My neighbors across the street sold their house and finished moving the rest of their things today. Yesterday I was outside playing with Joshua and the mom and 2 year old daughter were also outside. Her daughter yelled, "Baby!" across the cul-de-sac; to which Joshua responded with a wave. I've seen them outside while we were out there before, but never went over to say hello. Yesterday I mustered up the gumption (after the kids introduced themselves without help from us moms).
The Holy Spirit had been prompting me to befriend her ever since we moved into this house. I always found an excuse to stay in my hermit crab shell. I regret it. I went over and spoke with her yesterday and she's so cool. She was funny, smart, my age, and we have so much in common. She's also a stay at home mom, so while I was home all day long - so was she. I'm pretty sure they sold their house to an older couple with no kids.
Why didn't I ever take the initiative to go over there and make friends? I had way too many excuses. Basically, I didn't think we'd have anything to talk about. I was always too busy to make a new friend. Now they're gone and I face a missed opportunity. I hate those. Lesson learned.
Friday, June 20
Thursday, June 19
Rant
I've been finishing up the last of my portfolio pictures this week and I still do not have sound on my computer, so I thought I'd turn on the radio. At first I was so delighted with the myriad of catchy tunes and fabulous beats. They seemed to be making my workload go by faster as I bopped in my seat. I was half paying attention until a few hours later when I caught myself singing these atrocities. What??!
My heart is NOT damaged. I'm not kissing any chics just to try it. I'm certainly not getting low, low, low, low, etc. Ridiculous. What gets me about these songs is that they are so addicting. I have the kind of mind that learns lyrics after hearing a song twice. So now if I'm not paying attention, my mind is swirling around to this stuff.
This is what people are listening to on a daily basis. This is what they are singing, on purpose. This is what they download onto their ipods and sleep with at night. Will the good lyricists with TRUE and edifying words stand up already? Geez.
My heart is NOT damaged. I'm not kissing any chics just to try it. I'm certainly not getting low, low, low, low, etc. Ridiculous. What gets me about these songs is that they are so addicting. I have the kind of mind that learns lyrics after hearing a song twice. So now if I'm not paying attention, my mind is swirling around to this stuff.
This is what people are listening to on a daily basis. This is what they are singing, on purpose. This is what they download onto their ipods and sleep with at night. Will the good lyricists with TRUE and edifying words stand up already? Geez.
Monday, June 16
Home and Garden State
Yesterday we went to visit my dad on Long Island for Father's Day. It was nice to see my family, but the more I go to Patchogue the less I feel it is home. I was actually pretty surprised to feel a longing for the Garden State while there. New Jersey...home?? This morning I heard my friend Tamiko on the prayer call say that even though she lives in Jersey, she'll always be a New Yorker. I have always related to that. So why was I feeling these "home" feelings about Jersey while visiting the home in NY where I spent most of my life?
Driving down the roads was a bit daunting. I saw a lot of the buildings where my childhood memories resided had been torn down, making room for new stores and condos. The old village of Patchogue is being updated, taking away that nostalgia I felt around every corner in my previous visits. To top it off, as much as I love my family and appreciate their place in my life, I realized that the family I had in the car with me - my husband and my son - had become more like home than even my father and siblings. It kind of feels like I've grown up, and it feels good.
The Garden State is my home now. I can admit it. I'm a Jersey girl.
Driving down the roads was a bit daunting. I saw a lot of the buildings where my childhood memories resided had been torn down, making room for new stores and condos. The old village of Patchogue is being updated, taking away that nostalgia I felt around every corner in my previous visits. To top it off, as much as I love my family and appreciate their place in my life, I realized that the family I had in the car with me - my husband and my son - had become more like home than even my father and siblings. It kind of feels like I've grown up, and it feels good.
The Garden State is my home now. I can admit it. I'm a Jersey girl.
Sunday, June 15
Photography blog
I've added a new journal to my bag 'o blogs. This one is just for my photography experiences. I will be updating with each new photoshoot and whatever else happens in between. I've backdated to April 1st so I could include the shoots I've done thus far. http://designsyl.blogspot.com/ Feel free to bookmark it ;)
In other news, Happy Father's Day! We'll be heading out to Long Island to see my dad tomorrow...uh...today (I need to go to sleep!). During the morning service, Pierre and 6 other fellas will be speaking on what it means to be a father. I'm looking forward to hearing what they all have to say.
In other news, Happy Father's Day! We'll be heading out to Long Island to see my dad tomorrow...uh...today (I need to go to sleep!). During the morning service, Pierre and 6 other fellas will be speaking on what it means to be a father. I'm looking forward to hearing what they all have to say.
Wednesday, June 11
Greater than sacrifice
7:38am
Pierre: Dial into the Prayer Call
Me: It's too early. It's only 7:38. There's still time.
Yahweh: You argue the smallest things. If you do it to him, you do the same to me.
