience

What does it mean to be resilient? Over the course of approximately, 2 to 3 years, I have heard people complain about the economy, lose houses to foreclosure (some on purpose, others by default, and some by unforeseen circumstances), lose jobs and some actually walk away from one.  Nonetheless, there have been still many more to buy houses and land at amazing prices, get jobs that they didn't think they would get, others get in the best shape of their lives (mentally, spiritually, physically, financially, and relationally).  Still yet, others lose businesses while many more start ones and others grow in leaps and bounds.  So, what does it mean to be RESILIENT?

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from unforeseen, unformidable, and some form of destruction, misfortune and/or challenging experiences.  I have had a rather challenging schedule and way of life for the past several years myself.  People who observe my life many times say "You are busy" or "You are always on the go" or "You need to rest" or "I don't see how you do it." To all of them, I understand why they think the way they do and how their perception is what it is.  It actually reminds me of Nehemiah.  He was this guy in the Bible who was diligent about the call, task and mission God had him on.  He didn't have time to stop and take in what the people were saying, though at times he did hear of it...yet he remained diligent!

So, while others may describe my life as aforementioned, I ascribe it as diligent for good and not evil, productive, building a legacy, preparing to leave a mark that cannot and will not be erased, and fulfilling the call that God through Christ Jesus has for me.  I am fueled by His love and His grace because it wasn't so long ago that I could only wish I could go back to school, get my business off the ground and doubtful of myself because I thought that because I had failed previously in the same business that I have now in a different location even with the same name, I wasn't certain that I could do it again.  I remember needing food stamps and praying to have the money to pay my bills.  God is great and His mercy endures forever! So, while the onlookers are saying what they are saying, I pray God is saying, "Oh, I am so proud of you!". He sees I am using the energy, wisdom and talents in such a way, that He will have a return on His investment when He returns.  This is what resilience really mean and look like.  Be encouraged and get on to doing the thing(s) that you have in your heart to do that will make God smile and you know that your life matter.

Energy

Wow! I got so much out of this week, though I will not share it all in this one post because I don't intend to turn this blog post into a book (LOL!)

1. In observing, caring and advocating for a friend that I learned had been in an accident, I learned why it is not worth getting angry to the point of yelling and screaming. She has encountered some severe injuries...but when things get her upset it is as though she cannot speak, hyperventilates and comes very close (if not going all the way) to having an anxiety attack. However, when she is stable in her emotions, one can easily understand her. MY AHA!: My energy is MINE! It is more healthy for me to respond in ways that compliment me rather than harm me. For those that I repeated encounter that are draining and I find myself spending energy that cost me too much to rebuild, it is my responsibility to respond and to decide whether they should remain in my life and if so, in what capacity.

2. It felt good to not sabotage myself. I submitted a report today that I would have otherwise waited until Monday to complete and submit. Though it would've still been on time, I made a declaration several weeks ago that all of my reports will be in at least 24-48 hours ahead of time and they have been. MY AHA!: I create the energy that requires me to hurry and scurry as though the adrenaline has become a coping mechanism to make me feel worthy of having the property assignments. I disassociate with this agreement. "I give myself permission to flourish, to accept and have endless property assignments and have more closings in shorter and shorter periods of time."

May you be enriched by the things that I have learned about myself and choose to share so that your learning curve can be shorter than mine. I learned this from Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor in her book, My Stroke of Insight, while on the Oprah Winfrey show years ago, "Please take responsibility for the ENERGY you bring into the room." Thanks for reading! Feel free to share with others.

New Roads

I love it when I approach an area that I was previously so familiar only to learn that there is a new road recently completed and I get to drive on the new pavement! This occurred today. It is in these moments that I realize that God truly has my life in His hands. Taking the same path but approaching the new and it having no resemblance to the old is so refreshing! This is what God does with our lives. People who are familiar with us come in contact with us at a later date thinking we are the person they last interacted not realizing the transformation that have and is underway. They are sometimes secretly surprised or even baffled that the freshness of our response or way of being is nothing what they imagined.  It is a sweet fragrance to some and at the same time a stinch to others.  However, the one you are most interested in pleasing is your Heavenly Father. Stay the course and glorify Him even when it requires you to say, "No" to others.

