Forget a visitation, look for a habitation

Picture purge!

This year's been really hectic so I'm going to do a picture purge. I'll be updating them with biblical commentary and fashion breakdowns as I can but right now I just want to get them out bc its about 6 weeks of pictures. God's been working in me and I'm busy processing a lot of stuff that's been laid in my spirit and revealed to me. Sorry, promise I've got good stuff to write ; )
On to the fashion: Today was women's Sunday (it was early in light of Easter) since the colors are pink, purple and white I opted for a floral sundress with purple in it. The dress I grabbed with visiting London at Pathmark...how I wish we had one : ( The dress doesn't come with a belt but I added one and added some purple accessories (shoes, bag and a shawl thats not pictured)

How to handle haters

When your brook runs dry

How to be successful

This message made me pretty mad with God. I've been realllllly bad about posting mostly because I've been going through a very difficult period in my life. God is growing and challenging my faith, which is NEVER an easy process. I found myself in a situation which, to be honest I want nothing more than to walk away from. Unfortunately, God hasn't given me the green light and in the message that morning point 1 literally was stay in that place...well my flesh was up.set! Oh the funnier part was pt 2 was sow into the barren place (which further spoke to the situation I was asking God to let me leave) clearly by the time the benediction was given I wanted to run home and sulk. I've since made peace and accepted the fact that I am not going to get my way in this situation and have decided to do things God's way. The reality of it all is sometimes it like that, God wants us to do something that has nothing to do with OUR plans and we kick, scream, pout and rail about it but at the end of the day if we're to really be obedient we have to put self aside and fall in line with His plans trusting that He knows best.
Now on to the fashion! It was south florida's version of cold, translation: cool I'm the am 68 by noon. I refused to bundle up and find myself sweating like a Bedouin by noon so I opted for a dress (yes it was a touch short) and over the knee boots. Without the boots I would not have worn the dress to church bc it would have shown too much leg but the boots covered me just shy of an inch or so of the hem. The boots are so high that they go with very few skirts or dresses because the hem falls below the tops of them, so these two together were a perfect combo!

Sacrifices not unseen

Freely we give

Beware of dream killers!

Nevertheless

Take the limits off!

The sermon today dealt with God's limitless blessings. God has a limitless supply of blessing FOR us. Unfortunately, we are often the cause of the limitations we find in our lives. We are unwilling to obey God, we are unwilling to trust God, we are unwilling to make the sacrifices God may be asking us to make to put ourselves IN place so God can bless us. The message made me think of the Elisha and the widow. God desired to bless the widow for her obedience, through Elisha, the only limitation on God's blessing for the widow was the amount of containers SHE went and got. The widow was tenacious, when she ran out of jars she went to her neighbors homes and borrows jars from them! She thought big and as a result God was able to bless her big! Lets endeavor to take the limits off our lives and off our dreams!
Now on to the fashion!
Ever seen Tina Turner in Mad Max beyond the Thunderdome. Nope? It's okay neither have I, but I do know there's a lot of leather in the movie. Kinda like this outfit (which is actually PETA approved so please don't come looking for me). The dress is actually a juniors sundress but I know it would be great for these warm South Florida winters because it gives the look of leather but is incredibly lightweight. I tried something different with my hair since I was giving it a little break before having it redone. I call it the 'nappy ninja bun'. If you have issues with my use of the word nappy to describe my hair sorry...it's not gonna stop me from using it to describe my own hair though ; )

Do you have a song to sing?

I'm in the choir, I'm not going to release a cd anytime soon but Incan carry a tune...and not just in a bucket. Today the pastor preached about Mary and how she sang a song of praise to God after the angel visited her and told her she was going to birth the savior of our world. Throughout the bible we are admonished to make a joyful noise unto God we see the Israelites singing praises to God for his goodness, mercy, grace and provision. What do we have that we should open our mouths and offer a song of thanksgiving unto the Lord? I'm certain if we thought about it we could quickly think of something to sing praise about. So don't be discouraged if you feel like you can't carry a tune, God wants our praise and while I might not be on the billboard top 100 I know He delights in my praise because it comes not just from my throat but from my heart. Find some time today to open your mouth and sing a song of praise to God for something He's done in your life.
Now on to the fashion:
I'm back in the scene with more first Sunday fashions. How many different looks can you create with black and white, but hey I'm part ninja so I'm okay with all black all the time. Today I've got a simple pencil skirt with a black and white diagonal striped blouse with exaggerated puff sleeves. I belted it with a red patent leather belt to add a punch of color.

