WHAT'S IN YOUR FAST?

Hello My Chickadees,

By the grace of God, we have made it to another Lenten season. As in the song, Amazing Grace says, “Through many dangers, toils, and snares, we have already come,” and how true that has been for all of us this past year.

Lent is a time that we turn our attention to our spiritual walk and our relationship with Christ. We plan a fast as a reminder that without God we would cease to exist; and the ashes signify that from dust we have come and to dust we will return. But to be honest, I have always been a little confused about how giving up candy or cigarettes would make me a better Christian. Sure, I may lose a few pounds and my lungs would be ever-so-happy that I wasn’t filling them with toxins from smoking for 40 days, but it didn’t do much in making me a better person on the inside. Yes, it made me feel a bit more pious to say, “I gave up cigarettes and sweets for lent!” but in total transparency, I couldn’t wait until Easter Sunday to eat that candy and have a cigarette to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. I would be counting the days until I could go back to business as usual, and I would often have a cigarette waiting for me to light up as soon as I walked out of the church. 

After repeating this cycle for most of my adult life, it dawned on me that the self-sacrifice wasn’t just about external things to give up, but more about internal things to change. My focus shifted from things to give up to things I could do. I pondered what would change my heart and mind to be more like Christ. The focus of my fast became more about how to choose the path of love with acts of kindness towards others and less about the candy or the cigarettes, which, Praise God  I did eventually give up for good. When we choose random acts of kindness, we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of imitating Christ and His love. We can make a conscious choice to ask ourselves the age old question, “What would Jesus do?”

A couple of my sister-girlfriends gave me the message sent by Pope Francis titled “Do You Want to Fast This Lent?” It is a powerful message worth restating, so I will. 

“Fast from hurting words and say kind words.

Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.

Fast from anger and be filled with patience.

Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.

Fast from worries and have trust in God.

Fast from complaints; contemplate simplicity.

Fast from pressures and be prayerful.

Fast from bitterness; fill your hearts with joy.

Fast from selfishness and be compassionate.

Fast from grudges and be reconciled.

Fast from words; be silent and listen.”

Pope Francis presents us with a model of fasting that creates a change in character and challenges us to be a better version of ourselves. I must admit to you, when I first received this message, my response to my friend was, “I am not that saved.” At a second encounter with the message, I had to sit with the fact that I am, you are, we all are saved. That was Jesus’ purpose in coming and becoming our sacrificial lamb, but He is calling us to holiness. 1Peter 1:16 instructs us to, “Be holy, because I am holy,” but we’re kind of left to go through the scriptures ourselves to find out how to do that.

The fast that Pope Francis challenges us to consider is a fast that puts us on the path to holiness. I wonder what transformation would happen in our lives if we took one of these fast options suggested by Pope Francis and tried to incorporate it into our day, each day choosing one of these toxic behaviors and focusing on its antidote. We could probably rename the Pope Francis fast “The Path to Holiness”.

If we truly aspire a closer, deeper relationship with Christ and that’s our goal for these 40 days we call Lent, then let’s try a fast that will make a difference in our walk and our relationship with Christ. Let’s choose to speak kinder, be grateful for every blessing great and small, exercise patience even when we don’t understand, choose to anchor our hope in the promises of God, and trust that God is faithful to who He is and all He says He will do. Keep it simple –choose to pray instead of worry, allow the joy of the Lord to be our strength, seek Christ in our fellowman, and let go of anger as we choose to forgive.

Lent takes us into the deepest places of our lives and allows us an opportunity to reflect, repent, be refreshed and renewed, as we respond to the call for holiness… one day, one step, one act at a time.

My Chickadees, let’s emerge from this fast looking more like the Jesus we serve and reflecting who He is, in us and through us.

Peace and blessings,

Gail 

P.S. Good Morning My Chickadees: Morning Messages from Mom is coming. Stay tuned. 

In The Name of Jesus?

Hello My Chickadees,

My message this month is not a feel good message, because, to be honest, I am not feeling very good about where we are as a country. January 6, 2021 will not only go down as a day in infamy, but also as a day of revelation. The whole world had an opportunity to see the destructive, devastating effects of hate and evil, and the power it has to poison the minds of those who are susceptible to its’ lies and the rhetoric it propagates. Seventy million people drank the poison from the mouth of a demagogue who seduced his followers with lies and innuendos, and replaced the truth of putting on God’s love as the way to “Make America Great,” with lies motivated by racist ideologies from his philosophical premise of white supremacy.

Wasn’t there something in us that caused us to pause when he abused his power to clear out peaceful protesters marching for the calls of justice in front of a house of God? He proclaimed his twisted version of justice as he held the word of God upside down, and in the words of the Bible he held, “masqueraded himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), while BLM peaceful protesters choked on tear gas and feared for their lives in their cause for justice and human dignity. That very same Bible predicted what would be the consequence of following “an angel of light” when it says, “It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” (2 Corinthians 11:15). 

The whole world had an opportunity to see the truth of God revealed on January 6th when his servants stormed the US Capitol. As sad and horrified as I felt by this miscarriage of justice, My Chickadees, there was another part of me that felt a righteous indignation as some of his followers desecrated the Capitol in the name of Jesus with flags that read “Jesus Saves.” It left me wondering… what Jesus are they following? Certainly it’s not the Jesus who is the God of love, because there was NOTHING loving about what we saw unfolding before our eyes. What Jesus were they representing? 

Maybe it was that same Jesus they misrepresented who motivated the minds of those appearing as “angels of light” to bless the slave ships as they went on their journey to capture and enslave African people in the name of God and country. I have often wondered what Jesus would justify and condone the raping and mutilating of black bodies while they sang “Nearer My God to Thee” on Sunday in their houses of worship, or withhold those inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: from people who don’t look like them. 

Maybe it was their Jesus who motivated them to separate children from their parents when families were fleeing from the evils in their own country and were seeking to find asylum in the place that purports to stand for liberty and justice for all, but instead found themselves separated from their families and their children were housed in cages. Certainly not the Jesus who came to proclaim liberty, and to set the captives free (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:1). 

What Jesus are they serving? Maybe their Jesus is that angel of light who makes the truth of God a lie as he holds God’s word upside down as he profanes His name with his heinous actions. Maybe it is in the name of that Jesus that they are emboldened to commit such violent, despicable acts and crimes against others, but it is not the Jesus I know.

Those that carried flags and signs with the name of Jesus displayed on them while they spewed hate and violence really don’t know the real Jesus, and I felt a righteous indignation as they misrepresented Him with the very acts He hates.

My Dear Chickadees, the Bible tells us, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit” (Galatians 6:7 –8).

Let us awaken to see that the god of this system is the great deceiver, and adhere to the words of Edmund Burke who said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good do nothing.” You are that light that shines in the midst of a dark and dying world. Now is the time to take a stand and choose which Jesus you will serve.

 Peace and Blessing as you reflect the light of the TRUE Jesus.

 Gail

RE-GROUP, RE-SET, RE-NEW

Happy New Year My Chickadees,

And again I say, Happy New Year. And this time it’s not just a cliché! It’s what we have all been anxiously anticipating – a new year. For most of us (who are not in the wealthy 1% category), Obama’s setup towards “Change” became a setback on steroids that exposed the ugly reality of race and the lack of concern for humanity, regardless of race, in this country. Then, came the pandemic… and 2020 will go down in infamy as the crescendo of the worst year in our lifetime.

It is time to regroup and reset our course. With crisis comes opportunity and as Pastor T. D. Jake so eloquently stated, our “setback is a set up for a comeback.” Yes, we may feel beat up, beat down, bruised, and broken but if we’re still here, then it’s not the end of our story. We have more to do and God is not through with us yet. It’s time to regroup. 

What the crisis of 2020 challenged us to do was reevaluate and take stock of what and who is really important in our lives. As the entire world was forced to shut down, it made us stop and reflect on the fact that maybe God is trying to tell us something. Maybe God wants us to reevaluate what we in our materialistic society deem important. Maybe we had unconsciously made making money more important than morals and placed possessions over people. Maybe we had been so blinded by the things of this world that we forgot that the most important things are the things we can’t put a price on, like our relationships with our children, family, friends, life, and most important of all, God. Maybe God allowed 2020 to get our attention and consider that He is not pleased with our behavior. What we really need is a heart change, and that begins with a change of mind.

Let’s change our mind about how we see ourselves and others. If we choose to put on the Mind of Christ, we will begin to see ourselves and others through the eyes of love. Our attitude will expand from focusing on “I”, to considering “we”, and if we anchor ourselves in God and His word, we will begin to believe that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Let’s regroup and reset with a change of heart. God gives us grace and new mercies every day, and a new year is filled with new opportunities to reset and get it right. Let’s approach and embrace 2021 as the year of renewal. Let’s renew our relationship with God and everyone in our lives. Let’s renew our commitment to ourselves to be better and not bitter. Let’s renew our commitment to our environment and make it a safe place for our children and grandchildren to grow up in. Let’s renew our commitment to “Love God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves,” (Mark 12:30-31); and if we do, what a wonderful world this will be.

