Wendy Shelton RIP

                                                 The Shelton Family



Wendy Shelton wife of Obie Shelton went on to be with the Lord on Thursday May 31st at 3:30 a.m.  She was an awesome woman of God, wife and mother.  She was a friend to many and such an encouragement to others.  She was a faithful oh so faithful.  I will always remember her beautiful smile and her love for God.


Lord Bless the family and give them peace as they begin this journey.  Allow them to feel your presence.  I pray that a smile comes across their face whenever they think of Wendy.

Wendy's memorial service will be Friday, June 8th at New Community Bible Fellowship 3557 Washington Blvd. Cleveland Heights; Family visitation 9:30AM, memorial service 10AM. 

Psalm 108;1-6.

                                                               

One is Not Enough-Addictive Personality

Lord you are so gracious.  Your favor always amazes me.  How you use Your people to help and bless others.  You align things in my life, when I am obedient.  When I humble myself You show up.  Thank You for your favor, grace and mercy.  Lord I am trying !

_______________________________________________________

Please don’t judge me !  Read and be blessed by the content !

I am Vanessa I have an addictive personality.  Really I do.  It Is What It Is!  I write this for those that may identify.  I am calling myself out and preaching to the choir.  I am coming out of my secret closet of addiction.

My addictive personality shows up in my eating habits.  I am addicted to sugar and flour.

Today at work, a coworker brought some cute little sweet cookies.  She invited me to have some, I told her no.  She said one won’t hurt you.  I explained to her that taking one for me puts the taste of sugar in my mouth and I will continue to eat them until they are all gone.  I am going through some things right now in my life and as I am a known emotional eater I will eat every cookie in this place.  I will neglect the salad I brought in for lunch and seek out other foods like pizza for lunch. 

I said all that to say that I cannot have one.  I am working to stay focused and not allowing my eating to go out of control this week.  I am doing everything within my means to stay focused.  Blogging is one of the tools I use to stay focused. So bear with me. 

In addition to being a food addict.  I am a shopping addict. You see addictions takes on many forms.  Some drink, do drugs, gamble or have sexual addictions.  Not me give me some sugar and a mall and I’m good.  But that’s not good for me, because things spiral all out of control.  When I am feeling down and out I need to seek more of Jesus.  He is the answer.  You see the sweetness of the sugar, gives me a temporary rush and satisfaction.  Shopping, buying out of control gives me a temporary thrill.  God loves order and being out of control in my life means things are out of order.

One has never been enough, when I see a dress I like in one color I am searching like crazy to see if there are others in different colors.  And the same with shoes.  I am sick of it.  I am giving it up.  Now I write this blog in my mother’s honor, but I am gonna rat her out on this one.  Sorry Ma !  I learned my shopping habits and eating habits from her.  My dad had excellent credit, he prided himself on it.  I liked walking into anywhere with the power as a consumer to get what he wanted.  I choose to be more like Ma.  She loved to dress me and shopped all the time.  Poor eating I learned from both parents.  I say to say, my childhood habits have to be broken.  They are keeping me from freely serving the Lord, why because my focus is on other crazy stuff instead of the Lord.  I am asking for God’s forgiveness.

I have been on a NO BUY; no makeup, no clothes, no shoes.  Nothing !  I have an abundance of things that I have accumulated.  The plan is for me to not buy and use what I have.  I have been doing ok with it.  I have not been to the mall, I have gone to a drug store and skimmed through cosmetics but didn’t purchase.  Now I do need to pick up some skin care products and I will because I feel this is a necessity.  Check this out, I have back ups of my back ups when it comes to makeup.   The way my addiction works on me is a sin.  A form of idolatry.   Nothing should stand in Your way of reaching out to God and trusting Him to make things right. My mom use to always tell me God is a Jealous God.   

I pray if these are issues of yours that you will take the time to analyze your weak areas, ask God for strength and move forward.

I am praying that everyone has a really safe blessed day and that you feel the presence of the Lord in your life.

Follow my beauty and fashion blogs at Squidoo.

 http://www.squidoo.com/eye-makeup-department-store-drug-store-brands

Reduce Your Sugar Intake

WOW

LORD LEAD AND GUIDE US.  GIVE US A HEART TO FOLLOW YOU.  LORD I ASK YOU FOR STRENGTH AND PEACE AS I GO THROUGH THE STORMS OF LIFE.  KEEP MY FAITH STRONG SO THAT I CAN WITNESS OF YOUR GOODNESS !

Yesterday the women of Fit for the King took our first walk of the season at Euclid Creek.  We all did the 5 miles, the time went quickly as we talked, laughed and shared our various motivations.

Last week topic was ; Focus, Motivation and Action (feel free to go back and review)

This week the topic of discuss will be "What We Put Into Our Bodies".  Just to let you know that in order to lose weigh you have to burn more calories than you take in.  It's simple in theory.  Now this week we we apply this rule.

This is where we will begin to write down what we consume on a daily basis including our snacks.  The photograph above gives us an example of just how much sugar is in the beverages we drink on a daily.  WOW !

