Doing the Work

We are living in a time when women have more opportunities and more education than they ever have.  But, I am amazed when I sit down with these beautiful and intelligent women and the one thing I keep hearing over and over is “I don’t know” and “No one ever taught me that.”

Women of God, it is time to put away all the excuses for why we are not doing what we should.  If you have the Word of God, then you are being taught, and you do know.  Ladies, it is time to put on your big-girl panties and do the work.  Life is not easy, and the challenges will come, but I want to encourage you today to do the work.

Stop saying you can’t, because you can lose that weight!  You simply have to do the work.  You can be a good wife, even to a bad husband.  Read the story of Abigail.  As a matter of fat, if you are committed to being a good wife, your husband will change, or God will release you from that situation.

You can be a good mother!  You can be a good single mother.  Don’t look at what the world is doing and saying.  Simply, do the work.  You can be a great employee, even in a bad work environment.  Do your work unto God and not unto man.  Let your light shine so that your Father in heaven is pleased with you, and He will bless you.  But you have to do the work!

You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!  Start on your journey.  I promise you that your reward will be greater than the challenge.

Just Do It!

Your First Lady

Feel the Burn!

With all that we know about healthy eating and exercise, how many of us can say that we do either regularly.  No, I don’t mean once a week.  What I do mean by regularly is that 3-4 times per week, you get some form of cardiovascular exercise.  Well, at the ripe old age of forty-something, I have finally gotten to a place where I exercise regularly.  It is increasingly becoming a lifestyle change for me.  Before you know it, I may become a female Billy Blanks.  Umm, maybe that’s going a little too far.

Even with all the time that I have spent trying to keep my body healthy, I still go through periods when I’m not as diligent as I should be.  Lately, because of traveling and families coming to visit, I have been thrown off my normal routine.  And let me tell you; it has been rough getting back into it.  It’s like I have never worked out before.  The other day, I was doing one of my many exercise videos, and just when I wanted to just STOP, I heard Brother Billy say, “You’ve got to feel the burn.”  When I heard that, I knew that I had to keep going because I’ve learned what takes place when you push past the burn.  When you push past the burn, you increase your level of endurance and strength.  And that’s what I want, more endurance and strength.

In order to gain more endurance and strength, you must continue to push past the burn.  You see, the burn indicates that your muscles and lungs are getting ready to go to the next level of strength.  When your body starts to produce lactic acid, you feel a burning sensation in your arms and legs, and your chest starts to hurt.  And this is the point when most people stop and say to themselves, “OK, that’s enough.”  These are the people who don’t get the results that they could get if they would only push past the pain and go to the next level.  As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.  You cannot and will not reach your spiritual potential by quitting when you have just reached a place that will help you to grow.  Yes, I know it is painful.  But beloved, that is the only way to gain the strength and endurance that you need to reach your spiritual potential.

Just think about it this way.  There isn’t one great person in history that arrived where he/she is by doing only enough to get by.  If you are going to be great at whatever you are doing, you must give it everything you have.  My mother had a saying, and I think that it bears repeating here: “Honey, you’ve got to pay the cost to be the boss.”

May Your Strength Be Renewed!

Your First Lady

Lets Get Organized - By Spruce Design Solutions

The beauty of being organized is it allows you to keep the balls in the air and off the floor. There is no one step rule or quick fix to achieving your organizational goals but with a little thought, some discipline and process, I believe that you can conquer the challenge of organization.  If you're up for the challenge, lets discuss some basic rules for getting and staying organized. 


For starters... 

• Take a moment to write down your thoughts on your state of organization.
• Think about where you can use some help and storage items that can make your life easier.
• Process the importance of getting organized for you and even your family. 

After completing that task you will have a sense of purpose.  A road map if you will for getting organized and staying organized.

Now, lets talk about the how. Again, organization does not happen over night, that's where discipline comes in. Don't attempt to do everything all at once; this will only cause frustration and delay your goals. 

