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Good Afternoon lovelies! I had a true humbling experience this morning and wanted to share with all of you.

As I got ready for church this morning I was fully expecting to hear a word from God, my Father. I had not physically been to church for the last two weeks due to family vacation and beach trips, so I was eager to praise and worship Him with other believers. God surely gave me what I needed but in a way that I was not expecting.

It was my second time visiting Elevation Church, so I was clueless as to what might take place at this morning as I filed into the auditorium. I was seated on the first row, I believe God really wanted me to receive what He was about to share with me, right in front of the action. I prayed before worship began; I started doing this some months ago to ask the Holy Spirit to enter. I noticed that if I didn't I would become resistant or distracted and wouldn't receive the Word that was being shared. Sometimes I would forget to do this, but Im glad I didn't this Sunday. God knew that I would not have been able receive the message and let it do its work on my own.

Worship began and as I followed the words on the screen I could feel God's presence...simply an amazing experience each time I worship Him in song, its totally new and refreshing each time. When the worship began to come to end and the lead pastor Steven Furtick came on the screen to explain Love Week ("An opportunity to unify and inspire the Charlotte area with a spirit of compassion, unity, selflessness, and service. With the goal to impact the city by serving throughout the community during a weeklong outreach initiative, putting words into action, and demonstrating the love of God for the people in our city"), my mind began transitioning to being fed. Being fed something that could help me on my journey and get me through this upcoming week. But as he began explaining Love week, and then explained that he would be preaching next week and we would be watching a documentary I began to get upset. To be honest I was getting mad, in my mind I complained that I could watch a documentary at home; I came to church to hear a word to help ME. Thankfully the Holy Spirit calmed me down (trust me, it wasn't me. I could have stayed mad the whole service). I wasn't excited about looking at the documentary, but I had an openness just to see what it was about.

As tears flowed from my eyes, I knew that God was working in me and I was being redirected. The documentary highlighted the many different areas that the donations and gifts from Elevation touched. From the streets of Africa to across the states in our backyard. Giving is something that must take place, but in my mind it was done after "church". I didnt think that we needed to watch a documentary during church, how was it going to feed me. However, God placed in my heart that 1. Church extended beyond four walls and 2. Church is not solely about coming to receive what you want to hear from God or how to get it your blessing. I had come to church Sunday after Sunday with the intent to see what God could do for me and how I could change to better position myself. Not how I could position myself to help others, or be a blessing to others. Church is not a place to simply get but to give; its an opportunity to let your purpose be revealed in the most powerful way. I am the Church, you are the church. In Ephesians 6:24 it explains that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. We are that her that Christ sacrificed His life for.

God redirected me, He allowed me to see that it is not all about me. In fact, it isnt about me, its about Him. Yes we should go to church to be revived, loved on, and cleansed. However, these should not be the only reasons. Jesus states clearly in Mark 1: 17 that if we are followers of Him we will also become fisher of men. We will "Go out into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."(Mark 16:15). We shouldn't hoard the Word, the love, and the cleansing within the four walls that we received it in. It should go in us and then be fed to someone else who needs it. There are people everywhere that need God's Word, and we are the vehicles that will transport that Word. Thats exactly what this mornings documentary was about; sharing the wealth of God. Whether that wealth be in the form of money, time, resources, or love, it should be shared with others so we can all grow closer to Christ. Giving is a humbling experience, and I realized that it will give me the cleansing, love, and Word that I need but in a unique way.

God helps us to examine our life, and helps to realign our focus if we get off track. What does Church mean to you, whats your reasoning for going into a building every Sunday. Would your definition change if the building was destroyed and you had to meet on the sidewalk?

I think this post was all over the place, but I really wanted to share with you all that Church should not be limited to Sunday mornings and a building, and we shouldn't always be focused on what God can do for us, but how we can be a blessing to others. 

Let God redirect you if need be...love you all dearly....fly closer sisters! 

