Thoughts from God's Favorite Child

By Kristina Smith

An inspirational look at how God works in the life of an ordinary woman who just wants to serve Him. Often funny or thought-provoking, this blog-to-page book is filled with stories that will make you look at God, and the world around you, in a different way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781468541342

Kristina Smith

Kristina Smith is an educator and former clinical therapist with more than 15 years of experience teaching and tutoring children with learning challenges. Trained in the Orton-Gillingham method and having developed educational materials that support it, she coauthored two books, Teach Reading with Orton-Gillingham and Teach Reading with Orton-Gillingham: Early Reading Skills, and continues to explore and develop new teaching methods in a variety of study areas. Kristina is originally from the Washington, DC, area, but moved to Florida to earn her bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of South Florida and, later, her master’s degree in social work from Florida State University. Currently, Kristina resides in Panama City Beach, Florida, with her husband. To learn more about Kristina and fellow coauthor Heather MacLeod-Vidal’s resources for struggling readers, please visit their website TreetopsEducation.com or search Treetops Educational Interventions on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Book preview

Thoughts from God’s Favorite Child

Kristina Smith

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AuthorHouse™

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© 2012 by Kristina Smith. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 02/11/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4685-4133-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-4132-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-4134-2 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012900446

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD:

CHAPTER ONE:

SLEEPING IN THE MIDDLE

GOSSIP V. COMMUNICATION

CLOTHED IN MY RIGHT MIND

WHY (NOT) ME?

ON BEING ADVENTIST…

PATIENCE IS

PACKRATS UNTIE!

TOO MUCH INFORMATION?

AMAZING GRACE

UNUSED BLESSINGS

RESOLUTION: C.A.R.E.

MA’AM? DO I LOOK LIKE A MA’AM TO YOU?

UNDIVIDED ATTENTION

THE BUCKET LIST

16 RANDOM THINGS

ON THE BACK BURNER

DISAPPOINTED, DISCOURAGED…

AND YET, DETERMINED.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT NEEDED

INTERSECTING LIVES

COMPLIMENTS NOT WELCOME

LOVING ME IS… NOT THAT EASY

JOURNALING HAS A PURPOSE

I AM NOT MY HAIR

ROMANCE? HMMM, I THINK I’LL PASS

THE TIRE STORY

CHAPTER TWO

DRIVING IN THE RUTS

VANITY PLATES

FINDING THE TIME

MOUNTAINS HIGH, VALLEYS LOW

W.A.W.! (WHAT A WEEKEND!)

LIVING IN AMAZING TIMES

MAKING A CHOICE

DOUBTING THOMAS

JUST FOR ME…

MOTIVES AND AGENDAS

FORGIVENESS AIN’T ABOUT THEM

AS WE FORGIVE.

THE LORD’S CALF

STANDING ON THE PROMISES

IF YOU WORRY, WHY PRAY?

GOD IS ALL AROUND US

SPIRITUAL GPS

GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE? MAYBE… MAYBE NOT.

BEING TESTED

EVEN THE SMALL THINGS MATTER

LOST!

DOES SATAN EXIST?

P.U.S.H.

SUNRISE, SUNSET

EARTHQUAKES, TSUNAMIS AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS

THE PRODIGAL SON

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SON?

CHAPTER THREE

OUT OF TOUCH… TEMPORARILY

SCHEDULING SOME TIME

SOCIAL NETWORKING

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

. . . TO FRIEND OR TO DEFRIEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION…

GADGET FREE

LAYERS OF FRIENDSHIP

IT’S ALL SO CONFUSING

ENGAGING IN THIS MOMENT

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT.

PLUGGED IN

CHAPTER FOUR

ALL WE NEED IS LOVE

DISOBEDIENCE HAS A PRICE

PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVERS

DON’T LOVE ME THAT MUCH

BEING POLITE

I HEAR YOU… BUT ARE YOU LISTENING?

BEST GIRLFRIENDS IN THE WORLD

APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING

REUNITED

REMODELED

WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

WILL YOU MISS ME?

