choices
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Healing is messy! Whether it’s physical, emotional, mental, or even spiritual…it is messy. I recently read a book about a woman who lived in a million-dollar home in the suburbs, but threw it all away due to her addiction. She was arrested and convicted, and while serving her time, she battled her addiction. During her…
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A few months ago, I read a book that a dear friend sent to me. In it were various stories, testimonies, and experiences of people who had a life-changing encounter with God. Several of the experiences were gut-wrenching. The life they lived was heartbreaking until they encountered their God, and they found hope. Where these…
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A few months ago, while listening to my Pastor teach a lesson on how God blesses, he said something that made me sit up a bit more in my chair. “We don’t dictate how God blesses” – Pastor Tim. Wait…what? You mean all those selfish prayers I pray each morning are not what God wants…
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During a conversation I was having with a friend I kept saying I needed to ‘let go” of whatever was troubling me. I said the phrase enough times that she said, I actually think you need to “surrender”. Uff! I got quiet. I listened. I thought to myself, surrender? Hmm…how is that different from letting…
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A few days ago, I was listening to a podcast about regret. As the caller expressed her regrets, their regrets resonated with me. I listened as her voice trembled, on the verge of tears, I found myself wiping tears of my own. You see, I, too, realized I had placed my family first and forgot…
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For the past several years, I have taken the month of January to reset, fast, and disengage. It’s my own “Dry January” tradition, though, for me, it’s not just abstaining from alcohol but also social media, sugar, and anything that steals my focus away from stillness. This year, I found the task a bit more…
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A few weeks ago I was struggling with a decision and its circumstances, and in that conversation I was told just be brave. That lingered in my psyche for a while. Why was I struggling so much with this decision? I realized it wasn’t about me, it was about the unwarranted judgment that was going…
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Lately, I find myself in a quandary. Yes, uncertainty can seep in at my age and stay for a while. I guess most folks experience this either at the end of a year or the beginning of a new one. I usually am very clear and focused on tasks, agendas, and goals, but lately, that…
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Several weeks ago, while I was getting a “wellness” procedure, the technician shared why she decided not to return to her wildly successful and cushy corporate job but instead decided to work in the wellness industry. She explained that she had given this “corporate job” close to 20 years of her life. She shared how…
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What would they learn if someone walked in your shoes for 24 hours? I often ask myself this question. Will they enjoy the day? Will they see how productive I am? Will they learn how charitable I can be? Will they sense joy? Peace? Will they experience kindness and generosity? Or will my shortcomings be…
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I often wondered how many of us are walking around with shards in our hearts that we simply can’t talk about because it just hurts too much. I understand that pain. I am learning to soften the scars left behind by the shards that ripped through my heart. I am processing the pain I have…
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She simply said “What do you want?” Ask yourself “What does Annette want?” and just like that the tears flowed. She asked me not to answer her but to think about it and write it down. She jokingly said, and please don’t write down “World Peace.” I appreciated the levity at the moment, for I…
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If you are anything like me…you are a list maker. I have a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly list. It might be my OCD…yeah, I can admit that. And like anyone else, I had goals and plans for things to do this year! BUT guess what! I might have checked off one major item and…
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Depression: “feelings of severe despondency and dejection.” I was depressed, and I didn’t even know it. I never liked the word “depressed.” I said I was at peace, but I was actually numb – The hurt was so grave I didn’t know what else to do but to mask it with what I called peace,…
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The past few weeks I have sat in several conversations where someone said, “I need to let it go” or “I’m letting it go”… it struck me that there is a marked difference in these words along with their actions and all I kept thinking was “save yourself.” “Letting go,” is a slow and sometimes…
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Burden – (1) a load, especially a heavy one. (Thesaurus) encumbrance, strain, care, problem, worry, difficulty, trouble, millstone; responsibility, charge, duty, obligation, liability. During a conversation I was having with my soul friend, I remember telling her … “We must speak life and not death into our husbands, into our circumstances, it’s our burden the “Burden…
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Have you ever met someone and thought, where have you been all my life? Or say, I am so glad that you are a part of my life and I couldn’t do this without you. Folks come into your life, sit at your table, break bread, and then BAM! They are gone! One disagreement, one…
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Growing up my mom had a very best friend…her name was Mery. They couldn’t be more different. My mom liked fancy things, Mery was simpler in her taste. Mami loved jewelry and makeup, and Mery only wore her wedding ring and a watch. Even with their extreme differences, my mom loved her and defended…
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It was January 8, 2014. Robert and I were enjoying dinner, in the city of Miami. I felt to tell him that things were going to get challenging. I felt it in my spirit. At that time I thought it was only about his mom’s cancer battle, little did I know that when given the…
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“The only time she looked back was to see how far she came.” YES!!! The cover of this journal confirmed why I journal and how I choose to live my life! It was an AHA moment, an epiphany, the sweet whisper of God into my spirit letting me know the following… “The unhealthy relationships of…