EXTRAORDINARY LOVE

I was just commenting on my dear friends post on Facebook on the subject of love...not just any kind of love but extraordinary love. Have most of us experienced it...do we know what it feels like or looks like...do we even know if it really exists?! Well according to 1 Cor. 13...it does! Its unfortunate that many people don't know how to give or receive this extraordinary love...and its even more unfortunate that many people don't know that they deserve this kind of love. Why do we settle for less than the extraordinary?! Is it because we don't believe that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think? When we truly understand that God wants the best for us then ordinary just won't do. Aw shoot I just thought about Commissioned's old song "Ordinary just won't do...I need a love that's pure & true...I can only find it in You Jesus!" That was the cut!...ok sorry moving right along. LOL. But its true...ordinary just won't do! People used to always ask me "How did you know that he (Diondrea) was your husband?" My answer was pretty simple...I prayed for God to send me a loving husband...one that loved me the way I needed to be loved. And when he came...I knew it! I knew it in my heart that he was the one. Now what's even more important...I didn't choose my husband, God did! Sometimes what we're looking for...what looks good on the outside to us, ain't good for us! Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart! So that's what I was looking for...I needed to see his heart the way God did. My husband & I have had many challenges in our marriage but even in our worst times God allowed me to see his heart...I was able to see my husband from the inside-out, not from the outside-in...that's extraordinary love! And please believe, my husband had to do the same for me...I know I look perfect but I ain't. LOL But that's what extraordinary love is...being able to see past one's faults. Now let me be clear...does that mean you let someone treat you like a dog...absolutely not! Some people really don't believe they can find or deserve better. So that's the other issue...don't settle for less because you think this is your one shot or you think your biological clock is ticking. Just think about how much time you gon lose being with the wrong person...yo biological clock just gon tick on out. Let's face it...we've all made mistakes in relationships...but guess what...mistakes can be corrected. I have truly learned & experienced that God is a chance after chance after chance after chance...again God! He is able to take our wrongs and somehow make them right! I'm so glad that I learned to first seek God, then trust God, then wait on God...He has truly allowed me to experience an extraordinary love by blessing me with my dear husband. Diondrea & my mother always tell me that I'm spoiled...and I can admit that I am. LOL My husband loves me more than I could have EVER imagined...God did exceeding abundantly above all I ever asked or thought...and I am truly grateful! So, I'm here to tell you the extraordinary love is possible...if you truly want it. Don't settle and don't second guess it...but remember extraordinary love is searching for extraordinary love too, so make yourself loveable...EXTRAORDINARILY!!!

DON'T YOU KNOW??!!

God has truly been dealing with me today about life...my life in particular. I stated on my FB status this morning that I want to leave a footprint on this earth...I want my life to touch the lives of others in any and every way, and I believe God made that possible by helping me to write these blogs. I want to encourage someone today who may not know their value and how their life can impact the lives of others. God wants you to know today that YOUR LIFE IS WORTH THE LIVING...why? because He lives.

Don't you know that you are more valuable than rubies & gold...you are priceless?! Don't you know that you were created for a purpose...you are not just a space-filler in the earth realm?! Don't you know that you were beautifully & wonderfully made...you were hand-picked and fashioned & shaped after His own image...no matter what YOU see in the mirror?! Don't you know that you weren't a mistake...no matter if the pregnancy was planned or unplanned...you were always in God's plan?! Don't you know that God has plans for you...I don't care what the doctor's report says...whose report are you gonna believe?! Don't you know that you are loved...He loves us when we're up & when we're down, He loves us when we're right & when we're wrong, He loves us more than we could ever ask or think...and I love you too?! :))

DON'T YOU KNOW THAT YOUR LIFE CAN MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE?!

I thank God that He taught me how to appreciate not only my life but the lives of the people he has entrusted to me...my husband, my children, my mother, my family, my friends, my FB fam (holla!), my clients, my coworkers...and anyone else He allows to cross my path.

