I was preparing for bed the other night and my cat, Joy Bella, came into the restroom. She looked up at the counter, and then, looked at me. I pushed some items out of her way. Then, she sized up the counter again and hopped up on the counter. Her leap was so graceful and elegant. She does this all of the time, but that night, for whatever reason, I was amazed by it.
You see, Joy looked at the challenge (getting on the counter). She asked for help the remove the obstacle (my stuff was in the way of her safe landing). Then, she went for it! In that moment, I wished that I would have the courage that she displayed. Once, she knew that there was nothing to impede her progress, she jumped. When she jumps, it is as if she knows every time that she will land right where she is supposed to be. I, on the other, see a challenge. I try to avoid the challenge or deal with the challenge on my own. I do not like to admit that I might need help. Then, even if the obstacle is removed, sometimes I still tell myself all of the reasons that I cannot or do not deserve to reach my goal. Even though I have prayer and preparation on my side, I am sometimes still afraid to take the leap. It should be just the opposite. Because I know that God is with me, all of my leaps of faith should be effortless. That is not to say there will be no challenges once I leap. That is not to say that I should put myself in a bad position that is not the desire that God has for my life. What I am saying is that I should freely face the challenge and take the next step know that God is in control. If He is the one who told me to step out on faith and I am obedient, then there may be obstacles, but nothing will go wrong. So, what is it that you need to trust God for today? Whatever it is, I challenge you (and me) to LEAP!!! Ms. EV
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I woke up one morning with a poem and praise on my heart. I always sleep with either a pen and pad in my bed or my phone nearby ready to record a memo. Sometimes, I even have my laptop in my room for the occasions when I need to wake up and write. Whether it is in the middle of the night, early in the morning, or before I go to sleep, I want to be able to write what God gives me. Some of it is just for me and some of it is for sharing with others. And, as I wrote the poem that morning, and the words flowed from my heart, I realized what an awesome gift of gab God has bestowed upon me. Not that I am awesome, but that words are so powerful.
In my younger days, I realized the power of words, but did not use words in a way that was pleasing to God. When I was a little girl, I was tall, skinny, and awkward. I did not have a lot of friends because allegedly, I was also bossy. I was teased a lot in elementary school and middle school, and that was before I got glasses and braces. When I was very young, I learned a bunch of words, most of them with four letters, that I quickly found out made me very scary to others. Before I knew it, I could string those words together in such a way that no one was willing to go up against me. In high school, I was picked on because I “talked funny” and acted like an “Oreo” (in other words, I used proper English and took honors classes). When curse words were no longer strong enough, I started using my intelligence to find words that cut my bullies at the very core of their beings. Sometimes I won arguments by making people feel inferior and other times I won because they could not understand my insults. While gratifying at the time, I know it was not the correct thing to do. Yet, I still continued to be brazen with my words, especially in writing. Then, one day, in college I found myself locked in a room, while several girls waited in my living room wanting to beat me up over some of my comments. That was a wakeup call. We hear all of our lives that “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” but sometimes words are even more painful than sticks or stones. As you can see, I remember almost every insult anyone has ever hurled at me, but I don’t remember as many positive statements that have come my way. When I was older, I told my parents that as a child, I would have rather gotten a spanking when I did wrong than to hear either of them say, “You disappointed me.” Those words broke my heart. The Bible says that life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21), and yet we use words so cavalierly. If you do not believe that words are important, ask any couple that is on the verge of breaking up with one another. If you do not think that words are significant, speak to members of a family that have not spoken to each other in years. If you do not think that words are of great consequence, talk to someone who no longer feels like they can talk to God. Communication is at the center of every relationship in our lives. It is an awesome gift to be able to express ourselves, not only to God, but to everyone else who plays a role in our lives. Like any precious gift, we must be careful with our words because the wrong words can hurt rather than heal. The wrong tone of our words can injure rather than encourage. There is the old adage, “If you cannot say something nice, then do not say anything at all.” Those words of wisdom are not just for playgrounds. I am not saying to sugarcoat everything because sometimes people need to be corrected, but even correction can be delivered in a positive way with love. To sustain and improve all of the relationships in your life, use the gift of words wisely. Ms. EV Last week, I read a devotion that talked about the woman with the issue of blood who was healed by Jesus. The devotion posed the question about what readers thought happened to the woman after she met Jesus. In response, I said that I think it may have taken her some time to live freely in her new, healed and whole condition. This woman suffered for twelve years. She was seen as unclean. No one could help her; people took advantage of her. She just wanted to get her secret blessing by touching Jesus’ hem and go on with her life. Then, Jesus called her out and reassured her that He knew her plight and that she was now whole. I am confident that she was grateful and I am sure she told her testimony to anyone who would listen; it is just that I know in my life that there have been many times when God has delivered me from afflictions--emotional, spiritual, physical and financial--yet, it takes a little while to adjust to the new found freedom.