I remember a time in which I would drink at least three 16 oz of PEPSI per day.  My friends use to tease me about it as they knew it was my favorite drink.  Well I don't drink PEPSI anymore, I drink diet COKE, BUT I do know I need eliminate it from my diet and drink 8 glasses or more of water per day.

The photo above illustrates the sugar in drinks only, think about the cakes, pies, and other sugary treats we consume.  This is where focusing comes into play.  Keeping this illustration in my mind this week will help me focus on drinking more water this week.

My mother died from complications to being a diabetic.  She was a long time diabetic and had managed the diabetics with medications.  After her heart attack they removed the vein/artery from her leg and the incision on her leg would not heal.  It got repeated injections, one after another. The injection attacked her spine and she could not sit unsupported in a chair.  But at the end it was the diabetics that was out of control.

My mother was a diabetic first, stroke victim second and then heart attack victim.  My father was diabetic and had heart disease, high blood pressure and prostrate cancer.  As I list all my parent's illnesses they are all but maybe one food related.

So my message to myself and to you is to decrease the sugar, fats and food heavy in cholestrol.  I am sure some of you can relate to a family history of poor health related to food.  Yesterday one of the ladies explained to me that a certain form of cancer feed off sugar.   I was shocked and this help confirm to that we are what we eat.

Since September 2011 I have made a point of eliminating as much sugar and flour from my diet as possible.  Now this has not been easy, it is definitely a process; which I have to have God for strength. I have to workout,  I write this journey to help me with my journey.  I fall off as I am an emotional eater, but I don't give up.

This week let's reduce sugar, flour and fat in our diets.  Let's commit to living a healthy lifestyle.  Let's plan our meals and stick to it.  COME ON YA'LL let's do it.  Then Do it Again, it will become habit forming.

Beauty Tip -  Last week I did not focus much on beauty products.  And I must admit I missed it.  I have begun another blog through SQUIDDO which I will be doing more fashion and beauty type blogs, where I will be doing reviews/fants and raves.  I currently have 2 beauty related ones; The Maxi Dress and the other is pertains to eyeshadow on a budget.

Beauty and fashion blog
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/OliviaDaughter

ACTION - EUCLID CREEK

AT THE TOP OF THE HILL AND WE ARE STILL SMILING 

             "LET'S SHED THOSE POUNDS AND GET HEALTHIER"


WEEKEND UPDATE :   WE MET FOR OUR FIRST WALK OF MANY.   WE ARE THE LADIES OF  "FIT FOR THE KING" FROM NCBF (church).   WE HAVE COMMITTED OURSELVES TO A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.  THE GROUP IS OPEN TO ANY WOMAN SO FEEL FREE TO COME AND YOU CAN DEFINITELY BRING A FRIEND.    

AGENDA:  8:30 a.m. to 8:40 a.m.- warm up and stretching
                    8:40 a.m. - Prayer
                    8:40 a.m. - til about 10:00 a.m. - walk 5 miles
                    10:00 a.m. - cool down
                    **** once a month we will have breakfast together (TBD)

WE ARE ALL AT DIFFERENT FITNESS LEVELS AND WE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER TO WALK AT YOUR OWN PACE.

AS WE CLIMBED "THE HILL" 

FITNESS EQUIPMENT AT THE EUCLID CREEK 

                                                 

GROUP LEADER:  JIESHA PERKINS
GROUP ASSISTANT : VANESSA JORDAN aka Olivia's Daughter  - 216-773-9665

Just Do IT. Then Do IT Again !

Lord God You are everything to me.  I am so grateful for Your love.  Lord protect my home, my family and friends.  Build us up, give us strength as we do your bidding. We want to be persistent in all the good that we do.  Lord we need  You.  

FOCUS, MOTIVATION and ACTION – Lifestyle Change

This week I have written about what gets  us going, what inspires us to change.  Changing the way we think is about 80% of the battle.  When we begin to think positively, knowing that we can do what we set out to do, we begin to put things in place to make change. 

                                                                          

One of this week’s blog focused on Motivation.  I uploaded a motivational quote “Motivation is What gets you started -  Habit is what Keeps you going”.  I am a Pinterest lover and I pinned it to my page.  I got an overwhelming response of 40 repins.  Great Right !  Normally quotes I pin receive 1 or 2 repins 4 the max.  Allowing what makes motivates you to turn into habit can be a good thing.  Habits means turning something into a lifestyle change.  When something becomes a habit we do it routinely.  I have practiced the habit of eating the same breakfast for nearly 6 months.  I have strayed away here or there but it is my habit.  Before breaking my foot, I practiced the habit of working out 3 times per week. 

Habits that make for a success weight loss: 

1. meal plan-put together healthy meal menus
2. chart what you eat
3. chart your weight, preferably in the a.m.
4. workout regiment – 3 to 4 times per week
5. drink 8 glasses of water per week
6. always eat breakfast with a good protein; egg
7. pray daily asking God for strength

• I know there are others but this is some things that should be in amongst our basic habits.

FINALLY TAKING ACTION - 

     Let’s say you have focused in and got your mind wrapped around the need to live healthier.  And you have found your motivation.  It is now time to ACT.  Depending on your needs you need to get up and JUST DO IT. Whether it is workout videos at home, power walking, boot camp, treadmill, you choose what works for you and your medical and physical needs. 