Anything Worth Having is Worth Fighting For...

I sit in the van waiting for my daughter to tie up loose ends regarding her dorm and I am elated! I have diligently been appealing with the administration at my university to allow me to register for both my Education and Psychology Interns for Fall 2012. While this should have been pretty easy to do as registering for the rest of my classes were over the years, it wasn't. Why? Because the education intern requires a clearance which I began May 2012 and improper guidance was given for one of the background checks.  As for the Psychology intern, after attaining approval for serving with Gwinnett County CASA, I was told I didn't have sufficient Psyc classes specificly not including my life coaching one completed. However, my advisor had a different understanding. Nonetheless both classes were very important to me because they mark the end of my undergraduate studies as of December 14, 2012! So, calling, writing and appealing I did with department heads and administration to get special approvals for both! Now, there are some people who would have made comments to the likes of "maybe now is not the time" and putting God in it in a way that makes God out to be some passive person.  I was certain in both what I was supposed to do...does that mean if I didn't get the approvals I was disobedient or something, no.  However, it sure feels good for that to have been the results though!  In both situations, I know I have made a difference with my university and future students will not experience the things I did.  Anything worth having is worth fighting for. Fighting isn't a "bad" or "off" thing, rather an experience many times to see to what degree you say you really want something.  I am not sorry for the experience.  I am better. It showed me that I have matured and that I really do know how to assert myself in a manner that honors God and me.  Today, I am so proud of myself and the challenges that I have overcome.  I still have 2 classes to finish this summer ending on 8/17/2012 before I get to start the Fall classes 8/20/12, so I have in no way "arrived".  Law school looks more in view than it ever has and I'm so glad about it! What is it standing in your way to your achieving the results you are certain you are to have? Before you throw in the towel and discredit yourself for the prize and justify that "now may not be the time for it", have you exhausted your resources and demonstrated it by the energy you were willing to expend for it?  If not, pray and see how you are to proceed.  You never know you may be the difference that the world is waiting for! Who knows?!

P.A.U.S.E.D.

There is something to be said when you cannot pause. I just finished a pretty extensive run of classes. I know it was the Lord that awakened me this morning and I had to get out of bed at 545a on a day that should've been a "down day" due to it being the 4th of July. The short story version is I had not finished my major assignment for my Marriage Coaching class (which was now late) and took the late penalty for the Psychology Research assignment the night before. Unbeknownst to me, I was tired. I had not "paused" to purposefully assess my own behavior which were tell-tale signs first and foremost.  Nonetheless, when you read this research paper, let me tell you, I know God gave me the Abstract which in turn gave me direction.  Yes, I had an idea of what the topic was supposed to be, but nothing else. I was so busy dreading and not doing the work and acting like I had all the time in the world to get it done. This is so out of character for me. Now, with all my work in except the last last research assignment (its in to my professor to review just not on the assignment link), and my real estate work that I met the deadline for, I had a headache but was thinking it was the half cup of coffee I had at about 730am just for taste and warmth. I was still ignoring the signs. After my quiet time, I decided to lay down...its now 3 or 4 hours later and I just awakened realizing now how tired I must have been and the additional things I wanted to get done.  All I can say is that I'm glad I laid down and feeling the headache subsiding as I type this. P.A.U.S.E.D<:

Pray & Purposely
Assess & Adjust
yoU, yoUr, oUr
Situation(s)
Effectively &
Deliberately Decide to obey the call.

Your very life depends on it.

The 4 Letter Word...I Just Found This Post I Never Published from 5/2/12

The 4 letter word I love and hate when I can't get my way and take full advantage of the quality of saying it and doing it. Wonder what it is? REST! (Uh huh...where was your mind?)

So appropriate considering the previous post just published.