I have learned through good times & bad how to appreciate life because there was a time when I didn't value my life...I didn't think I was good enough, I didn't think anyone loved me, I didn't think my life had meaning...BUT GOD stepped in & rescued me from the depths of my own self-hatred! He told me how much He loved me, He told me how much I was needed on the earth, He told me I should live & not die and declare the works of the Lord, He told me "DON'T YOU KNOW?!" I'm so glad that now I KNOW...Hallelujah!!! (Oh Lord...I'm gettin tears on my keyboard. LOL) Unless, you've been there...you won't understand the emotion that I'm feeling right now!

I wish Doug had've known...I wish he knew how valuable his life was...I wish he knew he was created for a purpose...I wish he knew that he was beautifully & wonderfully made, hand-picked, fashioned & shaped after God's own image...I wish he knew that he wasn't a mistake...I wish he knew all the plans God had for him...I wish he knew how much we loved him...I wish he knew how much we miss him!!! If he had only known...he wouldn't have taken his own life! It's been five years (I believe?) since my wonderful baby brother-in-law, Douglas Murry at 22, took his own life with a gun-shot wound to the head! If he only knew...if he only knew!!!! :(( However, I am grateful for his life because upon his death he touched the lives of so many others!

Don't wait until it's too late to realize what your life really means...it means more to so many others than you'll ever know! DON'T YOU KNOW??!!

**Please feel free to pass this on to whomever you think needs to know!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well here we are...another year to get it right! :) I figured I would start off the New Year by starting back up with writing my blogs...its been a very long time. Well let me start by saying that 2010 was truly an amazing year! It was filled with excitement, drama, challenges, accomplishments and happiness. I'm grateful for everything that I experienced in 2010 because thats how I grow...experiences can either make or break you and I choose to let them make me.

So as for the New Year..I truly plan to become a better me...I know you didn't think I could get any better right??!! LOL Well truth is I need to grow spiritually, I need to be a better wife and mother, I need to be more organized, I need to be a better business woman...and of course, I plan to lose more weight (whispering...oh and I need to spend less money...sshhhh LBVS). I am so grateful for who God made me and grateful for the things I have accomplished but none of us are ever at a point in our lives where we don't need to make improvements. Its not about making New Years resolutions but its just about what can I do this year differently?, what can I improve about myself? At the beginning of each year I make an analysis of myself, look at my surroundings and try to come up with a plan. Now, of course, it doesn't always go the way I planned it but it always goes the way God planned it! I make mistakes, I go the long road when I could've just went down the street. LOL But its okay, that's how we progress...mistakes hopefully make us stronger and wiser. Its not about being the best but its about being the best you that you can be. So, here's the key...make sure whatever you plan line up with the plans of God because without Him we cain't do nothin no how!

I get very excited when the New Year comes because its opportunity...God gave me another opportunity to get IT right. Now my IT may not be the same as your IT but whatever IT is thank God for IT...LOL!!! I truly thank God for my past and my future...my past was a template to shape my future! My future holds many opportunities so I try to take advantage of them...and you should too. A New Year means New opportunities because some people didn't make it, some people don't have a concept of what New means, some people don't know how to grasp a New mindset...so I take every opportunity to find out what needs to be made New in my life.

This is a joyful time, a time of excitement, a time to focus!!! I just wanted to share with you my excitement for the New Year...I hope you're excited too, you should be! Please have a very Happy New Year...the New Year will be whatever you make it to be...with Gods help! So make it a literal statement...HAPPY NEW YEEEAAARRRRR!!!!!!

Pursue Peace!

I was performing one of my faaabulous pedicures on my client yesterday...and as I was working in the quiet comfort of my peaceful nail dept., I just heard in my spirit...pursue peace. It caught me off guard at first but I heard it again...pursue peace. Anyone that knows me and has ever come to my house whether in Chicago or here in Texas knows that I like living in a peaceful atmosphere and I try to keep it that way at all costs. I like being peaceful, I like peaceful people...I just like my peace, I can't stand drama cause it takes too much energy.

