As I was lying in my bed early Tuesday morning – I began to talk to God about a couple of things. As I laid there, my mind went to the many things that I’ve come up with in regards to the plans that I have for my life. I mean we all have plans, dreams and things that we would like to accomplish but what if those plans don’t align with the plans that God has for us. Most times in my life, when it’s come to the small details concerning my present and future – I’d draw my own blueprint for how I want my life to be orchestrated, not one time consulting God about his thoughts towards my “so-called” ideas.
How many of “your” plans do you push off on God.
I recently experienced a situation in which my blueprints were all mapped out and I was all geared up into moving forward to start the building process, but no matter which way I tried to go with making those blueprints work; it just didn’t seem to come together in the way “I” wanted them. I mean, I erased and re-wrote them every which way – still, nothing made sense and every mark made seemed to take me right back to square one. As I laid in bed contemplating, it was then that it fell in my spirit “We have to be careful about pushing our plans onto God” – It was obvious the blueprint that I had so diligently put together wasn’t working because it wasn’t what God had intended for me to do or have.
No matter what plans we may have for our lives, we have to realize that in the end – God has the last say and if it’s not apart of his will, then it will not be apart of your life unless you PUSH it to be, in which in that case whatever misfortune you experience from that PUSH, will be on you – not him. The bible says “The blessings of God maketh rich and add no sorrow.” Prov 10:22. We have to have faith and trust the blueprints that God has already drawn out for us, we have to believe God and know that whatever HIS PLANS are, they’ll work out for our good and best interest in the end. Gods plans won’t keep us up at night wondering how we’re going to pay for it and his decisions for our lives will not make us worse off but better in the end.
So, put your blueprints or any orchestrated things you have for your life aside and ask God to give you the blueprints/plans he has for your life. You’ll be very surprised about the layout because FATHER DEFINITELY KNOWS BEST!
Prayer:
Lord, bless me to pay attention so that I’m not pushing my plans and/or blueprints for my life onto yours and forgive me, if I’ve not stayed still long enough to hear the plans you have for my life. I’m listening now God, It’s your will – not my wants.
Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of A Blog, A Magazine. It’s JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager
Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud, Inspire More & Love Harder!
I used to feel really sad for people whom went through the holidays without a loved one or someone to spend the holidays with because let’s face it, who really wants to be alone when the holidays roll around – no one. (I don’t care what they say..) but I always said a special prayer for people who lost a loved one, whether husband, wife, child, friend, pet – it didn’t matter, I prayed for them. At the time I had no clue as to what they were actually feeling but I tried to place my feet in their shoes for just a moment to imagine the pain they must’ve been feeling, although I never had….at least until last year.
I mentioned briefly in this past Sunday’s Thought message of the difficult circumstances concerning my mom and what happened. I lost her five days after Thanksgiving and we funeralized her the first week of December, so needless to say Christmas went straight down the drain last year, it was also the first time since starting this blog that I didn’t write anything that whole month. Once January 2017 rolled in, I knew that it would be a really tough year – the only thing I kept thinking as each day and month passed by was the fact that “This time last year, mama was here.” which honestly has played in mind up until recently, when I could actually say, “This time last year, mama wasn’t here” – When January 2018 comes in, that will pretty much be a fresh start for me, the beginning of truly leaving the year behind and all the pain it held in it. It’ll also be a year in which, I can finally let mama go and begin to move forward and live my life as she would have wanted me too.
While the holidays bring their own type of vibe and it may be a little hard to celebrate the season because you’ve suffered a loss, rest assured that even though your special loved one isn’t here, doesn’t mean that you have to exclude them or yourself from still having a special holiday. Listed below are a couple of tips that I’ve learned and have done since loosing my mom and maybe they’ll help you or even a friend whom may be experiencing the “blues” this season due to a special loss.
1. Talk About It, Get It Out of Your System…
Keeping my feelings to myself in regards to my mom dying suddenly would have been a train wreck had I not had a good support group. If you don’t have one, then talk to someone in whom you trust such as a pastor, good neighbor, co-worker or counselor. Trust me, keeping your emotions locked up only breeds fire – you have to get it out, so you can begin the process of moving forward and having a peace of mind in regards to the loss.
