Psalm 139:14

Adrianne

I thought about this verse because I was thinking about my daughter and how beautiful she is.  I always say if I could go back and be someone, I would want to be her. She got a new hairdo this week and it was different but it was so fitting to her.  She was going for the Michelle Obama-ish look. My daughter is funny when she gets a new do.  She posted a picture online and I was reading the comments on how pretty it is.  They are right but its funny how I see so much more when it comes to her.  I see her inner beauty and how she is simply a wonderful person.  She has this drive that is out of this world. She has overcome a lot in her short life and she continues to keep moving forward and creating goals for her future.  But to me, she is still that beautiful Baby Girl that I met 17 years ago.  I have watched intelligence blossom and a lot of what she has done have been based on her own determination.  I simply cannot take credit for it.  I love watching her play Jeopardy or Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader because I am in awe of the knowledge she have based on, not what she learned in school but on something she read some where in the past.

She will be graduating in a couple of months and I remember thinking they would be little forever but that proved to not be true and I hold those moments so dear to my heart.  I look at her now and I see this young lady who is about to leave home and start paving a way for herself and although I think I have said a lot over the years, I wonder if I am leaving anything out.  What else do I need to tell her?  See, I know my time of being in the same place with her is short because she has made it clear she will be living in different parts of the world because she is intrigued with other cultures and the way other people live.  She doesn’t just want to take a vacation, she want to live and adapt the lifestyles of people that are not like her.  I admired that because I spent 5 years in Guam and never left the island to explore when I had places like the Philippines, Bali and Japan a hop away.  This is something I am encouraging her to do.

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. I need her to know that God did not make a mistake when He made her.  He created her the way she is for a specific purpose and she should have peace knowing that He is in control.  All of her obstacles He knew they were coming.  I want her to know what I didn't know and that is she is who she is and as long as she is happy with that, it is always good. 

My Picture Frame

What do I see?

This morning I was channel surfing and the first station I stopped on was broadcasting Olivet Baptist Church morning service.  Pastor Kevin Adams was talking about Dreams That Lead to Destiny.  In this message, he was talking about how we need to see our blessings in order to see what God has for us.  He said that when God shows you a dream, He takes a snapshot of what is going to be and what you are going to do and He puts it in his pocket, because He is the God that works from the end back to the beginning. He has already seen our destiny.  Our problem is we are trying to pull people in our photo that was never in the original shot. People don't understand us because we have already seen the preview of what is going to happen. God will show us mountain to mountain but he will not say anything about the valley in the middle.  He will not show us the troubles we are going to have to endure to get to the other mountain.  What I got from that sermon was that my life has a destiny and I have a dream but there are times when I have to face some obstacles in order to get to the other mountain.

After that program I turned and landed on Joel Osteen.  I enjoy watching him because he will tell these humorous anecdote at the beginning of every program.  Today he was talking about how do you see yourself.  He told someone to take an empty picture frame and look into it every day and picture their future.  He said if you start to picture yourself a certain way, you will start to move in the direction and do things to accomplish those goals.  If you only looking at what is happening to you now then your thinking will be stuck on the problem and you can never move past it.  I like his example about how the purchase of their current location seem to take a long time but he and his wife would go to the building pray and walk around it and believe they are destined to be in that building.  He said he envisioned the mayor giving them the key and the ceremony at the grand opening.  He did this for three years.

I was not going to go to church this morning but I needed to know if these two sermons was truly God trying to tell me something because I don't believe in coincidences.  There is a reason why I needed to confirm this, so I headed down 75 on my way to the Chauncey Goode Auditorium to listen to Pastor Ternae Jordan. His scripture was Ephesians 3:19-21.¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. A third opinion was delivered to me.  He said the same thing the other two sermons focused on.  I have to know God is able to do what He said He would do and if I don't look at what God has for me and just look at my present situation then I will not be able to get to where I am supposed to be.  

Right now, I am in a "valley" but I am looking at my picture frame and I am seeing the blessings that are meant for me.  I know God is able because He has delivered me from so much in the past.  When I was in school there was times I wanted to quit and just say forget it but my picture frame always had me standing with my Bachelors and now I have it.  My picture frame has another picture and I am going to keep looking at it until I get to where I am supposed to be. I know I will look back on this post and I will just smile because this is my testimony that God is still working miracles and I got a blessing with my name on it. I believe He will do it so I am going to praise Him now.

Happy New Year

Well, here we are entering another year.  I am thanking God for bringing me and my family into another year.  I will have pretty busy year this year but I think it will be rewarding as well.  I never thought I would be entering the empty nest but that time is getting close because my youngest two will be graduating high school and entering college in the fall.  My oldest is hanging in there and continuing to reach for something better and as a mother, that is all I can ask of him. 

This past year, my BFF and I finished our Master's programs and that was a rewarding time for us both.  I will always say I knew I wanted to get a Bachelor's but I could have never envisioned myself with a Master's degree.  It was a commitment but one well worth it. 

Everyone is moving along and the peace that is in my life is a welcomed blessing. 

Five years ago, I had a "Five Year Plan" and now it is here.  I wanted to finish school and I wanted to leave Chattanooga once the kids graduated high school.  Its not that I don't like Chattanooga because for some it is a great place to live but I have always wanted to live in a different city from the one I grew up in and I came back to Chattanooga because of circumstances and once the kids got settled in their surroundings I did not want to interrupt that so I gave myself the time to plan a new adventure.  Time is near and I hope I am make preparations to move FORWARD.  Yeah, me and the POTUS have the same agenda.  This will be a great thing because I have always wanted to live in a big city so here I go.

I hope everyone have a great year and I hope it is filled with peace on Earth and good will toward men (and women).

Peace
TMB