    Get up and do it.  You are definitely worth it, your family is worth it, that outfit you want to get into is …………………………..   You get the picture !

                                                                                  

Tomorrow walk is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Euclid Creek, meeting near the basketball court.  Come on out and let’s DO IT !




Please let me know in the comment box, what good habits as far as fitness you have incorporated into your life.

What Motivates You ?

http://www.godvine.com/Man-Barely-Able-to-Stand-on-his-Own-Does-the-Unthinkable-Amazing-1476.html
******First please click the above link and check out this guy, who had such odds against him.  His story is one of motivation.  Video should inspire you, if not, let's talk :)

Lord I honor You and feel Your favor, grace and mercy.  Lord I thank You for what You do in my life and the lives of people I love.  Lord I love to watch You work Your amazing work.  I love to see You do what we know only YOU can do.  To fix broken hearts to rebuild lives, to motivate us to push on.  Lord I will serve You til I die.  I marvel at the day I see Your face.   Thank You Lord.

Focus, Motivation then Act

What Motivates YOU ?

Building on the last two blogs, we will explore MOTIVATION.  Once I find my focus and become centered and I have made my mind up to do it.  I am at the point where I am pumped, fired up and ready.  We tend to find our motivation in different ways.  Some are motivated by wanting to become healthy; to come off medications.  Some want to feel better about their self image; losing weight to be slimmer and trimmer.

For myself, and I am just putting it out there, keeping it real, REAL.  You know me I’m transparent.  I like to look and feel my best, to be my best person at age 53.  When I am on my treadmill, I can go into a zone of thinking about how I will look in my new dress.  Now that might’s be what I should be thinking, oh but I am.  But in a good way.  Looking your best, being physically fit and taking care of the body God gave us is a good thing.  I am not a vain person by any means, but when I want motivation I go right to how I look.  I do feel that this is true for a lot of us LOL  Come on now !

Now maintaining motivation over the long term is quite a different story.  Going into maintenance for me is my most difficult struggle.  I do absolutely well in the initial stage it is after the loss that I begin to slip back into old habit and my new habits sneak away daily.

We will explore maintenance phase on another blog, as it needs special attention.

Beauty:  I am on a “no buy” and doing really well.  I must admit I did purchase a $10 ring from a lady that sells jewelry.  I was supporting her black owned business LOL

For me this is good, within the last 2 weeks, a ring only.  I am focusing on things that I have, cherishing those things, and using them. 

Reminder:  Walk is every Saturday, Euclid Creek at 8:30 a.m., lower end of the park by the basketball court.  Wear comfortable attire, bring water !  Come ready to get a really good workout in.

**********Now just to let you know I am not an expert, not a fitness guru, none of that this is my own opinion.  But these key elements have worked for me. 

Leave your comments and give me your best motivational story.  Feel free to interact in the comment section.  It makes for interesting diaglog and a means to support and bless others.  

Day 2 - Focus: “Wrapping Your Mind Around It”

Lord Thank You for giving me Peace through the storms of life.  Thanks for keeping me close to You.  I am so grateful that You love and keep me.  Keep me focused on Your love for me Lord.

FOCUS, MOTIVATION, ACT 

Yesterday’s blog, began a series of key elements for healthy living and weight loss.  It based on good practical steps that can be applied to almost every area of your life.

As we know, exercise and fitness does not come easy, nor is it something that we just naturally want to do.  At least I don’t.  We have to take steps; both big and small to move toward our fitness goals.  In order to be successful we need to begin by putting our attention on IT; losing weight and maintaining.

Focus:  Focus is where we will put our attention.  Focus begins with what I will refer to as “wrapping your mind around IT”.  Have you ever wanted something really bad, you woke up and went to bed with it on your mind?  You focused in on it enough until you were successful in IT.  Whether it was getting the job, finishing school, buying a home you focused and got it done. 

**** Focus on God - Now a key element in this is putting God in the center of our focus.  Incorporating our desire to be fit into our prayer life.  Honoring our bodies as vessels that glorify God.   Focus on God, and ask Him for strength to take on this challenge.

***** Focus helps us establish good habits that will help us meet our short and long term goals.  Focus puts you in a position of gaining control over poor habits.

******Let’s begin by first focusing on how we want to look and feel.  Close your eyes and image a thinner, healthier you.  Take a before photo of yourself, place it in a couple spots, on your desk, dresser/vanity, refrigerator.  Then weight yourself, and measure if you like (I never measure).  This is where you begin to chart (see yesterday’s blog and print log).

Let use the tools and take the road to success 

Now you have began the process, you have “wrapped your mind around IT”.   

Tomorrow we will continue in this series.  I pray you have been inspired by this blog, and feel more equipped to get started or continue in your weight loss challenge. 

I have included a few tools that will assist you in keeping your focus. 

Thanks for subscribing and following Olivia’s Daughter.  Please leave me your comments and any suggestions you may have so that other’s may be blessed.  Talk with you soon.

