I'm Not Lucky

I remember it as if it were yesterday; it was an email to an old friend that I ended with “Good Luck… No scratch that, I don’t believe in luck, Be Blessed!” It was one of many times my use of words and their importance was brought to my attention.  After that email, that sort of became my saying, but I never truly understood the power and truth in that statement until recently.    

Luck -success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. The force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person’s life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities.

Blessed -of or enjoying happiness; specifically: enjoying the bliss of heaven. Pleasure, contentment or good fortune.

Those definitions really made me think. I remember saying  “I’m not lucky” “You’re so lucky” and “Good Luck”.  But the truth of the matter is, I’m not lucky! I’m not one of those people that just stumble upon fortunes or one of those people that know what to say to get ahead.  I’m the person that never gets a full refund, the one that buy things at full price and the next day it goes on sale, I’m the one that never seems to get a break when looking with the human eye.  

As I grow in Christ I’ve learned a new word called favor and favor is defined as an attitude of approval or liking.  A gracious, friendly, or obliging act that is freely granted. Something granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice or for compensation; a kind act.  So something I’ve realized about myself is I’m not lucky BUT I do have God’s favor and having God’s favor allows me to be blessed..which means I enjoy the bliss of heaven and have good fortune, contentment and pleasure. I may not be the lucky one that walks into great opportunities but I AM the one that God sets things aside for personally. I’m the one that God gives the knowledge and strength to endure any situation so that when the going gets tuff I don’t rely on luck to make it through. I’m the one that knows what God gives, no man can take away!  Which means.. what’s for me and given to me, by way of blessings and favor can NOT be taken by luck and happenstance.  The only thing that can alter my outcome is the way I choose to handle the situations that I’m faced with.

Life and death truly are in the power of the tongue; when I took luck out of my vocabulary and replaced it with blessed, I subconsciously took the restraints of luck off and replaced that with blessings, which released a whole new world full of possibilities. 

So today my voices are asking you to leave luck to people who don’t believe in free will and the ability to make one’s own decision. Leave luck to those who don’t believe in God’s favor and blessings.  Do you want your success or failure to be left up to chance? Do you want your circumstances to be dictated by things against your will and God’s desire for your life? 

Remember with God all roads lead to success, some just take longer dependent on the way you handle the situations your faced with.

Until Next Time…

Be Blessed

Hurricane Isaac

It started off as typical day when there's a bad storm. We all slept in one room because I didn't want us split. The boys were on a mattress on the floor and we were in the bed. We rose to no electricity, no water and HUNGRY! Demond went in the garage to fix breakfast on the grill and we followed behind him… outside the clouds were threatening, the rain was endless but there was still a sense of calmness in the air despite the strong winds.  We looked around and noticed that the area behind the house was flooded and so was the street in front of the house.  But there was still grass that was visible along the side of the house and in the front.  We went back inside and ate, we may have stayed inside for about an hour or so…when we went back outside everything had changed drastically it was now extremely gloomy outside, there was no sign of grass only water that went back as far as we could see… What was once visibly our yard, our street, our driveway was replaced with never-ending water resembling a lake with mailboxes, houses and cars strategically placed in it.  

We called to be rescued because the water rose really fast. I grabbed everyone's hand and we made a circle on the floor, it was time to pray..."Lord we come before you giving you all the glory, all the honor and all the praise! I pray the blood covering over me and my family, I ask that you send your angels to watch over and protect us during this storm. We love you Lord, Amen."

A fire truck came hours later "Someone will be back in 25 minutes to get you, be ready!" was shouted through the intercom. We opened the door without thinking and a tidal wave of water stormed in the house, it was instant panic as the water poured into the house. We closed the door and tried to absorb as much water as possible. Later a boat came that took us away from our home.  We floated away with all signs of coming back to anything pointing at slim to none.  

While in the boat we were surrounded with devastation but not defeat so that in itself was a blessing. During this test God used so many people to show his Greatness and for that I will always be thankful.  God's favor just kept shining through so many people.  The love, sincerity and concern showed by our family and friends has truly been an amazing gift from God.  Initially people are inclined to say "If you need anything let me know" but we are blessed enough to be surrounded by people that actually mean what they say.

...Until Next Time

Outside My Front Window

Favor isn't Fair...

I woke this morning with so many thoughts running in my mind…as I often do.  This is something that happens to me a lot, my mind is always full of ideas, dreams, hopes & prayers.  I pushed the thoughts out of my mind as I always do, got up and  turned on some music.  As the music was playing a song came on that I’d never heard before and the title alone strolling across the T.V screen caught my attention “Favor ain’t Fair”.  Reading that title instantly brought my mind back to the racing thoughts and as I heard some of the lyrics in the background of my thoughts I couldn’t help but be thankful for my blessings.  There are many things in life that I still want to accomplish but I also have some things in my possession that people are currently praying for and others can only dream about.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am in no way saying that you should accept what you have and not strive for more...I’m saying, in the midst of striving for more, give thanks for what you have. 

At the time I wasn’t sure if it was the conviction of my blessings or just my need to be in the house of the lord that allowed me to get dress so fast and head to church.   When I got there I was a little disappointed because my pastor wasn’t preaching (however wrong some may think that is :-) ) and I instantly wish that I hadn’t gone.  But I stayed and as I sat in church, the minister really had some good points.  I now know how true the saying is about being in the right place at the right time.  I realized that you have to align your life with God’s divine destiny for you in order to receive the messages that he has pre-prepared for your life’s journey.  Listening to him preach made me arrive at a revelation of my own.  I decided that today would be the day that I start having a productive day, every day!  He made me realize that ‘Favor isn’t Fair, but it is Necessary’ because everyone isn’t capable of accomplishing what is desired by God, in the manner that he wants it done. It's funny because my Aunt and I had this same conversation, so I know that this is the first step in the right direction of my divine destiny.

I’m really excited about starting this blog and I can go on and on but I wont…I’ll save some for another day. Please come back daily to see what my inner voices may be saying.   Today my inner voice is screaming: Be Thankful for what you have, Pray for what you want, Wait for God’s answer & Work towards accomplishing what’s in God’s will for you!

Until next time…