• Start with one space and give yourself a timeline to complete the project. 
• Visit your space, and begin by determining what is a necessity and what can be stored, recycled, donated or tossed. 
• Create piles accordingly. Once you've established where everything lives, it will be easier to return it to it's rightful place. 

The second step is determining whether the space is equipped with the appropriate storage for your items. If not, there are several stores dedicated to storage solutions like Bed Bath and Beyond and The Container Store just to name a few. The sales associates are very knowledgable and can help you locate items that will best suit your needs. Remember to go armed with measurements and your list. Slowly work through your space one section at a time and more importantly, be realistic. The leopard skirt that you wore back in high school that you hope one day will come back in style is an example of not being realistic. The truth is....brace yourself....it's never coming back and if it does, and it may....you probably shouldn't be wearing it. 

In summary take notes and reflect on why you need to get organized, create a place for everything in the space, practice returning items to the appropriate place and be realistic about your habits and what are necessities. I guarantee that following these steps will help you to achieve complete organization. 

For more information and tips visit us at www.sprucedesignsolutons.com

Shouts of Joy & Victory

Remember when you first got saved and there was a worship song, that no matter how many times you heard it, that song would move you and make your heart glad? – Songs like “O Come Let Us Adore Him,” “Awesome God,” or “O The Glory of His Presence.”  Those are the kings of songs that no matter what’s going on in your heart, they life you right out of the situation you may be in.  One of the songs that I love from the past is “Sunshine in My Soul.”  I seem to hum this song to myself a lot.  Pastor Andy usually laughs when I do because he says that I’m getting old like his dad.  I tell him that it is because I’m really saved, and he’s not.  (Pastor Andy, not his dad.)  Ya’ll pray for your Pastor J.  Just kidding.

One day after humming “Sunshine in My Soul” for the millionth time, Pastor teased me about it, and I realized that I do it without thinking.  I also noticed that I do it when I’m happy and at peace and when I’m not happy and I need some peace.  Either way, that song has made itself a permanent part of my Spirit.  It sounds so elementary, yet it is so powerful.  It ministers life to me each time I sing it.

It got me to thinking about the difference between a saint who is a victim and a saint who is a victor.  Although both of them go through trials, the difference is that one has learned the elementary art of feeding their spirit with the things of God, and the other one has not.  You see, doing the simple things like reading the Word of God or listening to good gospel music will defeat more giants in your life than you realize.  There are times when we must do our first works over and over and over until we get to a place where we are not tossed back and forth by the enemy.  You must know that God has the ability to do all things.  He is The El Shaddai (the Almighty God), and only He can help you to attain what the enemy is saying is impossible for you.

There is another song which I love that is an oldie but goodie.  The name of the song is “Shouts of Joy and Victory.”  It speaks of how the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things, and we are to sing hallelujah.  People of God must shout the victory now, even while the victory is still on the way.  God is moved by that kind of faith.  This will help you see the light while it is still dark.  And, one of the ways to see the light of God while it is dark is to get a song in your heart and minister that song to yourself.  You will see God as you sing of his wonders and give Him the praise.

Close Encounters

I have been thinking lately a great deal about when I was first saved.  Like most of you who were not raised in church, I had a lot to get together.  I was a nice person, of course, but by God’s standards, my life was less than noble.  The irony of my situation was that I thought I was fine just the way I was.  Boy was I wrong!

Looking back, I realize that for the most part, the world actually teaches you to be a good person, to follow the laws of the land, and to do things right.  And although the world has some form of Godliness, it’s missing the one true ingredient that makes everything work.  That ingredient is God Himself.  We live in a world that has fooled itself into believing that it’s on the path to perfection without the One who makes all things perfect.  Unfortunately, we bring that mentality into the Kingdom when we become Christians.  That is why have so many “Christians” who appear clean on the outside, but the inside is still a mess.  The only thing that will change that is an inner awakening, when you open your eyes one morning, and the Holy Spirit speaks very clearly to your heart.  You then hear the Holy Spirit and follow the voice of the Lord.  This, beloved, is what I call a close encounter with the Father.