Goal Setting

Lord give me strength !  Strength to face this day, Lord keep me close.  Reduce any anxieties.  I want to Trust You in everything.  Having fears and anxieties mean I have not fully given it to You.  Lord Bless my home, and my family, keep us safe and continue to provide. I am grateful for what You have done for us.     Keep us Lord ! 

It is Monday morning, and it’s a New Day.  In this day I will practice trusting God in everything.

Alright – Alright !  It is Monday, we all have an opportunity to get our week off to a good start.  Opportunities to do better for ourselves and others.  Let’s start off this week; eating healthy, exercising and working on our relationship with God.  Last week I promised to put together a form to help us chart where we want to be and document our successes along the way.   I will refer to it as the My Goal (let’s keep it simple). 

Let me explain the rationale of setting goals.  It keeps you FOCUSED.  Focus in one of the number one rules of weight loss. This one sheet of paper will help keep you focused and it will also MOTIVATE you.  It is so exciting to me when I chart my weight loss.  I see it, because sometimes when we first start to lose we don’t see it in the mirror, or our clothes don’t show it. But it is there on paper, adding up week by week.  Also even if there is weight gain, your goal sheet should quickly help put you back on track.  My Goal sheet has worked to make me get up and exercise, because I chart my workouts also.  You see I like to see success, I have to be reminded of my success, I need to look back and say oh when I did this a few weeks ago I lost 3 lbs, so I need to try that again.  So it pushes me to ACT. 

                                                                  

Three key principles to reaching your goals:

*FOCUS

*MOTIVATE

*ACT

I will attach the goal sheet, you can feel free to copy it. If you have problem copying it give me your email address in the comment box.  Tomorrow I will be adding a document to record your meals and I will also offer some meal suggestions. 

We can do this, we need to seek out God and ask him to remove the stronghold of food.  Yes food can be a stronghold.  I will discuss this further in the blogs of this week.

                                                                   
EUCLID CREEK -  WE ARE BEGINNING OUR SATURDAY MORNING WALKS THIS SATURDAY, MAY 26^TH AT 8:30 A.M  WE WILL BE MEETING AT THE LOWER END OF EUCLID CREEK NEAR THE BASKETBALL COURT.  PLEASE BE THERE PROMPT. AS WE WANT TO WALK TOGETHER AS A GROUP.  PLEASE CALL ME AT 216-773-9665 IF YOU ARE RUNNING A FEW MINUTES LATE.  WE PLAN TO WALK THE ENTIRE 5 MILES, SO BRING WATER AND WEAR COMFORTABLE ATTIRE.  

__________________________________________________________

                                                              MY GOAL
    Beginning Weight _____________   


    Short Term Goal :  _________________ Long Term Goal:______________________




I will do 4 days of cardio for 45-60 minutes per week (commit to this)




I will do strength training 3 days per week. (commit to this) 




                   Weight Loss (+ OR -)
week 1:  _______________


week 2: _______________


week 3:_______________


week 4: _______________


Let's take a look at your success after 1 month.

I'm writing lenses on Squidoo and would love you to join me

I'm writing lenses on Squidoo and would love you to join me

Ready OK - Let's Get Fired UP

Encourage Yourself and Others

                                                               
Lord help me to trust You in the good time and the bad.  I want to be a clean vessel to be used by You.  Trusting Your will for my life is crucial Lord.  I have to stay out of the way and allow Your will trusting that You have a perfect plan for me.  Lord forgive me of any sins that may be in my life, remove any character flaws which do not allow me to do Your bidding.  Lord I am grateful for Your Love Your Mercy and Your Kindness.  I am thanking You in advance for all that You do for me, family and friends. Lord I am humbled by your power.  Thank You

I'm Blogging I'm Blogging - I'm Guest Blogging in www.gonegirlgo.blogspot.com  (check it out)  - Yeah Yeah  
I am so grateful to all my followers old and new.  My prayer is that when you clicked onto my pages you gain a sense of my love for the Lord, and witness his power in my life.  My testimony brings hope that God can do ANYTHING.  So again thanks for spending your time in my blog, it is appreciated.
                                                         
READY OK - LET'S GET FIRED UP - Way Way Way Wayyyyyy back in the day,  I was a college high stepper at CSU.  Our job was to keep the fans energized during intermission.  Prior to us stepping out on the floor we put in many hours of practice getting ourselves ready to motivate the crowd.  In between the first ½  and the second ½ the floor was our stage.  We put our best foot forward and did a real good job.  Many ministers talk about the “dash” when performing eulogies.  The “-”  is between the part in between, the substance of our lives, defines our character.  ex. 1959-_____.  You get it !  I hope so.

                                                                 

It is about what we do right here, right now on earth that we will be remembered, our legacy so to speak.  I am working to live a life that promotes posivity, peace, passion and purpose. 

                         

Our high stepping performance played hand in hand with the cheerleaders, we gave them a break to regroup and get reenergized.  I always remember when they would initially walk onto the floor they would shout out very loudly “READY OK” and "Let's Get Fired Up".  Everyone then new it was time for the game to begin or resume.  We all offered what we had our gifting to support the team.   You see God uses people in different ways to keep things progressing and moving forward for Kingdom building.   Whether the team won or lost we were there to keep them lifted.  The basketball team and coaches would tell us that when we did not travel with them that they missed our support.  This also helped us to feel valued.  But even if we weren’t there to support them they still pushed forward to win. 

