Last Blog For 2009

I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted a new blog. Life has been keeping me very busy, and has been very interesting to say the least. I've learned very recently that sometimes God will give you the same circumstances that you thought you had overcome, to see how well you handle them the next go round. As I've tried to become more spiritually mature, it still isn't as easy to do the right thing, or should I say what is best for me. I still find myself in daily struggles trying to find the peace that I want in my life. I am still trying to fix things that I have no business in fixing.

As I look forward to 2010, I am striving to make myself LET GO and LET GOD! If I want peace, I need to learn to look deep inside of myself to find it with God's help. He alone can truly grant me what I need. This past week the pastor quoted one of the scriptures that I really needed to hear:

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28, New King James Version)

I am leaving all of my burdens of 2009 with God! I am letting go and letting God! I will begin 2010 with a new outlook on life, and a new sense of purpose.

May God grant you peace and prosperity in the upcoming year. Happy New Year to All!

Much Love
Nay

Blessed Assurance

I haven't had a lot of time to blog lately, but wanted to post something today. As Thanksgiving approaches, it reminds me of how much I have to be thankful for. The most precious gift is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are so blessed to have been "born of His Spirt, and washed in His blood."

   
¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹ and having a High Priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25, New King James Version)

Let's continue to be faithful! I posted a James Ingram song earlier this week and thought I would post his version of Blessed Assurance, which I love.



Everyone have a blessed weekend!

Nay

His Everlasting Mercy!

 ¹ Praise the LORD!
         
         Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
         For His mercy endures forever.
          (Psalm 106:1, New King James Version)

I am so very thankful for God's mercy. God is always there for us despite our sins. He is always worthy to be praised. There is one song that I listen to over and over, that I love to sing when worshipping and thanking God. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Great is Your Mercy by Donnie McClurkin


This song should help you get over the hump of Hump Day! Have a blessed rest of the week.

Nay

I'm Available - Use Me Lord!

 ¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.   
³ For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:1-8, New King James Version)

God has given us all gifts, and we should humbly use our spiritual gifts to glorify Him. These verses bring to mind one of my favorite songs. This is "Lord I'm Available To You" by Rev. Milton Brunson & The Thompson Community Choir.



I've also included the lyrics, if you would like to sing along.

Verse 1
You gave me my hands to reach out to man,
to show him Your love and Your perfect plan.
You gave me my ears, I can hear Your voice so clear;
I can hear the cries of sinners,
but can I wipe away their tears?

Verse 2
You gave me my voice to speak Your word,
to sing all Your praises to those who never heard;
but with my eyes I can see
a need for more availability,
I've seen hearts that have been broken,
so many people to be free.

Chorus
Lord, I'm available to You.
My will I give to You,

I'll do what You say do,
use me Lord to show someone the way
and enable me to say,
my storage is empty and I am available to You.

Verse 3
Now I'm giving back to You
all the tools You gave to me
my hands, my ears, my voice, my eyes,
so You can use them as You please.
I have emptied out my cup
so that you can fill me up.
Now I'm free, I just want to be more available to You.

Bridge
Ah

Vamp
Use me Lord to show someone the way
and enable me to say,
my storage is empty and I am available to You.

I hope enjoy the song as much as I do. Have a blessed weekend.

Nay

Center of My Joy

   
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
(1 Peter 1:3-9, New King James Version)

What an awesome thing to know that Jesus Christ died so that we could live. Whenever you are going through trials just remember what Jesus endured for us. We need to be rejoicing in the midst of our trials knowing, that your faith is being tested. What a wonderful way to glorify God by enduring our trials and keeping our faith in Him. I am sharing with you a song that I love by Richard Smallwood. "Center Of My Joy." It is a beautiful song that honors and glorifies God. Enjoy!




Have a blessed week!

Nay

New Experiences

This past weekend I attended the Lady Baltimore Doll Show. I was accompanied by my daughter, Lil Mama, and her "little sister," Corey. They have been classmates for the past three years. Lil Mama has been to several doll shows, but this was Corey's first time. The girls were treated like royalty since they happened to be the only kids there. They were each given a doll and Lil Mama also received a bear from a vendor. They also got to load up on lots of candy at the different tables. I even won a door prize!

Both girls were very excited in viewing each table. They would ooooooohhhhhh and ahhhhhhhh each time they saw a doll that they liked. I think Corey's excitement rubbed off on Lil Mama, and they just had a ball together. Corey has told her mother in the past that she needs to have a wall of dolls like I do. Well the day after the show she was still telling her mother that she needed dolls, and talking excitedly about the doll show.

It's a wonderful thing to expose kids to new experiences. They may not love every event you go to, but you never know til you try. So why not try taking your kids or even grandkids to a new place or an event. Whether it's a museum, an off broadway or broadway show, a new park, the lake or beach, or even something as simple as trying a new restaurant. Those experiences will help encourage them to try new things.