We are the change that we want to see. Let’s be that change. Let’s see ourselves, each other, and the world through the lens of possibilities. 2021 is filled with them. Let’s look up, get up, and live up to the commitment to be, in the words of Matthew Kelly, “The best version of ourselves.” 

In 2021, let’s be the change we expect. We have all heard the cliché “Life is what you make it.” Without revisiting the nightmare we just lived through, let’s make it GREAT. 

God allows U-turns and do overs. Regroup. Reset, and Renew. Let’s bounce back better. Let’s be better than we imagined we could be. Seize the opportunity to do your part to make 2021 the best year ever. Remember that you are the light and with God as your guide, it will be.

I love you, My Chickadees. You are already great. Now show the world.

Peace and blessings for a prosperous New Year in every way,

Gail

SANTA OR THE SAVIOR: WHICH ARE YOU CELEBRATING?

Hello My Chickadees,

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but in a year filled with hurt, loss, sorrow, racial unrest, police brutality, natural disasters, and the craziest political climate ever experienced in this country, some may say, “Jolly for what?” In times like these, it takes effort and a conscious decision to be jolly when you’re separated from loved ones and trying to figure out how you’re going to pay your bills because you’ve been laid off or let go. Not to mention the fact that we are in the midst of a pandemic that is raging like a roaring lion seeking who it can attack or devour, and you’re praying that it won’t be you or your loved ones. And if all of that isn’t enough, you turn on the news only to see how sick our world is, as the callous, cold, selfish ways in which some people treat others is on full display. So, I ask you… do we need Santa or a Savior? 

Let’s look at our options.

·   Santa makes his list and checks it twice to see who’s naughty or nice, before he considers getting you what you want. 

The Savior knows we have all been naughty. He allows the rain to fall on               the just and the unjust and lets His sun shine on those who are evil, as well as those who are good (Matthew 5:45), simply because He came to save all of us sinners. He desires that none be lost. 

·   Santa collaborates with the material world to entice and attempt to convince us that we must have the latest phone, car, designer wardrobe, or gadget to be recognized as important. 

The Savior tells us that we’re already important, beautiful, worthy, gifted,     creative, talented, and capable, and competent simply because we are in Him. Through Him, we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). He promises to supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19) and in Him there is no lack.

·   Santa shows up once a year, and we decorate and make elaborate plans to celebrate his arrival in hopes that he will leave something that will make us happy until the newness wears off.

The Savior says, “I stand at the door (of your heart) knocking, if you will   open the door, I’ll come in and be with you, not just on Christmas day, but forever. With me comes peace, joy, love, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22 – 23), as well as all I have promised you in my word if you abide in me.”

·   Santa’s favor is based on what you have done.

The Savior says “I love you” and my favor rests on you because of who you are – a child of God.

·   Santa will leave you wanting, but the Savior says for all those who come to me, “I will give you rest,” (Matthew 11:28). One of His many titles is The Bread of Life. He says, “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never thirst,” (John 6:35).

Christ our Savior became one of us to enter into our brokenness with the promise that “The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth,” (Isaiah 40:7). Lord knows, if we ever needed a Savior, we sure do need one NOW.

No, my Chickadees, I am not saying bah humbug on Santa Claus, but we must be careful not to allow the glitz and glamour of our materialistic world and nature entice us to forget or forsake the real meaning of Christmas. With everything in life, we consciously or unconsciously make choices, and one of our biggest choices is the choice between spirit and flesh. Our flesh can cause us to lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas. Santa has his place, and the smiles he brings to our children’s faces light up our hearts, but the real reason for the season is to celebrate the birthday of a Savior who came and changed the world. If we allow Him, He wants to change us too. He wants to change our stony hearts filled with bigotry, racism, and all types of other phobias and isms to hearts of flesh that allow us to anchor into His love and become beacons of light and love. He will help us to see our brothers, sisters, and the world through eyes of love. What a wonderful world it would be if we selected the choice that the Savior offers us.

As we enter into the season of Advent and Christmas, let’s celebrate the birthday of Jesus who came that we may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). 

From a material perspective, we may not have much to give, but looking through the eyes of love allows us to give the greatest gift of all, the one thing that never fails and will last when all other gifts are gone… LOVE.

I love you with the love of the Lord, my Chickadees, and if your choice is to celebrate the Savior, I pray that you allow the transforming power of His love to touch you and energize you to transform.

Peace, Blessings, and Merry CHRISTmas,

Gail

GIVE US THIS DAY, OUR DAILY BREAD

Matthew 6:11

Hello My Chickadees,

We are embarking upon another Thanksgiving, where we are again presented with an opportunity to reflect on the things we are thankful for and the blessings we routinely neglect to acknowledge. The truth is, every day ought to be a day of Thanksgiving.

When Jesus was asked by His disciples to teach them how to pray, He gave them the antidote to anxiety. He said, “Give us this day, our daily bread.” What He was trying to convey to them was that God provides for us daily, one day at a time. In considering what Jesus said literally, one could conclude that He was just talking about food; but since bread is symbolic of sustenance, I suspect He also meant God will provide for us daily ­– mind, body, and spirit. What we are asking the Lord to do is to give us what we need to be all we need to be today. When tomorrow comes, He’ll do it all over again.

There is value in taking life one day at a time. We are often so busy planning for the future that we neglect the blessings bestowed upon us today. Every day presents us with a fresh opportunity to be better and do better than the day before. The last few weeks, I have been reflecting on this verse and allowing myself to be reassured and comforted in knowing that God is my provider and He knows what I need even before I ask Him.

In trusting that God has a purpose and a plan for what He does and what He allows, I wondered why Jesus would instruct His disciples to just focus on today. Much of what Jesus instructs us to do is contrary to what the world says we should do, and quite frankly, what we feel like we need to do. We measure our success or failure by the position we have been blessed to achieve or the amount of valued assets we have attained. We all but kill ourselves trying to achieve and acquire them. Why? Perhaps it is because we are conditioned to believe that our worth and value is measured by the recognition others give us or the status we believe we have from the things we have acquired. The truth is that we are worthy and valuable simply because we are children of God. Our Daddy owns everything and promised not to deny us any good thing (Psalm 84:11).

Jesus was a radical brother who challenged His followers regarding what they were caught up in, worried and anxious over. When He directed them to check out how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and gone tomorrow, He reminded them that as God’s children, we are worth so much more than the things He created around us to bring us pleasure.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus challenged His followers to reprioritize their lives when He said, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well.” So why worry? We worry because we have bought into the belief that we need to make our own success with our own efforts in our own time. This does not mean that we shouldn’t pursue an education or nice things, but it does mean that if we pursue those things above a relationship with God, we will become anxious and worried about attaining them. Then, once we have them, we are stressed out about how to keep them.

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving; present your requests to God.” I am of the mind that the reason we are told is because He already has it worked out for our good. Think about it. When our children come to us and they are in need of our help or some kind of resources, as their parent and provider, we are going to do whatever we need to do to make sure they have what they need; and if they’re good, we don’t mind surprising them with something they may want as well. What makes us think that if we go to our heavenly Daddy, He won’t do the same for us? He has unlimited resources and it is His good pleasure to bestow them upon His children. The Bible even tells us that we have not because we ask not (James 4:2); but we must also be mindful of the fact that God is our Daddy and not our genie. His provision will happen in His time and according to what He deems is in our best interest.

When we canvas our lives and assess where we are, we will have to conclude that although we may not be where we want to be, we are not where we could be, and because of the promise in Jeremiah 29:11 that speaks of God’s plans to prosper us and not to harm us, we are not where we’re going to be. I heard Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church point out that in the middle of the word ANXIETY is the letter I. If you replace the thought that I need to make this happen with the thought that I’ve done my best and will trust God to do the rest, we will find that we will have what Philippians 4:7 refers to as “the peace which surpasses all understanding.” That peace will do something miraculous in our lives: it will guard our heart and our minds in Christ Jesus.

As we partake in a Thanksgiving in a COVID world, we can still be thankful. I believe God is trying to teach us the lesson of casting our cares, worries, and anxieties upon Him and stand in the fact that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). His care for us allows us to go boldly before the throne of God in Jesus’ name and say, Lord, “Give us this day, our daily bread,” and with an attitude of gratitude for our lives, our heath, and our daily provisions (that we so callously take for granted), we can expectantly receive this day, our daily bread.

Peace, Blessings, and Happy Thanksgiving, 

Gail

P.S. Good Morning My Chickadees: Morning Messages from Mom is coming. Stay tuned. 

THE SISTERHOOD THAT NO ONE WANTS TO JOIN

Hello, My Chickadees.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for me, October 2011 was a turning point in my life. That was the month I received my diagnosis of breast cancer. The day I found out will forever be etched in my mind. The doctor called to inform me of the results of my biopsy, and along with having a complete out-of-body experience, I remember thinking “What now? What do I do? Where do I go? Who do I tell? Do I tell anyone?” The thoughts consumed me. I talked to a number of survivors who came out of the woodwork when they learned of my diagnosis. I knew I was going to need all of the love, support, and prayers I could get, so I welcomed the conversations and words of encouragement.