THE VALUE OF (MY) FRIENDSHIP

A TRIBUTE TO MY FATHER

YOUR NAME IS SAFE

CHARLIE AND ELEANOR

PUBLIC SMILES, PRIVATE PAINS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

CHAPTER FIVE

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HALLMARK’S FAVORITE HOLIDAY

SUNDAY’S ON THE WAY

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

FATHER’S DAY… AGAIN.

I DON’T DO CHRISTMAS… ANYMORE…

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

DON’T YOU REMEMBER?

PICKING YOUR BATTLES

REUNIONS ARE FUN

TAKING A BITE OUT OF THE BIG APPLE

CHAPTER SIX

FIRST DAY AT WORK

FILL ’ER UP!

I.S.S.U.E.(s)

EVALUATION

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER

O DAY OF REST AND GLADNESS

WE’VE COME THIS FAR BY FAITH

CHAPTER SEVEN

HOOP DREAMS

HE’S A ROCK STAR!

I JUST LOVE HER!

I’M NOT TAUPE, I’M BLACK.

WHEN THE TOWERS FELL

THIS ONE IS FOR

HAVE YOU HEARD?

GLUED TO THE TV

WE ARE THE WORLD

FIND YOUR VOICE

CHAPTER EIGHT

MEMORIALS AND TRIBUTES

SAYING GOODBYE

CELEBRATIONS AND GATHERINGS

CHANGE IS GOOD… RIGHT?

WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN

LETTER FROM MY GRANDFATHER

CHAPTER NINE

MY PHOTO IS JUST AS GOOD AS YOURS

PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORIES

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

A PLACE FOR ALL MY STUFF

ROUTINES

WHAT A WAY TO SPEND THE DAY

MAKING THE MOST OF IT

BLOOMING MAGNOLIA

CHEERLEADING IS A HARD JOB

VANITY BEFORE SAFETY

GUILTY PLEASURES

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

A SISTER’S VIEW

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE

JIGSAW PUZZLES

ATTITUDE IS PARAMOUNT

RESILIENCE

OFF KILTER

SING ME A SONG

APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING

BUT THEY STINK TO HIGH HEAVEN!!!

PREP WORK

JEALOUSY IS SO UNBECOMING

CHAPTER TEN

MELTING IN THE SUN

DON’T GET IT TWISTED

A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES

DISCERNMENT AND WISDOM

THE CANDY DISH

ALWAYS ON TIME

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

I DREAM OF A PLACE

HOLDING PATTERN

OUR DAILY BREAD

HATE ON ME

RELAX, RELATE, RELEASE

UNDER HIS WINGS

IT’S THE PATTERN, NOT THE INCIDENT, THAT COUNTS

MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES

THEY TAKE A BEATING

EXPERIENCE THE JOY… OF GRACE

STOREHOUSES

I HAVE PREPARED A PLACE FOR YOU

THE INTERCESSOR’S INTERCESSOR

PROTECTED THROUGH THE STORMS

YOU LOOK JUST LIKE

GATHER UP A STONE

WHEN GOD SENDS POTATOES

EXERCISING FAITH

THE DESIRES OF OUR HEARTS

DEDICATIONS

FOREWORD:

A few years ago, I started referring to myself as God’s Favorite Child. My family knows this. My co-workers know this. My church members know this. EVERYONE knows this. It all came about from a random conversation I had with a friend as we were driving back from lunch one day. We were talking about the goodness of God and how He blesses us with wonderful, marvelous things—in spite of ourselves. I made the comment that His blessings were always specific to me and how I wished I had a t-shirt that said I am my Heavenly Father’s Favorite Child. That following November, for my birthday, she presented me with my T-shirt—personalized with my name on the front! I took it and RAN with it! Now, I know you are probably sitting there thinking, Ok, she’s crazy, because I am His favorite. You can think that, but do you have a t-shirt to prove it? Yeah… probably not.

On March 27, 2008, I began my blogging experiment with a blog entitled THOUGHTS FROM GOD’S FAVORITE CHILD. The book you hold in your hand is a condensed version of that blog. The entries have been edited, revised and re-arranged in a way that makes a little more sense than the randomness of the original blog. At least, that is my hope.