When my marriage began to crumble, which was almost as quickly as it began, I tried to make it work because I was afraid to look like a failure. I stayed and I tried not because I loved him, not because I made a promise before God and a church full of people, but because I was afraid of what other people would say about me. I had somewhat isolated myself from people who cared deeply for me. I had taken my husband’s side on many issues where I knew he was dead wrong to the detriment of some of my relationships, but I thought I was being a good wife. And, I felt that if I was a good enough wife, eventually, he would change and we would change, and it would become a decent marriage. That was not the case. When I decided that the marriage was over, my ex-brother-in-law told me that I was a sinner and that divorce was a sin for which I could not repent. At the time, I acted as if his words meant nothing to me and I pressed forward with the divorce, and with good reasons, biblically-backed reasons (if you don’t know what that means, look it up in Matthew 5). Even though, I had a way out and I was delivered from one of the worst mistakes of my life, I felt damaged. How could I make being divorced right with God? I went from feeling damaged to acting destructively. No one on the outside world knew because I am a fantastic actress, but I had been broken for so long that I did not think the pieces would ever come back together again, and that is a dangerous place to be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Eventually, after having my heart broken on more than one occasion, I realized that God had restored me, but I was still living as though I was a reject. No one who is a child of God is a reject. God helped me realize how much He cares for me. He helped me reclaim my title as a holy princess, the daughter of the Almighty King. Then, I was able to fully engage in life. Yes, there have been ups and downs in my life, but I know my value. No matter what situation arises my value to my Father and myself does not change. I am undamaged. Many times when we have been suffering or afflicted for a long time with some situation, whether it is health-related, heart-related or wealth-related, we have a tendency to continue to live as though we are damaged, even though we have been delivered. However, once we realize that we are His and His love starts to flow from within us, so that we can accept who He made us to be, and not give any thought to what others may think of our past, our present, or future, we cannot help but shout of His love from whatever platform we may have. I AM NOT DAMAGED! I AM NOT SHATTERED! I AM NOT UNDERVALUED! I AM DELIVERED! I AM REDEEMED! I AM LOVED! Ms. EV I love the fact that my nephews and niece are athletes; I am unapologetically unathletic (that’s not really a word, but it was good alliteration), nevertheless, I love watching sports. There are so many life lessons to be gained from what happens on the field, court, course or track. I was watching the older boys play basketball and one of their teammates was defending a player on the other teams. While the referees in this game were a little whistle-happy, this player was giving his opponent way too much space to operate with the ball. I kept saying, “Go get it. Take the ball!” And then, I said, “You can’t just stand back and wait for it to come to you, GO GET IT!” That’s when the light bulb turned on over my head. I mean, I listen to Mary Mary’s, “Go Get It,” all the time; it is one of my get-hype songs, and in that moment, the message was just louder and clearer. The life you want isn’t just going to come and knock on your door and invite itself in; get up and make it happen.
Many times we sit back and watch the devil play with our lives. Sure, we are defending him, but we are giving him way too much space to operate. We sit back just hoping that he makes a mistake or we catch him off guard and we can get back on track. Or, maybe Satan isn’t toying with you; you are just too scared to make a move. You can’t just wait for something good to happen; in the words of Mariah Carey, “Make it happen!” (Can you tell I love music?) My best friend is so good at this and she really inspires me. While most people make excuses about what they can and cannot do, including me, she sets her mind to a goal, and then she does whatever it takes to achieve that goal. She is not reckless, but she is also not one to sit back and dream while not doing anything. The key to her success at fulfilling dreams is that she listens to God and walks in faith. Another person who inspires me to go and get what God has for me is a student at our high school. He had a promising basketball career ahead of him last year until he was struck by a car while riding to school on a scooter. He was put in a medically induced coma and doctors prepared his family for the worst. When he woke up, the medical professionals did not have high hopes for him, but he did and his family did. They did not wait around for a doctor to heal him. His brother helped him rehabilitate. I have seen this young man go from a hospital bed, to a wheelchair, to a walker, to a cane. Now, he can take steps on his own and his goal is to learn to run again. I have no doubt that he will achieve it. I have many friends who are starting their own businesses and they are successful. It did not happen overnight. They each have their own story, but they are all go-getters. And there is no reason that any child of God cannot be a go-getter. You may ask, “What am I supposed to be doing?” Alright, here goes, I am going to let you in on a little secret…I DON’T KNOW. I have no idea what you should be doing. I just figured out what my dreams are and how to press forward no matter what trusting that God will make a way. What are your passions? What makes you upset? What makes you cry? What do you complain about that needs a solution? Those issues that concern you are the places where God can use you (I got that nugget of wisdom from my pastor). God is powerful and faithful; He is also loving enough that He will not enable us. He will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. This is not a quit your job, rent a Winnebago and see the world blog. Let’s not be ridiculous. Just stop saying why you can’t do something and start thinking of ways that you can. If God wills that it becomes your career, then it will happen. Maybe it is not meant to be your career and is only meant for a certain season of your life. Again, I do not know what God has for you. I do know that we, as Christians, must stop sitting on the sidelines waiting for life to come to us. God wants to use you and me in a mighty way for His glory. The blessings already exist In the words of Mary Mary, “It’s Your TIME!” Actually, it is always “your time,” if you are a child of God. The question you have to ponder is, “Are you doing what God has for you to do with your time?” Ms. EV |
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