God always has a divine setup, and He began orchestrating my healing the day after my diagnosis was revealed. The Health Ministry of my church held a health fair and one of the groups holding a workshop was the Breast Cancer Sisterhood ministry. It’s funny how you never really pay attention to things until it applies to you. Knowing the diagnosis was looming large in my life, I went to that workshop and became acquainted with a sisterhood – one that you hope you’ll never be a member of. As I grew acquainted with survivors who pledged to walk the journey with me, I discovered a new hope and determination to fight. Women came forward and shared their stories. They were women I’d seen around church, but never knew they were victims of this dreaded disease. They put business cards of their oncologists in my hand and reassured me that it was no longer an automatic death sentence when caught in time. They also assured me that they would be praying for me. The sisterhood paired me with one of their survivors who happened to be my old high school and college roommate. Cynthia, who was diagnosed some years earlier, met me for lunch and shared a host of resources and support for myself and my family.

When you get a diagnosis of cancer, it becomes a family affair. Your immediate family goes through this journey with you. I can remember the grief on my husband’s face as we learned that this was an aggressive, invasive cancer that had attacked both breasts. With his engineering mind, I watched him go to work researching treatments and consulting with doctors and friends in the medical field. Before every medical crisis in my life (and I have had several), God has anchored me in a passage of scripture. About a year before my diagnosis, I became obsessed with Psalm 139 and the fact that God goes before me, behind me, and hems me in on every side. It gave me comfort as I stood on the declaration “I will live and not die!” (Psalm 118:17).

I was prepared to fight and before I knew it, there was an army of people who had signed up to fight with me. Love, support, and prayers came from everywhere as people who learned about my diagnosis came forth to disclose their story, and the number of years they had survived the disease. With every story and every disclosure, I became more resolute in my fight and the fact that this was something that happened to me but not in me. I took the stand that “I am MORE than a conqueror through Christ who strengthens me,” Romans 8:37, as an army of love surrounded and often carried me and my family through this crisis. Friends signed up to take me to chemo, which, after a while, became weekly for a year. There were friends who had survivor friends call me and share their stories of life, hope, and recovery, which were like an emotional transfusion as chemo flipped me upside down, inside out, and back again physically.

Love and prayers carried me through the fight of my life and I have many touching and cherished memories of people’s gifts of love, support, and help that were showered upon me from friends old and new. I reflect upon how my girlfriend Janice from Milwaukee – who must have known that I would need help - came the week before my surgery and stayed for week after with my cousins, Louise and Rachel, to help me adjust to being home. My sister girlfriend and fellow survivor, Renée Cole, flew from Florida to go with me for my first chemotherapy treatment and then took me wig shopping afterwards. I am touched by her sister Inga who made it a point to gift me with a beautiful silver cross necklace, which I continue to wear all the time, to remind me of the fact that I am more than a conqueror through Christ. I think about the friends and family who came and sat with my family at the hospital for 5 hours while I was in surgery, and my pastor, Father Patrick Smith, who came to the hospital close to midnight to check on me and talk with me about what this diagnoses means for me. My heart is warmed by the memory of my son, Aaron, who came home from college to shave my head and christen me with a kiss on top when he was done; not to mention a host of friends who sacrificed time out of their days and took turns taking me to and from my chemo treatments for a year. The hallmark memory of sacrifice and love that brings tears to my eyes every time I recall it is my girlfriend Troy and her sister, Jessica, who signed up, raised money, went into training, and walked 60 miles in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk for a Cure in my honor. I was blessed to be able to ride to Philadelphia with Troy’s husband to watch and cheer as they crossed the finish line. The sun beamed down on my bald head, and I wept like a baby as I watched hundreds of walkers hold up one tennis shoe in honor of those currently in the fight at the end of the ceremony.

I always say cancer isn’t for wimps, but you don’t have to go through it alone. The love of friends, family, and a sisterhood of survivors will walk this journey with you while God, the ultimate healer, heals and restores you.

October has become a celebration of life for me. It is a celebration of life for all survivors, those newly diagnosed, and those who lost their battle but won the war and now have eternal life.

I honor and celebrate all of you who are too numerous to name, whose love, support, care, encouragement, prayers, and acts of kindness and sacrifice carried me and my fellow brothers and sisters from fear to faith. We hope for a cure so that you never have to be a member of the sisterhood no one wants to join.

Peace and blessings, My Chickadees,

Gail

God Has A Plan

Hello, My Chickadees.

God has a plan for everything He allows, whether we like it or not. We don’t always understand why He allows what He allows, and when what He allows is traumatic, devastating, or results in a loss for us, we are tempted to feel angry with God for allowing it to happen. During those challenging times, it is important to remember we are in the midst of a spiritual battle being played out on a physical plane. The clash between light and dark, good and evil, is reflected daily in what we see and hear. What allows us to have hope is knowing who wins in the end. We must take our eyes off of our situation and remind ourselves that in Christ, we are more than conquerors. As believers, we know that whatever we go through, God (our Daddy) loves us and promises NEVER to leave us or forsake us. Although we may sometimes feel alone, we are not alone! We are surrounded by God’s invisible army that is fighting on our behalf. He will always see us through.

I have had to remind myself of God’s plan lately. As I have been contemplating the fragile state of our country, the once-in-our-lifetime pandemic, natural disasters along our coastal areas, wildfires raging in California, racial tension in the light of Black Lives Matter, an economy in shambles due to COVID-19, and a person in the White House whose only concern appears to be getting re-elected… I have to remember that God has a plan.

When I think about the state of affairs, I feel like I’m on a sinking ship, but I keep reminding myself (and reminding others) why I’m glad I know Jesus.

As we approach another election year, I find myself thinking about the importance of our vote. Our vote is our voice. So many of our ancestors understood the value of it – enough to be willing to, and in some cases, die for it. Never before have I felt how crucial my vote is than during this election, so much so that I even put my money where my mouth is and made a financial contribution to help make a change. 

This blog is not meant to be a political statement, but a moral one. We have a moral responsibility to ourselves and our ancestors who fought for our right to vote to vote. Apathy is a killer and comes from a place of feeling or believing like you are powerless. The truth is that we are anything but powerless. Exercising our power by taking a stand and casting our vote allows us to rest in the fact that we have done our part in the writing of our history.

Ephesians 6:13 tells us, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes (like now) you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand, STAND.” I often equate the Bible to that old Prego spaghetti sauce commercial which said, “Everything you need is in there.” While we are standing, Ephesians 6:14 goes on to tell us how to arm ourselves while we stand as the battle is being waged. Our part is to do our part and believe that God has the final say. He promised that no matter the outcome, He will work all things out for our good and His glory. I know that this promise can be hard to accept when we are blindsided by an outcome we didn’t expect; but our consolation is that God has a plan for whatever He allows. He sees what we don’t see. Our peace comes when we can take Him at His word and rest in the assurance that He is faithful in all that He says and does.

Yes, God does have a plan and His plan includes you. In closing of my message this month, I leave you with the words of a poem by Marianne Williamson entitled “Our Deepest Fear”.

Our Deepest Fear

By: Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are in adequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves

who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that others won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine as children do.

We were born to make manifest

the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone.

And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously

give other people permission to do the same.

As we’re liberated from our fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.”

Let’s liberate ourselves and others with the power of our vote, as we rest in the assurance that God is in control.

Peace and blessings, My Chickadees,

Gail

That's Why I Believe

Hello, My Chickadees.

We are living in a time where our state of affairs goes from bad to worse every day. Between the Coronavirus, which is threatening to wipe half of us off the planet, the racial unrest, the police brutality, the apparent lack of regard for human life, and an incompetent president whose lack of leadership has done more to divide us than bring us together, I feel like Marvin Gaye when he sang, “Makes me wanna holler and throw up both my hands.”

My sister in Christ and dear friend, Kendall King, is a recording and graphic artist who has a song on her newly released CD entitled “That’s Why I Believe”. As soon as the single was released, I purchased it; not just because Kendall is my friend, but because in these troubled times when we are being bombarded on every side with the doom and gloom, we have to stand firm in what we believe, and remember why.

The Bible tells us that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy. As we witness this in real time, it becomes increasingly important to be anchored in the promises of a Savior who came to seek and to save; that we might have life and have it more abundantly, despite what we see, hear, or experience happening around us. In the song, Kendall sings about why she believes, but it made me reflect upon my own reasons why I believe. In the midst of life’s challenges, having done all to stand, I put on the armor of God as advised by Paul in Ephesians 6:13, and I choose to stand and withstand simply because I believe. As believers, we have chosen to believe that God’s word is true, and He will do just what He says. This pandemic has stretched us and challenged us in ways beyond which we could have ever imagined, and I find myself holding on to God’s promise of protection in Psalm 91 and reminding Him of those promises every day. Not that I think He forgot, but I want to let Him know that I haven’t forgotten and I believe what He said.

I really believe God expects us to stand on what He said, even though we don’t currently see it manifesting in our lives. That’s called faith. I choose to believe what He says because He said it, and since it is impossible for Him to lie, it must come to pass and I intend to hold Him to it.

What allows us to become rooted and anchored in our faith is our decision to take Him at His word and watch Him do what we hoped He would do because there was nothing else we could do. It’s seeing Him make ways when there seem to be none, and at 11:59 and counting, He swoops in and saves the day.