I have written about… well, everything. Personal struggles and accomplishments. Random views on current local, national and worldwide events. I have expressed my thoughts and opinions on everything from holidays and love, to my relationship struggles with family, friends and God. Sometimes I’ve written with great gravity and tears behind the writings, but for the most part, I have tried to inject some laughs and humor along the way. Most importantly, I strive to write so that most of my writings point to my Heavenly Father, because it is because of Him that I am who I am—His Favorite Child.

Finding topics to write about hasn’t always been easy. This fact constantly surprises me because I ALWAYS have something to say about something. However, I have found that, in an effort to be aware of my audience, and to make sure that feelings aren’t hurt or that what I am saying is not misinterpreted: I sometimes have to shift, adjust and change what I TRULY want to say.

Some days, it is easy to write: I wake up and the thought is fully developed in my head and all I have to do is put it down on paper. Sometimes, I think I know what I am going to say, but I’ll start writing and it takes on a life of its own. And then there are the days when I got nothing. I boot up the computer and the cursor just blinks at me—waiting, waiting, waiting. In the past, the waiting cursor would discourage me and I’d walk away and just not write—some times for days or weeks on end. In times of great stress or grief or trial, I have found that I would just shut down and could not put the hurt and pain to paper. Looking back, I found that this was probably not the best way to respond to the challenges I faced and I wonder about the lessons learned that were not shared with others.

I am praying that God will guide my steps as I continue this journey. I am confident that my words are not going out into a vacuum because the feedback I get from my readers tells me that someone is reading and listening to what I am rambling about. I pray every day that someone is blessed by something I write. And as I write, I pray that I grow closer to my Father as He shows me His love for me.

Thank you for showing an interest in this book. I pray that you are blessed by what you find within the pages. I pray that it points you to God, because while I am His Favorite, you are pretty darn special to Him too.

The website for the blog is www.godsfavoritechildspeaks.blogspot.com. Now that this book is done, I can get back to blogging!

CHAPTER ONE:

Introspective Reflections

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SLEEPING IN THE MIDDLE

I have a confession to make. Well, maybe confession is not the right word, but here goes: I am a single woman who does not utilize the full length, width and breadth of her queen-sized bed. There, I said it. I am a right side of the bed only type of girl. The other side is usually covered up with books, my e-Reader, papers, magazines and a plethora of other stuff that I fall asleep with. I come by this foolish habit honestly. My mother also only utilizes one side of the bed. And while I accept this flaw in myself—every time I see her sleeping on the edge of her bed, it drives me BONKERS! Many a discussion with her about this habit has started with me exclaiming, Why are you sleeping on the edge of the bed? One wrong turn in the middle of the night and you are gonna hit the floor! And she always looks at me, scoots over half an inch and goes right on doing whatever she was doing—including sleeping.

What a waste of the rest of the bed! All that room to wiggle around in. I mean, isn’t that one of the inherent blessings of NOT sharing your bed with another human? [Side note to all my married friends: Yes, I know there are SOME benefits of sharing a bed, but that ain’t my point right now] My point is: there is a blessing I could be taking advantage of EVERY NIGHT if I would just clear the debris off the other side of the bed, position myself in the middle, and hunker down for a good night’s sleep.

I don’t do it because (1) I’m comfortable on the right side of my bed. The mattress is contoured perfectly to my body. The pillows sit just right for snuggling down each night; (2) who has time, before going to bed, to go through all the paperwork that is piled up during the day—it can wait until the morning; and (3) the book I’m reading to put me to sleep needs a place to rest as well—might as well be the left side of the bed. Ok, ok—I get that these are all just excuses, but they work for me.

How often do we make the same excuses when it comes to the blessings that the Lord has in store for us? Sometimes by stepping outside our box (or moving to the other side of the bed), we find that there are more blessings waiting for us. By exploring the possibilities of unknown waters, we might find out things about ourselves, and the people around us, that will help us to grow and achieve the things that we say we want to achieve. Maybe by moving to the middle (or even the other side) of the bed, I can find a different kind of sleeping experience that might just be better. One never knows until one tries—right? Right.

So, I’m going try sleeping in the middle of the bed for a while. Let’s see what wonderful things will unfold from the experience.