Know that God will use you in various ways, so don’t be surprised by what God can and will do in your life.  We can all be cheerleaders………………….. !!!!

Healthy Lifestyle:  I continue to exercise and seek out healthy individuals to surround myself with.  Within a day or two I will be posting my treatment plan, which will include goals, objectives and interventions (you know I am a social worker, RIGHT J  ).  So yeah, I will be writing a plan of treatment to address my fitness goals.  It will be useful and hopefully you will be able modify it and make use of it in your life.  It always help me to write things down, it makes it more real to me. 

Beauty Corner:  Well I am on a “No Buy”, is this difficult? Yes.  I have made a commitment to myself to not buy any beauty products until July 30^th. I plan to use up my supply and my backups.   But not to worry I have enough beauty products to rant and rave about for the next year. 

Mac Oh baby 

Mac Zoom Waterproof Mascara

Benefit they're Real

                                                                                             

I will speak today about the two items Jayden got me for Mother’s Day.  Mac Oh Baby Lip gloss and Mac Zoom waterproof mascara.  RAVE:  How did my 2 year old grandson know Mac Oh baby is the absolute best lip gloss in color and texture.  My cousin Monica who lives in Michigan introduced me to this lip gloss 5 years ago.  I have several lip glosses, but Mac Oh baby is the one that never falls me and I reach for it on the daily.  It is natural in color with a mere hint of color with a lil bit of shimmer.  Oh baby is the business.  The texture is a bit sticky and goes on flawlessly.  RAVE:  Mac Zoom waterproof mascara.  Now Mac Zoom is awesome, but it is a close runner up to Benefits They're Real mascara.  Mac is a tad bit liquidity in texture and when applied properly gives a baby doll eye effect (evening eye).   Verses Benefits They're Real mascara (day look) which gives a good day look, it separates lashes giving a really natural long and extends the lashes nicely.  I was in Ulta one day with a friend (Ms. Nicole) and I asked the makeup artist what mascara she had on and she said Benefits and so based on her recommendation I purchased it.  It has not let me down.   So I guess I would say both masacre’s are equally good Mac Zoom being a evening look vs. Benefits They're Real mascara being a good day to day look.

Goooooooooooo Team !! Let's Get Fired Up !   It felt good going wayyyy back in the day LOL

Thank You Ma for Old School Teaching

Me, Olivia (mama) and Dominique (my daughter) taken Oct 2, 2009 at rehab
RIP Ma  

My mother, taught me so much about life.   I am taking this opportunity to write down twelve ways in which my mother impacted my life.   Hopefully you will be blessed by it.   I am sure I will have a few more words to express tomorrow.

1.  She lived a life to worship.

2.  She took care of things she loved; family and friends.

3.  She always had time to listen to a friend in need and act on it.  She taught me to extend myself to others.

4.  She taught me order and cleaniness; I don't always practice it but I know what it looks like.  

5.  She taught me to treasure old things, whether it is the elder, antiques, or goodwill hauls.  Anyone that knows her knows she owned a antique shop years ago and she had a eye for good old furniture.  She would stop in a estate sale or a goodwill in a heart beat.

6.  She taught me how to host and to treat people kindly when they are in your home and how to extend hospitality outside of the home.  

7.  She taught me how to care for the sick and shut end as she was this was her service to her church members as friends.  Whenever anyone was ill within her group of family and friends she was one of the first people called upon.  From watching her I was able to care for her at home during her illness.  

8.  She taught me to be a business woman and to think outside of the box.  She did not have a high school diploma but she always managed to bring more money into the household than I did with a master's degree.  

 9.  She taught me to work smart,  While I was in college she got me several jobs being a private duty sitter with the elderly, which allowed me to study while I sat.

10.  She taught me how to be a lady, dressing modestly; how to wear a slip under my dress, keep my dress to the knee or below, never show cleavage, sit with my legs crossed  at the ankle not the knee.  Now alot of this I didn't practice until I built a foundation and a relationship with the Lord :)  This was old school teaching.  

11.  To piggy back on # 10; she taught me how to shop, dress for my body type.  To know good fabrics, to appreciate being different in my style.  As she would put it to wear my clothes and not let the clothes wear me.  She taught me early that dark skin was beautiful.  She knew how important that would be to be as I grew up.

12.  She taught me to be a good mother to my children and grandchild. A to those around me who need mothering.  I work as a social worker with neglected and abused youth,  I have an opportunity to extend myself to youths who have not had the upbringing I have had.  

Bonus ****13.  She told me she loved me very very often.  Which makes it easy for me to express love verbally and in action.  

I can count the times she spanked me, it was not many. But the few times she did it was memorable :) Instead she took the time to put in the work of talking to me about how my behavior impacted myself and others.  She lived a life of good example before me.   She poured into me on a daily.  She served as my Camp Fire Girl leader, she went to Open House.  She was an excellent wife to my dad and they worked to keep their marriage.  I will write about my father's impact close to Father's Day.  He was something else, both parents had a really good sense of humor.  

