Something To Draw From

Within the past two years I have prayed The Prayer of Jabez and The Serenity Prayer almost daily sometimes twice a day. I get up in the morning with the prayers and then I read daily devotionals by Pastor Jerry Savelle. I have learned to cover myself and my family before I get out the bed and before I fall sleep at night. Now that this has become a routine I can see how things are working out in my life. My territory is being enlarged. I teach amazing students and that impacts their families and communities, I go to my blog and see people from all over the world are hitting my site and to be honest I have people as friends on Facebook and Twitter that are both awesome and inspiring. For those things I am blessed indeed.

What I am finding that is most amazing is that since my prayer life has improved over the years I have a lot more to draw from when adversity comes up. I can rest upon the promises that God has for me. I know that God will never leave me and that I never have to worry about my needs or the needs of my family being met. I thank God for awesome grandmothers who have, and had, faith that God is all you need. I am thankful for my mom who always has the right words to say and even my younger son has learned that prayer really does work.

One day last week I was speaking with a young man about a new business venture and he was a bit frustrated about all of the things he needed to do and didn’t think about before hand. On Monday I spoke with a pastor who had an idea about a book for his church organization. As I spoke with both of these men the information they needed just sort of came out of me. I had to stop and ask my sister “I sound like I’m in a workshop don’t I?” After speaking to the business owner he said to me, “Arlinda, I really appreciate what you said. I really needed something to draw from and you provided that.

Don’t we all need that? Something to draw from? To regain strength? To renew our hearts? Have you ever just been in a dark and lonely place? You wonder how did I get here? I’ve learned to ask, what should I learn here? Though even in my learning it can still be difficult and hurtful. I would be lying if I told you the tears don’t fall and that sometimes I wish it would all just come to an end. When I feel like that God has this incredible way of soothing me and honestly I fall right to sleep. I feel that God is building me up for awesome experiences that even I could have never dreamed for myself.

If nothing else I am humble about my gifts and talents. I take nothing for granted and I never know who I will be a blessing to. I never know who will be a blessing to me. I pray that you have an awesome prayer life and a wonderful relationship with God so that in those valley experiences you will have something to draw from so that you can bless another person.

 

Yolanda Adams - Just A Prayer Away

Milani Nails It - Limited Edition Summer Products - Milani Cosmetics

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Milani Color Fiesta Nail Lacquer

Nail Polish Reflection – Happy Father’s Day

Today is Father’s Day and to be truthful I have been trying to write this particular blog for a while about my father.

When I was a little girl my father would often polish my nails, I wonder if he remembers that. We would sit in the living room on the top floor of our first home and he would sit with me, probably with music playing or the television on and apply coats of nail polish to my little bitty hands. I know I had to be very young because we didn’t move from that home until I was about 10. (I think)

In reflection those moments were probably our bonding moments, our sit down time together and you know what? It wasn’t until I was older that I even realized that nail polish could spill out of the bottle. Not one time when my father would use nail polish did I see it anywhere but on the brush and on my nails. So I’m thinking, “this must be magic”. I guess in a sense it was for a little girl to have this big person sit and tend to her and make her hands pretty.

I can’t remember the first time I spilled nail polish but I do know it’s hard to clean up, causes discoloration on surfaces and leaves a crazy smell for a long time. So now I am extra careful when I polish my nails. Each time I do I think about my father and those early memories. How he protected me from a potential mess that could stain me, leave me messy and smelling horrible.

Hmmmmm!!! All of that from a bottle of nail polish.

Happy Father’s Day Sonny!!!!!!

Isaac Quaye Ministering Best In Me/ I Give Myself Away

This video was recorded last night @ Happy Hour Service @ Light of The World Ministries. It was kinda hard to monitor the camera because I could feel the presence of God. I pray that you are blessed with this video. At the 10:30 mark Isaac gets lost in worship. Even listening right now I can feel God's presence.

I truly believe that God is elevating Isaac's minstry in ways that could never be imagined.

Be Blessed

To learn more about Isaac Quaye visit http://www.isaacquaye.com/  He's also on Facebook and you can follow him on Twitter


Isaac Quaye Ministry (IQM) ~ Saved. Delivered. Inspired.

UnWrapped Lit--Double Your Pleasure with Francis Ray

Author Francis Ray

Both Coming June 21, 2011



Christian’s Delight – Cincinnati’s Newest Christian Owned Establishment

This morning while on Facebook I received a friend request. I get real special when I respond to requests. Generally, as a rule of thumb, I have a procedure when confirming friends. Well, at least I try to. :) So when I saw the friends that we had in common, I thought “OK, I’ll be his friend”

As a result of confirming that friendship I was introduced to Cincinnati’s newest Christian owned Establishment – Christian’s Delight located on 1180 West Kemper Road in Forest Park, Ohio. Nick’s, profile picture, pulled me in to wanting to see and know more about Christian’s Delight. From the pictures I could tell that this is a place that I will have to not only visit but tell others to visit also. It’s absolutely gorgeous with modern furniture and beautiful urban colors. I’ll refer to the decor as urban chic.

