One-derings Lavender Farm

On September 9 my son and I jumped on 71N to travel to Clarksville, Ohio to visit Onederings Lavender Farm. If I could describe the visit it would be peaceful and informative. When we arrived and opened the car door the scent of lavender filled my soul.



The owner was preparing Lavender soap when we arrived and she offered us lavender tea as she spoke to us about the farm. Amy was so gracious to us and if you know me and my love for lavender I was in all kinds of heaven. We visited the rooms where the soap is dried and where lavender is dried and stored in bunches. I was all teary eyed at the site of being surrounded by my favorite scent.





I asked her about the name of the farm. She talked about the oneness of God and the farm is designed to walk through, or wander in. Needless to say on this day I sipped lavender tea as I wandered through the lavender farm with the sun shining on me and my gospel music playing.



At Onederings I definitely felt the peace that passes understanding.



From The Inside...... All I Want

On Wednesday I went looking for the "Headwinds" sermon by Pastor Sarah Jakes-Roberts. I found the entire service online and I tried to fast forward to her preaching. I bypassed her sister praying, the music ministry, all of it to get to where I could hear this incredible message for the 3rd time. As soon as I see her, I select play but what happened when I pressed play blessed my life. Before Pastor Sarah begins her message she says, "I believe God wants to do something in this place that has something to do with our insides." Then she asked Maranda Curtis to sing "Let Praises Rise".

 

Earlier this week God spoke to me and He simply said, "You've allowed the wrong people to get inside of you." I kept thinking about what it meant for the negative energy and negative words that I have allowed to invade my space. The key is that, while I'm learning to be gentle with myself, I allowed it. I allowed it to happen even when past experiences told me that pain was a possibility. In allowing that I put my heart in the way of hurt. What I was allowing on the inside manifested on the outside. Self-doubt, low self-esteem, brokenness.

 

Lately I have been spending quiet time with God daily and allowing Him to speak to me. In my heart I believe He sent me to find this song because after I heard it I found it on YouTube a couple of times. Though it was when I saw Maranda's video I stopped, bought it on i-Tunes and searched for the lyrics. I thank God for loving me so much that He would direct me on the path that gives me what I need at the moment that I need it.

 

Some of the words just grab at my heart. There's a set of lyrics that end with the word "inside" and the more I listen, the more I want this for myself. I want His praises to rise, I want Him to be delighted, I want my life filled. Oh, and yes, I want to be on fire from the inside.

 

Let praises rise from the inside

May You delight from the inside

Come fill my life from the inside

Set me on fire from the inside

 

Lately at work we've been pushing changing mindsets and being mindful. In this present moment I want to change self-doubt to hope, low self-esteem to high self-confidence, brokenness to peacefulness.

 

Cause all I want

is for You

For You to be glorified

For You to be lifted high

 

Now, that part of the song. It weakens me to the point where I realize that all I want is for God to be glorified and lifted up in what I do, in how I live my life, in all things. So now that some things have been moved out of the way, I simply want God to:

 

Fill my heart till they all they see is You oh Lord,

Glorify Your name.

 

No matter where I am. No matter what I'm doing, I need God to fill my heart to the point where when I show up there He is.

 

Cause all I want

is for You

For You to be glorified

For You to be lifted high

Maranda Curtis Live "The Maranda Experience" Let Praises Rise

Let Praises Rise - ORU Worship Center

Faith Builders Cory Coco Brother Condrey: Come On....Really???

He Left Nothing........ Our Ramundo's Pizza Experience

I'll start this blog my simply sharing that my child does not eat crust. Like never!!! Lol

 

Yesterday Tyler had an afterschool activity and I had the task of figuring out what to do until practice, which mind you is 30 minutes from home. I knew if we went to my parents to wait... See, that's not a good idea. They have this Lazy Boy chair that kidnaps me every time that I visit. So, no. I needed another plan.

 

He was hungry and I decided to begin our travel to the other side of town and eat in the area. I knew there was other restaurants in the area. We travel up Beechmont and we get ready to turn into Wendy's and a sign caught my eye. "Ramundo's Pizza By The Slice" I looked at Tyler and he looked at me. Oh, there would be no chicken nuggets and a frosty tonight.

 

I drive over and yes, I'm captivated by the outside décor. We walk in and our eyes lit up. This place is so nice inside and clean and full of sunlight. Can I be honest? With everything going on in America, I thought, "I hope that we are not treated badly because of the color of our skin." With that thought going through my mind the employee at the counter greeted us and asked what our order was. That made me feel so much better.

 

He explained the pizza by the slice concept, Tyler had no clue. He truly wanted pineapples with his pizza. Tyler ordered two slices of sausage pizza. I asked how big the slices were and I believe he said, "We cut it from our 22 inch pizza." Ummm... I'll just have one veggie slice please.