Have you or a loved one ever been critically ill, and medically, all was being done that could be done, so you called in your prayer warriors who stormed heaven’s gate with prayer? Did God turn it around and heal as only He can, giving all of you a testimony from that test? I have. And that’s why I believe. 

Have you ever been financially overwhelmed and didn’t know how your rent, electric, or basic needs were going to be met, and someone sent you some money because the Lord laid it on their heart to do so? I have. And that’s why I believe.

Have you ever been in a dark place emotionally and you felt like giving up, and someone called you and convinced you that now is not the time to give up or give in because you are not alone, and God used them to remind you that it’s always darkest before the dawn? You may have lost your way but He is the way, so don’t give up. In due season, you will reap a harvest, if you faint not. God’s divine intervention is why I believe.

My Chickadees, I felt the need to challenge us to refresh ourselves as to why we believe. In a time where everything appears to be hopeless, knowing and standing on what we believe allows us to still have hope – and hope does not disappoint when it’s rooted in God’s word.

When I was just a baby in Christ, I had a church sister (who now lives with the Lord) who used to say to me, “Gail, you’ve got to know that you know what you know.” It’s recalling and remembering what He’s already done that allows us to say, “That’s why I believe.”

Peace and blessings,

Gail

P.S. To download Kendall King’s song, “That’s Why I Believe”, go to:

Kendallkingmusic.biz and be encouraged.

Race. Let's go there.

Hello, My Chickadees.

I recently received a text message from one of my very dear white friends and sister in Christ who reached out to me with concern about why Blacks were burning and looting their own places. Because I know her, I know her heart, and know that she meant well (and although I do not condone violence), I felt the need to respond to her in a letter to address something we have never talked about in our over 30 years of friendship – the issue of race.

I am sharing this letter because I feel we all must have the dialogue about what legislation is unable to change: the heart. As you read this letter it is my hope that you will also feel compelled to have this uncomfortable discussion about race with some of your friends of another color.

My Dear Friend and Sister in Christ,

I am writing this letter because what I need to say is too long to respond in a text. As the mother of two African-American males, I pray first for their lives to be rooted and anchored in the Lord, and then, with fervent prayers, I pray for their safety. The title of “Endangered Species” has been attributed to our black men who live under the threat of being killed by other disenfranchised men – often black – because they don’t see any other way to get their needs met, either because of the choices they have made, the choices thrusted upon them, or because of police officer operating with the racial bias of seeing all black men as criminals and treating them as such, whether they did anything or not.

As much as we love and respect one another, we have never had a serious discussion about race, perhaps because it was too painful for both of us. I grew up in an era in which I had to be taught by my parents the social etiquette of interacting with white people while visiting relatives in the South. Growing up in Washington DC, such social instructions were necessary to ensure my survival. I recall the trip I took to visit my grandmother in South Carolina right after 14-year-old Emmett Till had been murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman and saying, “Hey baby.” My mother sent me and my cousin down and informed us that when we got below Richmond on the train, we may be told we would have to give up our seats if a white person needed one. I recall her telling me not to look a white person in the eye while I was there, despite the fact that she raised me to look all people in the eye while talking to them. We were told to respond, “Yes sir,” and “Yes ma’am,” when they spoke to us.

I grew up in an America that judged me by the color of my skin and not the content of my character, and they told me what I couldn’t do because of it. Every black person in America carries in our DNA the psychological chains of slavery and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress from both slavery and Jim Crow. All we’ve asked for was that promise due us of justice for all as deemed our right by the Declaration of Independence. After all, we are fully human, not really 3/5 of a human being. (How crazy was that assessment?)

The unfortunate thing, my sister, is yes, we have come a long way in my lifetime, but we have not arrived, as evidenced by this conversation we are having in 2020 after an unarmed, handcuffed, black man was murdered by a police officer for the world to see. Thank God for modern technology and cell phone cameras that exposed the evil reality African-Americans live in, and have lived in, every day.

Mr. George Floyd was only the latest in a series of killings of black men – who were mostly shot and killed from behind by police officers. The clamor is over the fact that nothing was done. When there were no cameras rolling, it was just another black man killed in the line of duty. The word of someone in blue against someone black always won out before cameras were able to record the truth. Ask any black man in America if they have ever been pulled over by police, frisked, searched, and forced to sit on a curb for no reason – most will tell you yes.

My youngest son attended one of the most prestigious universities in this country. On one occasion, he and a couple of his fraternity brothers were walking across campus when they were stopped by the campus police and made to stand against a wall. When he asked why they were doing it, he was told it was because they were loitering. Another time, while out for a run, he was stopped and frisked for no evident reason. It didn’t matter that he told them he was a student there, because they said he fit the description of someone they were looking for. Mind you, the person they were looking for was a tall man with a dark complexion and dreadlocks – none of which fit my son’s description. Furious and in the moment, wanting justice for all, I told him that the next time it happened to get the badge number of the officer. As soon as those words came out of my mouth, a chill went down my spine, because it hit me – I had just set my kid up to be a target by the police.

My husband is a mechanical, nuclear engineer and loves exotic cars. Since we couldn’t afford the real thing, he built a replica of a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times we were stopped in those cars and had our license plates run… just because. I shudder to think about what would have happened if the cars would have been real instead of a replica.

To get a glimpse into how the system treats Blacks in the “just us” system, I urge you to watch the Netflix documentary called “True Justice” by Bryan Stevenson, a man who has been on a life crusade to expose the fact that there are black men on death row for charges that did not warrant the death sentence. Or, watch one of Ava Duvernay’s films, “When They See Us” or the documentary “13th’’, which sheds light on the loophole in the 13th Amendment that has allowed for the mass incarceration of black men since slavery and paved the way for the current prison industrial complex we have today, stocked with black and brown men. Watch the movie “Just Mercy”, or better still, read Michelle Alexander’s book entitled The New Jim Crow to shine a better light on what the  African Americans’ experience is like in the just us system.

My dear sister and friend, my reality of America is not yours, but it is one I dream of, and I have taught my son to believe in. I am reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King’s letter to his fellow clergy entitled “Why We Can’t Wait” – a letter from a Birmingham Jail. We have waited for over 400 years for the just us system to become justice for all. I don’t know why in our pain and frustration we destroy our own things. Maybe it’s because we know if we release our frustration in a white neighborhood it would result in death and ruled a justifiable homicide, or would be the start of another Red Hot Summer race war. But I can tell you that seeing black men hunted down like they were hunting deer or kneed to death while pleading for their lives, has to stop. I think we all need to have a dialogue about how we see each other and the elephant in our lives, which is race.

If the God in me sees the God in you, I am not going to think the worst about you because you look different from me. If the love of God resides in me, I am not going to think I’m better than you because I’ve had privileges you have not had. I am not going to hunt you down like an animal because you are in my neighborhood, and I am not going to kill you because I assume you are a criminal. Instead, I am going to seek to understand, love, and respect you, even if I don’t agree with you. I am going to respect you for the human being that you are and call you my brother or sister, even though you look different from me. I am going to do what Dr. King charged all of us to do – to judge, if you must, by the content of my character and not the color of my skin.

Racism is embedded in the fabric of our country and distorts the lens that we view each other through. We need new glasses so that we can see clearly – one in which the only prescription is God’s love.

With love and blessings,

Gail

My Chickadees, I challenge all of us to have a candid conversation with our brothers and sisters of another race about the issue of race, with the goal of seeing beyond color to reach character and the Christ who lives within. 

WHILE WE WAIT, REST IN GOD’S LOVE

Hello, My Chickadees. Who would have thought that instead of planning our graduations and vacations, we would be in our homes, confined, and trying to learn contentment during this season?

Paul wrote in a letter to Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” (1 Timothy 6:6). Paul wrote Timothy this message while he, too, was confined in a Roman prison. He couldn’t go anywhere and he was forced to go deep while he remained at a distance.

You have heard me say during this health crisis that on the other side of every crisis is opportunity. The ancestors would say, “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” but it’s in those dark times that we are stretched and forced to go and grow deeper – deeper in our relationships with God and deeper in our relationships with one another.

In the last month, I have had an image in my head of a rosebud under the earth. It’s confined in a place without light or water touching it directly, but it’s being nourished and nurtured by the soil pressed around it. To us, it looks like nothing is happening, but one day we notice that, like magic, a bud surfaces. Soon after, the stem, then leaves, and to our delight, a beautiful rose appears. Transformed from the seed that was planted into the darkness, it emerged as a flower of exquisite beauty to share with the world. I can’t help but think of this analogy as we wait to see what is on the other side of this present darkness. 

In the Old Testament, “waiting” refers to waiting on the Lord. According to Bible.org, waiting means to, “bind together, to look patiently, to tarry or wait and hope, expect and look eagerly.” In essence, while we wait, we should expect that something good is going to happen. While we wait, we should expect revelation and transformation. Expect to be changed and as you change, so will those around you. Paul told Timothy, “Godliness and contentment were the way to great gain,” so let’s follow the patriarchs of old about how to experience to that “great gain” on the other side of all of this darkness.

