About a month ago now I participated in the 2020 Uplift Gathering by Loved + Blessed. Though I didn’t join in the breakout sessions I was definitely “meant” to be there for the speakers (aka encouragers) and will take some of what I learned over the two days with me for life! I ended up pinning down 11 pages of notes and wanted to say a huge **THANK YOU** to all of the presenters and people involved in this effort (though they may never read this, and that is OK, may the Spirit send the gratitude on for me). 😊

Sooooo here are my notes. The theme was JOY, but more specifically "How To Choose Joy Even When ..."  To be noted, did not write down when Jamila spoke, since she was the main moderator/host and dropping nuggets of joy gold here and there, but seriously, I so appreciate her listening to God’s prompting and doing what she is doing 24/7.

           

          

           

            

            

                                            

Peeps featured in the above photos are: 

Jamila Jackson
Maeglin
Hannah Barefoot 
Rachael Gilbert
Melanie Ezechi (Social Worker Superstar)
Julie Landreth
Paula Bryant-Ellis
Ralonda Dittmar
Christol (Retired Track & Field Athlete, Current Minister & Faith/Fitness Coach)

What did I take away most from the gathering? There really isn't just one thing. There are many littles and many bigs, that I hope you take away yourself from the notes above. 😉

Peace, love, and blessings to you, through our Savior, Jesus Christ! 💙

Wow, wow, wow! 

Is it a recommended watch? For sure! 

Will I be checking out Christ Crucified next? Oh yes! **Note: I started to watch the 2nd installment and had to stop 30 minutes in. Though it might be beneficial for some, I cannot say the same for myself. Perhaps I am on false teaching-learning overload? But nonetheless, I will not be watching it. 

Admittedly, in years before I did watch some of the people mentioned in this film, though never as a solitary source of teaching. It isn't something I will hide as Joyce Meyers is written about in 31 Rays of Hope. However, I never bought into prosperity gospel or faith healing (for all). Some of the most devout believers with rock-solid faith I've ever met, happen to be some of the poorest and sickest people I've known. Yet, their testimonies are all about how God is WITH them, regardless. How they would rather be cast down in this life (by our society standards) than to ever spend a day not knowing who God was. 

It has always been hard for me to reconcile some teachers/preachers/whoever sitting on millions and millions when there are so many people who could benefit from those funds. It is not a sin to have money, however, the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). 

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As I am working on the audio version of the devo, (which will be available for free, details to be sorted out later), I realized that some of the words and phrases I used could be misleading considering what I didn't know was going on/being taught in so many churches. For the past 5 years or so, my main teachers have been Charles Stanley, Michael Youseff, and Allen Parr. I also happen to have a very faith strong mom who has much wisdom, even though she doesn't think it. Even know I check before I repin a verse if it doesn't look quite right. I learned early on to check the scriptures for myself to make sure what I was being fed was a lie or carefully twisted truth. 

Watching this video I was shown what I have been wondering for years, "why are people leaving the Church?" Well if you believe God is anything other than what He says He is (in the Bible), that Jesus was not all man and all God when He walked this Earth, or that the Holy Spirit is some sort of genie to grant your every whim, (just to name a few errors pointed on) well then, it sounds like a false religion, not a relationship.  I can understand why if people have been taught that God wants us all to have Rolls Royces, never get sick, and have the cream of the crop everything (mostly centered on financial success and stability), they would feel punished when it wasn't received. They would feel abandoned by God, discarded, and left out in the cold. 

