Trusting the Process: The Lessons of Gazelle

By Tabitha R. Carter

I will begin by stating that my life expectancy with experience taught me how important it is to practice self-care while holding on to my exposure of God’s Word. For a long time while growing into the woman I am today, I had to recognize the lessons of being discipled and accountable. There was a point in my life when I had to pay attention to the errors of my ways. I had to face several difficult challenges—from early motherhood to the death of my closest loved ones. I always knew I had a gift of voice. People would question it simply because I was such a quiet child. But it was that small, still voice that equally led me to be open to myself and to my family. Writing became my process, an outlet of having peace of mind. I never imagined the significance behind speaking my truths. I today am my own testimony, something that I love and appreciate within God’s highest power. It is my hope that my readers allow my words to be used as a tool and as their helpmate in their season of uncertainty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781098080143

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Trusting the Process

The Lessons of Gazelle

Tabitha R. Carter

Copyright © 2021 by Tabitha R. Carter

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

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Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

If It’s Not in You, Then It Can’t Come Out

Iwould like to dedicate this portion and process of a life still worth living to many individuals. I will begin with those seen and unseen individuals who unknowingly played a significant role in my life. My grandparents, paternal and maternal, taught me that although they were not always there to guide encourage and support me, it was God who had the upper hand.

It was my paternal grandparents that me or my father had the chance to bond with. What a life short-lived while the rest of us ask the question of why they had to leave us so soon. What a difference all of us in the circle may have witnessed if only that was part of God’s plan.

To my beloved mom and dad, I miss you more than my tears can fall. I am a weeping vessel trying to uphold the promise of God. I am doing this for us. I know that you are sitting among the rest of those who had a chance to celebrate a life well lived. We love and pray that everything that you ever wanted to come to pass for each of us will do in the order of which God says it should.

To my children, I want you to know that there are no differences when it comes to a mother’s love. I hold each of you in my heart equally, while asking God to cover you as you continue to pursue your purpose. I was given the opportunity to care for two additional children, of which I will always treat and love as much as my own. I need for each of you to hold on to every moment with every memory, for it will be those times that will cause you to reflect on a life well lived. Remember, perfection does not exist. My beloved children, there has never been a manual on how and what to expect out of this life; it is up to you to set great expectations as to where you want to be in this world. I love you.

To my siblings, I know that it seems that we are far apart during the midnight hour. I want you to know that I believe in the power of prayer. I want you to know that I love you beyond everything that may have held us back from God’s promise. Please know that our trials growing up may have been irresponsible yet were not our own. My dear sweet-hearted sisters and brother, we will be okay. I love you.

To my dearest and closet friends, thank you for listening, sharing, and allowing me not to prejudge by my trials. From the death of my parents to the loss of a relationship, thank you. I love and appreciate each of you.

There are two men of God that I respectively could not leave out of my process: Pastor Archie Hatten and Dr. Kevin E. Henry, during my discovery of my voice took the time to share the word of which it is divinely written. Their over-countless teachings and sermons are seen and heard as shepherds, those who give protection over their flock. Thank you for inspiring me, for always uplifting me through the Word of God. It will be your wisdom and dedication to serve under the leadership of the church that will supply me with the strength and courage to complete my unfinished project, of which God said belongs to me. May God continue to bless you, your families, and your ministry in its entirety.

Last but not least, I want to say thank you to the man in my life. The one that God created just for me. To my master builder, I want you to know that you will never be seen as the one who came too late. You entered my process just when God said you would. You are my heart, my hope, and my dream come true. Thank you for peace of mind, for the strength to love you past those previous pains. Babe, I promise to love you through and through. You make it easy to laugh, play, and take advantage of all our future obstacles without forgetting why we fell in love. I wish you nothing but the best. I love you, and I am praying for the very best of what God expects from one of his master builders.

If It’s Not in You, Then It Can’t Come Out

The process of elimination for me includes the idea that you cannot dream your way into the power of God. You must take the initiative and begin living up to his expectations. The power of anointment does not simply rub off from me to you. The experiences will, of course, be different, but his results will always prepare us for the things that will give us structure with order when it comes to the greatest of what he wants us to have. I use information as a tool to be more knowledgeable and aware of those areas in my life of which I never saw as effective resolutions to the obvious problems that I was facing.

Sometimes we as creatures of habit find ourselves being entertained by those who are choosing to live among the dead. It is that specific process of thinking that causes them to be buried in their graves as if it was God’s intention to see them fail. In my process, I had to change the focus by taking advantage of what God was providing; fact was I was done with being gifted and broke. What sense did it make for me to sit around, waiting for my blessing, when I knew that I still had much work to do? This is my journey, and I hope that you will enjoy the beginning and the ending of my story.