GOSSIP V. COMMUNICATION

I have a confession: I love being the facilitator of information… I love being in the know and passing on the news, whether it is information on a new restaurant I discovered, or a place I visited on my many vacations to locales exotic and new, or a movie/DVD I watched, or a new artist (whether musical or theatrical), or… well, you get the picture. I am signed up for (it seems like) hundreds of email blasts so I can always know what is going on where and when and how… and that usually is a good thing. My family, friends and coworkers often call upon me when they are trying to plan social events around town or making plans to travel to a new location. But there is a downside to being the go to person.

At what point does sharing information become gossip? When do you cross the line between the two? This is a question that I have been confronted with more than once in my lifetime. Sometimes I have shared information that I thought needed to be shared. For example, I was requesting prayers for a certain situation, and was reprimanded for putting someone’s business out there without their permission… go figure! Or, at a recent gathering of friends where I was called out for the number of emails I sent relaying information about a variety of things. Amazingly, those same people who chastised me in one instance have reached out to me in other situations to pass the word along. So, again, the question becomes when is it gossip and when is it communication? I am not sure that I know.

The Bible gives this admonition in Proverbs 16:28: "A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends . . . . This leads me to believe that, like with many spiritual things, it all comes down to motive. If my motives behind sharing the information is not malicious in intent, it is communication. But if I know I am being gleeful about passing along bad information about a person or a situation, I think that leans more towards gossip. Word of advice: when you ask God to show you something about your character, you better be prepared to deal with whatever He shows you. After a long struggle with this issue, I will say this: I have definitely become very conscious of when my conversations, emails, writings have been malicious" and when they have not been. And that is a good thing, don’t you think?

CLOTHED IN MY RIGHT MIND

All my life I heard people pray, and thank you Lord for waking me up ‘clothed in my right mind,’ but it is only as I have become an adult that I have realized how powerful a request that truly is. We take for granted each night when we lay down to sleep and rest that, not only will we wake up in the morning, but that when we do, we will be aware and cognizant of what is going on, where we are, who we are—and most importantly, Who God is.

How amazing is it that God takes the time to breathe the breath of life into our nostrils each morning—and while doing so, makes sure that we have whatever we need to get through the day ahead—including good mental faculties.

Now, some of my friends (and especially my relatives) might disagree that I am ever in my right mind, but what do they know? They are entitled to their opinions, no matter how erroneous they may be… but I praise God each morning that I wake up and am aware:

• aware that every blessing I receive is from Him;

• aware that it is not just happenstance that I made it through the night without incident—no phone calls to come to the hospital or mortuary, no invasions of my home and property;

• aware that He is God and that He loves me… in spite of myself most of the time. What an awesome, amazing, fabulous thing to recognize each and every morning.

I pray that you are clothed in your right mind as you read this, and as you go through this day and every day of your life.

WHY (NOT) ME?

Why is it that whenever we are going through something, the first thing we holler is Lawd, have mercy—why me? I would like to suggest that we need to change our paradigm—maybe we should question, Why not me? What is it that God is trying to develop in my character that will be made manifest once I get through this? Well, that is what I am pondering this morning as I sit at my desk, at work but not working.

The worldwide church of which I am a member recently spent three months studying the subject of crucibles—what they are and what we, as Christians, should do to get through them. I will admit that I didn’t study my lessons as I should have and now, with 20/20 hindsight, I am kicking myself in the butt, because God was trying to teach me something in preparation for the storm in which I currently find myself. But you best believe, I will be pulling out my quarterly and going back to study. Ain’t it grand that we serve a God who gives us second chances for a myriad of things?

I currently find myself in the midst of a crucible experience and I am sort of wondering… why me? What did I do to deserve this? Of course, I have friends and well wishers who say things like, Girl, you know I got your back. Who do we need to get? All that is well and good, but it is also distracting.

This morning, during our prayer call, as I asked for special prayer for me and my coworker (who is also going through this experience with me), the pastor made an interesting statement that I had not considered: Maybe you are going through a Job experience. Maybe God was bragging on you and turned to the enemy and said, ‘Have you considered my servant, Kristina? There is no one on earth like her, she is blameless and upright, a woman who fears God and shuns evil.’ (paraphrase of Job 1:8) [Ok, those of you who know me well can stop laughing now!] It could happen. God looks at our hearts when considering our characters, and He knows that, despite my actions that may seem to the contrary, my heart is bent towards Him. I truly, desperately want to be like my favorite Bible character, David, and be called a woman after God’s own heart. He knows that and loves me accordingly.