Saved by faith

This week was youth Sunday and the youth minister preached about salvation and authenticity. I love messages about authenticity because many Christians forget what they once were. Who they were before Christ entered their lives or where they have ended up if Christ hadn't changed their path. Do all Christians forget? Of course not but many times those that do don't realize the potential impact that has on unsaved people. When we walk around 'holier than thou' some people get the misimpression that to be saved you have to be perfect and since they aren't perfect (and truth be told neither are we) they can't be saved. They mistakenly feel that they must somehow clean themselves up before they can come to Christ. The irony of the situation is that we don't clean up anything. If we could save ourselves Christ wouldn't have had to die for our sins. Christ cleans us up and turns us around. As Christians when we share our transformations and credit God for those changes we empower others because they can envision those changes in their lives and they will pursue Christ and invite Him into their lives to make those changes. So lets own up to our pasts, after all the old man has passed away.
Now on to the fashions!
Youth Sunday's are casual for me. Navy cargos and a navy safari shirt. A wedge bootie and orange belt for a pop of color. I love skinny fit cargos but finding a pair which works with my slightly athletic build was a challenge because my legs are muscular. These fit the bill though so if you find a style you like don't be afraid to try several different versions, by different designers and in different sizes too. Sometimes we have to ignore numbers in an effort to get a good fit!

What are you thankful for?

Going in to the thanksgiving season we stop to reflect on all the things we're grateful for. We list food, shelter, clothing, family, friends and loved ones, but we often our lists stop at those things we can see, feel, experience, numerate. This year I'm grateful for all that God has done but I'm also grateful for all that He hasn't done. The harm that He hasn't allowed to befall me, the prayers that he said no to because He had something better in store. The times that He made me leave my house 5 minutes later and while I may have been upsurge at the time those times may have been to protect me from an accident or some unforeseen outcome. I'm grateful for the times that I had an inner hissy fit because God changed my plans only to have to sulk back with my tail between my legs and admit "Uh, the change of plans you made, God, good looking out. Great idea I never would of thought of." Every once in awhile take a moment to think upon how things could be different if God allowed our situations and circumstances to play out differently...I bet you'll have something new to add to your list of things you're thankful for.
Now on to the fashion:
Channeling my inner Aladdin call me princess jasmine from now on ; ) hot pink trapeze blouse mixed with a black and white print modified-harem style pant. I love harem pants but I think this inseam on this is hanging low enough with a pattern this would of been too busy.

Mustard seed faith in a have mercy moment

My pastor talked about 'have mercy' situations today. Well what's a 'have mercy' situation you ask? Well lemmie share: basically it's an unforeseen life changing circumstance or situation that forces you to reevaluate everything, and changes all your plans for your future. It could be an illness, unemployment, death, relocation anything. The joke about these situations is we can never prepare for them, try as we may, we can only respond to them. While the flesh part of us may go into panic mode the spirit man needs to trust that God has a plan and 'this' is a part of it. Obviously this is probably a lot easier said than done when everything is upside down and uncertain our flesh can get loud and agitated. HOWEVER, here's a little secret we don't need tons of faith to help change our situation. All we need is faith the size of a mustard seed. We don't need to know the how's, the where's, the when's or the why's because more often than not all of that becomes clear by the end of the situation. All we need is a modicum of faith that believes in God's ability to resolve whatever it is we are going though and He'll take care of the rest. Check out Luke 17:5-6, you don't have to take my word for it : ) and since you've got your bible nearby look up Romans 8:28...which is God's biblical assurance that everything WILL work out.
Now on to the fashion:
A simple shift dress which combined my two favorite colors white and cream. This would also make a good packing dress for out of town travel it's polyester (don't judge me) and folds up really small. The shoes are a cream snakeskin print which played off the colors of the dress.

Desire the Lord of the house!

This message came from 7:30 service. The pastor spoke about motives and rationales for attending church. Our church attendance should be more than a ritual. Church should be more than a physical building that we go to Sundays and maybe a couple of days during the week (remember our bodies are the temple of the holy spirit anyways). It's good for us to go to church seeking a word from the Lord but guess what? We need to go to church seeking the Lord as well. When we pursue a relationship with the Lord that relationship will sustain us. We may forget the message when we walk out the door, our focus might be drawn back to whatever problems we had when we walked into that building. But if we are seeking to build a stronger relationship with God, that won't fade. That relationship will carry us through those problems and sustain us through our difficult times. The best part of building a relationship with God is that it's not limited to Sunday mornings. Yes, it may start there but it continues at home during our devotional time, in car rides when we may have to 'get something off our chest' and have a little talk with Jesus, when we pray because we don't know what else to do, when we tell God because we don't know who else to tell. The relationship is what I'm seeking!
Now on to the fashion! I'm a lady y'all! High waisted hot pink and black pencil skirt and black blouse. Clearly not complicated fashion styling at work here but its a clean look and the fit allows it to remain youthful enough. Here's a secret: the skirt is sized down because I have a small waist and it's the only way I can keep my high waisted pieces up

Conflict resolution #101

Conflict is a natural part of life, and as much as we'd like to deny it conflict can also arise and exist in the church. The truth of the matter is that conflict is not always a bad thing...if we use it to come to resolutions that advance the kingdom of God. The problem with conflict is how we act upon these differing opinions, are we combative, volatile, aggressive and hateful? Or are we able to sit down, talk through our differences and come to a happy medium or a level of understanding respectfully? The bible reminds us that when we do experience conflict with other Christians we are to Matthew 18: 15-17 and go to our neighbor in love to talk it out, if necessary we may need a mediator...and that's okay too. But the thing we need to remember Is a spirit of love AND forgiveness, yes forgiveness. We might have been the been the victim in the situation and justifiably might feel that we are owed an apology and restitution but the reality is that Christ wants us to forgive and love one another. We're called to love one another as Christ loved us Christ even as he hung dying on the cross asked God to forgive the very people who put him there. Forgiveness isn't always easy but when we go through life harboring bitterness and anger towards others in our hearts ultimately we are the ones who end up hurt the most. Lets search our hearts and if we find any anger towards another ask God to remove it, help us forgive and most importantly love.
On to the fashion!!!
All black everything! More first Sunday fashion. At one time I got "in trouble" because I was wearing colorful shoes with my all black so I had to switch to black or white...but not anymore, yay! This was a cotton wrap dress, I paired it with black and brown leopard pumps ( I love the bow on the back : ) I also accented the look with an amber brown broach to help tie the color pallet together better.

Praise is what I do!

I'm the interim director of the dance ministry at my church (a position I've held for about 2yrs...it's a long story). We minister twice monthly and this month is our pastor's appreciation/anniversary so we teamed up with the male mimers to minister in dance and mime which was no easy undertaking. We ministered to "Praise is What I Do"...the extended version. We had flags, sheets, streamers, scarves, I joked in practice what's next a hoolahoop? But all jokes aside the experience was awesome. I think the beauty of ministry, but especially those related to the arts, is when we give our meager talents over to the Lord to be used to His Glory we find that He magnifies them. In college I was a member of a dance group and I used to kid and say I was on the remedial squad because I couldn't choreograph, took forever to learn things and would forget an 8-count by the time you counted to 5. So imagine my chagrin and reluctance when I was tapped to be over a dance ministry!! I didn't know how I could make up one dance...much less 20? But God is faithful when we trust Him and our little becomes much when we place it in the hands of the Master. I am not good at what I do but God is awesome at what He does, so we being every practice with prayer and we dedicate our gifts and talents to the glorification of God....and in all modesty He does a great job with what we offer unto Him for His use (we're on YouTube ; )
Now on to the fashion: welcome fall!
Simple stuff, a mustard hi-lo skirt and sweater. I bought both pieces from the same store but the sweater is actually several years old, while the skirt was purchased this year. A little secret about this outfit is I had the wear an extra slip over the lining of the skirt because the actual lining was realllllly short, but since the skirt zips I could only pull the skirt partially up. Yeah, but it sound more complicated than it was. The colorblock shoes provided the inspiration for the outfit.

Enlarge my territory...

My pastor had been doing a series on the prayer of Jabez recently. While I was familiar with the prayer of Jabez because I had read a short book on it years ago I still find it to be interesting because it's a powerful example of how a simple sincere prayer can change so much. Sandwiched amongst a long list of begat this and begat that lie Jabez who was noteworthy for two things: his mother bore him in pain and he prayed and asked God to bless him, expand his territory, keep him from evil and keep His hand upon him...and God did. Two verses (1 chronicles 4:9-10) but it's so powerful because it clearly outlines steps we can take to be blessed. Jabez's prayer wasn't only about God blessing Him but also about keeping him from harming others, a reminder that we have a obligation to be mindful of how we impact others. In essence God heard Jabez's prayer and blessed him because Jabez prayed in accordance to God's will. How then can we receive God's blessing pray in accordance with God's will and His word.
Now on to the fashion...first Sunday! Aka Ninja Sunday dressed in my traditional all black I was inspired (loosely) by Audrey Hepburn and decided to put on just about every piece of pearl jewelry I could find in my jewelry drawers...but I think it works, so don't judge me ; )

God is watching you

The topic of today's sermon was God is watching you. Despite its basic message the sermon was profound in that we so often forget that God is ever watching us. Admittedly, at times, I have taken for granted the fact that God is always watching the things do, the places I go and the words that come out of my mouth. While as Christians we are forgiven of our sins and God still readily extends His grace, mercy and forgiveness to us, it's still important to strive to be a better Christian today than we were yesterday. As Christians we are to constantly devote ourselves to spiritual growth. How would you day be different if God was sitting in the corner on a stool at our jobs? Or on the couch in our homes? How about riding in the passenger seat of our vehicle? We joke about "big brother" watching us or listening in on our phone conversations but the reality is someone bigger than "big brother" is watching and listening all the time. God. He might not physically be on that stool, or couch or passenger seat but He is always be our side watching us, protecting us, providing for us and guiding us.

Black faux-wrap blouse:
Grey leopard print jeans: Vanilla Sky
Black o-ring belt: Gap
Black suede peep toe booties: Steve Madden
Black carryall purse: Coach

In the valley.

The pastor of the church down the street from my house is doing a series on the valley. He preached a message from the 23rd Psalm that completely changed the way I looked at a text that is so familiar I could quote it verbatim from memory. It was encouraging because no matter what every individual is either entering a valley, going thru a valley or exiting a valley. The beauty of the valley is we are never alone in the valley. Even when it seems like we are going thru a trial or a problem and all our friends, family members and love ones have left, we STILL are not alone. God goes before us leading us INTO the valley. Contrary to popular belief, those trials are not always punishment for things we may have done sometimes God orchestrates situations to teach us a lesson or build our faith and trust in Him. Even when our trials are a consequence of poor choices on our part God isn't going to abandon us to ride out the storm, He sticks right by our side as we maneuver our way through our trials and when we see the light at the end of the tunnel guess what? God is bringing up the rear, His goodness and love follow us!! So the next time you think your alone in your situation, whatever it may be, BE ENCOURAGED God is with you! And remember valleys exist between two mountains so while you may be transitioning through the valley you can only emerge on a mountain!!
Now on to the fashion: yea my dress is colorful...blame it on my foreign roots ; ) This dress actually has a drawstring waist but I didn't particularly care for it so I added a belt to the dress. As for the heelless Mary-Janes they're remarkably comfortable, it's just a matter of balance. This outfit pretty much put an end to my summer brights but at least I got a chance to go out with a bang : )