 

 

 

 

While we wait, Tyler gets a drink and writes on the chalkboard. I pull out my phone and start taking pictures because this place was all kinds of awesome. I knew this was simply a blog waiting to happen. Once we receive our order, we go to the car. I'm thinking Tyler will eat a slice now and the other one later. Nope, that was not the case. He was so happy and incredibly cute as he tried to figure out how not to drop the sausage with his second slice. We sat in the car, eating our delicious pizza,  and just when I thought he was done with his pizza, he did the unthinkable, the "are you serious'? He ate the crust and I about passed out. Remember, my child does not eat crust.

 

As I begin to pull off he says, "We coming back right?" Of course we are, possibly every practice.

 

This restaurant is too cool...

This oven tho'

This is really cute for little kids. I think Tyler dropped the eraser container on accident. #sigh

My Favorite Pic

 

 

 

You Know Just Like I Know ~ Cory CoCo Brother Condrey

Indestructible

As a new journey begins I have to reflect on the one that ended. I’ve used the words heartbroken and shattered soul to describe what I experienced within the first half of this year. It seemed to begin to come to an end when Mary released #strengthofawoman I remember the last conversation he and I had and I remember getting my phone out and blasting this song and that is when I really listened to the lyrics of Indestructible. I was living this song word for word.

While I am far from perfect, the words that he said to me hurt deeply and I questioned myself for days and weeks to come. I had to reflect on my value. I had to sift through my hurt and figure out where I was. I was missing, I went to dark places all because he didn’t know how to deal with his pain, so he tried to put it all on me. But it wasn’t my load to carry.

It’s been nearly two months since that day and while I am healing, I pray that God keeps my heart covered and that I don’t go back to that place. The hardest part is knowing that he is battling a terminal illness but even that doesn’t give him permission to do to me what can’t be undone.

God sent a squad of angels to gathered those shattered pieces of my soul, to pray over me and to simply let me fall apart and cry in their arms.

Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.

This morning I woke up a happier person and then I saw the scripture for the day was Romans 8:28.

Joy has come.

For that I’m grateful.

Think about how valuable you are. Don’t let what he put you through cause you to close your heart. #indestructible #maryjblige

Sidenote.. I actually wrote this late Monday night but for some reason when I woke early Tuesday morning I deleted it off my Fb notes and I heard a voice say, "Blog This!"

In A World Of Paper Plates Be Fine China

Is it too early to talk about trash? Well, how about paper plates? We use them generally for large gatherings because after we use these plates we can discard them. We just pile all of the paper plates in a garbage bag that eventually gets put outside. See, if I wanted some paper plates I could send my son to UDF or Family Dollar, a convenient store. It’s just up the street.

Convenient store?

Not far away.

Easy to get to.

Paper plates?

Cheap.
Convenient.
Easily thrown away.

But let’s just say I wanted fine china. I love my son but I’m not sending him for this purchase, there are too many decisions that have to be made. I’m going to pick the dishes out myself. It won’t be a convenient trip. I’ll need to travel to go and purchase this item. I’ll have to go to Macy’s or Dillard's. Once I get there I’ll be met with beautiful selections. After I make my purchase I can’t just throw the dishes in the trunk. No, fine china is packaged differently. It’s boxed and often has material in between the dishes so that they are not easily broken when transported. I don’t know about you but I’m packaged different. I brag different. #thatwillpreach

You have to start asking yourself how are you allowing people to treat you? Like paper plates or fine china?

Fine China?

Valued.

Expensive.

Treasured.

It has to be handled differently.

Paper plates vs. fine china, convenience vs. being valued, trash vs. treasure, Family Dollar vs. Macy's. It’s time to put folk on notice. You are not to be easily discarded, just thrown away at one’s convenience.  You are God’s chosen. You are royalty.  In a world of paper plates be fine china. Be valued. Be treasured. Be that good and perfect gift.

Now if you encounter a person, or people, who only want paper plates, simply say to yourself, “If that’s all you want.” Then proceed to throw up the peace sign and keep it moving. God has more for you. He has better for you. Nothing against paper plates but desire that exceedingly and abundantly that God has predestined for you. Surround yourself with people who value you, who are good friends to you and desire for you to be happy. Time out for the paper plates.

Image From Dillard's

I Just Want To Run From It

We often teach that if you are struggling through something 

That is a good thing

Ummm….. I really don’t want to hear that right now

I just want to run from it

Though running from it won’t aid me in growing through it

But running from it will help me avoid

Rejection

Coming out of my comfort zone, even if it’s not too comfy right now

Avoid

That feeling that sometimes creeps in of not being good enough

Even when I know I am more than enough

 I really want to run away through some lavish lavender fields

To a beautiful cottage by a lake

Like in the storybook I read in my youth

But it’s not a storybook

And I don’t know where any cottages are

Let alone a lake

And the lavender fields have bloomed and been sold

So where do I run to?

Do I run?

Should I run?

It could all be so simple

But it’s not because

I have learned that if you don’t go through your experiences 

And get the lesson

You end up repeating the lesson until

You stop running

And simply allow the lesson to unfold

The most interesting thing about this lesson 

It’s patient with me

It teaches me constantly

It encompasses me with a strength that’s protective

It guides me

It supports me

Yet, I want to run from it

Because

There’s this theory that if I run

Disappointment will never have a chance to set in