Category Archives: Dreams

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Status Update: March 2011

Hello World!!!

I know I’ve been gone a minute, but hopefully, y’all will forgive me…I’ve been crazy busy pursuing my goals for 2011! One of my goals involves me really buckling down this month and April so please, charge it to my schedule and not my heart if my posts are not as exciting or as frequent as I would like them to be. That being said, I will still do my best — so please check me out every Sunday and Wednesday!

As the title of my post suggests, I want to know what’s up with the what’s up? It’s March so by the end of this month, we will have 75 percent of this year left! That sounds crazy when you think of it like that…But how are y’all doing on your goals or resolutions for this year?

One of my goals was to simply eat more vegetables. I know that sounds simple, but for me, it always isn’t…but I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself craving vegetables earlier this week so I had a big salad for dinner on Friday. And it was yummy too:) That doesn’t even sound like me…but it’s true…Another one of my goals is to continue to reduce my monthly bills. I’ve been able to knock down some of the charges on some of my bills, but one of my service providers wasn’t hearing it yesterday…but I’ma pray on it and call back…Hey, a different day, a different customer service rep…you know how it is…I also said I was going to experience more that the A has to offer this year…My city has hosted several awards shows and other world -class events like the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show (which I finally attended last month), and it makes no sense that I’m not in the mix…Also, one of my goals is to send more greeting cards to my friends…With e-mail, e-cards and the like, sending greeting cards through snail mail is a lost art in my opinion…and I love receiving greeting cards in snail mail, and I imagine that others do too…

I’m not sure where I heard this or read this, and I think Catherine Marshall, my favorite author, may have written it. Anyway, I think we should dream so big that only God can help you fulfill that dream. What I mentioned above are only some of the smaller goals I have for 2011, but know that I do have some big goals or dreams on my list as well. And I also know that sometimes it’s best to keep those bigger dreams to yourself as you pursue them so I won’t tell you what other bigger things I’m working on yet — but you will know sometime this year!

But if you have already encountered some sort of stumbling block this year as your pursue your goals or dreams, please listen to this inspirational Yolanda Adams song “Never Give Up.”

Any thoughts?

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2011: A New Vision for the New Year…

Hello World, 

Fitness expert Donna Richardson Joyner at her 53rd birthday celebration hosted by her husband, Tom Joyner, radio host superstar...I believe exercise is the real fountain of youth...for more b-day pics, go to essence.com

Time just keeps passing by…I mean it’s already the last Sunday of January 2011…Maybe I’m a little weird or maybe even self-indulgent, but it takes me a month to crystallize my goals, resolutions and dreams  for the New Year. I don’t want to just rattle off goals, resolutions and dreams and not give God the time to direct my thinking…So between today and tomorrow, I will edit my list of goals for the year which I will hang on my bathroom mirror and finish my vision board which I will display in my office…

To that end, Let me share some inspirational articles  that may help you as you crystallize your goals, resolutions and dreams for the New Year…(in no particular order)

  1. “What The Heck’s A Vision Board and How It Can Change Your Life?”  by Martha Beck
  2. “Respecting Our Blind Spots: Sometimes It Takes a Second Look to See God’s Best” by M. Blaine Smith
  3. “Let the Lord Choose Your New Year’s Resolutions” by Dr. Charles Stanley
  4. “Guideposts Classic: Who Inspired Diane Sawyer” by Diane Sawyer
  5. “Five Ways To Become an Instant Frugalista” by Natalie P. McNeal
  6. “Dollars and Sense: Talking Money Before Marriage” by Jacque Reid
  7. “Donna Richardson Joyner Shares 3 Gospel Truths” by Dee Stewart

I hope these articles will inspire you as they have inspired me…

Any thoughts?

Musical inspiration for the New Year…”Strength, Courage & Wisdom” by India Arie…Don’t let procrastination get you down…for real…one of my worst habits…although it has gotten much better in recent years…

 

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Going Higher…

Hello World!

I will state the obvious…it’s 2011!

As you know, it’s time once again to consider resolutions, goals, dreams, wishes, etc. for the New Year…There are two camps that form at this time of the year…The Gung Ho Resolution Makers &  The Anti-Resolution Makers…

At the gym where I teach twice a week, I have already seen the Freshman Class of 2011 – they are the people that join the gym in January with the goal of losing a gazillion pounds by working out whenever the gym is open, wearing those annoying plastic suits and carrying jugs of water on their persons…But I ain’t mad at them…I started working out on a regular basis with the Freshman Class of 1994 and haven’t fallen back into my former coach potato habits so it can happen…

And then there are those who want to get their money right in the New Year…I’ve had a couple of people ask me about my financial coach’s contact info because I shouted her out so much last year…I understand that too…Money ain’t erething, but when you don’t have it, it really is…okay? (in my sistah girl voice)

But let me not leave out the people who hate on those who make resolutions…And to some degree, I even get that too (all this resolution talk can be annoying)…even though sometimes it seems as if these people are projecting their frustration about not attaining their New Year’s Resolutions onto others and assuming that others cannot achieve what they have not been able to achieve…

What I believe: I think that the start of a New Year is the perfect time to set goals and make resolutions. But I also think God must be included in this process because He will direct you in what ought to be your goals and resolutions…And we know that with his Help, we can do everything…(Philippians 4:13)

As I peruse my goals for 2010, I am thankful that God, first of all, helped me to come up with my list, and secondly, He helped me to achieve most of goals…Give.Him.Praise…

But I also see that much if not all of my goals revolved around things I want to achieve in the natural…which is fine, but should not be all for the Christian…We Christians also have to consider the spiritual…And so this year, God has impressed upon me already in a dramatic fashion that I need to continue to work out my salvation because I got a ways to go saints…(Philippians 2:12-13) …I mean being saved is the first thing, but there is more to do after the altar call…Here is a verse that sums it up (read the whole chapter for a better understanding if you need too…)

“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” I Corinthians 6:11

This year, some more sanctification has got to take place in my life…Unfortunately, God knows that one of the best ways to get my attention is to allow some trial to come into my life…but it’s all good or at least it will be…because I do trust Him…although I don’t like what He allows sometimes…I liken it to the whippings I got from time to time when I was a child…My mother, who has quick temper, was quick to swat me on my backside. My father, on the other hand, has a long fuse and rarely hit me…But baby, when he got mad, I knew that I was in for it…But I reflected on why my father chastised me more because he did it so rarely…

In the end though, even in my trials, I count it all joy (sometimes grudgingly though)…

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”  James 1:2-4

Because I love the Lord, and I want to go higher this year – and not  just in the natural – but in the spiritual…

What about you?

Any thoughts?

“I Give Myself Away So That You Can Use Me,” a great song by William McDowell. Check it out…