I’ve come to see that God has intended for every believer to experience this powerful event when he/she comes into the kingdom.  Some do, and some don’t.  And that has been a sad fact within the church.  You can always tell who the people are who have had this powerful encounter with God.  Those who have had this experience know God in a consecrated way.

Now, I know it sounds like you have to be someone extraordinary to know God in this way, but you don’t.  All you need is a thirst and hunger after righteousness.  If you are like I was, and you are tired of your life as it is, and you want more peace and joy, then you are there.  You are standing at the doorway to greatness.  You just need to be brave enough to say goodbye to this world and walk through the door to your hope and future.

First Lady LaShawn

Higher Place of Praise

“A change, a change has come over me!  He touched my life, and now I am complete.”  It seems that no matter how long a person has been walking with the Lord, He will still require change to occur in your life.  I believe this to be the case so that your Christian walk will be more fruitful than it has been in your past experience with Him.

I have come to a pivotal point in my relationship with God, and He has asked me to change once again.  As most of you have done before, I asked the Lord if I ever will get to a place where change is not so painful.  As soon as I asked it, I heard two voices: The Lord’s and Pastor Andy’s.  The Lord said, “I will always require that my people go to a higher place of praise in every area of their lives.”  And then, Pastor Andy’s coined phrase came to mind: “I am satisfied with the satisfaction of never being satisfied.”  Sometimes, that can be very hard to accept, but guess what, saints?  It’s not about our feeling or what we think.  It’s all about the kingdom and God’s being glorified. 

We must get to the place where we accept the fact that God has called us.  Therefore, He requires His people to take the high road and to do the hard thing.   This is because we must be the example in this mixed-up world that we live in.  When people ask me, “How do you do it?’  My answer is usually what my mother used to say – “You do what you have to do to make it happen.”  So here I am saying yes, Lord, yes to Your will and to Your way!  Have Your perfect way!

Saints, I am so excited about where God is taking us as a body of consecrated believers.  It can be overwhelming at times because it will require that we change the way we do things.  And even our thinking will be challenged, for we all know that changing what you think is work!

Well, I believe that I am up for the challenge to change.  Will you get on board with me and ride the Faith train to maturity?  I promise it will be worth the ride.

May the joy of the Lord be your strength,

Your First Lady

A New Anointing

In an effort to stay as young as I can and live a long life, about a year ago, I started working out daily.  It was going great at first, but after a while, I noticed the regimen was not as effective as it was in the beginning.  My body somehow had gotten accustomed to what I was doing and eventually plateaued. Ladies, you can imagine how I reacted.  Yes, I went into a bit of an “I give up” stage and gained some weight.  I learned after a little research that this is what happens to most people.  When your body gets accustomed to what you are doing, you are supposed to alter your workout to make your body work harder.  Then, it will continue to respond with the results you are looking for.  So, here I am trying to kick it up a notch.  And, Lord knows, it’s not easy!    I believe this is where we are as a church family.  When Pastor and I started the church, there was a great anointing to gather people.  That anointing is still with us, but as the Lord has spoken to Pastor about leadership, we find that we need a new anointing, along with the old anointing, in order for us to go forward.  To do what God has called us to do as a collective body it’s going to take all of us working equally hard to get the job done.  Furthermore, we can’t get too comfortable with our regime.  It is time for all of us to step forward and be counted as a leader.    I realize that there are times when we get mentally weary and even physically tired.  That is when you must call on the Father to give you more of what you need.  And trust me; He will.    People of God, I believe that you are much stronger than you believe that you are.  If you desire to reach the promises of God to see His kingdom come in your generation, then you must commit daily to running this race with more patience than you had the day before, all the while depending on God for new strength to get the day’s task done.  And yes, you will receive a new anointing for this new day.    Be Blessed,   First Lady LaShawn