Obedience. It's a seemingly relative term. Many believe that as long as you eventually get around to doing what you're told to do, you've been obedient. Your husband asks you to wash his whites - you get it done by the end of the week. Your boss tells you to write up your expenses - you turn it in an hour or two after it was due, grateful for the grace (it's your money, after all). Your pastor tells you to fast weekly - you fast when you feel led.
Obedience rubs our American nature the wrong way. The very definition of obey includes the word "conforming". That's a curse word in this country. Yet it is required of us, friends of Yah, in this day and age more than ever before. We think that the small delays in our obedience do not affect anything. However, if we delay to obey natural authority we will undoubtedly delay obeying spiritual authority. How many have lost their lives prematurely because they argued with the inner voice that would have brought them to safety?
We choose on a daily basis to rationalize our own way so we can live an independent life. The irony is that living in one of the most free countries in the world has led to some of the most bondage. We need to wake up and realize that perhaps the choices we make are not the best. Perhaps the authorities Yahweh has placed in our lives are not there to irritate, but to train. The more we practice obedience on a daily basis, the more effectual we'll be in the day of adversity for ourselves and others. The faster we train ourselves to obey natural authority, the faster we'll respond to the Holy Spirit's leading. Not to mention that without submission, we can never have true authority in our own lives. It's a spiritual law.
A side benefit of obeying natural authority is that doing so admonishes those with the authority to be careful with what they say. How many in leadership positions across the country bark out a bunch of senseless commands in an effort to have at least some of their words heeded? Obedience is greater than sacrifice; it is the greatest sacrifice. Practice being obedient on a daily basis and tell rebellion it has no place in your life. The benefits in the spirit realm will far surpass any temporary inconvenience to your flesh.
Pierre: Dial into the Prayer Call
Me: It's too early. It's only 7:38. There's still time.
Yahweh: You argue the smallest things. If you do it to him, you do the same to me.
Obedience. It's a seemingly relative term. Many believe that as long as you eventually get around to doing what you're told to do, you've been obedient. Your husband asks you to wash his whites - you get it done by the end of the week. Your boss tells you to write up your expenses - you turn it in an hour or two after it was due, grateful for the grace (it's your money, after all). Your pastor tells you to fast weekly - you fast when you feel led.
Obedience rubs our American nature the wrong way. The very definition of obey includes the word "conforming". That's a curse word in this country. Yet it is required of us, friends of Yah, in this day and age more than ever before. We think that the small delays in our obedience do not affect anything. However, if we delay to obey natural authority we will undoubtedly delay obeying spiritual authority. How many have lost their lives prematurely because they argued with the inner voice that would have brought them to safety?
We choose on a daily basis to rationalize our own way so we can live an independent life. The irony is that living in one of the most free countries in the world has led to some of the most bondage. We need to wake up and realize that perhaps the choices we make are not the best. Perhaps the authorities Yahweh has placed in our lives are not there to irritate, but to train. The more we practice obedience on a daily basis, the more effectual we'll be in the day of adversity for ourselves and others. The faster we train ourselves to obey natural authority, the faster we'll respond to the Holy Spirit's leading. Not to mention that without submission, we can never have true authority in our own lives. It's a spiritual law.
A side benefit of obeying natural authority is that doing so admonishes those with the authority to be careful with what they say. How many in leadership positions across the country bark out a bunch of senseless commands in an effort to have at least some of their words heeded? Obedience is greater than sacrifice; it is the greatest sacrifice. Practice being obedient on a daily basis and tell rebellion it has no place in your life. The benefits in the spirit realm will far surpass any temporary inconvenience to your flesh.
Monday, June 9
Yep, I know the sex of my baby.
This morning on the prayer call, while I was minding my own business praying in tongues, I had a vision of a pretty little baby girl. She was lighter than me with the same chubby legs, blacker hair than mine (a whole lot of it, straight) and had big brown eyes. I knew her name was Annabella (which I'd never thought of before but think is pretty). She didn't look anything like what I usually picture our daughter(s) to look like (darker, big puffy afro). She actually looked a lot like me when I was born. Yes, my hair was pin straight. Go figure.
Later on in the day I had another vision of her, running around after Joshua with those same chubby legs and a little dress. So cute.
...Judging by the percentage of times that I'm right when it comes to visions/premonitions for myself, it's a pretty safe deduction that I'm having another BOY.
Later on in the day I had another vision of her, running around after Joshua with those same chubby legs and a little dress. So cute.
...Judging by the percentage of times that I'm right when it comes to visions/premonitions for myself, it's a pretty safe deduction that I'm having another BOY.
Thursday, June 5
The current day
Foreclosure: A situation in which a homeowner is unable to make principal and/or interest payments on his or her mortgage, so the lender, be it a bank or building society, can seize and sell the property as stipulated in the terms of the mortgage contract.
Investopedia Commentary: In some cases, to avoid foreclosing on a home, creditors try to make adjustments to the repayment schedule to allow the homeowner to retain ownership. This situation is known as a special forbearance or mortgage modification.
Last year around this time, our mortgage company decided to sell our loan to another company. They can do that without the homeowner's knowledge or consent. The new company saw fit to raise our monthly payments by hundreds of dollars. That's their prerogative as well. A few months later, we somehow overlooked renewing our homeowner's insurance, and the new company assumed it - thereby raising our monthly payments another thousand and change. At that point it became very difficult for us to juggle all the bills and we went into default. The company even kept all monies awarded to us when a tree fell on our house and destroyed the porch. Despite Pierre's constant communication with the lenders, and his repeated attempts to bring everything current, they went ahead and filed a foreclosure. I got the letter right before going on my board of directors retreat. We worked out a plan of repayment, but the monthly number is even higher (almost by another thousand) than the previous numbers. That is what is happening in the natural.
Moad: An appointed time set by Yahweh.
In the spirit realm, explosions are happening. The POC retreat proved to be a divine and appointed time for all of us. Though the foreclosure has brought about a roller coaster of emotion for my soul, my spirit is settled, strong, calm, rooted and grounded in victory. I am a commander in the spirit realm, an intercessor, an agent of change. The enemy has tried almost successfully to snuff out this reality, numbing me with mindless entertainment and distracting me with frivolities. Yet the truth remains that I am a leader. Yahweh has always told me so, and he always confirms His word again and again - not because He likes to hear Himself talk, but because we obviously need to hear the same thing several times before we believe it. My pastor called me fearless yesterday, and it took me by surprise for a moment; until I remembered that I am. This is an appointed time for me, and an appointed time for the body at large. I can have as much or as little involvement in Yahweh's powerful outpouring as I choose to free myself to. Our pastor told us that all which is hidden shall be revealed. If we choose to reveal our hidden secrets, all the blessings that are hidden will also be revealed. As for my physical house, it's fully renovated and paid for. No amount of human error or spiritual attack can change truth, not even facts.
I am a leader, and as a leader I take my rightful position at the forefront; servant of all. Who is greatest in the kingdom but they that are willing to give their lives for others. My place is to fast, pray, intercede on behalf of others so that their destinies cannot be stunted by the enemy of their souls. My only desire is that I remember this on a moment to moment basis for the rest of my natural life.
Investopedia Commentary: In some cases, to avoid foreclosing on a home, creditors try to make adjustments to the repayment schedule to allow the homeowner to retain ownership. This situation is known as a special forbearance or mortgage modification.
Last year around this time, our mortgage company decided to sell our loan to another company. They can do that without the homeowner's knowledge or consent. The new company saw fit to raise our monthly payments by hundreds of dollars. That's their prerogative as well. A few months later, we somehow overlooked renewing our homeowner's insurance, and the new company assumed it - thereby raising our monthly payments another thousand and change. At that point it became very difficult for us to juggle all the bills and we went into default. The company even kept all monies awarded to us when a tree fell on our house and destroyed the porch. Despite Pierre's constant communication with the lenders, and his repeated attempts to bring everything current, they went ahead and filed a foreclosure. I got the letter right before going on my board of directors retreat. We worked out a plan of repayment, but the monthly number is even higher (almost by another thousand) than the previous numbers. That is what is happening in the natural.
Moad: An appointed time set by Yahweh.
In the spirit realm, explosions are happening. The POC retreat proved to be a divine and appointed time for all of us. Though the foreclosure has brought about a roller coaster of emotion for my soul, my spirit is settled, strong, calm, rooted and grounded in victory. I am a commander in the spirit realm, an intercessor, an agent of change. The enemy has tried almost successfully to snuff out this reality, numbing me with mindless entertainment and distracting me with frivolities. Yet the truth remains that I am a leader. Yahweh has always told me so, and he always confirms His word again and again - not because He likes to hear Himself talk, but because we obviously need to hear the same thing several times before we believe it. My pastor called me fearless yesterday, and it took me by surprise for a moment; until I remembered that I am. This is an appointed time for me, and an appointed time for the body at large. I can have as much or as little involvement in Yahweh's powerful outpouring as I choose to free myself to. Our pastor told us that all which is hidden shall be revealed. If we choose to reveal our hidden secrets, all the blessings that are hidden will also be revealed. As for my physical house, it's fully renovated and paid for. No amount of human error or spiritual attack can change truth, not even facts.
I am a leader, and as a leader I take my rightful position at the forefront; servant of all. Who is greatest in the kingdom but they that are willing to give their lives for others. My place is to fast, pray, intercede on behalf of others so that their destinies cannot be stunted by the enemy of their souls. My only desire is that I remember this on a moment to moment basis for the rest of my natural life.
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