Happy Women’s HERstory Month. It seems like just yesterday we were beginning a brand new year, but now we have marched forward to March. š
March means many things to many people. For me, it is my birthday month (enter celebratory clap here..lol), the continuation of lent, and of course Women’s Herstory Month.
We (humankind) all have a story to tell. This month however focuses on the transformative stories of women and their courage to triumph in the midst of it all. March is a time to honor women who have played critical roles in our journey and to celebrate the ones that have gone to be with the ancestors.
What story is your life telling? What story will they tell about you, when its all said and done? How does your life speak?
Your story truly does matter. Share your truth. Tell your testimony. Make an impact. You never know what impact your story can have on another, if you never tell it.
When is the last time you…Selah. When is the last moment you paused and reflected in your current space about that particular moment?
With a list of to doās, errands, meetings, calls, more meetings, and just stuff, our lives can get consumed in all of the doing that we stop being.
Being present in the moment.
Being mindful that we should give and receive grace towards ourselves and others.
Just plain being.
Itās hard to ābe still and know that God is Godā when we are constantly on the go. The sacred art of selah reminds us that even the Creator rested, we too should find time to rest. We should find time to set aside and just be.
As a practitioner of self-care and an encourager to others of the same, I get alarmed š± when I sense others āplatesā are full. I sense their āenergizer bunnyā going and going and going until what…and what for.
While I must admit that at times my plate, bowl, cup, and every utensil is full at times, this is nothing to be proud of. We should all make the time to get back in rhythm and selah.
In divine creation, the Creator created the splendors of the world including humankind and then rested. In the Gospels Jesus healed, delivered, proclaimed, AND Jesus got away and rested. We too should rest.
Rest, selah, pause, and reflection are vital components of a healthy rhythm of life. The song book of the Bible, Psalm reminds us that selah is a rhythm of living. We inhale. We exhale. We sleep. We wake. We should selah.
My prayer for you during this journey is that you will carve out moments in your day to be still. To take moments in your present living and selah.
Every year this season comes upon us and the invitation to reset, renew, and refocus commences.
Lent is the period of time beginning with Ash Wednesday where Christians worldwide are drawn to deep introspect. It is a period of 40 days where Christians intentional and deliberately focus on self while also giving up things, thought patterns, or tangible pleasures to draw closer to God. While many are called to a fast during this period, it is not mandatory but highly encouraged.
Today worldwide many will hear the words ā Remember You are Dust & to Dust You Will Return,ā reminding us of our mortality and a sense of oneness with the ashes that will soon be placed on the forehead as a representation of the same. This solemn and sacred experience reminds all who partake, of the Creator who fashioned us out of the dirt of the earth and our gift of eternal life offered through Jesus Christ.
The ashes mark the visible symbolic sign that we are seeking after God in an intentional manner by publicly displaying our need for repentance and renewal with our Creator.
āI invite you, therefore, to observe a holy Lent: by self examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self denial; and by reading and meditating on Godās Holy Word. To make a right beginning of repentance, renewal, and refocus to God and the things that really matter.ā
Fasting is not a quick fix to weight loss. It is not a new diet trend that has captured and peeked the minds of many, even though it appears to be trending all over social media in this fashion.
Fasting as it relates to the Christian faith is a period of time that Christians are invited to seek God in a deeper way through prayer, reading the Holy Scriptures, writing, worship, dancing, etc…by laying aside things that one may normally partake in to make intentional time to commune with God. While many abstain from certain types of food, sweets, and even mindless spending, fasting is so much more.
The discipline of fasting seeks to invite those who take the journey to connect with the Divine and refocus inwardly so that outwardly changes may reflect and take root in not only the heart, but in creation.
Here are just some examples:
Ideas for Inward and Personal Disciplines through Lent Spend time in solitude waiting on the Lord each day.
Fast from (fill in the blank) to focus on prayer. Read a book of the bible for spiritual growth. Begin to keep a journal of prayer concerns, questions, reading. Memorize a scripture once a week. Write on a 3 x 5 card Make a list of people with whom I need to be reconciled. Pray for them and let Jesus guide me in my attitude toward them. Forgive someone who has hurt me. Write a letter of affirmation once a week to a person who has touched my life. Say “NO” to something that is a waste of money and time. Give up some unhealthy food or bad habit Find a way to live out the baptismal promise to “resist evil, injustice, and oppression” in the power God gives us by Share my plan with at least one other person and share with that person my experience of Lent during Holy Week.
However you feel called to join in the Lenten Journey this year, I pray that you reset, renew, & refocus, during this time and that God reveals Godās self to you in a new way!
I invite you to join me for the next 40 days here on this blog to journey together…
Blessings & Stay UPlifted!
Rev. Christal
Want a gist of what Lent is? Click the link brought to you by āBusted Halo.ā Lent in 3 Minutes.
While walking down the streets of Downtown Chicago I came across this sign at my feet: Believe. Sometimes itās the small reminders that impact you in a big way.
B E L I E V E
Believe that you were created on purpose with a purpose.
Believe in the impact that you can make in the world.
Believe that God has not forgotten about you.
Believe in yourself.
So when you are going through your daily routine, look for the signs all around you. Signs that extend the invitation for you to believe, hope, and dream again. No matter what, donāt stop believing.
Happy New Year! I canāt believe that 2019 is gone and we are here in 2020. It seems like it was just yesterday that it was the year 2000. Remember the panic and unknown certainty of entering the 2000ās. Guess what itās 20 years later and we are still here! PTL.
There was a pretty popular song 20 years ago entitled āI Hope You Danceā by Lee Ann Womack. The premise was all about taking a chance and not wasting your time on wondering or settling, but to get up and in this instance dance.
As we shift and move in this new season, new decade, new year; my prayer is that we all get up and DANCE. Life is but a brief moment and chances and opportunities to change the world for the better is an ever extending invitation to dance.
No longer look or mimic the dance steps of someone else. Move, sway, and uplift others by your own unique God-given rhythmic beat. Smile, laugh it off when you miss the beat and get up and try again.
The world is waiting for you to add to the rhythm of the nations. The heartbeat of the earth that reminds us of an ever-lasting Creator God that is still creating, dancing, and breathing the NEW in each one of us.
So this year in the midst of all your planning and prepping to make it a better year, donāt forget to DANCE. Twirl, step, twerk if need be (lol), just donāt sit there and let life pass you by. So when you get the opportunity to try something new, to break out of your comfort zone, and maybe even prance outside the ānormā into the extraordinary, I Pray You Dance.
UPLIFTING WORDS TO INSPIRE 