In the account of Joshua before the battle of Jericho, the Israelites were told to wait and consecrate themselves. Okay, so you may be wondering about this godliness and consecration piece. So was I, so I looked it up for us. To consecrate ourselves, according to Bible.org means, “Spending time in God’s word, spending time in prayer, and seeking wisdom and discernment. Spending time meditating on God, what His will is for our lives, and what He wants to do through us.”

From the beginning of Scripture to the end, we can see that our God is a relational God. He desires a relationship with us and He wants us to relate to one another. The best way to build a relationship with anyone is to spend time with them. If we follow Paul’s instructions to Timothy and God’s instructions to Joshua in Joshua 13:6, in this time of waiting, we need to be seeking God. We too, like the Israelites, find ourselves in a way in which we have never been before and we need to seek the one who knows the way. By doing so, it allows us to have that peace I talked about in my April blog, so we may rest in the assurance that God’s got this.

We can reflect upon our relationships with the Lord and our loved ones… starting with the ones in our home. Now is a great time to discover what gifts and talents God placed in our loved ones that we never noticed before because we were too busy with all those things which have now been shut down. God has a way of getting our attention and refocusing us on what is REALLY important.

Time is an opportunity to do things differently. It’s an opportunity to reflect upon and acknowledge the blessings God places in our lives each day, despite what our bank account looks like. It’s an opportunity to praise God for our health and strength and the safety of our families. It’s an opportunity to expect God to be in our TODAY and supply all our needs TODAY. It’s an opportunity to see the love of God in those we know and be the love of God to those we don’t know (but who may need to feel God’s love and care through us). It’s an opportunity for God to transform us, and for us to transform the world when our rosebud breaks through the darkness of this space and we blossom into a replica of the Rose of Sharon.

God is in the business of spiritual harvest and while we wait, so let’s consecrate ourselves and view this present darkness through the lens of faith that allows us to stand on His promises as we rest in His goodness… one day at a time.

COVID-19 was a surprise to us, but not to God. He promised that He would supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory. Let’s rest in that. He promised that in the time of famine, we will eat. Let’s rest in that. We don’t know the way, but He is the way. Let’s rest in that. In the midst of the darkness of uncertainty and confusion, He is the light. Let’s rest in that. 

The lens of faith allows us to take courage as we rest on the wave of His goodness, which promises that on the other side of the darkness is light. I can’t imagine it being much darker than it is right now, and while none of us know what tomorrow holds, we know who holds tomorrow. Just like He kept us through today, He will be in tomorrow when we get there. In fact, He went ahead of us and worked out everything we need for when we get there.

The jingle for State Farm insurance is, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” I say, “Like a Good Daddy, God’s always there.” He is better than State Farm. He is Alpha and Omega. And unlike Allstate claims, He holds All Power in His hands.

As we continue to wait and create a new normal, let’s do so with expectancy. Let’s rest in the assurance that God is with us and better is on the way.

Peace and Blessings,

Gail

P.S. Good Morning My Chickadees: Morning Messages from Mom is coming. Stay tuned. 

FEELING ANXIOUS?

PAUSE, TAKE A DEEP BREATH, AND RELEASE IT WITH A PRAYER.

If this virus has taught us anything, hopefully it has taught us that we are NOT in control.

We like to think that we are in control, but if we were, it’s safe to say that we would have stopped COVID-19 a long time ago. We would have put an end to it long before thousands of people all over the world died. Our compassion for others would not have allowed us to see hundreds of businesses close their doors – some permanently – and thousands of people out of work. Most of us are social creatures, and having to self-isolate feels like one step away from solitary confinement. We are living in a state of hypervigilance as we arm ourselves with gloves, mass, and shields just to go to the grocery store. This feels like a nightmare, except that it’s real. So as we wait for this reality to pass, the question becomes how do we wait? 

Many of us don’t like waiting for anything. We have become an instant gratification society and world. We believe we should have what we want and how we want it – oh, and we want it now. Information is just a click away and we have become comfortable with the notion that we are in charge and are the center of our universe. As I stated at the opening of this blog, if COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that we are not in control. We may influence our destiny with our choices, but we do not have the final say.

As many of you know, I am a Christian therapist and I believe total healing involves mind, body, and spirit. God is in the midst of every client I work with, but my heart goes out to those clients who come to me void of belief in anything except themselves and what they see. What gets many of us through tough times is being able to anchor ourselves in a belief that there is something or someone greater who keeps us, holds us, and gets us through whatever the crisis is… gently carrying us to the other side. For me, that anchor is Jesus. I invite Him into my boat every day because I know I am not in control of anything except myself. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us THIS day our daily bread,” (Matthew 6:11), because He promised to provide for us, His children.

We have become so indoctrinated in believing that WE must make things happen that we omit the key component in anything happening, which is God. We live, breathe, and have our being because He allows it. We have forgotten how to be children, despite the fact that He gave many of us children to teach us. Let’s step backs and reflect upon a child’s faith. 

Our children believe us when we tell them something, and they rely, depend, and take comfort in the promises we make them. They rest in our word simply because we said it. They don’t have to see the promise in advance before they believe it – you said it, so that’s good enough for them.  

Most of us have lost our childlike faith. A child’s faith would allow us to have peace in the midst of the storm/virus and rest in the reassurance that God, who is our Big Daddy, is in control. His desire is that we “Be in good health, and prosper as our soul prospers,” (3 John 1:2), so with the faith of a child, we should take Him at His word.

For many of us who are not sure about how rent will get paid next month or what our lives will look like at the end of this crisis, I invite you to pause, take a deep breath, and pray, “Daddy, give me THIS day, my daily bread.”

Take another breath and reflect upon a prayer of gratitude for how He brought you through yesterday. Exhale tension and anxiety for what you have no control over.

Take another breath and choose to reflect on any of the 365 commands God gave us to “Fear not,” or “Let your heart not be troubled,” because He is with us.

Let go and allow God into your boat as He navigates you to the other side of COVID-19.

Anxiety is a human response when we feel overwhelmed or unsafe, but God has the antidote in His word. I close this blog with medicine from scripture to calm your anxious thoughts as you implement your own PDF – pause, take a deep breath, and focus on Philippians 4:6 –8:

 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your request to God. And the peace of God,

which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts

and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is lovely, whatever is

admirable; if anything is excellent or praiseworthy;

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS.”

Peace and Blessings,

Gail

P.S. Good Morning My Chickadees: Morning Messages from Mom is coming. Stay tuned. 

PEACE IN THE MIDST OF THE VIRUS

Hello My Chickadees,

I open this blog with a prayer for all of our health, well-being, and safety as we go through this health crisis. The mission of Inspirational Things by Gail is to encourage and inspire, and I pray that something the Holy Spirit shares through me will encourage you. With all that we are hearing from everywhere and everyone, it’s only human to feel some degree of fear, but this is the time to stand on our faith and the promises of God. When I say stand on our faith, I mean speak it. There is strength that renews our spirit-man when we remind God of His promises. Psalm 91 is the Psalm of protection and verses 10-16 state:

“No harm will come to you.

No sickness will come near your house.

He will put His angels in charge of you to

protect you in all your ways.

They will carry you in their hands so that 

you never hit your foot against a rock.

You will step on lions and cobras.

You will trample young lions and snakes.

Because you love me, I will rescue you.

I will protect you because you know my name.

When you call me, I will answer you.

I will be with you when you are in trouble.

I will save you and honor you. 

I will satisfy you long life.

I will save you.”

My Dear Chickadees, God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:17). Yes, we must be prudent and follow the advised precautions given to us by those God has put in charge of keeping us safe, but we don’t need to panic or listen to the voice of fear. 

God will often times give us opportunities to put into practice what we say we believe. The question becomes if our faith is strong enough to withstand the fire of the furnace.

It is important that we remember that no matter what we go through, God is with us; and if we seek His face, He will give us a peace that surpasses understanding – a peace to stand and withstand the pandemic of this virus. 

Take a moment to remember the things God has already done for you. The Israelites used to build altars of stones as a reminder of significant times God brought them through their fiery furnaces. Whether it was crossing the Red Sea to flee their enemies or miraculously defeating a formidable foe, He was with them and their victory was a reminder to them that NO weapon formed against them would prosper (Isaiah 54:17). Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. As the song goes, “If He did it before, He can do it again.” Psalm 91 re-assures us that He can and more importantly, He will.

Be not discouraged, be not dismayed. Don’t run your neighbors over trying to gather up all the toilet tissue, water, and bread off the shelves. Remember, God said He will provide. In a desert place, He is The Rock that will spring forth water to nourish our souls. He took a few fish and fed 5,000 (probably more like 15,000 with women and children), and they had 7 baskets left over. 

He is a God of more than enough. He is a God that says “I am with you and will see you through.”

So, how do we have peace in the midst of the virus? We remember who is in control of ALL things and that we are in Him.

I love you, My Chickadees. Stay safe and trust God. He will see us through. 

Peace and Blessings,

Gail

P.S. Good Morning My Chickadees: Morning Messages from Mom is coming. Stay tuned. 

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN GOD SAYS NO?

What do you do when what you’ve been hoping for, praying about, or believing in… doesn’t happen? What do you tell yourself when things don’t go as planned? Whether it’s for that dream house you wanted or that mate that you knew had to be the one for you or the promotion at work you knew you deserved – what do you do when the outcome was not what you expected?