So anyway, God was dealing with me again this morning about pursuing peace. I suppose I've let personal concerns get in the way of my peace...and that's just not like me. So, God is reminding me to always pursue peace! I know that if I keep my mind stayed on Him, He will keep me in perfect peace! And that's just it...in order to successfully pursue peace, you have to keep your mind focused on Christ! We always have things going on in our lives that are continually trying to rob of us of our peace...situations at home, at work, stuff going on in the news, our family, our friends, our church and the list goes on. But, in spite of everything that we face day to day, we can always live in peace...I figured out how...you gotta pursue it! Peace doesn't just come because we quote a few scriptures...although that's a start, but if we don't believe the scripture it has no value.

"...him whose mind is stayed on Me, I will keep in perfect peace"
"...and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus"

I love these scriptures but unless I truly understand how to get to the peace that's available to me, they are merely just words! Peace is a place of rest, quietness, and comfort...and it only comes through trusting God with every aspect of our lives. People may sometimes think I try to avoid situations because I don't like to talk about anything that's going to disturb my spirit...whether that be bills, people, work, whatever. If it ain't bringing peace, its bringing chaos. You know what I do when I know a not-so-good situation exists...I trust God to handle it so ain't no need for me to be recking my brain trying to figure it out...cause I cain't. (Yeah I said cain't! LOL) I love my peace...peace in my mind, peace in my spirit, and peace in my body! So, anything that tries to disturb my peace...I try to get away from it!

I had to learn how to obtain peace, me and my husband seemed to have learned it together. LOL We just don't worry about things that we don't have control over...we do what we can do and let God do the rest! I'm so grateful to finally be in that place...but I obviously have stepped out of bounds lately since God is reminding me to pursue peace! But that's good because He knows how much I need peace to survive.

So, I'm saying...don't let anything or anyone rob you of your peace because it is too precious! Ask God to give you wisdom and strength to get rid of those people and areas in your life that are bringing chaos instead of peace. In Psalms 27, David said, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life..." What that means to me when I read it is...that one thing I'm going to seek after is PEACE...that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Life means right now, the life we currently live...we don't have to wait til we see Jesus to have peace, God has made peace available to us here on earth...we have to seek after it, pursue it! That's my one desire.....and I'm gon' have peace aaaaalllll the days of my life....if I just keep trusting Him, leaning on Him, pursuing Him!

I encourage you today to PURSUE PEACE...it can be yours too!

IT'S SO AMAZING!!!

"It's so amazing to be loved...I'll follow You to the moon and the sky above!!!" Y'all remember that cut by Luther Vandross, right??!! Well, that's how I feel about my God..He is so amazing!! I was just sitting here thinking about all the amazing things God has done for me...nothing in particular...but simply how amazing He is!!

I think about all the times that I've just done some stupid stuff...and then amazingly, God came and rescued me! Its so amazing that at the right moment and at the right time God comes in and rearranges my whole way of thinking, my whole way of talking, and changes my whole outlook on life....because I have no life without Him! I was just telling a friend today that we are so busy waiting on God to do some things, waiting for an answer, waiting on direction...but God is waiting on us. God already has our life totally planned out...so its up to us to walk it out...walk it out! LOL I've asked God about some things recently and it just amazed me at how specific He was in what He wanted me to do. BUT before I got to that point...I was in the waiting room...waiting for Him to call my name and tell me which way to go. He's like...if you just open your eyes and ears, its right in front of you fool! I wasn't surprised...but amazed because everytime God does something it just gets gooder and gooder! It's so amazing to be loved by Him...His love is so amazing it just can't be described!

