Month: January 2021

Timing is Everything

jcladyluv
As I watched Joseph R. Biden being sworn in last Wednesday as our 46th President I felt a sense of relief and calm come over me. I also felt a sense of hope as well. Not just hope for this country, and hope for the unification of the people of this world, but also hope in the timing that God has. I’ve learned over the last several years, the hard way might I add, that God has an incredible sense of humor when it comes to the development of our plans in life in relation to His ultimate purpose over our lives.
We don’t always understand when God closes a door that we were so sure we were prepared for but he always reveals his reasoning, eventually. Just think about our newly elected President, Joe Biden. This is his third time running for the office of President. In both of the first two times he never made it past the primaries and I don’t at all believe it was because he wasn’t prepared enough for the job, or that he wouldn’t have made an excellent President both of those times, but yet the office eluded him. He had been Vice President at least and had come to terms with the fact that being President wasn’t meant to be. But God clearly had other plans.
I don’t think that was by coincidence, but rather by sheer design. I think God knew there was going to be a more dire time in this country in which He was preparing Joe Biden for. I think given who he is, to his very core, his empathy, his knowledge, his preparedness he is the perfect President in the current circumstances this country is in.
Our timing is not always in line with God’s timing and I think if we always got everything we wanted, exactly when we wanted it, we might not be well positioned for the purpose God has for us at the time in which He needs us to be ready. He allows us to go through the obstacles and struggles we do, not because he wants us to suffer, but because he needs to build us up and provide us with the strength and fortitude we will need to endure the journey He has mapped out for us.
The next time you have a question about what God is bringing you through or why you’re not where you think you need to be yet just keep in mind what God may be preparing you for. Just make sure that you are ready when it is your time. God has a role for each and every one of us but we must be in position when called upon.

Is There Still Hope for The Dream?

jcladyluv

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say today but I knew that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was going to be the subject of this post. So I went to pull up the full “I have a Dream” speech on YouTube because it’s been a long time since I’ve heard the speech in its entirety. As I sat there listening, it was mind blowing just how relevant and powerful his words still are to this very day.

Now I don’t know if that is telling to the staying power of his words or to the sadness that they still ring true. In essence, we may have come far but within these last few years we seemed to have taken several steps backwards.  I guess you would have to listen for yourself to determine which one it is for you. For me it’s a bit of both. Yes of course those words he spoke that day still matter, even more so now, because before the last four years we were starting to see some of those dreams manifested and brought to fruition. Or were we?

We thought that we had started to see some change with President Obama because he was someone who truly took those words of Dr. King’s to heart and he embodied them and strived, with much opposition, to make those dreams a reality. We thought we had come farther, but within the last four years we have seen certain strides that were taken being walked back immensely. It makes you wonder, had we really even made any change? Was it all surface accomplishments but underneath, the roots, were still very present and had not yet been weeded out enough to allow sustainable growth?

That day on August 28th of 1963, Dr. King said that America needed to pull itself out of the quicksand of racial injustice in where people of color lived on an island of poverty amongst a vast ocean of material prosperity. He point out that America had not kept its promise to us and that it was in for a rude awakening if it expected things to go back to business as usual.  I think that he would be disheartened to see all of his words continually quoted by people who clearly have no deep understanding of what they actually mean because if they did then they would see that we only seek “the riches of freedom and the security of justice.”

I think if he were still alive that he would find himself having to repeat those same words he spoke to those gathered around the Lincoln Memorial that day. I think he would feel obligated to remind the entitled groups of people who think the rules don’t apply to them that equality is not wrong, it is not unreasonable, and it is not unattainable.

I think he would also turn to those who have grown weary and tired, and yes complacent amongst those who would like to revert back to a time that our ancestors struggled so hard to lead us out of and tell them to keep moving forward. I think he would tell them that we cannot be satisfied with the status quo and we most certainly cannot leave this country in the fragmented state that we find ourselves in today. I think that he would remind people who are angry because we’re still explaining that we just want equality that they have to continue to strive for freedom but not by “drinking from a cup of bitterness and hatred.”

