Old To New Creations

*Disclaimer* Warning, this post may be offensive to some and honestly, I'm okay with that.  My goal is and never will be to help others by telling them what they want to hear, but what will help them become the best that they can be.  As I was driving in my truck, listening to a message referencing why Christians are not going after nations by Kris Valleton, which was an awesome message by the way, he stated something that rocked my world concerning false humility and self-esteem that left me Wow'd and led me to the realization that humility, used in the wrong context, can actually be tied to issues with self-esteem.  I know, you may not have had the same reaction that I had, but that's ok.  By the end of this post, I believe that you will have your own WOW moment that will lead to change, like it did for me.  What was it about that simple sentence that grabbed my attention? I'm glad you asked!  About two weeks prior to ...

             Who told our young women that masculine traits make you independent, strong, and cute? Let me help you, dear sister, a woman's strength lies in the power of her SOFT words and STRONG perseverance to pray her family through while still guiding them through their right now! She talks faith, lives faith, acts in faith and Is ready to do warfare on the enemy for her family! She creates, manages, achieves, takes care of business, and doesn't have an excuse bone in her body.  She KNOWS her WORTH and VALUE so much so that her husband doesn't have to wonder "what you been doing all day" or whether or not someone else has her eyes because he KNOWS God has her heart, first!  Her ability to show strength in her feminine traits can attract a good man quicker than these boys that just want to boo you up, plant seeds that they are not man enough to properly father God's way, and can't see past Netfli...

Black Men, I know it may not seem like you matter to this Godless society and the reality is, you don't. I have stood by, like most people, not really knowing how to respond to such tragedies. I have mourned, like these young men and women, were my husband, sons, father,  niece , or nephew. I have prayed and interceded and have tirelessly lectured my children, all BLACK boys, you see.  I write this because I, unlike some, have to admit that I do not know what it's like to be you in this society. I don't know what it's like to have your black women being preferred over you because you look too "thuggish", "ghetto", or "black". I don't know what it's like to be emasculated in front of your children,  wives, and families, even in your brutal deaths. I don't know what it's like to have to face a cold world each day not knowing whether or not you will return the same way you left.  I get it! I GET IT! I ...

Today began like any other day, I dreaded getting out the bed (I'm not into early morning routines), but I had to go to work! No, I don't clock in at a normal nine to five, but more like an extended shift, day end and day out, being a mom. After dropping my son off at basketball workouts, I was determined to make it to water aerobics ON TIME! In the middle of water aerobics, the pool was bombarded with some life guard trainees and a loud, I mean, very loud instructor! Well, let me just tell you, my once pleasant workout began taking an alternate route as I carefully began studying the actions of the drill sergeant, I mean, instructor. He highlighted every mishap of the trainees and they moved at every command like soldiers marching in battle. It didn't take me long to realize that he was well respected. Just then, he made a profound statement:  "If you do not finish this task, it will never be because you do not have the ability, it will simply be becaus...

There was this annoying bump that I had on my skin that took the longest to heal. Just when I thought it was healed, I would wake up with more inflammation. Finally, after a couple of  weeks, it began to scab over. Me, because it was slightly distracting to me, pealed the scab off only to discover, I interrupted the healing process. It is then that I realized what happens when hurts don't heal properly. The hurt, if unaddressed, will develop a scab, but the wound never heals completely. At any moment something can trigger that wound to reopen and expose what's underneath.  I began to notice some of my own wounds that, over the years, had developed a scab, but were still raw underneath. I noticed that in my attempt to soothe my emotional wounds over with surface level smiles, hellos, and fake giggles; the hurt and resentment were brewing underneath and where, like that bump that kept getting inflamed, began inflaming my interactions with the ones that had hurt m...

I was going about my daily routine, optimistic about what the day was going to be like. I had my list of To-do's, like most life jugglers such as myself. I'd just finished a good workout, breakfast, and morning devotion. I'd dotted every "I" and crossed every "T" like I was supposed to until....Out of nowhere, things began to fall apart! Phone call after phone call about misbehaving little ones and the famous quote I'm sure any mom just loves to hear (I'm being sarcastic of course), "Oh Mom, I forgot". On top of that I had research to work on, a husband that had been gone away at work for weeks, and approaching deadlines, bills, and above all other emergencies, dinner had to be cooked because going out for dinner was not an option! Does this sound familiar to anyone other than me? Simply put and as I often say, life happens, even while life is happening. Duty calls, kids have tough days, and husbands and loved ones are not always...

I've never confessed to be better than "us". The idea that I've heard so many people from my past express about the new me that I'm aspiring to be.  My only motivation was and still is, is to be better than my former self. You know, the self that felt "less than", and let's face it-inadequate. The self that struggled with knowing her worth and accepting my own differences. The self that didn't understand how my awkwardness in trying to engage in small talk that were, for me, painful because it just felt fake.  I also didn't quite understand why I had such a strong disdain for meaningless drama. The self whose creative side was just as suffocated as her emotional side. Y'all...yeah, I said it.. y'all can't know the freedom that comes along with not only finding your purpose, but accepting that a more than capable God breathed life into me and placed such an assignment called purpose, talents, giftings, or whatever you ident...