Marriage Perceptions & Natural Hair

You may be thinking what does natural hair have to do with marriage??? For me, it has a lot to do with it! Let me explain…

I guess I have always wanted to be married. But, once I started pursuing Christ the desire to have a God-given marriage replaced the monotonous thought process of, “I’m getting married because that’s what I’m suppose to do”. The desire that is within me now is much deeper than that. I truly want my marriage to be a representation of God, not just the last stop on the dating cycle. Throughout this past year I have learned that purpose plays a significant role in every aspect of my life, and marriage doesn’t escape this. Christ was and still is married to the Church (the body of Christ) to bring to us salvation, and provide an unexplainable love. He didn’t become one with us because we’re cute, mind you He believes that you and I are beautiful queens, but His reasoning went a bit further than our image. There was purpose in slipping the ring on our finger and saying I do. Without the union, lives wouldn’t have been saved.

I am waiting on that marriage; a marriage that is purpose driven. A marriage where my husband will love Christ more that he loves me, and then love me as Christ loved the Church. A marriage where I will submit to him just like the Church submitted to Christ. And a marriage that will glorify Christ, and will fulfill what God has destined for us to do. This desire still burns deep within me. I am glad that it has replaced the world’s view of marriage but in doing so I also let it burn a hole in reality. Being that I was waiting on a marriage sent from God, my mind slowly began to think that this marriage would be perfect. God would arrange it so why wouldn’t it be perfect? I took this and ran, creating a fantasy world within my mind. Believing that every stage of the courting process, engagement, and then I do would sail through without any hiccups. We would be the perfect replica of Christ and the Church. It wasn’t until I listened to a radio interview done by Cornelius and Heather Lindsey (an amazing couple on fire for the Lord, Google them!) that I knew that my marriage would be nowhere near perfect. My heart broke; they courted God’s way and they still had trying times. They broke up, had arguments, and had to continue to work on themselves in order to make the relationship work. The world that I created in my head was destroyed and I was devastated. The desire to be married waned a little after that. I didn’t want to be hurt again, or go through the growing pains of a relationship. I just wanted it to magically appear and be everything that I wanted.  My natural hair helped to alter this mindset in a good-way.

Me & my Fro!

I have been natural for almost two years (cut the last of the relaxer off in Nov. 2011). I absolutely love it, and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Although I love it, there are times when it drives me nuts!! I have to get up earlier in the morning in order for it to look right, and spend extra time at night to make sure I wont look crazy in the morning. Natural hair is work. Most people think that it would be a simpler process…. its not. It’s not like having a simple flat wrap that takes minutes to look effortless. Natural hair takes hours to look effortless, and most of the time it’s not effortless. I have to put in work to get the desired look that I want. Most people come up to me and tell me that they love my hair and ask me what I do to it. After explaining my nightly routine, they stare and then say, “I’m not doing that every night!” They want the end results but don’t want to go through to get it. This was exactly how I viewed marriage; I wanted a “perfect” marriage but didn’t realize that I was going to have to work to have a good Christ-like marriage. In the beginning, when I was transitioning and shortly after I cut the relaxer off, I had BIG fails. I mean there were days my head looked like the end of a Q-tip.  However, although I had these big fails I didn’t slap a relaxer back in my head, I worked though it. I learned how my hair worked and learned not to let it upset me when it didn’t turn out the way I wanted it too. Although I’m almost two years in the game, I still get frustrated and sometimes I don’t want to put in the effort to wash or twist my hair. But its worth it; I love my fro at the end of day.  I shouldn’t expect my marriage or relationship to just fall into place, my hair didn’t. It took time; it was a learning experience.

I am glad God gave me this insight. It was hard to understand that marriage wasn’t going to be glamorous every second of the day like in the movies, and I almost gave up on the idea of getting married.  But God reminded me in a unique way that the same way that I love my hair and have to work with it, is the same way I will love my husband but will have to work with him on our marriage. Marriage will most definitely be work and it will NOT be perfect. Yes, there will be times when my husband-to-be will get on my nerves and vice versa, there will be times when we might hurt each other unintentionally, and times we will just have to plain work to keep the relationship growing towards Christ. However, despite what happens I can still have a purpose-driven marriage that is blessed from God, and the good days will most definitely outweigh the bad.

Marriage is a beautiful gift from God embrace every aspect of it!

I love each and every one of you! Fly higher to Christ today, He wants you more than you think!