Please keep me and the family in prayer. For those that mothers have gone on work to keep your mother alive in memory and do the good work that they would love.  Be blessed by this blog.

I am gonna go take a walk now.............

Leave some comments about your mother.  I would love to read them.

(Check out my natural hair I have been natural since about 2009 :)

One last thing, Sunday service was such a blessing, Sis. Shirley's testimony was offered to encourage us all.  Awesome woman !  Also 2nd Sunday is my Sunday to volunteer in the nursery.  Children are so special and I am fortunate to work in the nursery with the babies.  It is so nice to be able to nurture them, they are adorable.  

Mother's Day Best Day Ever

Happy Mother's Day - Love You Ma,  RIP 

                                                                 

Lord You are my savior.  For this I am grateful.  You extend new mercies daily.  Lord for this I am grateful.  I trust in Your supernatural powers.  I have witnessed Your miracles and know that You honor my faith.  Lord I pray to draw even nearer to You.  Because in Your presence I find safety and peace.  Lord Bless !  Thank You Thank You Thank You

Exercise:  Yesterday, I power walked for an extended distance.  I walked with the ladies from Fit for the King.  We usually workout inside but when the weather is nice we walk outdoors.  It felt so good to be out in the open air walking, talking and fellowshipping. 

                                                                       

EUCLID CREEK :Our group of ladies has decided to meet on Saturday mornings at Euclid Creek to have prayer and do he 5 mile walk.  Everyone seemed excited about it.  The ladies have committed themselves to a healthier lifestyle and are trusting God to give them the strength.  Next week we will most likely assign an organizer for these weekly walks.  If any one else wants to be a part of this Saturday morning walk, please feel free to comment me for further info.  We might just develop a facebook page to get the info out there in a public way.  The ladies in Fit for the King have so much love for he Lord and for one another.  We have really bonded, doing life together.  We have 2 more weekly groups and then we will resume in the fall.  It is an open group so feel free to join, I will post info with day and time as soon as information as been confirmed.  The group is a good way to be held accountable, be educated regarding healthy living, healthy meal choices, learn biblical info regarding meal plans, and to try out various exercise models.  We will be careful as there have been suspicious reports of criminal activity and a suicide.

Options

                                                                          

Getting Goals:  I want to keep the Rite Aide marathon participates in prayers as they prepare for next Sunday’s marathon.  Next year Lord’s willing I will be in the ½ marathon walk.  My injury has prevented me from participating this year.  Yesterday our Fit for the King leader, Jiesha discussed her training routine in preparation for this marathon.  She ran 11 miles, YES !  Awesome, now it was not a piece of cake for her put she pushed through with determination.  Our group of ladies are proud of her and praying for her success in this marathon.  I am impressed by her courage as she had a really serious workout injury a few years ago. She did not allow that set back to stop her from setting and reaching her fitness goals.  I have watched her prepare for this marathon, running almost daily.  She is leading our group by example.   So keep our sister in your prayers.

I will be rejoining the ladies and gentlemen of True Image Fitness next week.  I love the team approach that True Image offers.  As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, I need hand holding and accountability in this area of my life.  True Image Fitness gives me the support and cheers me on.  My combination of  power walking and True Image Fitness gives me what I need to slim down, feel good and keep my weight under control.  I am looking forward to returning next week; I really want to go to the 8 a.m. class in the morning.  We will see.

So it Friday, the weekend: Weekends are always exciting for me.  This weekend I have out of State family coming into town.  EXCITING.  Which means I have to get some things in order around the house.  We will hang out, and catch up and do girl stuff (shop J).  It is my plan to attend True Image Fitness in the a.m.   Beech Brook (my employer) is have the annual Beech Ball which is a fund raiser for our agency.  This year I will be attending,  I have not attended in years.  At 100 bucks a ticket...... Yeah.  Needless to say,  it will be fun to be around coworkers away from the agency and mingle with community support.   The monies go for a good cause to help us continue to provide mental health services to children and families.  Sunday I will attend NCBF worship service and I always leave out with good word (teaching) and worship. 

Mother’s Day -  I will be celebrating with my daughter.  Nique and I work hard to make these celebrations fun, although we naturally discuss Olivia (my mama) and Chris (my son).  We try to keep the conversation upbeat, but there is often silence…….   Love my family J

 Oh yeah that lil grandson of mine, Jayden made his appearance.  Now listen to this he is two years old, he walked up to me in the most respectful manner and in a very soft voice and said "Happy Mother's Day Grandma".  Now you know my heart dropped, I asked him to repeat it and he did.  Now that was the absolute best gift I have ever received.   He is such a blessing.  Thank you Lord ! Thank You !  Lord you provide and take good care of me, Oliva's Daughter.
                                                                     
Oh yeah he got me some MAC cosmetics, lip gloss and masacre.  Now he know his grandma. LOL

See y'all

Talent/Gifting

RIP Sharon Norfus (left)  Stacey Crawford (Sarah's Girl)

http://fox8.com/2012/06/05/man-charged-in-strangulation-murder-of-shaker-heights-woman/


Lord You are so merciful and loving.  You give me peace on a daily basis, which allows me to keep moving and giving You glory.  So many wonderful things are going on good and not so good, but I feel Your presence and I know that You love me and have my best interest.  Lord I am praying that I have a solid foundation built on trusting You.  Thank You Lord.