Keep trying new things and have fun!

Nay

No Weapon.....

Isaiah 54:17 (New King James Version) -
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the LORD.

Satan has many weapons that he uses against God's children. Sickness, debt, depression, bad relationships and so on. What God has promised us is that that no matter what Satan uses to attack us, he will not suceed. How awesome is it that we serve such a wonderful God, knowing that He always has our back. He is always there, even in the midst of our troubles. Victory is always on the side of our Heavenly Father.

Just remember when Satan is using those weapons against us, to stand on God's promise. God will always prevail!

Have a blessed day and enjoy Fred Hammond's "No Weapon!"



Nay

Rev Run's Words of Wisdom

I received this in my daily email from him, and I thought I would share this quote.

"Good morning. Success is not final. Failure's not fatal. It's the courage to continue that counts."

Keep the faith!

Nay

A Lesson From "The Princess and the Frog"

My daughter and I watched "Snow White" the other day on DVD. On the DVD was the first six minutes of the upcoming movie "The Princess and the Frog." The color wasn't completely filled in on every scene, but watching it got me really excited for the movie to be released. Just in that short span we learn how important it is to be supportive of our kids and to always encourage their dreams. In thinking about that movie I realized that it's important to not only be supportive of the things our kids want to do, but be encouraging of things that they do that may not be so "important." It can be something just as small as braiding hair for example.

I've mentioned before that my daughter is six. She will be seven next month. This year, we've been getting our hair braided a lot. Well one day she came out of her room and said "Mommy, look what I did." She had braided her dolls hair and put rubber bands on the end to hold the braids. I may be biased but I thought the braids were really good for a six year old. I know I couldn't braid my dolls hair at six. I asked her where she had learned how to do it, and she said she taught herself. My guess is she had watched some of what my girlfriend was doing in braiding our hair, and then proceeded to do it on her dolls hair.

On our trip to Hawaii, she also had fun braiding and styling the hair of So In Style Stylin Hair Grace. I enjoyed watching her do it.



I bring up all of this to say this is one of the areas that I realize I should encourage her in. I am not trying to pre-define what her permanent job will be in the future, but this could definitely be a skill set that she could possibly make money on the side, if she chose to. She may braid other people's hair in high school or even college, to have a little spare change. Or this could be what she chooses as her profession. Maybe she does neither, and after marrying has a baby girl. She will be able to save money, by not sending her child to the hairdresser, and doing her hair herself. In either of the scenarios the outcome is positive.

So make sure to not only encourage the dreams of your children, but give them the all important praise and affirmations for "insignificant"(no not really) things like braiding hair.

Nay

Have You Ever Looked Back and Wondered How You Got Over?

Sing some of the lyrics with me!

Chorus:
How I got over,
how I got over,
my soul looks back and wonders
how I got over.

Verse 1:
Soon as I can see Jesus (oh yes),
the Man that made me free (oh yes),
the Man that bled and suffered (oh yes),
and died for you and me (oh yes).

I thank Him because He taught me (oh yes),
I thank Him because He brought me (oh yes),
I thank Him because He kept me (oh yes),
thank Him ‘cause He never left me (oh yes).

Thank Him for the Holy Bible (oh yes),
thank Him for good ole revival (oh yes),
thank Him for heavenly vision (oh yes),
thank Him for old time religion (oh yes).

Bridge:
I'm gonna to sing (hallelujah)
You know I'm gonna shout (troubles over);
well I thank Him for all He's done for me.

We all go through trials and tribulations, but once that particular trial is done do you ever look back and wonder how you go through it? Well it's through God's grace and mercy, that we were able to get over that hump in the road of life. I am ever thankful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for all that He has done for me and how far He has brought me. If you are feeling down about the situation you are in, then pray that God will grant you the strength to overcome it. We may not see it while we are in the trial, but the trials indeed make us stronger, and our goal is to have learned important lesson(s) from them.

Philipians 3:14(NKJV) -I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.

We need to press on even in our darkest hour, and continue to give God incessant praise. What a joy it will be to look back and wonder how you got over, and be able to SHOUT your troubles are gone.

I recently purchased Vickie Winan's newly released CD "How I Got Over." I love listening to the title soundtrack. Vickie's music has always been an inspiration to me and I just wanted to share the video of "How I Got Over."

I hope you enjoyed the video. I am going to leave you with part of the last verse of the song.

Coming from the north, south,
east, and west, (oh yes),
on the way to the land of the rest (oh yes).
I'm gonna join the heavenly choir (oh yes),
gonna sing and never get tired (oh yes).

Remember your prize!

Nay

This boy is awesome!!!

And the little child shall lead them......