The song that plays at the very beginning of the recording of his speech is “We Shall Overcome” and as I listened to the words in that song, and replayed the words of his speech, I have to say that even in the current state of this country, I still have hope that we will be okay. I still think that Dr. King’s Dream is going to come true, someday, but we can’t give up, and we have to keep moving forward, until we are all Free At Last.  

Until next time… #BeFearless #BeBrave #BeRelentless

Jimmetta Carpenter 

Writer/Editor 

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJCCarpenter

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv 

https://twitter.com/write2bemag 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPU35EkFSbuxgekCp4LfI5g

The Image We Portray

jcladyluv

As I watched the events at the Capitol building unfold last week I not only felt a profound sadness but I also felt concerned about what other countries thought of America when they watched this chaos ensue. How have we been representing ourselves to other nations? I was reading my devotional today and one of the messages talked about being a good representative of God.

We are made in His image and everything we do reflects on Him. Countless times I’ve heard people say they don’t have faith in God and in what God can do in our lives and through our lives. I myself, had a period of time (well over a decade ago) where my faith was shaky and I had those same feelings but it wasn’t because I didn’t necessarily believe in God, it was more so because there were so many un-Christian like representations of Him that it made me questions things.

I of course no longer feel that way anymore because my main focus is on how I can be a good representation of God and how I can fulfill the purpose he has placed on me to achieve. I do still, however, worry about the images that we as a people, as a country, as Christians, are projecting into this world. I want everyone to see and to know how good God is and the miracles that can take place in your life when you represent Him well and dive into living out the purpose He has for us.

By us fulfilling our dreams and purpose in life we can become and remain a very good representative of who God is and of what He can do in our lives. I want people to not follow behind those who are not a good likeness of Him. Be mindful of the image that you are putting forth for the world to see because rest assured, people are watching and they are most certainly taking notice. Until next time… #BeMindful #BeDriven #BetheChange

 

Jimmetta Carpenter 

Writer/Editor 

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJCCarpenter

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv 

https://twitter.com/write2bemag 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPU35EkFSbuxgekCp4LfI5g

Continuing to Build on the Vision

jcladyluv

“Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.”

~Habakkuk 2:3

Listening to the first message of the New Year preached by my Pastor in my virtual church setting I felt as if it was an answer to some things that I had not yet worked up the courage to ask God about. Direction that I suppose I was reluctant to ask for because I had thought I had known so clearly in which way to go next and yet during these last few weeks of rest and restoration of my creativeness I seemed to be slightly stuck. Or maybe the more apt way to put it was that I was unsure if I was correct in the way I had perceived that I was to go. I was ready to write down my plans for the year but I kept hesitating when it came to putting pen to paper and plans on physical calendars. It’s like God knew that I needed to be nudged or reassured and decided to speak to me yesterday morning.

I’m sure there will be some slight corrections as I walk my path this year but after the message and reading the scriptures in the service, plus my devotionals later on, I think that I am starting this year on the right track. My journey to where I’m going surely seems to be modeled after the story of the tortoise and the hare, with me clearly being the tortoise but I am reminded in that story that slow and steady wins the race.

I suppose it doesn’t matter how long one takes to reach and fulfill the purpose that has been to them so long as you get there following the directions you were given, no short cuts, no avoiding of the adversities that may come along the way. After all those adversities may very well be the lessons that the next person needs that comes behind you.

One thing is for sure when it comes to fulfilling a purpose and achieving your goals. You should write them down. Don’t just keep them in your head out of uncertainty or out of fear that maybe you aren’t on the right track. It’s much easier to discern how to get back on course if you can visibly see where it is that you went off course at.

Writing down your goals is imperative to getting them done so take some time today, if you haven’t already, and write down what you plan on getting accomplished this year. If you feel like sharing let me know what a few of them are. If you’d like, go check out what my goals are for this year on my YouTube channel. Happy New Year everyone and until tomorrow… #BeAmbitious #BePersistent #BeFearless

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJCCarpenter

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv 

https://twitter.com/write2bemag 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPU35EkFSbuxgekCp4LfI5g