God hardwired us with these things called emotions and when life events or situations occur, it’s human to feel angry, hurt, disappointed, or even betrayed; but the question becomes, what do you do with those feelings? Do you curse God and give up (a suggestion from Job’s wife) or do you trust God and tell yourself that God has another plan for you? 

There are things that happen in our lives that aren’t right and simply don’t seem fair, but the ugly truth is… God isn’t fair, He is just. Yes, He said He would give us the desires of our heart, but we often forget the part that comes before that, which says, “IF you abide in me, and my word abide in you,” ( John 15:7).

So what exactly does it mean to abide in Him? Well, I can tell you it doesn’t mean just calling on Him when we want something. God wants us to seek His face and not always His hand. It means taking the time to get to know Him. It means allowing ourselves to get in God’s presence as well as into His word. It means connecting ourselves to the one who is our power source as well as our Daddy. As His daughter or son, we need to be familiar with what is pleasing and acceptable to Daddy. When we abide in God we learn to trust and depend upon Him. We begin to rest in the fact that His word is truth, and just like any good parent, He wants the best for us. There is a comfort in knowing that the God of the universe, who is omnipotent (having unlimited power and able to do all things), and omniscient (all-knowing), is also our Daddy.  

I remember when I was a teenager and my mother said no to something I wanted to do or have, or someplace I wanted go. No matter how angry I got, or how much I pouted and pleaded, the answer was still… No. Often I would press her for a reason, and she would say to me, “I see dangers you don’t see, and I know things you don’t know. One day you will understand.” She was right. Now that I am a parent, I find myself saying the same thing. As parents, we have lived long enough to experience some things and hopefully have some wisdom (which comes from having lived long enough to learn some of the lessons that life will teach us). Our love for our children and the desire for our kids to have the best and be the best bring out our need and desire to protect them. We want to protect them from dangers they don’t see. God is no different. If we can shift from focusing on our feelings and change our thinking to trusting Him, even when we don’t like or understand the answer, not only will we feel better, but a peace that surpasses understanding will begin to fill us as we rest and abide in a God who promises not to deny us any good thing. We are told in God’s word not to judge by the appearance of things (John 7:24), because as the saying goes, “All that glitters isn’t gold.” Scripture warns us that there is a way that seems right, (that house, mate, job…), but in the end, leads to destruction (Proverbs 14:12).

When God says no, it’s not because He enjoys being some cosmic killjoy, it’s because you are the Apple of His Eye, and He sees what you don’t see and knows what you don’t know.

So what do you do when God appears to say no? You choose to trust Him and stand on your belief that He loves you and has chosen something even better for you that will be revealed when the time is right. In the meantime, keep praying, keep believing, keep seeking His face, and rest in the assurance that Daddy knows best. 

Peace and Blessings My Chickadees,

Gail

P.S.  Please look for and spread the word about the latest project that God is birthing through me, dedicated to all of you. It is a daily word to encourage and inspire all of us entitled Good Morning My Chickadees: Morning Messages from Mom.

COURAGE TO STAND

A Lesson from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Hello, My Chickadees. The message this month is taken out of a page of our biblical history. I was reading about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (some would say a bad Negro), and I was struck by the nerve and courage it took for them to stand up to King Nebuchadnezzar, who not only threatened their lives because of their refusal to bow down and serve his gods and worship the golden statue, but did so knowing that there was a furnace waiting for them if they didn’t bow. These original “bad boys” were brazen enough to tell the king

 “We will not serve your God or worship the golden statue that you set up,” Daniel 3:18. What kind of courage does it take to look death in the face and say like Queen Esther, “If I perish, I perish”? Many brave men and women have gone off to war and fought and died for what others believed, but what does it take to look death in the face and stand for what you believe?

In reflecting on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, let’s examine what they knew:

1.     They obviously knew that the God they served had the power and ability to save them. Being good Hebrew boys, I am sure that they grew up hearing stories of how their God was a God who could deliver and had a track record for delivering their people from the hands of their enemy. They weren’t quite sure what He would do, but they knew what He was ABLE to do, and they surrendered their situation to the God they knew was able to save and deliver them.

2.    They knew that “The Lord their God was God alone and they were expected to love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength,” (Mark 12:30, Deuteronomy 6:4-7) and Him only should they serve. They knew what was expected of them as children of the true living God and they weren’t willing to compromise their beliefs or expectations, even in the face of death. That’s what you call standing firm on faith.

3.    Lastly, they knew that the God they served loved them and promised to never leave them or forsake them (Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6). They knew that their God was a God who is not slack on His promises. Perhaps while standing on the edge of the furnace waiting to be thrown in, they remembered the instruction from Deuteronomy 31:6: “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you or forsake you.” Being human, I am sure they must have felt fear, but they didn’t allow their fear or the appearance of their situation stop them from standing on God’s word and taking courage. When we choose to yield our will to God’s, He shows Himself faithful to His promises towards us.

The Bible states that King Nebuchadnezzar asked his nobles who were standing next to him watching the three Hebrew boys dancing in the furnace, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? Assuredly, O King, they answered. But he replied, I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire; and the fourth looks like the son of God,” (Daniel 3:24). I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to shout G-L-O-R-Y to the God who, if He doesn’t deliver us, will get right in the heat of our situation and see us through.  

The other lesson we can take from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is to praise Him for what He is able to do. Praise Him while you’re going through, believing that deliverance is on the way.

When facing our own fiery furnaces, we would be wise to apply some of the lessons we’ve learned from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego about how to take courage and have faith for the furnace.

Last month, we celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and several days leading up to his birthday, my mind was focused on what courage it took to stand and withstand the daily death threats, false accusations, jail time, and the venom of hate that accosted him everywhere he went. He had to know God, take courage, and conclude like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and countless others who stood up to injustice, unrighteousness, and their own fears, and say “If I perish, I perish.” Trust that the same God, who is irrespective of person, and is the same yesterday, today, and forever, is well able to deliver us, too.

Peace and Blessings, My Chickadees,

Gail

P.S.  Please look for and spread the word about the latest project that God is birthing through me, dedicated to all of you. It is a daily word to encourage and inspire all of us entitled Good Morning My Chickadees: Morning Messages from Mom.

NEW YEAR. NEW BEGINNING. NEW YOU.

3 TIPS TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

Hello, My Chickadees! Happy New Year!

Don’t you just love do-overs? Especially if you messed up the first time – or if you’re like me, the first few times. A new year allows us to reset the clock and start again. We make proclamations and declarations of being different and making a difference and on January 1st, we have the best of intentions. We may even start off as planned – energized and enthused about our new perspective – but we frequently fall short of our goals because we fail to stay the course in the long run… especially when life hijacks our plans. I have been there and done that so many times that I have formulated an action plan that I will share with you to hopefully assist you (and me) in responding to the challenge of staying the course and meeting our New Year’s resolutions.

#1

Put first things first. I have come to learn that things go better with God. I borrowed that philosophy from the old Coca-Cola commercial which attempted to entice you to buy Coke because “things will go better for you” if you do. Although Coke can’t really promise you that they will, God can and does promise that if you “Delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart,” (Psalm 37:4). How do we delight ourselves in the Lord? I’m so glad you asked. We do so when we make Him our first priority. When we make time in our busy schedules to allow Him to pour into us daily, as He “gives us this day (each day), our daily bread.” 

I am struck with how Jesus always prayed and consulted His Father before He made any major decisions. I don’t know about you, but if Jesus had to go off to a quiet place and pray, I know I do, too. A daily dose of prayer and God’s Word strengthens our spirit man to help us run the race towards our goal. Putting God first makes everything else in our day go better.

#2

I know I’m old-fashioned, and part of that is because I am seasoned with age and have matured, but I have found that if you write out your goals for the year, accompanied by an action plan for achieving them, and put it where you can see it daily, it will help motivate you to stay the course. Every January 1st, I write out the goals I want to accomplish that year and I place that list in my prayer corner where I can see it every day. It has been said that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I also made myself of vision scrapbook. Some people make vision boards, but I find that making it into a scrapbook allows me to look at each page every day before leaving my prayer corner. In that vision scrapbook are my hopes and dreams and that I’m praying about and speaking into existence. It has also been said that what you think about, you bring about. God desires to give us the desires of our heart, and by putting them in a vision scrapbook we are reminding God and ourselves of those things we most desire to see show up in our lives. It is such a thrill for me when I see God manifest these visions and dreams in my life and watch thoughtsbecome things. Inspirational things by Gail is one of those dreams I prayed about and continue to pray over daily, but have seen the manifestation of what was once a desire of my heart, and now prayerfully will encourage and inspire the world to do the same.

#3

Get an accountability partner – someone who will hold you accountable and help keep you on task. I have such a person in my life and I call her my consultant. You want an accountability partner who has your best interest at heart and desires to see you achieve your goals. This is a person who doesn’t just tell you what you want to hear, but tells you what you need to hear and know, and offers advice and guidance as you work towards your goals. I thank God often for Kendall King, who was an answer to my prayer for help in bringing the product line of Inspirational Things by Gail into existence. I meet with her monthly to go over where we are in the formulation of my product line, and where we need to go. She is a wealth of knowledge and has graciously shared her gift of wisdom and technology with me. We need one another and God places others in our lives who have gifts that we do not have to assist us in sharing the gifts we do have. Allow your accountability partner to be God’s gift to you in sharing your gifts with the world.