I'm just learning day by day that His love is so vast...it can take me wherever I need to go, it can show me whatever I need to do...His love has no limits! That's why I love my God because His love has no boundaries...no matter how many stupid mistakes I make (don't plan on making any anytime soon...but I'm just sayin), He continues to love me and show me mercy! Thank you, Jesus!

So I want to encurage you to grasp hold of God's amazing love! Whatever you may be going through, whatever you need, wherever you need to go...God's amazing love can answer all of your questions and remove any of your doubts. His love will never leave you hangin! If you're waiting for an answer, no need to wait any longer...the answer is right there waiting for you, just open your eyes, ears and heart...His amazing love goes before us and prepares the way!

It's so amazing to be loved...I'll follow You to the moon and the sky above!!! Yes God...I'll follow You wherever You lead me! IT'S SO AMAZING!!!

My Birth Right

Yesterday, the message was awesome...Apostle touched on the story of Jacob and Esau. Of course, the two were brothers....Esau, being the oldest and Jacob, the youngest. When it came time for Isaac, their father, to bestow the blessing of the birth right over the oldest, Jacob went in instead and took the birth right that belonged to Esau. Ok...so, you know how the story goes! Well, Jacob did this not realizing the birth right that God had already put in him. He really didn't need to steal what belonged to his brother because there was already something in him, he had a blessing of his own!

One thing Apostle said that made so much sense is that God puts something so special in each one of us but we're so busy looking at the blessings of someone else that we don't see what God has put in us. We have to know the birth right God has given us, He put something unique in each of us even at birth that only we have the right to.

I used to be so insecure...I was too fat, not pretty enough, not smart enough...wanting to be more like the girl over there...she's so pretty, thin, and smart! Well, then I came to the realization of the birth right God had given me...I am beautifully and wonderfully made, I am blessed goin in and comin out, I do have an inheritance that no one can take away! Knowing my birth right is knowing who I am in Christ, knowing that He made me strong, He made me to be an overcomer, He put power into MY hands to change situations and circumstances, He blessed me with knowledge wisdom & understanding, He blessed me with witty inventions and creative business ideas, He blessed me with a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally, He blessed with the most beautiful girls in the whole wide world, and of course, He blessed me to be birthed by a beautiful mother who loves the Lord with all her heart and raised me in the fear and admonition of the Lord...I could go on and on!! God has given ME the right to be blessed...I was born with it so NO ONE can take it from me!

You have to know your own birth right!! We are always our own worst enemy...the person that usually takes our birth right away is our own SELF!! We curse ourselves, we tear ourselves down...a house divided against itself cannot stand! My heart is weakened every time I hear of someone committing suicide! These are people who don't realize the birth right God has put in them...not knowing their potential, not knowing their value and worth, not knowing that they have access to eternal life in Christ! We have to bind the enemy...within...and take hold of the birth right God has given us! Don't let ANY ONE, including yourself, take your birth right away...ITS YOURS!!!

You've Never Let Me Down!

Lately, I've been a bit unsure...of where God has me. I haven't felt this unsure in such a long time, its quite uncomfortable. So, I'm asking God why? Why the uncertainty? Why do I feel like all of a sudden I don't know which way to go...am I in the right place or is there another road I must follow?

Then it came to me as I was asking God...I answered my own question...You've never let me down! Anytime I've felt unsure, confused, not knowing which way to go...You've never let down! I don't always know what's around the corner or down the road but as I step a little closer to You...You never let me down! You said "if I draw near to You, You would draw near to me". Now, I may not be sure of where I'm going at this point but I'm sure of the fact that You're right beside me guiding me all the way. I know if I just trust in you Lord and not try to figure things out according to my own way of thinking...I know without a shadow of a doubt that you will direct my paths.

I just keep reminding myself...You've never let me down, You've never let me down! Its such a relief that I don't have to figure it out all by myself. This one thing I know (and am sure of)..."that He who hath begun a good work in me will perform it...! Aaaahhh...what a great feeling!! Thank You Father for never letting me down!