All posts tagged: faith

Keep it Simple: How to Achieve Your Dream Part 2

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“Everything in life should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.” ~ALBERT EINSTEIN When it comes to doing anything, especially taking a dream and birthing it into the tangible, keeping things simple is a very crucial admonition to keep in mind. For most of us, our knee-jerk reaction to anything new is to overthink it. We begin to compare our ‘pearl’ with oyster farms of others who have similar dreams already up and running. We begin to add extra bells and whistles to our end products and we haven’t even actually ‘made’ them yet. We take precious ideas, born in a moment of genius, and think it from the mustard seed it began as, and transform it into craggy, dark mountains that we feel ill-equipped to climb. Yes, most dreams, especially those that will involve creative income, do come with seeming miles of information that needs to be learned. All of it is important, but none of it is necessary at the very beginning of the dream. What is important is to take the first step. …

The Wisdom of Resting

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“And He (Jesus) said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.” ~MARK 6:31 Sometimes we confuse rest with being lazy which to think this way about rest is the antithesis of what we are called to do in Hebrews 4. We are actually told to fear not entering the Lord’s rest. We often think that if we are in the midst of pursuing our dreams and passion that if we pause to rest it is akin to giving up which is born from taking the verses in Isaiah out of context that says we won’t get weary…I have been guilty of this faulty mindset as well. But there is a wisdom in resting, especially when our roads of pursuit reach a point of intermission, quite like being in-between several floors while on an elevator. While in the midst of that transition, you wait and you rest and only walk once the door to your destination …

Doing Your Part: The Art of What You Can

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“You can’t do it all. But you can do your part.” ~Candice Coates I saw a collection of photos the other day on social media. It was a brilliant article about a couple who reforested land, shared on Bored Panda. The images showed the twenty-year difference that was made when a couple decided to reforest a deforested area. They planted 20 million trees and in the span of two decades what was nothing but a wasteland turned into a green oasis where even the wildlife began to return. This is victory. This is joy. This is doing ones part. This couple did not set out to rebuild all the damaged land but they did restore the land that was in front of them and they are now reaping the fruits of their labors just like the animals that returned, as well as future generations that will come. This couple can sit back and rejoice for a job well done because that is what they have done. They saw a need, they counted the cost, and …

Believe You Can: How to Achieve Your Dream Part 1

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Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” ~Theodre Roosevelt One of the most glorious things about life is that even though it can be considered a canvas, it certainly is not a ‘paint by numbers.’ Life is not a one-size-fits-all even if certain ideas and concepts may mirror that of another’s. There still, and always, remains the glory of uniqueness in each person’s life and creation. I believe that Christ Jesus has a plan for each of us, a perfect design that He wants us to be co-workers with Him upon. He gives us dreams for a reason. Some dreams we take hold of and bring to manifestation, while sadly, others, we leave to float away like feathers in the wind. Many times, the dreams that get away from us are the dreams that we can’t seem to muster the faith for or we allow our faith to be choked out of us in the struggle. BUT HOW DO WE CEASE TO DO THIS? We have to make a connection with faith and hold on …

Wrestling with Unbelief: The Strengthening of Faith

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Wrestling with unbelief and doubt is nothing that we should be ashamed of. In all actuality, it is something that we should celebrate with joy. Why? Because it is a clear sign that we have enough faith on the level in our faith-walk that we are currently pressing in to press for more than what we have. We are wrestling with the limit of now until we breakthrough to greater levels of belief. We wrestle because we believe! If we were hope-less people, we would cease to ask God for more. We cease to ask the Lord to strengthen us to overcome the unbelief that is being exposed. The simple truth is that we pray for what we have hope for and what does the Word of God say about hope: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” ~HEBREWS 11:1 Our faith pushes us to pray for what we have hope for and what we hope for is more faith, especially in the area He is calling …

A Letter to the Mother’s & Children Who Never Got to Embrace on Mother’s Day by Briana Lassiter

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Some might think it’s a little bit of a downer to talk about miscarriage on Mothers Day, but the statistics show that about 1 in 4 pregnancies ends with loss, so I know that my experience is far from uncommon. I feel like there’s a stigma surrounding miscarriage that usually keeps women from even speaking about the experience, much less processing their loss in a supported way. I’m not really here for that stigma, and I hope you know that if you’re struggling today, it’s okay. It’s okay to grieve today. It’s okay to feel heartbroken today. It’s okay to take care of you today. You are loved, you are seen, and you are not alone. I pray that the sting of others insensitive words and actions regarding your loss, be lifted off you, and your heart be given the freedom to heal from this experience fully and that you find the grace to know that it’s okay not to be okay today. To my babe, (and all Moms who have lost them) I didn’t …

It All Started With A Cake: How to Achieve Your Dream Intro

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Imagine you are a thirty-something with a college degree. You have been working in your field of study since you took off your cap and gown and gained your credentials. Your student loans are just about paid off. Life is good. But something else burns in your core, something that seems so little but at the same time fills you with more joy than you could ever imagine. Cake. Whenever there is a potluck at work, you bake a cake. Birthdays? Folks request your cakes. From baby showers to bar mitzvahs those who know you want you to bake them a cake! What’s more, is you love to do so. But what about your 9 to 5 job? The same fulfillment you had there is waning and the drive and dream to bake consume your thoughts. You’ve prayed and prayed for the Lord to give you direction and all you keep seeing is more cake; more designs, more recipes, and ideas to build your own cake company. But it’s just cake, you think to yourself. …

Stepping Forward in Faith: Crushed in the Gaps

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There are times in our faith-walk that we feel like a sudden cool breeze and darkness has fallen upon our path. And somewhere in the midst of that, in the midst of us grappling to hold tightly to the truth in faith in the face of panic that tries to take up residence, we feel like Christ has abandoned us. We feel like in the very presence of challenge our Lord has forsaken us, leaving us to face the challenge and fear alone, even though we know that His Word has promised that forsaking us is something He would never do (HEBREWS 13:5, DEUT. 31:6). Have you felt this before? If so, know you are not alone. Recently I asked the Lord about this feeling as I stood in the dark fog of my own faith-walk, questioning the feeling that He had withdrawn from me, and what He showed me made me love Him all the more, but also reminded me that He is always at work in us for our good because He loves …

Giving Him Permission to Make us Whole

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“Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” ~ JOHN 5:5-6 To say that we all experience hurts and pains in this life is truly stating the obvious, but to follow that statement by saying being made whole is our choice and responsibility isn’t a known truth for many. Nevertheless, it doesn’t make the statement any less true even if it is not widely known or even accepted. Consider the man who had been laying by the pool of Bethesda. He had been laying there for thirty-eight years (see vs 5) watching others being made whole while he languished in his condition. Then along comes Jesus. But although fully able to make the man whole in an instant, the Lord does something else, He asks him if being healed and whole is what he desires. We would all immediately assume that the answer to that …

No Room For Worry: Faith for Creatives

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“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” ~ROMANS 5:5 Whatever it is within our hearts that is being hoped for, that is in accordance with Christ Jesus’ perfect will for our lives and purpose, we can have rest and full assurance that it will come to pass! So with this truth, where is there room for worry? There is no place for it at the table that the Lord is preparing for His children that rest in Him and believe. Today, push out any worry! Evict the “what-ifs”. If your Heavenly Father has promised you through His Word and Rhema that He would do a thing in your life, then rest in His living Hope that does not disappoint for all of His promises are yes and amen in Christ (II COR. 1:20)! ~Poiema, Poetry in Motion *Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash