Fifty Two Weeks of Joy

Yesterday was a little stressful. I was behind on a deadline for work, but with the help of some co-workers what needed to get done, got done and everything worked out. I knew it would, but my morning was still stressful. First thing that morning I had a meeting to attend about health insurance, always a fun topic. So, I got to my actual office late. Then we've updated our Office software so simple tasks are now in new locations and what use to take a few seconds was now taking several minutes. Needless to say, the morning wasn't going as smoothly as I would have liked!   I took a late lunch and was going to get a quick bite to eat. I decided I would go get some fast food and bring it back to the office. I was in a funky mood and didn't feel like taking a long break. So I figured now would be a good time to bless someone else.     A few weeks ago my sister Nicole posted a story on Facebook. Have y'all heard those stories about people at fast food establishments,...

***Disclaimer – Please remember I'm doing this to help grieve my mother and to restore something lost. This past week was a growing pain for me and I'm being very honest in this post. I've struggled with whether or not I should even post this entry. I've decided I need to stay committed and I need to share my journey because I agreed I would share. My prayer is simple I hope this story will impact your life today, because it forever changed mine. Week 4: Blessing #2 Earlier this week I posted a story about my son Eli blessing a little girl at the grocery store. I knew I couldn’t really count his blessing as my own, although, I hoped I could.   Today is now Friday and we are getting close to the end of the week. I've been praying all week asking God to send me someone to bless. Send me someone, anyone to help. You know the old saying, "be careful what you ask for?" My very first blessing I told you a story about a guy who qualified for this ...

This week my son was a part of the story. For those of you who don't know anything about me. I have a son who is 20 months old; we tell people he's mom's last gift to us and the best blessing God ever gave us. You see on mom's death bed she begged my husband to give her a grandbaby. He politely told her we aren't ready for any kids yet. Mom just smiled and said, "Yes you are". I turned to Oscar and said, "Babe I think she is bargaining with Jesus". Turns out I was right, a month after my mother's death we found out we were pregnant. Once we found out we were having a boy, and after much deliberation, we decided to name him Eli. Eli means to be with God, and since he was our eternal gift from my mother we wanted him to always know where he belonged. Eli has had an adventurous first year of life. Yet God continues to protect him and heal him. The other night we were grocery shopping. While we were in line to check out Eli wanted ...

On October 17, 2007 my husband asked me to be his girlfriend. We have a beautiful love story. Oscar and I met in the 6 th grade, “dated” in 7 th grade, broke up and for the rest of what seemed like forever I begged him for a second chance. Well I finally got it the summer of 2007. I had just been dumped by the guy I was dating in college. After my break up I found Oscar on Facebook, sometimes I wonder, what would my generation do with out Facebook. We reunited as friends and talked about the possibility of having a long distance relationship. I was going to college in Texas and he was going to college in Arkansas . Not only was distance a problem, before we could date I wanted him to get permission from my parents. Growing up my parents had this rule they would need to meet the guy before I could date the guy. They thought that if the guy had enough respect for me to meet them, they believed it would mean he was a decent guy. Even though I was living on my own I...

Week 2: I am beyond excited to write this post. Mainly, because I was overjoyed with the response I received.  For this week I decided to encourage the women I work with at the city. So, I chose to send them each an encouraging note. Every note looked the same but each note was personalized.   I had no idea how much those simple words would mean to each of them. I took the time to tell them just how special they are to me, and how much I value them. These are women I work with everyday, but for the first time I realized I don't tell them how important they are often enough. I realized I take them for granted. This realization struck me at my core. I began to think about so many missed opportunities to encourage these women and other women. I began to think about our society, we have forgotten about sisterhood. Instead of empowering and encouraging we have become haters. We shouldn't hate Jane because she’s prettier, ...

Before, I tell my blessing from this week I need to give some background information, for those of you who don’t know me. I work in local government and as part of my job I’m the manager of an elderly and handicap taxi program. The program is simple we provide vouchers to elderly and handicap residents to help pay for transportation. They use these vouchers to help them afford transportation to the grocery store, the post office, but mostly they use them for doctor’s appointments. Earlier this week a gentleman, you will know him as; Mr. Smith came into my office to fill out an application. He called earlier that morning to find out what he would need to bring with him, so he could qualify the same day. Like most programs, our residents have to meet an income guideline. With him living on Social Security, I knew he would automatically qualify for our program. None the less, he brought in his bank statement to prove his income. As I read the statement my heart sank his account had v...

Cindy Carlene Phillips was a remarkable woman. She was a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, and teacher; but most importantly, she was a Christian and not one of those “Jesus fans”, but an actual Christ follower. She accepted all people no matter the race, gender, sexuality, or nationality. Once, she reached out to you, your life was forever changed for the better. Her 52 years of life were a testimony of our God and his goodness. To me this remarkable woman was more than just some person. She was my hero, my inspiration; she made me want to be a better person. She encouraged me to strive to exceed excellence in every area of my life. She was my mom.   Mom had an extraordinary gift she was able to reach people who didn’t want to be reached. She had this remarkable glow that always made you smile. She loved people because her Jesus loves people. Even on her death bed she spoke of God’s goodness, mercy, and love. Because of my mom’s faith, I was apart of a miracle when ...