Making Space
it is ill-advised to cram more into an already packed space. This is how things get damaged, chipped, and scarred. In order to receive you have to make space to do so. This is where regular purging comes in handy. I try to purge once a year. Usually in the week between Christmas and New Year. When I’m being more intentional, I purge as I head into Spring and the week mentioned above. However, this year I moved. Moving is a beast in and of itself. However, it does afford you the opportunity to purge. I got rid of SO MANY THINGS! Things that were old, unused, dusty, had cracks,…
Reality Check
As a child, we all had a picture of what our lives would look like when we grew up. I was a typical little girl who played house with Barbie and Ken and dreamed of beautiful, well-dressed children; a handsome husband; a big house; and a great job. At forty-four, 1 out of 4 of these has become a reality. In fact, I’ve had several great jobs. But, life hasn’t turned out how I imagined it would. I know I am not alone in this. There are people who are locked in perpetual disappointment because they can’t let go of the picture of how it was “supposed” to be. I…
Monday Musings: Dance into Your Week
HAPPY MONDAY!! Are you dancing into your week like this NBA fan? If not, what’s stopping you? Don’t stop get it get it . . .
The Gift of Dance
I’m not sure when it happened. I can’t place the exact time, moment, or event that took place. All I know is that one day I woke up and realized that I had lost my dance. So caught up in the mundane complexities of a life of service to others I sat in church one Sunday and realized that I hadn’t danced in YEARS. Yes, I said YEARS. For some of you, this will seem strange. However, I grew up in a culture, specifically a church culture, that used dance as an expression. An expression of joy, pain, victory, hope, praise, and thanksgiving. It wasn’t unusual to dance or “shout”…
Monday Musings: Release
Definition of release transitive verb 1: to set free from restraint, confinement, or servitude 2: to relieve from something that confines, burdens, or oppresses 3: to give up in favor of another intransitive verb: to move from one’s normal position (as in football or basketball) in order to assume another position or to perform a second assignment NOUN: 1: relief or deliverance from sorrow, suffering, or trouble 2a: discharge from obligation or responsibility b(1): relinquishment of a right or claim (2): an act by which a legal right is discharged specifically: a conveyance of a right in lands or tenements to another having an estate in possession 3a: the act or an instance of liberating or freeing (as from restraint) 4: the…
Monday Musings: Your Choice
I often refer to my trip to Italy as the catalyst for my wanderlust. However, as I was going through pictures, I discovered that it was actually my 35th birthday cruise that ignited a fire within me for travel. In Nassau, I was surrounded by brown faces in a brown nation that was foreign to me. It was then that I decided to dive deep into exploring cultures different from my own. I decided to become a student of life. In a way, every week is a fresh opportunity to grow, change, adapt, and discover. It is your choice whether you seize the opportunity or remain the same. Welcome to…
Monday Musings: Time
Last week, I lost an Uncle. It was sudden and completely unexpected. It was eerily similar to the loss of my dad. No matter how educated, religious, wealthy, or polished you are death grips like a ferocious beast and instantly changes things. Death plays no favorites; it is an equalizer. My family came together, as they always do and we remembered, we honored, we celebrated. Death also causes you to appreciate life. The time we have here on earth is finite. None of us know when our time will be up. So, at the cusp of this week, with the memories of Uncle Bobby running through my mind, I’m determined…
A Stuck Place
Have you ever found yourself in a stuck place? A place where you feel like you’re hemmed in and can’t move. Perhaps at this very moment, you’re finding it hard to even breathe and the walls are closing in on you. The frustrating, mind-numbing, sense of helplessness that occurs when you are stuck happens at least once in most of our lives. For some, there is a collective sense of being “stuck”. Poverty, racism, sexism, chronic illness, grief, these are all examples of things or situations that can leave a group of people feeling like they’re in a perpetual stuck place. Imagine a piece of gum stuck to your shoe…
Just Say No
Welcome to Confessions of a recovering “help-a-holic.” One of the hardest lessons I am learning during my sabbatical is how to say “NO” and not feel guilty about it. Recently, I received a request to preach. It was an odd request because of the demographic and it was not something I’ve done in at least a decade. When the request was made, I knew what the answer would be. However, it took me five days to say the word. I went back and forth, trying to figure out how to make it work. When I finally decided to submit to the inevitability of no, it took me another few days…
Monday Musings
It’s Monday – Let’s make it count!