But what falseness this is! Jesus had a hard life, and he said, "Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours." John 15:20 

The video is excellent (though some of the lies were hard to stomach), so I won't say much more but will close with these 7 truths: 

#1 - God is the Creator of the world, all that we know and don't know. Colossians 1:16
#2 - God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Psalm 139
#3 - Jesus is the Son of God. Matthew 3:17
#4 - It was the Father's plan for Him to be born as a human, yet fully God at the same time. 100 Verse List
#5 - It is by Jesus Christ alone that we are saved from our sins and reconciled back to God. John 14:6 & Romans 10:9
#6 - The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, our advocate, and helper. Verse List
#7 - Father, Son, and Spirit (Trinity) desire a relationship with YOU! 2 Peter 3:9

Peace and blessings to you through Jesus Christ! ❤

⇑ Curious where the closing comes from? Ephesians 1:2-4, blessings are about so much more than the tangible. 

Yes, I was born in the 80’s and cannot let go of 90’s slang, who doesn’t remember “talk to the hand because the face isn’t listening”? Okay, so while I haven’t said that one in many a year, it did just make me chuckle to pen it down.

To be honest I haven’t written (on here) because I couldn’t settle on where to start with all that is going on, so now that we got that out of the way, here we go.

RIP

On May 19^th the world lost a great man (well great men and women are unfortunately leaving us every day), but I speak of Ravi Zacharias. I was blessed to be able to see him speak (and meet) a few years back at a college, it was awesome, and well there is no doubt in my mind where he is right now. If you are struggling or curious with any aspect of your faith, or if you want to come to faith, but something is holding you back, I recommend you checking out one of his videos. He speaks with intelligence, love, and kindness. **Edit: 2.15.2021, my heart is breaking over and over again with the allegations, charges, victims, and seeming betrayal. I am left confused and conflicted and have removed most of his sole posts on the blog and links. As I type this I am currently watching this video in which I hope brings some sense of "something", but alas I know only God will be able to mend this wound. May our hope, trust, and faith reside with Father, Son, and Spirit forever and always, all of our days ~ who is without fault, without failing, perfect, and good forever and ever. 

Pandemic

It is a ‘history book’ time we are in right now, and my hope is that common sense starts to flourish, and we (as the collective human race) do not place anything above human life. I know someone who has passed from COVID, and understand that this can be a confusing time. Know that there is a peace that surpasses all understanding available to you (Philippians 4:7), and that I truly feel the most important thing to know now, and ever, is that Jesus Christ is the risen Son of the One True God (Creator of the World), and by Him alone are we saved (John 14:6).

Two videos that touched my heart last month, but I failed to share: 

  

Wild Glow Studio

The new artsy, hobby, mission project that is tag teamed by Kory and I, with the statement: to create faith-centered, glow-in-the-dark enamel pins, so you can shine your light (Matthew 5:15-16), even in the darkest of times! So far the shop has 3 enamel pins and 2 button pins, with 2 more enamels on the way. As stated in the “about us” on Etsy: “As we are just starting out we have an idea of where we would like this to go, but as it is an effort of faith, fun, and love, we are content wherever He wants it to go.” As we are self-funded, there was an attempt at a Kickstarter, to create a 12 month “Glow Gram” sub, but that didn’t pan out (only 30% of campaigns succeed).However, it did open my eyes to something I can do standard.  We are hoping that as the months and years go by that all 12 of the Glow Gram designs are able to be produced, and all of them (and future designs) will come with a corresponding devotional card to dive deeper into the design meaning.😊

Missions

Due to some rules and regs that topic (in reference to my personal involvement) might not be shared on here much anymore, but my passion is still my passion, and my calling won’t ever quit – trust that (wink - wink), but I can point you to Love Beyond Walls who has been changing the game!  

What Else

Well know that you are an awesome human, and I hope that you are allowing God to use your life for His kingdom and glory. I hope that you are kind to yourself when you fall and are quick to acknowledge you need forgiveness and accept that forgiveness. That you do not carry with you burdens of this life, but you lay them down at the feet of the One who truly gives rest. That you see everyone through the eyes of God, full of love and understanding and compassion. That you do not use His word to spread hate but allow it to transform yourself and others through love with conviction and a truth that surpasses time itself.  

Peace and blessings to you, through Jesus Christ! ❤