08.20.26
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Throwback Thursday Poetry Time: Two F’s (Temporarily Without Funds)

Ever faced hard times financially? I had then and am even now. Today’s throwback is an older poem of mine called “Two F’s.”

As I read it now, I realize how much hard seasons can teach us.

Life happens. Unexpected expenses happen. We make financial mistakes. Sometimes we find ourselves trying to stretch what we have farther than it can go.

But I’m learning that financial struggles aren’t just an opportunity to learn how to manage money better. They can also teach us about trust, stewardship, contentment, discipline, and our dependence on God.

I’m learning to have a healthier relationship with money while also learning to trust God to provide.

And one thing I’m reminding myself of is this: being in a financially difficult season doesn’t mean God has forgotten you.

Sometimes the lesson isn’t simply about getting more money. Sometimes it’s about learning how to handle what we have, making wiser choices, and trusting God through the process.

So today, I’m taking a look back at something I wrote years ago and realizing that some lessons are still being learned.

I know this year has been rough for many of us. Hold on and please don’t give up.

Have you, or are you currently going through, a difficult financial season? What has it taught you?

Here’s “Two F’s.” 📖✍🏾

I received my report card and I got two F’s

But I didn’t fail a class

I failed financially and being without money Is kicking me in my rear end bad

I have a pot to piss in

But have no clue

As to how to pay all these bills when due

Why do I have to make life decisions when it comes to money?

Get gas or buy medicine

Eat a meal or pay a bill

Man should I take the hard work of another

Or put on a mask and go skipping through the bank’s steel

Make fast money fast or just give up

Why must my soul put up a fight, when I know what’s right?

I stretch my check till it can’t stretch no more

I can’t count on my bank account

And if my pockets were muscles, they’d feel soar

The love of money is the root of all evil

This I know I don’t love money, but I need it

I need it to survive

Shoot I can’t even pay my tithes

I budget well or so I think

I was tithing faithfully and I gave to others even when it was my last

So where did I go wrong

To experience tough times this bad

My mortgage due, my light bill too,

Water bill, credit card bill, student loans,

Shall I go on

My babies need food

My car needs gas

I got one dollar and no emergency stash

Disappointed and stressed

Trying not to worry

But it’s frustrating when the frequent response is decline

And the word of the day is less

I pray and I pray

And I even have a job

but don’t have much to pay Uncle Sam or pay back Uncle Bob

I have dreams

I have goals

But if I don’t have money or notoriety

To the world

they are just ideas and no’s

I am so consistently broke

That my tears need raincoats

I den cried till I can’t anymore

Once ignored calls to bill collectors are promises unsecured

Not knowing if I can back a payment for sure

Being broke isn’t fun

But I guaranteed it is someone whose finances are registered on E

And going thru worse than me

Dying because they have nothing at all to eat

Nor options or resources

So why should I complain?

I thank the Lord for getting me through

And for realizing the truth

The truth is I don’t trust Him

like I should

The truth is He made a way before, so why not now

The truth is I fed all my worthless idols with luxury and my time

They got all my plenty and took every last dime

The truth is I gave without seeking God’s wisdom

And instead I let Jealousy, Buy-A-Friend, Keep-up-with-the Jones and Slothful deplete my resources

And take the spoon out of my child’s mouth

The truth is I put all my faith in my job and other worldly sources

My job gives me allowance to keep me coming back

But my Lord gives me more than money and His Word does a better job of keeping me on track

The truth is I don’t tithe because I am afraid that if I trust the Lord

With what He gave me, He won’t give it back

The truth is I forget He knows what I need before I even ask

And though tests will come I will survive

Because my Lord is alive

And His bank account is greater than all the banks and gold in the world

So I am learning not to utter I am broke

Because words are powerful

My Lord has plenty

And I don’t have to live on Decline

Because the Lord didn’t bring me this far

To leave me behind

I will reach Prosperity Lane

Instead of always living check to check and pockets drained

I will continue to pray my Two F’s away

And ask for clarity

On how to get a B For budget,

C for cash And A for Accepted and Never Denied

I will pay all my debts and owe no man nothing except love

I will learn to obey God and trust Him to provide

I will depend on Him and do more than just get by…

08.19.26
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A Prayer to Breathe | Trusting God for Miracles & Breakthroughs 🌸

Leaving this prayer here for those who are also experiencing one of those heavy seasons.

May we remember God will never leave us nor forsake us. Please pray this prayer and may you be encouraged. God sees our tears and hears our cries.

If you’re believing God for a miracle or breakthrough, comment “AMEN”. 🙏🏾❤️ And if you feel comfortable, share what you’re trusting God for so we can agree with you in prayer.

08.14.26
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What would your ’90s sitcom be called?

Happy Fun Friday!!!!!

What would your ’90s sitcom be called? And what would it be about?

Mine would be about:

She is introverted. Sarcastic. Yet kind and will give you the shirt off her back. Just don’t come back tomorrow asking for another one. 😂😂

That’s My Neighbor!


Used Gemini 90’s sitcom template to create this. And YouTube to turn it into a video.

08.13.26
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Throwback Thursday Poetry Time: Setting The Captive Free Poem

So, I think I am going to start a new series titled Throwback Thursday Poetry Time showcasing my older poetry. Come alongside me as I reintroduce my older poems and muse over my writing throughout the years. Let’s take a little trip through the archives. ✍🏾📖

Today’s poem comes from my first published book and is its namesake.

This poem was written during a season where I was learning to build my confidence as a writer, my voice as a person, and share with others a gift I thought was only for me.

Writing throughout the years became a place where I could explore emotion, imagination, healing, faith, and creativity. I began to understand that poetry isn’t simply something I write. It is an art form and a gift—one of the ways I can share what God has placed within me with others.