I have missed blogging over the past few days.  Things have been up and down and I am asking for prayers. 

Over the past few days, I have busied myself with invites; birthday parties, birthday dinners, workshops and babysitting and taking care of some business matters.  Tenth Talent Media has completed the new face of this blog.  I love the new look and I really appreciate their many talents.  Now we have begun to brainstorm and develop my You Tube Channel.  I will update you all more as this progresses.  Our desire is that you be blessed by the channel so if you any ideas for topics please comment me.  It would be greatly appreciated. 

This past weekend I attend HIS Style which was a workshop put together by 3 women launching their business.  This particular workshop helped me look inside and explore me a bit further.  It gave me a deeper appreciation for who I am and how God sees me.  I left there ready to move forward with my dreams.  Over the past few months I have surrounded myself with women who are led by God who have dreams and acting on them.  Tenth Talent Media, Gonegirlgo, His Style, It Who You Know and Terri Holmes.  All of these business have been driven by their passion, purpose and love for God.  All of their business focus on the spiritual aspect.  All are working, loving what they are doing and doing an excellent job at it.  Very inspirational.  God has placed me in the middle of all this gifting.  It just amazes me how God works and uses people to do His work.  Yes I am sure their were some fears, as you know we are our own worse enemies.  But these women have pushed forward to move in their gifting. 

I say all this to say, if you have something you want to pursue, do it, act on it.  I listed several talents all of them have either, blogs, websites, face book pages that you can make contact and begin to explore your dreams. 

Nine West  

                                                                        

Exercise:  I have begun my workout routine; treadmill, walking, home videos.  I got to get it in.  I am so grateful that my foot injury is coming along nicely.  I was a tad bit disobedient if you happened to see me Sunday (NCBF) I had on 4 inch heels.  Yes, 4 inches.  I have two friends that absolutely love heels so you all will appreciate my disobedience.  Ms. Nicole and Ms. Zoe.  Zoe often says her heels give her like super powers.  I can relate when I have on heels my walk is so powerful and intentional.  Ms. Nicole wears heels no matter what, on the beach, at the mall, wherever, and really nice heels. The shoes above have been pinned on Ms. Nicole wall on Pinterest.  Super cool heels.   I had so much fun watching people look at my feet and point !  The comments blew me away.  “the diva is back” “oh you had to be cute”.  The funny thing is I thought no one would notice. 

Beauty:  RIP over the weekend Sharon N. left this world.  She was a member of NCBF.  She was a Mac makeup artist always busy enhancing the beauty of women.  I did not know her well but I respected her work as an artist.  I also admired her beauty as being a seasoned/matured woman.  She will be missed.
                                                               

Jayden standing on the sliding board - Cumberland Park

Yestereday, Jayden and I had a ball.  We ran, played and  had so much fun.  

                                                                 


                              

Break the Cycle

Let's Break Through

Lord Your mercy and goodness amazes me.  How You give me peace through everything.  I want to thank you for everything.  Everything Lord !  I trust You with my life.  You continue to allow me to feel Your presence Your love Your grace.  Forgive me of any sins that I have in my life Lord.  Break and free me from my strongholds that hinder my service to You.

Well if you read yesterday’s blog you know I had a productive day which offered me peace.  I like this feeling of freeing myself from the strongholds that had me bond.  Again last night I slept all the way through, two nights in a row.  Nothing but God !  Nothing but God !  In breaking free of the stronghold of “putting off” I God revealed to me that He can do anything, but if I cooperate (obedience) my life runs smoother.  Feelings of fear, doubt and depression are lifted.  What He has done for me He can do for You.  Last year this time I had a discussion with God and told Him I would live the life of abundance that He promised.  He so wants me to have it, but I allowed fear to block my focus of what GOD promised.  I wish I had a microphone for the world to hear this J  We are our own worst enemies, what I imposed on myself was a nightmare.  When I talk about my stronghold of “putting off” “avoiding” “blocking out” the real things that I have to take care of.  I was digging myself deeper and deeper.  God is working in me to let me know I’m coming up.  He offers me HOPE.  Entering into God’s presence and giving, surrendering, offering yourself in obedience is awesome.  Let’s work to do it.  We all struggle BUT God is there for us.  Give me your feedback and thoughts on this topic.

Going further, strongholds in my life have been the major cause of my overeating.  I have said this is my blogs of this week, the cycle of unhealthy eating.  I eat because I am depressed and I am depressed because I eat.  The feeling of being out of control in your eating, eating when you are not hungry.  Eating to feel the void of an empty place in your life.  The pounds pack on and before you know it you have gain; 10, 20, 30, 40 pounds.  We all know the pounds can pack on daily, 4 or 5 ounces here, tomorrow a pound.   The scales go up and up. 

Take the time to really care about yourself and the body/temple that God has given you.  We know overeating leads to so many food related diseases, we know the deal.  We really do, we have been educated and for those that haven’t reach out and let’s talk.  Leave me a comment or you can inbox me on facebook.  God needs all of you, He needs Your focus to be on Him and everything else will fall into place. 