Mindful meditation is defined as a mental training practice that involves focusing your mind on your experiences in the present moment. For me this is a method of fighting back. We each have this desire to be in a mode of security, a sense of inner peace. For me it is about wanting to retain the knowledge of what we feel was neglected or denied to us. While in this process of trust, you must wholly and completely place yourself in a position of not having the information while requiring just enough to make it through the day.

It is so necessary to take a daily inventory as we retire for the night while further looking at our day within a constructive mindset of possibly being resentful selfish, dishonest, and/or afraid. I never wanted to be the type to have less of what God promised me, which in turn allowed me to minimize my surroundings and my communication with those who verbalized selfish and self-seeking satisfaction. What sense does it make to dim your light just so someone else can shine? We have to learn that in building strong relationships that it is okay to say that I will not to sell myself to the highest bidder as a way to lose my integrity to the value of which I know I am worth.

I needed to be reminded that to be the receiver that I would have to disburse what was said to me effectively by acknowledging exactly what I believed they wanted me to hear. I needed to be clear with good understanding. I further had to imagine myself in the sender the role while accepting that the information would be reversed and that I would have to be clearer on the message of which I was delivering for the person on the opposite end. Proverbs 23:7 says, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he eat and drink he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

People who we place in position may not always have the vision that God places in our lives. God will send you to a place where things are bountiful and not to an area where you still will have to be planted. The practice of learning to be blessed for some of us is one of the most difficult things to grasp. We become so adapted to our way of doing things we do not learn how to be acceptable with the possibility of receiving God’s blessings. How can we as individuals put ourselves in a position to separate the gift of being so close to God’s will?

When we disassociate ourselves without going through the proper process of our own intelligent thinking, we tend to place blame on those who we feel may be responsible for our underlying pain and/or suffering. The one thing that I can remember about pain is that it is temporary. Once you decide to own up to your part of why you staggered through life while believing that the world owed you an answer, in turn it should have been the time you should have spent moving on.

The paths we take in this life are not always easy, and there will be many days of which we will have to walk alone. If there is no connection to God, then there will be a tendency to use violence and hatred toward those who you are envious of because of their gifts. There are many people in our space that we should have first ask God permission for.

Too many individuals truly do not favor your process of being who God created you to be. Truth is, if we labor differently, there will be some who find it easy to minimize our work in becoming successful all in the name of jealousy and their undesired habit of not becoming just as you are. When God favors us, he is not making you a favorite; and once he gives it to you, there is no separation from it. Being set apart is a something that God has called you to be. If your gift is pure, then you have to make sure that your heart is where it should be.

Sometimes it hurts to feel what someone else has done to us, but in order to receive the necessary healing, we have to stop and evaluate why we are stuck and why it has to be this way when we know that there is a better way to be loved. My beloved, I am here to tell you that this process begins with us. If there is someone in your life today that thinks well of you, he/she is a direct gift from God. In my childhood I was taught not to pick up strangers and that the lesson is for me to also remember that the enemy could be someone that I know.

People who make judgments about you for the most part don’t know anything about you. To understand why people choose to waddle in their own in misery is way beyond the process I want to take. In the morning I stand against any form of negative energy while not being afraid to confront the mistakes, which many individuals make once they decide to cross over in my lane of happiness.

I know there is always an appropriate and delicate way of responding to those who believe will be a fear tactic. I, on the other hand, believe in the powerful name of Jesus. I today am confident that my circumstances will no longer be used as a prop or showcase for the entertainment purposes of someone who enjoys the comfort of the enemy.

Within my circle I had to change my friend status to the state of being simple acquaintances. I had to recall who was really on my team—those people who could vouch for the size of my heart and not the size of my pockets. God has allowed me the gift of listening while recognizing when someone cares about the opinion portion of my gift without thinking that I am above the realm of where they believe they are in their lives.

I am far from being in competition with the world. I have much work to do just keeping up with myself. Yes, he has given me the ability to be able to make evaluations of those who are not pure and who had an agenda to see me fall short. I promise I need no immediate assistance in that area, for God has since shown me the ways of my faults, and I today am still on that road of recovery. Most individuals who claim to know your situation, I suppose, do not know that it is God who has all the facts.

God is the only man I know who can and will show you who you really are. God will clear out your vision just in case you proclaim that what he sees you can’t see. Yes, the very obtainable things that he has said belongs to you. People could never be all together right about you. The only protection you have from other people’s opinions is to stop imposing and imprisoning your mind. You must free yourself by enjoying what they say you can’t have. The naysayers are the ones who look forward to your failures. They take joy in watching you attend your own funeral, which you or God had not signed up for. There should always be a before and after, and for me God has the final word. The average person who loves and cares for you would never put you down without first helping you pull out of