And when I wrote this poem, I believe I wanted to convey that expression and creative writing has allowed me to not only express myself and explore emotions and ideas, but also take the things I was afraid to say aloud and give them words through writing, especially poetry. It carries a freedom to do so also. I wanted to give myself permission to release the words of creativity, lessons, encouragement, wisdom and stories. That is a captive being set free.

Setting The Captive Free

Poem

I am giving you permission to be free.

I’m giving you permission to take words

And use them as you please.

You have known my pain,

Shown me revelations

And soaked me in lyrical rain.

You have taught me lessons,

Supplied me with healing over several years’ time

In word play, metaphors and rhymes.

No more restraints and tight grips

Poetry, escape and manifest this gift

I am giving you permission to soar.

I’m giving you permission to create

A sense of being from words readers can’t ignore.

No more restraints and tight grips

Poetry, escape and manifest this gift

You are to please and not to please.

You are to tell the truth.

You are to stretch the truth in imagination.

You are for consistent examination.

You are to say what my mouth cannot….

08.11.26
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Message From My Future Self

If your future self could send you one sentence, what do you hope it would say?

“You’ll get here, just hold on.”

To a place of surrender, peace, less stress, and more joy. Better direction. More writing. More books. Much more bravery and adventure.

A life of simplicity, fruitfulness, and purpose.

A life that is full.

08.08.26
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God Will Provide

For those of us who needed the reminder during a time of uncertainty or while facing some kind of hardship:

God takes care of His.

Don’t doubt that your Heavenly Father has your back. He will supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory.

And that doesn’t mean hard times won’t come. It doesn’t mean we won’t experience uncertainty, lack, disappointment, or seasons where we don’t understand what God is doing.

It means we are not alone in those seasons.

God is there in the midst of them, caring for us, sustaining us, providing for us, and giving us what we need to keep going.

Psalm 37:25 reminds us that God’s faithfulness is not based on whether life is easy. David was speaking from a lifetime of experience. He had seen hardship, but he had also seen God’s faithfulness.

So if you’re in a difficult season today, don’t mistake the hardship for God’s absence.
God takes care of His.

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread. –Psalm 37:25

08.07.26
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Helping Build Dreams Without Abandoning Your Own

I don’t mind helping someone build their dream, but I’ve learned not to neglect my own in the process. And I don’t allow someone else’s dreams to become my own.

There’s been a lot of conversation about how you should be building your own dream instead of working a 9-to-5.

But what if you can do both?

What if entrepreneurship isn’t your calling?

What if you genuinely enjoy your profession, your career, or the work you do for someone else all while having dreams of your own?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with helping someone else build what they’ve been called to build. Especially when you have been given such an assignment by God.

You have the opportunity to grow and learn and occupy the steps towards your next assignment within your own destiny.

I also believe learning to follow is part of learning to lead. It requires humility, wisdom and learning.

And no one can do everything on their own. Honestly, I am learning this myself: I can’t do everything on my own and that is okay.

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. –Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 (NLT)

At some point, I’m going to need someone to help me build what God has placed in me, just like someone may need me to help them build what God placed in them.
Maybe not in the beginning. Maybe not in the way I imagined. But none of us builds everything alone. And one may have gifts, talents and strengths in areas I may not and vice versa.

The eye can never say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ The head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you. –1 Corinthians 12:21 (NLT)

So yes, I can support your vision without abandoning mine.

I can work for someone else and still have something I’m building.

I can help someone else succeed without making their dream my own.

Their dream can be theirs. My dream can be mine. And there is room for both.
That’s not settling.

Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. –Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NLT)




08.05.26
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What Will Your Older Self Thank You For?

“The best person to take care of the old you is the young you.”
— Smart Money Bro (Eric)

At the end of each video from Smart Money Bro, I’ve come to anticipate hearing him share his signature line.

His advice and financial literacy content are reasons why I decided to continue watching his channel and eventually follow him. But his signature line is another reason why I enjoy his channel. It serves as a reflective reminder to keep your future self in mind, and that you can start taking care of him or her today.

And that’s exactly what I am going to do.
It can be difficult to have conversations and reflections about finances, health, and preparing for the future because of the weight of these topics. Yet they are crucial.
Implementing healthy habits, making wise changes, and becoming a good steward of your life are all part of taking care of the older you—the one waiting years from now.

My channel has focused on faith, mental health, healing, purpose, stewardship, and more. I want to encourage others as well as myself that every stage of life calls us to live simply, fruitfully, and purposefully.

Do understand that preparing for the next season doesn’t mean missing the one you’re in. It means being fully present today while faithfully stewarding tomorrow. There is joy to be found in the current season even as you prepare for the next.

And in every season, God helps prepare us for the next one.

That preparation often requires hope—the flicker of hope that rests in the center of your heart. It requires your experiences, your willingness to unlearn some things to learn new things, reflection, planning with God’s wisdom, patience, and taking it one day at a time.

It also requires proper stewardship over every area of life: your health, finances, relationships, career, time, healing journey, thoughts, and more.

Growing older is a privilege. And when that season comes, you want your older self to thrive and breathe in the benefits of the seeds you planted when you were younger.

Life will still happen, but you can be better prepared to navigate it with greater wisdom, better health, and a greater sense of wholeness.

Your older self will thank you.

So start stretching today.

Start doing what you can to pay down your debt.

Start doing what you can to invest in your future.

Start eating healthier.

Start setting boundaries.

Start decluttering mentally and physically.

What will you start doing today that your older self will thank you for later?
To check out Smart Money Bro’s channel, please visit:

https://youtube.com/@smartmoneybro?si=evHL5Jyum_WzfkSY