Beauty Corner:  Spring is here and summer is around the corner.  Get out take a long walk with a friend or alone.  If you walk with a friend have good fellowship in your chat, encourage one another.  If you walk alone, put her headphones in listen to some uplifting worship and get moving. 

I have found in my routine that getting up, standing up to walk out the door is the hardest part, getting into my car to drive to my boot camp is the hardest.  Just putting my focus on it is the hardest.  Now this is just me, but I am sure you can relate.  Once I am engaged in the exercise of my joke it is a feeling of accomplishment and success.  So go on out and get up and move.

                                       
Be careful to wear decent walking shoes it makes for a more comfortable walk.  I tend to wear Ryka, they are a brand walking shoes they are made by women for women.  Sorry guys I have no suggestions :)

TCB Taking Care of Business

Moving forward in my push to be productive; I completed two things that were of high importance to me.  One of a personal nature and the other was the completion of my write up as a guest blogger which will be featured on GoneGirlGo.  Both of these moves of action took courage, and stepping out of my comfort zone. 

I plan to make each day a day in which I work toward or accomplish things that will enhance my life.  After having such a productive day yesterday, this morning I was well rested and ready for today.  I slept through the entire night.  I want more nights like last night.  I want that peace that only God can give.  I realize that God wants me to be obedient and move, to come from under strongholds that keep me changed to feelings of fear, depression.  When I don’t move in a productive manner to resolve things in my life my life becomes a mess that I have created. 

A few blogs ago I wrote about being Stuck on Stupid and breaking strongholds.  Well God continues to work on me and develop me in this area.  I am making calls, scheduling appointments and basically Taking Care of Business (TCB).  As long has a matters of my day to day lingering in my mind, I have self doubts, depression, which keeps my focus off God.   My stuff gets in the way of me taking care of the business that the Lord as put before me.  

All of this leds to me overeating and beginning the cycle of gaining and losing, gaining and losing.  The enemy knows where to attack me.  I have to be ready to do my part which is to get up, move, and put things into action.  I have taken care of so much in the past two days that I feel as though I am shedding off layers of heaviness that was weighing me down.  The chains are moving off action by action.

Very rarely do I blog twice in one day.  I had to get it out, put it out there as this is a part of my worship.    

'Sharing'

Lord I want to thank You for knowing who You are.  Jesus You gave it ALL.  You are so mighty in all of your glory.  You shine above all in all that you do.  You keep me encouraged on a day to day.  Even on not so good days, I feel your favor in my life.  I believe in Your power as I witness what You do in my life on a day to day.

Yesterday as been one the best days I have had in weeks.  I got up and was able to do some things, take care of business in a lot of areas of my life.  These that I have been putting off to the point of watching things turn toxic.  God gave me the strength to make some steps toward freedom.  He knows I need freedom in order to clearly be able to serve and be used His vessel.  I watched the Lord work yesterday in my life in such a special way that I have only seen him do once before in my life.  He reminded me of what He had done before, and how he laid out the plan.  He moved in such a special way that I knew that it was Him because only He has the power to do what He did for me.  I will be able to share more as it unfolds, right now I have this situation in prayer, and You know God will get the glory. 

I was off work yesterday to follow up with my doctor on my foot injury.  He said X-rays were good and progress was being made.  I go back in a month.  So while I was off I took care of some much needed business.  In addition to taking care of business, I got a phone call from a friend.  She wanted to celebrate my March birthday that she missed.  Yes March, got to love her.  We had a ball, we ate, laughed, shopped.  Bust most importantly we had deep conversations about our relationships with God.  We both know each other testimonies but we were able to talk and give God ALL the glory.  Amazing fellowship.  We encouraged one another.  You see this person’s testimony when I first joined NCBF touched me deeply.  Her testimony of God’s goodness in her life, propelled me to pursue a friendship with her.  Her friendship was probably one of my first godly friendships.  I had never sought out a relationship with a person based on their relationship with God.  Amazing.  So to this day, I seek her out as a living testimony to encourage my heart.  God gives us what we need.  She is a ride or die type of girlfriend. Yesterday I shared some auto troubles with her and you know we traveled cross country until she was satisfied I had a fair mechanic.  To be honest all of my girlfriends are ride or die.  Remember a few bogs back I rode about the A team will they are ride or die.   We go the extra for one another, I praise God for Godly community He has placed me in.  This morning on my drive to work talked to a ride or die who I was able to minister to and give some advice.  She later tested me and said thanking for being willing to share.  Because you see what I told her I rarely talk about but I knew she needed to know in order to save herself some misery.  Sharing is the key, being willing to put yourself out there, I mean your testimony, your knowledge in order to bless others.  Sharing what I shared with her could have embarrassed me but I chose to put it out there to savage something that is dear to her.

Alright, Alright, I am about to get teary.  You know I do that sometimes, I type and I cry.  God’s love becomes so overwhelming that it brings me to tears and takes me to another level of worship.

I think I have said enough, please be blessed by this and know that God loves you.