Years ago, when my grandfather was dying from cancer, I attended a prayer meeting service where I poured out my heart before the congregation about how I was feeling and requesting prayers for his healing. As we prayed, I left the sanctuary and went into the bathroom to cry. A friend of mine, Vonda, followed me into the bathroom and I will never forget what she told me: Kristina, I don’t know why I am saying this to you, but God has given you this trial because YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN GO THROUGH IT. In essence, the trial of losing my grandfather was specific to me. The crucible that I am currently going through is specifically designed for me. There is a lesson I am to learn, there is some flaw in my character that needs to be changed, eradicated, and removed. Amazingly, it is all done for MY BENEFIT because God loves me and wants to save me.

So, a paradigm shift has happened and the question has become: Why not me? Why should I be spared from this trial? I shouldn’t be spared because it is within the will of God and He wants only the best for me. (Jeremiah 29:11). I end with this quote that I received in an email recently. I was going to revise it so as not to offend, but realized that it is perfectly stated as is:

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, Oh shit! She’s awake!

ON BEING ADVENTIST…

I have a confession to make. I am a generational Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Christian, but I haven’t always enjoyed or liked being one. My maternal grandfather was a minister, and my paternal grandfather might as well have been one. Both of my grandmothers were very involved in ministry and the expectations of the saints for me as part of their lineage was always great. It seemed like, as a child, I was always in the spotlight: We need special music, let’s get her to do it. This week’s children’s story will be brought to us by… Whenever my brother and I would visit my grandparents, whether in Connecticut or Florida or wherever else my grandparents were living, I was pushed up front. Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing: it helped develop my character and gave me the confidence and knowledge, at a young age, that I could do any and everything I set my mind to do, or that I was asked to do. BUT, being different from my friends always made me uncomfortable. Why do you go to church on Saturday? Why don’t you eat pork? Why don’t you watch cartoons on Saturday morning? Why aren’t your ears pierced? I didn’t have the words or knowledge of what it all meant to explain it to my friends who were not Adventist.

As a young adult, I rebelled. Yeah, I was still going to church, still doing the welcome and children’s story and singing in the choir, but I was also going to the clubs three or four nights out of the week (ah, to be that young again with THAT much energy!), putting clip-on earrings and pinching my earlobes to death! And doing everything I thought I was big enough and bad enough to do. While my spirit would be pricked sometimes, I didn’t want anyone to tell me that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. After all, I was grown.

I remember a New Year’s Eve weekend celebration where the plan for me and some of my friends was to party all night from Thursday night until Sunday night. Somehow, some way, we ended up at my best friend’s parents’ house for dinner and worship on Friday evening—you know, the start of the Sabbath—and the plan was to appease her parents by staying for worship, but we were hitting the club as soon as we left the house. Her father, a minister (of course!), prayed the LONGEST PRAYER I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE! Further, he called each of us by name and prayed for our souls and our salvation and well, you get the picture. It sort of killed the mood for going out for most of my friends, and I remember thinking, Great, just great. Just what I needed… a guilt trip about doing what I wanted to do. Half of us bailed on going out and the other half went anyway. I will not admit to which group I belonged, but you can probably guess.

For a long time in my 20s and 30s, I resented what I felt were the restrictions of being an Adventist. Without going into great detail here, I finally realized that being Adventist is not about the rules—the do’s and the don’ts that had been beaten into my head as a child and teenager. As an adult, I have realized that the MOST IMPORTANT thing is my relationship with Christ. The framework of that relationship just happens to be the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist church. What I mean is this: how I worship Him, how I live my life (well, most of the time, since God is STILL working with me) is based on the Biblical principles taught by the SDA Church. That makes it a lot easier to explain why I don’t do certain things. It is not a matter of what I am not allowed to do. It is more a matter of, because of my relationship with Christ, what I CHOOSE not to do. Could I pierce my ears? Sure, I could. There are places in every mall that would be happy to take my money and do it for me. Could I eat a pork chop? Every day, three times a day if I wished. After all, God is a God of free will. He wants me to make choices and decisions. That is why He gave me a brain, thoughts, and feelings.