Last but not least…

Never, never, never give up. No matter how hard the task seems to be and often is, keep pushing. God is birthing something special through you and if He placed a desire in your heart, He is able to bring it to pass. Remember, “You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you,” (Philippians 4:13) and “We are more than conquerors through Christ who strengthens us,” (Romans 8:37). If God has placed a dream in your heart or goal on your mind, He is well able to give you what you need to make it happen. My dear girlfriend Rev. René Cole used to always say to me, “Where He leads, He feeds.” I can’t begin to tell you how often I have held on to that statement through the ups and downs and dark days of building both of my businesses.

Things don’t always go as planned, but having a plan is your roadmap to success. When life hurls you a setback, remember your setback is a set up for a comeback. Keep pushing to birth what God has impregnated you with. In the famous words of Winston Churchill, “Never, never, never give up.”

Happy New Year, My Chickadees. Please look for and spread the word about my latest project that God is birthing through me, dedicated to all of you. It is a daily word to encourage and inspire all of us entitled Good Morning My Chickadees: Morning Messages from Mom.

Peace and Blessings,

Gail

LET’S PUT CHRIST BACK IN CHRISTMAS

Hello, My Chickadees. Everyone laughs at me because I love the Hallmark Channel. I especially love it from October to January because I get to see images of love and Christmas… and everybody’s happy! There is no killing, stealing, fighting, people sleeping with each other’s husbands, or plotting to do all manner of evil to one another. It’s just love and La La – just what I like and all that I can handle when I get home from work. It allows me to escape to what Christmas could be if our hearts were filled with Christ and our actions were motivated by love.

Christ is love. Everything about His coming had to do with love – His love for His Father, His love for fallen mankind, His love for all He created. But it seems that the majority of what we hear about, read about, and are bombarded with on ANY news channel or in our daily encounters with others, is anything and everything except love. 1 John 2:16 describes everything in the world being about “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,” which is clearly not of God and not reflections of the Christ we are called to emulate.

What would life be like if we chose to invite Christ in our hearts and we were motivated by our love for Him and one another? Isn’t that what Christmas is supposed to be about? Love? “God so lovedthe world He gave us His only Son,” and His time here with us was to show us how to love one another. His love for us was so deep that He literally sacrificed His life for ours. That’s a degree of love few of us attain, aspire to attain, or are expected to, but He is calling us to love instead of lust. 

Love gives; it gives of its time, talents, and itself, for the sake of others. Love says I have your best interest and highest regard because it believes in and hopes for the best for others, and I give of myself to let you know what love looks like. 

Lust says it’s all about me. I want what I want, when I want it, and I will do what I need to do by any means necessary to get it. If I need to steal from you, lie to you, cheat you, use you, or even take the life God gave to you, I will, because all that is important is me.

Christmas is a time in which we are challenged to return to love. We are called to be about what we profess we say we are: Christians, followers, imitators of Christ, and ambassadors of love. It’s a time to remember that the gift of ourselves is the greatest gift we can give one another. 

No, Hallmark doesn’t talk about Christ, but it does make you feel that He is reflected in the love that is represented. Life, unlike Hallmark, doesn’t always have a happy ending on this side, but Love says I will cover you and keep you and see you through anything you go through. With Love, you are never alone. 

My Chickadees, my challenge to all of us this Christmas is for us to allow love to override our lust. Let’s put Christ back into Christmas.

‘Tis the season to return to LOVE.

I love you, My Chickadees, and I pray you have a blessed CHRISTmas. 

Peace and Blessings,

Gail

EVERY DAY IS A DAY OF THANKSGIVING: MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY

Happy Thanksgiving, My Chickadees. The beautiful truth I have learned in my life is that every day is a day of Thanksgiving! Every day is a precious gift from God, packed with grace, new mercies, and pregnant with every promise God has made to us in His Word. We so often take the fact that we woke up for granted, but many people didn’t wake up. Every breath we take is a gift from God. Grateful should be our permanent state of being, but we often don’t realize this until something happens that nearly snatches the gift of life away.

It was certainly that way with me. About 20 years ago, I had a near-death experience that awakened not only me, but everyone who knows and loves me. It set fire to the power of prayer in my life and reminded me of the precious gift that life is. 

I haven’t talked about this incident much, but I was recently reminded of it by several people (who still refer to me as the miracle lady) in various settings, which leads me to believe that now is the time to share my story with the world. The irony of it is that my family, friends, church members, and coworkers are very familiar with the story of how God snatched me from the mouth of death, where I lingered in the shadow of the Valley of Death, on total life support, for 13 days. My condition was listed as grave, but people prayed and God performed a miracle on my behalf. This is my testimony:

Every two years, my family gathers for a reunion. One particular year, it was being held in Jacksonville, Florida. I was excited about this trip for several reasons: One, because I had opened my own counseling agency, The Pathfinder Project, a few years earlier, and had not taken a vacation since the opening of the business. Two, I had friends and family who lived in Florida and I was looking forward to seeing them. My plan was to attend the reunion and then spend a week with my good friend, Joan, who moved to Winter Springs, Florida. I had not seen her in several years. 

The reunion went off without a hitch. It wasn’t until the last day of the events when I began to feel a fullness in my throat. I am a seafood lover and I took the liberty to enjoy myself and indulge in all of my favorite things on this trip Seafood had never bothered me in the past, but this strange feeling in my throat caused several of my family members to wonder whether I might be developing a reaction to the seafood. My good friend Roscoe agreed to pick me up from my hotel the next day and drive me to Winter Springs, which was about two hours from Jacksonville. Before leaving Jacksonville, we had lunch, and I shared with him what I was experiencing the night before. He suggested that we stop at the hospital and get a shot of Benadryl just in case I was having a reaction to the seafood. I protested, but his response was, “I don’t want Barres (my husband) to say that something happened to you on my watch. You’re going.”

With my suitcases in the car, I called Joan and told her what happened and that I would be there as soon as we left the hospital. Roscoe dropped me off and went back to his office to lock up, just in case he didn’t make it back to Jacksonville before his workday ended. I remember waiting anxiously in the waiting area and feeling annoyed by this hiccup in my vacation plans. After about an hour or more, they called me back into the treatment room where I was seen by a doctor who ordered Solu-Medrol, Epinephrine, and Benadryl – the treatment usually given for people experiencing anaphylactic shock. Just as the medication was being administered, Roscoe returned and was allowed to enter into the treatment room since he worked in the Fire and Rescue Department of Jacksonville and they knew him. Reportedly, I had been laughing and talking and then suddenly something went horribly wrong. 

While the technician was connecting the heart monitor, my heart began beating so fast that I thought it was going to beat out of my chest. The doctor had left the room after ordering the medications, and the nurse was putting the medication away when I raised up off the table and stated, “Somebody help me!” Roscoe, who was sitting at the end of the table, perked up and noticed that my pupils were fixed and dilated. He began yelling, “She’s in cardiac arrest! Hit code blue!” 

Thirteen days later, I woke up in the critical care ICU with tubes coming out of every part of my body. I was told that my heart stopped and that I had been on total life support for those 13 days. I learned that they had defibrillated me an unheard of eight times in an attempt to bring me back. In fact, at one point, one of the doctors looked at his watch to call the time of death and Roscoe, who worked the code and did CPR with the emergency room doctors, insisted they keep trying. I learned that when your heart stops, all your organs began to shut down, so in the several hours that they worked to revive me, my renal system shutdown, my kidneys failed, and both lungs collapsed. My husband, who was still in Maryland at the time, was notified and told that if he wanted to see me, he needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible, because they were not expecting me to live through the night.

Word went out about what happened, and people that I didn’t even know began to pray. I was a consultant for the Prince Georges County Department of Social Services and I am told that they announced it over their PA system and asked for a moment of silence in this government building. The National Association of Black Firefighters, who I also served as a consultant for, put out a national call for prayer among their members. My church family and countless others – some who knew me and others who didn’t – heard what happened and prayed. On the 13th day, during a prayer vigil led by my pastor with my choir, I came out of the coma.

My husband, who had been trying to make arrangements to bring my body back to Maryland, was told that if I lived, I would be in a vegetative state because of the lack of oxygen to my brain. BUT… GOD!!! Coming out of the coma I heard a voice in my ear say, “Touch not my anointed,” and to everyone’s surprise, I woke up.

My life is a testimony to what God can and will do, and the fact that He is still in the miracle-working business. Those who went through that experience with me still praise God for His miracle-working power and the testimony of my life to that power. Even doctors who read my records have had to make some reference to God.

On this Thanksgiving, I am reminded that life is a precious gift from God and we should never take it for granted. In the blink of an eye, we could vaporize and cease to exist, but God.

My Chickadees, every day is a day of Thanksgiving. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Peace, Blessings, and Happy Thanksgiving,

Gail 

ARE YOU DATING GOD OR ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM?

Hello, My Chickadees. Recently, my pastor, Father Patrick Smith, asked the congregation a profound question: “Do you have a relationship with Christ or are you dating Him?” Ouch! Dating denotes seeing someone socially as you assess whether they are someone you want to become more serious about. It’s fluffy and surface, but there isn’t much substance. You may hear from that person the next day or you may not… but a relationship means you’ve decided to take it to the next level.

In a relationship, you become serious about getting to know that person and you take an emotional risk to allow them to get to know you. When you’re serious about someone, you want to know all about them­ – the good, the bad, and the hopefully not-so-ugly. It requires you to spend time together. You generally expect to hear from them daily as a check-in that you are flowing together. The person becomes a priority in your life and you make time to spend time with them because of how you feel when you’re with them. Unlike dating, once you’ve moved to a relationship, feelings of like become love and thoughts swirl through your mind about whether this is a person you can commit the rest of your life to. You think about if you can I trust them and depend on them, whether they would walk in the rain for you, and if they love you for you instead of some version of what they want you to be. 

When we are in a relationship, we care about the other person’s best interest and we do things we think will make them happy. They are on our minds every day, not just as an afterthought.

Christ desires to have a relationship with us and not just date us. He says, “I promise to love and cherish you. I will never leave you or forsake you. I am faithful and a man of my word because I am my word.” He says, “You can trust me and depend on me because I am faithful and cannot lie.” He is so passionate about us that he has carved our name in the palm of his hand (Isaiah 49:16).

Imagine that! Christ has our names tattooed in His hand. That says to me that no matter how many times I feel God has forgotten about me, that thought alone is a lie from the pit. If He has your name carved in His hand, He can’t forget about us! He promised to be our shelter in the storm and our bridge over troubled waters. The ultimate display of His love was to sacrifice His life for ours. 

Why wouldn’t we want to be in a relationship with someone who does all of that for us? Probably because we haven’t taken the time, or put forth the energy, to move from dating Christ to having a relationship with Him. Relationships are work. We have to put in the effort to invest in building a relationship. There is nothing casual about relationship. If it’s casual and not a priority, it’s just dating.

Is He the first thing you think about when you wake up and do you look forward to spending time with Him? If you look to Him to be with you and work things out for you (because you know He will), then you are in a relationship. When you refuse to be worried or anxious about anything because you’ve talked to Him and He gives you “peace that surpasses understanding” (Philippians 4:7), you’re in a relationship. When you have faith because you know He’s faithful, you’re in a relationship. And when you learn to expect the desires of your heart simply because He promised not to deny you any good thing, and He plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you hope and a future (Psalms 84:18, Jeremiah 29:11), then you are in a relationship.

The great thing about a relationship with Christ, unlike any other relationship, is that it is a lifetime commitment. If it ends, He wasn’t the one who left. He has committed to being with us until the end of time. God is a gentleman and He will never impose Himself upon us – despite the fact that He desperately desires to have a relationship with us. With all that He offers, why would you want to just date Him when you can have the bountiful rewards of a relationship?

So, I’ll ask you the same question my pastor asked. Are you dating Christ, or do you have a relationship with Him?   

Peace and Blessings, My Chickadees,

Gail

THE GOD OF MORE THAN ENOUGH

“They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over; seven baskets full.” – Matthew 15:3 

Hello, My Chickadees.

When I pick up the scriptures and read how Jesus “went about doing good,” I’m blown away by all He did and the way He did it. I am struck by the fact that after healing and curing thousands who came seeking deliverance from whatever bound them, He fed them spiritually with the Word of God so that their spirit man would be strengthened. Then, with a heart of compassion, He fed them physically so they would have strength for their journey back home. Those who were there to witness this event went on to tell us that they were ALL satisfied and had seven baskets of fish and bread left over. 

The God that we serve is not only concerned about our souls, but He is concerned about our physical well-being, too. There were a few other things that got my attention about the aforementioned miraculous event. The first is that the people who were there came seeking something from Jesus. Whether it was healing or deliverance, or they were just curious about all the reports they heard about this man from Galilee who was not only a prophet, but also a healer, the Scripture carefully notes that they all left satisfied. So not only did they all eat, but they were all satisfied.The writer put a period at the end of that sentence. There were no exceptions or exclusions identified. They came expecting something and they were not disappointed.

The next thing that got my attention was that the people stayed there until they received what they were seeking. They came believing and were open to what this “believed to be Messiah” had to say. They heard that everywhere He went, He changed those He touched; or in the case of the woman with the issue of blood, touched Him. It spoke to me about not only seeking God’s deliverance and then giving up because it appears that nothing is happening. It reveals the importance of “being steadfast, unmovable, and always working enthusiastically for the Lord, because your labor is not in vain,” (1 Corinthians 15:58). “We shall reap a harvest in due season if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9), but the problem is that we can never be sure exactly when due season is due. Those who came to see Jesus came to the mountain and remained there until they were satisfied – physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

The last and most profound part of that message for me was the fact that God had more than enough left over. He took little and made much, effortlessly, and had seven (the divine number for perfection in the Jewish tradition) baskets left over. The scripture did not say that there were seven fish left over or seven pieces of bread left over; it said that there were seven baskets filled that were left over. This is a perfect demonstration of how God is able to supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory and that there is no lack in Him (Philippians 4:19, Psalms 34:9). 

I remind myself of that scripture frequently when it’s time to pay bills and I am trying to make a quarter out of fifteen cents. Our God is concerned about our physical needs as well as our spiritual selves. He says that He will not only supply all our of needs, but He will give us the desires of our hearts. He is a God of more than enough, and He loves showering His children with blessings that are too numerous to count. Our part is to humbly come to Him and ask, believing that He will not deny us any good thing (Psalm 84:11, James 4:2-3). 

Seeking something? Aren’t we all? Let’s take courage and go to the mountain seeking and believing that there is deliverance waiting there for us too, from a God who is more than enough.

Peace and Blessings, My Chickadees,

Gail

GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU

Hello, My Chickadees! 

Jeremiah 29:11 states, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” I can’t begin to tell you the number of people over the years who have said to me, “I don’t know what my purpose is.” We are all created for a purpose, and if you believe in the Word of God, you know that God does not just have any old plan for you. He has a divine plan to prosper you, give you the desires of your heart, and have you not lack any good thing. That’s all part of being an heir and co-heir with Christ… but figuring out what you’re supposed to do with the gifts He’s given you is often the challenge.

When people question their purpose, I usually redirect them to their passion. Our purpose is to praise God and serve Him with our gifts. Our passion is what guides us in knowing what that gift is. In discovering your passion, I challenge you to ask yourself a question: What is it that you do that seems to come natural to you? I am very clear that my gift is listening to people in pain. God gives me an extra measure of grace to step into their pain and help them emotionally get to the other side of it. 

Your passion is something that you love doing, even if you don’t get paid. It brings you joy and serves others. Our gifts are given to us for the purpose of touching others’ lives and making a difference. When we use our gifts for good, we bring a little bit of the kingdom of God onto earth and into the lives of those around us. We all have gifts, but we do not all have the same gifts. I really believe that God, in all His wisdom, designed us that way, so that we would need one another.

Proverbs 18:16 states, “A man’s gifts opens doors for him, and brings him before great men.” No one gift is insignificant or not good enough. Every gift and every person is important, needed, and necessary to the kingdom of God, which is the people of God.

Sometimes traumas and circumstances can cause you to question the true knowledge of who and whose you are, your worth, value, and even your purpose for being here. Childhood abuse and the brokenness of others who displace their hurt, pain, and brokenness onto those who looked to them for love, acceptance, protection, encouragement, and support can render a person feeling unloved, devalued, worthless, and less than what God created them to be. Fortunately, feelings are not facts. You are much more than what you have been through.

God specializes in making masterpieces out of messes. Here are some facts about you that you may or may not have known.

• You are created in the image and likeness of an awesome God who has a plan to prosper you.

• As a child of the Most High God, the fact is that you are a co-heir with Christ, and since there is no lack in Him, there is none in you.  (Romans 8:17 and Psalm 34:9)

• You are created for greatness, not necessarily for fame; but you can be used by God to make a positive difference in the life of someone else, even if that means by bringing a smile to their face and making their heart glad.

I realized early in life that I had a desire to help make other people’s lives better. As time went on, I noticed that people would come to me and share their hurts and problems, and feel better after our conversation. There is nothing magic about me. The magic happens throughme as the Holy Spirit guides what I would say or do. Listening to people came naturally to me, and my joy is in being used to help them feel better and make a difference in their lives. God then placed a passion in me to start a business where I can use my gifts on an even grander scale to help heal the brokenhearted, so that they can go on and enjoy the fruit of God’s goodness as they use their gifts to touch others. 

You are a gift to the universe and you are packed with gifts to share with those in your circle of influence. When considering your purpose, take a moment to be still before the one who created you. Allow Him to reveal to you the gift He planted in you. May you use it to make a difference in the lives of the people He places in your path. Allow that which comes naturally to you open up a passion within you to help someone else. Whether that natural gift/ability is in teaching, organizing, doing hair, caring for others, driving a bus, building a building – whatever the gift, talent, or ability – do it unto the Lord and discover your purpose and God’s wonderful plan for your life.

Peace and Blessings, My Chickadees!

Gail