2. Keep the Traditions Alive!
My mom was a game player, she loved coming up with unique games in which people could win prizes. Now, don’t get me wrong; my mom didn’t make a lot of money, in fact she only received a disability check once a month but you wouldn’t have known that with the gifts she gave out. Every year for Christmas we pulled names as a family to exchange gifts and mama would invite people over for a unique Christmas game (I never knew how she could come up with such thoughtful games) afterwards, she would award the winner and the losers as well with some amazing gifts. She always made people feel good, no matter where she went and she always had some little trinket to give them, to make their day a little brighter. It’s good to keep memories/traditions alive when you lose a loved one, we’re so quick to want to forget everything once their gone, but we have to realize when we keep their memory open, their spirit will always be alive.
3. Time really does HEAL…
I can and will say that it will take time for you to heal, and you do that as often and as much as you need to, don’t let anyone define to you when you need to let go or stop crying…you do what you need to do to deal with your loss. Remember all the good times because those are the memories that are going to get you thru your toughest days and with the holidays now here, this time of year makes those tough days harder. Remember, healing also occurs when you surround yourself with positive, caring people. I’m still healing every single day.
4. Get Involved In Activities…
There’s a scripture in the bible that says, “An idle mind is the devils workshop” and boy that scripture couldn’t be further from the truth, the enemy works and toils with our emotions and when we’re down, feeling blue or even sad – he pounces on those emotions, his goal is to take you deeper into a “blue” place, so deep until it’s hard for your to come up to breathe. Find something that you like doing that will help take your mind off of your current situation, focusing on other things does not mean that you’re forgetting about your loved one. It’s just you letting your brain and body know that you have to keep them sharp and moving forward. You’ll have your moments and that’s totally okay, but when that moment is happening every day? It’s time to get up and find a hobby or get involved in a charity….maybe even one your loved one preferred. Just don’t sit and let yourself go because at the end of the day, “Would your loved one really want you to do that?”
5. Signs and Wonders…
I was in the break room at work a little shy over a month ago eating lunch, I always sit at the table in which has a window by it, once you sit down at it; the only thing you can see are the clouds. Suddenly, I thought to myself – “I wonder if my mom know how much, I loved her?” and no joke, it seemed like as soon as I said that my head immediately turned to look at the sky and I promise you – there was a heart shaped cloud there. I was sooooo amazed that I hurried and tried to get my camera up on my phone but when I looked back up, it had faded away. I know that sounds crazy, but I wanted to share that to let you know that even though our loved ones may be gone from this side, their on the other side watching over us and if you look around closely, you just may see little signs of them still wondering around, letting you know that they’re okay. So, be encouraged!
I hope this post was a little help and offer some comfort as you go on through Christmas and the rest of this month. God bless you and know that I am praying for you and while you’re on your knees, please say a little prayer for me too.
Carolyn Blackmon-Greene 10/22/1961 – 11/29/2016
You’re forever in my heart Mama!
Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of A Blog, A Magazine. It’s JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager
Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud, Inspire More & Love Harder!
Most of us in some way, shape or fashion are battling an addiction to something – in the post below, read fellow blogger rudymariee of Visions and Giggles journey on her traumatic battle with food addiction and her breaking point that lead her to declare “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!” Putting behind her bad food choices of cheese pizza, two liter soda’s and pasta to embrace a lifestyle of health and fitness.
Follow the highlighted link Below to read more of this Inspirational story…
There’s no such thing as food addiction…. oh right, that’s why I’m hiding upstairs trying to ignore the very tantalizing slice of leftover birthday cake in the fridge. Why are people always so quick to discount things they don’t understand? I didn’t always struggle with food; don’t get me wrong, I have always l o…
Well, since today is the last day of the month of November …andddd… since we’ve been discussing gratitude all month – I thought I’d end this month with a bang by sharing my 10 best/favorite gratitude quotes with you. You know gratitude is a little thing that means a whole lot – it’s the quality or feeling of being grateful and/or thankful. While we can look around us and all agree “What in the world is there to be grateful for?” and low and behold, if you tune into the news or social media outlets daily and view all the negativity it has going on, the whole world looks as if its going mad and it’ll make you want to throw in the towel and get mad right along with it, all of which can be very depressing.