Christian’s Delight is open seven days a week, serving lunch and dinner, and the venue can be rented out for private parties and events. I even called the owner to inquire about rental fees and he, Nicholas Taylor, was very friendly and professional. You could hear through the phone how excited he is about his new venture.

Nicholas wants Christians to have a venue to patronize that balances out their day. The music played at this venue is a mixture of clean secular music and gospel music. The location is smoke and alcohol free, with plenty of parking. Oh! And admission is free. He refers to Christian Delight’s as a “Light Club” as opposed to a “Night Club”.

 

This coming Friday is labeled as being for the “Grown & Sophisticated” and on Saturday Nicholas will roll out the first installment of The Christian Apollo at 7p.m. He informed me that you won’t get booed or pulled off the stage. After several installments a winner will be chosen and the grand prize winner will receive either studio time or air time on a local gospel radio station to promote their ministry.

For more information about Christian’s Delight or The Christian Apollo call 513.648.9723

The View As I See It

 

On a recent trip I was driving through Tennessee as the sun was setting. I set my phone on camera mode and took several pictures. Both of my sons tried to cue me as to when was a good time to press the button. Alex slowed down so that I could get a better image in some treeless areas. Tyler in all of his excitement just yelled for me to take the picture. His energy is so amazing.

Once I looked at the pictures I actually liked the very first one that I took. It was a cool experience and one that I will cherish for years to come. The view at that moment was incredible. My pumpkins and I on a road trip. That in itself was an unexpected and exciting experience. The view at that moment was beautiful and I had to capture it so that I could remember the beauty of it.

The view for my family has at times gone through the valleys of ups and downs. What family hasn’t? It’s how you handle the difficult times and celebrate the good times. At age 41 I realize that I have probably lived more than half of my life. What I am valuing most right now is the lessons and experiences that I have learned as a Christian, as a mother, as a teacher, as a writer, and simply as a woman. What drives me now is the legacy that I will leave.

Recently I had the extreme opportunity of guiding a student as she went through the devastating loss of her son at birth. She decided to have a funeral for him. Imagine going through that at the age of 17? As much as I could be there for her I was. When I saw her son at the funeral I was in awe of his beauty. This beautiful boy took my breath away. There was a crowd of family and friends surrounding the tiny coffin and we were all frozen. We simply couldn’t believe how beautiful he was. I reached out and touched his tiny hand and then his curly hair. I left there thinking just how awesome God is. He will allow us to see His beauty even through our pain.

You see from my view what is gone is just that gone but you can still the beauty in the lesson. You can see the beauty in the experience. The sunset I took a picture of is gone. Baby Ja’Quan he’s gone. The beauty isn’t gone and the lesson is still there. With the help of my family I was able to capture a moment. With the gifts that God has given me I was able to uplift a brokenhearted mother.

God is doing a work in me. He wants my views to change. He wants me to see His beauty and lessons in all things. Even when the view doesn’t look all that beautiful to the human eye, it’s absolutely perfect in His.

Uncomparable

Yesterday I was so excited about Isaac Quaye ministering on A Time To Pray. I had asked him the previous day about his song selections. When he told me what they were I started thinking, I wish he would sing Uncomparable. I didn’t say anything to him about it but I silently prayed that other people would be able to hear that song and be blessed by it. So when my mom called me so I could listen to the program, via speaker phone, I was pleasantly pleased when the first song Isaac ministered was Uncomparable. God really does hear us.

Uncomparable has to be one of my favorite songs off Isaac’s latest cd My Secret Place. The song begins with the following words. I searched the whole world, to find someone like You. I searched it through and through, none can compare to You. That is so true in many areas of our lives, where we are searching for the the '”right” person, the “right” place to worship or the “right” employment opportunity. In that search we often lose who God created us to be by doing what we want to do in order to please the flesh.

One of the interesting things that I love about the song is the title itself. If you go to Webster and type in uncomparable it will tell you that this is not a word. If you go to that same site and type in incomparable it gives you the following definitions. 1. matchless 2. eminent beyond comparison. As an educator one of my favorite lessons to teach is about prefixes and suffixes so I ask you what do “un” and “in” have in common? They both mean “not” or “opposite of”. So I will apply the same definition of incomparable to uncomparable. Our God is matchless. Our God is eminent beyond comparison, meaning He stands out above the rest.

I can’t compare any man that I have dated to Him. I can’t compare any relative or friend to Him. I can’t compare any employment opportunity to Him. He’s matchless. He’s above all things in my life. When we really get that full understanding of not only who God is but who God is in our lives we will stop searching and realize that the One we have been searching for is already here and He loves us infinitely.

 

When it’s said and done He is the Mighty God

If there is a doubt then you should search search again

You would come to find that He is the only true God

He is the only One who is Uncomparable

(Lyrics from the song Uncomparable)

Radio Book Party - Mama Ruby by Mary Monroe

 

Virtual Book Launch Party for Mary Monroe

Hosted by the Black Authors Network and Ella Curry

Wednesday Night, June 15, 2011 at 8-10 pm EST

Black Authors Network Radio Show

Call to join the party and discuss books: 646.200.0402

Radio Book Party - Mama Ruby by Mary Monroe