Once a year my husband and I meet with a couple, whom we have established a friendship, to eat blue crabs. This year, we stepped up a little and ordered two dozens. Everybody knows my favorite food is blue crabs. This has become an annual event in which we just eat and catch up on what had happen since we last met. They brought their son along and he is one of the most adorable two-year olds you will ever meet. Of course, he is not up for the sport of crab cracking, but like all great American restaurant; they serve French fries. The French fries came out first, of course, and they were piping hot. Their son can’t wait to eat them so he dives in. As he picks up the first fry, he soon realized it was too hot, so he drops it. Then, seconds later, he picks the fry up again and started biting it and quickly realized it is was still too hot in his mouth and began to shake his head. One would think after that he would quit and wait for the fries to cool down but no; he picks up another fry and another fry repeating the same process. The faces he made were so funny, but it didn’t stop him from getting what he wanted. I told his mom, that he was very resilient, and she said, or he doesn’t learn.

The conversation stuck with me because I admired the two-year olds “stick-to-it determination. ”Regardless how hot those fries were, he kept eating them. He didn’t give up. Past experiences didn’t taint his determination. He just knew he like fries. What I have learned, as his mother alluded to be that we have learned things that are bad and things that are good. We have deemed things as bad or nonstarters because they are too hard, or could cause us too much pain. What would happen if we live our lives as that two-year-old? What if regardless of past experiences, hurt and pain, we press on? What would happen if we focused on the result and not the journey? The bible teaches us in Philippians 3:13 to forget those things which are behind us, and reach forward to those things which are before us. That means no matter how hard or how hot the journey, we must move forward. No matter how hot are those French fries, we must keep eating. No matter how deep the betrayal, we must trust. No matter how bad the divorce, we must keep loving. God is calling for us to move forward. At times, life may seem difficult and the journey may be tough, but we cannot move into the greatness God has for us, if we don’t reteach ourselves the truth and move forward. My prayer for you today my sister is to begin to pray and work on forgetting yesterday so that you can move forward into today!

Moving forward,

Felicia Smith

Many of my posts are about a story that brings everyday life experiences and tie them to spiritual realm. However, there are some days that your life experience is the spiritual realm. In the midst of a phone conversation I had with a stranger, I mention that something was a blessing. Obviously his spirit connected with mine because he began to tell me his testimony and how in some of his darkest days, he stood on the promise and the word that God gave him. He stood on this promise for over 10 years and now, after 10 years, he is beginning to be healed. This man reminded me of whom God really is. He reminded me that the word of God would not be voided. If God says it, it will be done. After this 20-minute conversation, I became overwhelm with emotions. I was happy that someone witnessed to me and reminded me of the sovereignty of God. I also was saddened because. I remembered the times God had spoken to me in my life and right away, I began to question his promise or not stand firmly on it. This conversation was simple but it reassured me that God is the ultimate power and strength and whenever I hear his voice, I should respond by saying yes and amen.

I hope that each women reading this blog has experienced the sovereignty of God, but if you haven’t, I invite you to open your heart and trust in Him. Trust God to first speak into your life and once he has spoken the word, firmly stand on his word. No matter which way the winds may blow or how dark the tunnel may be, God is still great, and sovereign, that he can and will fulfill the promise if only you would trust the power, presence, and providence of God.

I had a mini vacation to New Orleans that was awesome! However, with all the good eating, I brought back an extra five pounds or so. Go figure. So as usual, I figured it was time to get back into the gym. Last Saturday and Sunday, my husband and I journey to the gym. After taking a Zumba class, I decided to workout a little more until my husband was done so I got on the Stairmaster. Now, if you are not familiar with the Stairmaster, just think of it as walking up a flight of stairs over and over again. Since I had taken a Zumba class earlier, I was already tired but I managed enough energy to tackle the Stairmaster. After I got on, I had to choose a level between 1-20 before I could start my workout. Normally, I would choose a higher level because I thought that was the right thing to do, but that day, I was already tired and didn’t want to wear myself out. As I begin to workout, my body felt the usual challenges. Although I was not at the highest level, I was pleased with the results. As I looked to the left I notice a young lady struggling on the machine. I mean she was barely off the ground. I thought, “she must be on level 20”. After 15 minutes, I had burned over 100 calories and I it was time to go. As I walked pass the young lady I thought she had burned more calories than I had because she was on a higher level and struggling, but as I took a peak at her Stairmaster, she really hadn’t burned much calories that was surprising because of the amount of time she had spent on the machine. I thought to myself that if only she would come down a few levels, she might be able to finish the workout successful and burn more calories.

The Stairmaster reminded me of our relationship with Christ. Growing up, we are told that we have to pray and read the bible a certain number of times in order to be a good Christian. We are taught rules and not relationship so we grow in Christ comparing our relationship with others. “She is really close to God because she quoted this scripture or heard his voice.” But just as our relationship with others is different, so is our relationship with God. There is not a level in Christ that you should be comparing yourself to. When you focus to be at a certain level but not work on your relationship with God, you are struggling like the young lady that was on the Stairmaster. God is asking you for a relationship. When you are in a relationship you want to spend time with that person and talk to them. So building a relationship with Christ becomes personal and you no longer are worry about the levels but are focusing on the relationship. Sisters, my prayer for you today is for you to grow in your relationship with Christ and forget about all the levels!!!

One step at a time,

Felicia Smith

I have been juggling so many balls lately that I am not sure why I haven’t dropped. In my younger days I lived to multitask but the older I get the more I realized that I am not as quick and agile as I use to be. In my new role at work I have a lot going on. One of the ways I try to keep up is opening up different pages or what some may know as windows on my computer. Most days because I don’t finish everything so instead of shutting down my computer I keep it open with all my windows running.

One afternoon after working an almost twelve hour day I was pooped and seemingly my computer was pooped too. My computer and I needed to shutdown and get some rest so that we could be refreshed. As I looked at my computer half awake and half sleep I realized that this is exactly how most of us exist in our spiritual lives.

We have all these “open windows” work, kids, husband, church, volunteering, etc. These are things that are always running in our minds and taking the majority of our time. Most of the time our relationships takes precedence over our personal relationship with Christ. After several days of running with all these open windows without God we become worn out and then shut down.

The absence of Christ as the first open window puts us in the position to burn out. Learning to making God first allows us to start the day or week fresh and recharged on Christ. When we begin with Christ we find our strength to deal with all the open windows that we encounter throughout the day.

Today I challenge you start your day by opening up the window of your heart and inviting Christ in. Ask God to go before each day and give you the strength to not only deal with the open windows but to also recognized when the windows should be close. Love Christ first and all the other things will be added.

Opening the window of my heart,

Felicia Smith