We can’t help what comes across the news just as well as we can’t help what other people do, how they feel or what they think. In this life, we can only control what we do, how we think, what we say and how we feel about certain situations; therefore, it’s up to us to look through all the negative junk and find a positive or I guess you can say “silver” lining in the world around you. There’s always something to be thankful for – in some cases you may have to look deep to find it but in most cases, it’s the simple things such as giving thanks for your life, health and strength, because someone, somewhere is wishing they had at least one of the three. Bottom line, the world may be mad but it’s not what the world does; but its what you allow yourself to see and how you allow yourself to react to it.
Listed below are my 10 top fave quotes – If yours didn’t make the list, then feel free to give me your favorite in the comments!
Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.Maya Angelou
Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.A.A. Milne
What consumes your mind, Controls your life. Practice Gratitude.Unknown
When some things go wrong, take a moment to be thankful for the many more things that went and are still going right.Unknown
You gotta look for the Good in the Bad, The Happy in your Sad, The Gain in your Pain and what makes you Grateful not Hateful.Karen Salmansohn
If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.Meister Eckhart
No matter what language you speak, a kind and smiling Thank You, Always speaks to everyone’s hearts. Unknown
The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see.Dr. Robert Holden
What if you woke up Today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?Unknown
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.John F. Kennedy
Do you have a favorite gratitude quote?, don’t forget to leave it in the comments below!!
Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of A Blog, A Magazine. It’s JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager
Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud, Inspire More & Love Harder!
Happy Wednesday, Hump Day, Middle of the week Day or whatever you decide to call it, we’ve made it this far – 2 days to go! Well, today is the last day of our Monthly series – Attitude of Gratitude. I just want to thank each of you for reading and commenting on some or all of the post questions throughout the month, hopefully the questions asked as well as the End of the Day Questions allowed you to reflect on your life as well as others or maybe just your own.
So for the last question, I thought I would turn the tables and allow you to ask me a question and I answer it. You don’t have to do an end of the day question as I did but if you have a question that you would like to ask me in concerns of having an attitude of gratitude then you may do so, but just in case you don’t have any questions – I went ahead and put one below ( I know how having the tables unexpectedly turn on you can be sometimes…lol).
Without further ado, here’s today’s final challenge question.
What is a special skill or talent you have and are grateful for it (My response)
As far as talent is concerned, I really don’t have one of those especially if it involves singing, dancing and cooking certain foods…lol but I love looking at the singing, dancing and food competition shows because in my mind – I really be envisioning me up there doing it all…lol; however and I don’t know if you’d call this a skill but I’ve always had a knack for talking to just about anyone and I love it! It never mattered about race, gender, size or background – if they said or say hello, there I go…lol. It’s always been a goal of mine to make people feel good about themselves and I really do try to greet everyone with a smile because you just never know what people are going through.
You’ve heard the saying “There’s a thin line between sanity and insanity” and that statement is very true – there’s really nothing keeping any of us from doing something crazy or morally wrong but it’s the choices we make and who we are as individuals that keep that “very thin line” skatable. I absolutely love listening to people and get joy when I’m able to help them through a what seems like a difficult situation for them and all that I don’t know, I pray about it because I too know that I’m not able to help everyone through everything but I know someone who definitely can! I guess you can say I’m very compassionate when it comes to people’s feelings; taking out the time to talk to people have caused me to gain friendships and provided good networking opportunities; so you just never know.
– What is a special skill or talent you have and are grateful for it; Comment Below –
Your End of the Day Question:
What’s the one thing you’d like others to remember about you at the end of your life?
Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of A Blog, A Magazine. It’s JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager
Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud, Inspire More & Love Harder!
A Blog, A Magazine. It's JustsumInspiration! 
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