08.27.22
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20 Things I Am Learning In This Season of Healing

I have been on this journey of healing for some years now. But this particular season, here are some of the things I am learning or have learned.

1. There are a lot of perspectives, opinions and views. Learn to chew the meat and spit out the bones.

2. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with where you are in life, what you need and what you want. (Talking and listening to God about such is crucial and use wisdom when sharing with others.)

3. Sometimes our hearts can deceive us or open up a door that we didn’t mean to and knew we shouldn’t open. However, we can still learn a lesson within that moment of our hearts deceiving us.

4. Healing isn’t always pretty or comfortable for us.

5. God will definitely get your attention. And the enemy will definitely try to also, and often succeed in doing so. Be vigilant.

6. You can be growing and healing yet still feel stagnant and not whole.

7. What you thought you wanted was not really what you wanted. And what you need is what you never knew you needed.

8. Insecurities can tell on you even when you think they are hiding or quiet.

9. Maintaining calmness and managing your emotions is not a sign of weakness. Neither is expressing your hurt and pain a sign of weakness.

10. People will underestimate you. You are resilient and persevering and discerning. Thank God for that!

11. Be alert. You are being watched. Be wise in your actions and speech.

12. Sometimes, you isolate yourself. Sometimes it is a good thing, sometimes not. But there are times God will separate you or call you to an “alone” season and when He does, don’t fight it. Draw closer to God.

13. You are not perfect and that is okay. You are human. God loves you: spirit, soul and body.

14. Don’t let what other people think consume you. Hold God’s view and word above others!

15. Embrace your limitations and your realities. Real talk. All the while knowing that God can do the impossible.

16. You should have set boundaries like yesterday.

17. Silence is necessary at times.

18. Gaslighting is real and yes, you can even gaslight yourself.

19. Fear and anxiety will let you get in the car but stop you from taking off.

20. You must allow God (and possibly a therapist) to help you get to the root cause of some of your issues and traumas as well as pull down the things that are holding up your strongholds.

What have you been learning in your current season of healing? Put them down in the comments below.

08.26.22
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Getting Back To Self

Right now, you may be at the part of your journey where you have discovered that you are wanting more or even less. You may have lost your motivation or inspiration. You may be burnt out or overwhelmed. You may be leaking emotionally and much stuff is coming to the surface waiting for your discovery, acknowledgement, and healing. You may be comparing or desperately trying to create a bucket list. Your insecurities may be screaming and your career may be looking at a different you than when you first started, causing you to feel a change is necessary. Whether you are 22 or 42, or even 62, you are coming to the realization that there is more to life but the only one that can fulfill you is God. And the only one who needs you to heal the most is you because you are with you and in your skin 24-7.

I think when you get to this part of the journey, you are really looking for you. Who are you really? And what do you need here on out as you heal, grow and prepare for new seasons in your life. It is time to get back to self. Meet your authentic self. See yourself the way God does. Live life where His voice is first and yours is second.

Getting back to self requires unlearning old things that need to be unlearned. It requires healing, humility, honesty, and patience. It requires also analyzing and sometimes resetting your motives and intentions. It requires self-care, self-love, and setting boundaries. It requires being vulnerable and healing the little person inside from the trauma you have endured since birth or even since the womb. It requires time and work as well as acknowledging all of you, including your flaws and parts that you feel are unlovable. It requires gratitude and making peace with self where necessary. It requires allowing God to help you to navigate through your healing journey.

It requires you to be present and you to be you, the you God knew before you were even in your mother’s womb and the you He desired and destined for you to be.

Feel free to leave your comments below. And if you need prayer, please indicate so and we will pray for you.

08.15.22
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Decluttering Before Back To School: Garage Sale

Summer was too short. Let me know if you agree! And now school is about to start and for some students, school is already in session. I work also in the summer and the only vacation I have had so far this year was a weekend in Detroit for my family reunion. With planning for that, work, and my child’s arts foundation program schedule, we have been quite busy. But now as we near the end of summer, it is time to declutter, busy or not.

It is so easy to let work papers and other important documents pile up, clothes sit without purpose in the closet, and more clutter challenge your space and peace. I hate clutter and although I love things to be neat and in order, I too can easily collect clutter–either by email, stuff in the home, files, etc. And in order to have a fresh start in a new season, we have to part with the old sometimes, declutter, and make room for the new or just create space to stretch out and be free and light. And we should also declutter mentally and spiritually for the same reasons. Especially to make room for God first and then our loved ones, and ourselves.

So back to decluttering physically: to declutter physically is a process and you have to take one thing at a time. You need to remember to have a throw-away pile, a keep-pile, and a donation-pile. And for some who have the entrepreneurial mindset or the desire to just earn some needed cash, you need a sell-pile.

This brings me to the title of this post: Decluttering Idea Before Back To School. If you want to declutter and earn some much needed cash, give a garage sale.

A garage sale is a good way to declutter and make room. It is also a good way to meet your neighbors or get to know them a little better as I was able to.

I believe this is our second time doing a garage sale. And this time around, it went well. We didn’t make a lot of money and we had to haul a lot of stuff back into the garage after the two days of our garage sale. However, we did sell several items and made a little over a hundred dollars.

I think this time around I noticed some things I did that made this garage sale successful. And yes, although we only earned about $140, we still did well. We got to conversate with a few neighbors, provide new homes to some old favorite clothing, some memorable books, and some household goods. We also got to build our skills with selling, pricing, and advertising.

Tips For A Successful Garage Sale:

  • Have a variety of things. And think of what people may need. We had used, barely used and new stuff for sale. We even did a free pile.
  • Include some snacks or candy for sale. That is always a plus.
  • Try doing a garage sale for more than one day. We were even asked if were going to give a garage sale again the following weekend.
  • Have stuff visible and organized. Presentation and visibility matters.
  • And when you set things out, make sure things are clean, sanitized, good condition, and if not in such good condition then still usable and/or able to be easily restored.
  • Advertise. Put up garage sale signs in front of your house but also on a busy street or at the corner of the block. You can also put a flyer in your local grocery store. I didn’t do that this time due to time and schedule.
  • Word of mouth. Get the word out that you are having a garage sale. Invite friends, family, colleagues if you want, church, family, etc. Someone is bound to come.
  • Take an account of the weather. It drizzled twice the first day and was a little chilly the second day. And stuff kept blowing and falling, lol, but all still went well.
  • Have reasonable prices. And if some stuff you know is of greater quality and valuable, don’t be afraid to sell for a bit more. I had a $1 box, $3 bag and then some stuff we priced $5, $10 or even $15. We had a variety of things and a variety of prices. And be willing to negotiate the cost.
  • Have fun!

Have you ever gave a garage sale? What tips do you have to have a successful one?

See some pictures below of our garage sale.