As I grow older, I have come to realize that, even within the Adventist Church, we all are just striving to serve the best we can. You have saints and devils sitting right next to each other every Sabbath (and depending on what’s going on, I can be one or the other). But God loves us each… knows us each individually… died on Calvary’s cross for each one of us individually. And that is a wonderful thing. Thank God for parents and grandparents who introduced me to Him at an early age and gave me that foundation. But thank God that now I know Him for myself and I know He loves ME…

. . . personally

. . . intimately

. . . completely

. . . warts, flaws and all.

On a more personal level, I think God (who sees all and knows all from the beginning of time to the end of time), when He was creating the world looked down through the annals of time to today and said, you know, my daughter is going to be tired around 4:30 p.m. when it’s time to get off work. If I don’t set something in place that will give her permission to put her cares and worries aside for a moment, to come and rest in Me, she will work herself into the ground. I think I’ll set something in place that will make her pause and think and regroup and rest. I will call it the Sabbath and maybe, just maybe, she’ll appreciate it. Maybe she won’t, but why don’t I set it in place anyway, just in case she will.

He knows me well, don’t He?

He knows you in the same way. I personally believe in the seventh day Sabbath. For me, that means my day of rest is from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. This is not the time, place or forum to get into a discussion about Sabbath worship v. Sunday worship. I simply suggest that you find some time every week to commune with the Lord. Whether you do it in a church building, out in nature, or in the comfort of your own home, I encourage you to take some time to get in touch with your Creator, commune with Him and find rest for your weary spirit. No matter the challenges of the week past (or in your life as a whole), trust in Him.

PATIENCE IS

. . . highly over-rated, if you ask me. Yes, it is supposed to be a virtue and all that, but I tend to be a I want it and I want it now type of person. An earlier blog talks about how I asked God for patience with my mouth and He opened up avenues of patience I wasn’t even aware of. One morning, during our devotional prayer call, the pastor made a comment that resounded with me. He was talking about waiting on and listening for God’s direction in our lives—how we can be given a ministry, a charge, a call to do something and we get all caught up in the doing of it, that we fail to continue to listen for God’s leading. He used the illustration of being in line at a bank, with the customer from… the hot place… in front of you. Instead of them having one single simple transaction, they have a problem, they have questions, they have issues—and they are holding YOU up. And here’s the statement the pastor made: IT MAY BE YOUR TURN, BUT IT IS NOT YOUR TIME.

Have you ever felt that way? All your single friends around you are getting married and inviting you to be in the wedding and you haven’t had a date that progressed past movie and dinner in you don’t know how long. It may be your turn, but it’s not your time.

Or… you have worked hard on your job—gone above and beyond the call of duty and there is a promotion coming open in the department. You know it’s yours, you deserve it, you are more than qualified and maybe you have been doing the work of the position already, only to have the child of the boss swoop in and take that promotion from right underneath your nose. Again, it may be your turn, but it’s not your time.

There are many situations in our lives that may seem unfair, unjust or just don’t make any sense at all… in OUR eyes. However, in the Master plan for your life and mine, God knows what He is doing. We just need to stop and listen and trust. And I don’t know about you, but for me as a single, independent, I got this kind of sista, it ain’t always so easy to let go and let God or to wait patiently on the Lord or to just submit. But I’m learning, and I pray so are you.

PACKRATS UNTIE!

No, that is not a mis-spelling… just keep reading.

I have (yet another) confession to make: I am a packrat. I save EVERYTHING: movie ticket stubs, every receipt known to man (although, those come in handy if I ever need to return something or validate a warranty), calendars because the pictures are cute. I have tubs of greeting cards for every occasion, journals dating back to before high school (it’s amazing to re-read some of those and find out what I thought was so important back then). A friend of mine recently reprimanded me for increasing my already very extensive DVD collection by purchasing 17 DVDs in one shopping experience, but it was Walmart’s dump bin and I only paid $5 for each DVD! Some of them were brand new to my collection—but a few were to replace VHS tapes that I turned around and donated to the public library. So it was my civic duty to buy those. That’s my story, I’m sticking with it.

Just stuff, stuff and more stuff. In my