REFRESHED

A change of scenery, good friends, stimulating conversation, doing what you love, learning experiences, drama-free environments, pleasant weather, comfort, excellent customer service, unexpected surprises, and favor, are the ingredients in a recipe for a great big smile.
#refreshed
#movingforward

FRIDAY THOUGHTS: WAKANDA...FINALLY

It was sad and funny that even my two year-old great-niece had seen "Black Panther" and I hadn't. 

Thanks to my friend Debbie, though, I finally made it to Wakanda--and the Lord talked through the entire movie. He always does that--interjecting trinkets and making sure I'm paying attention to relevant dialogue. I've come to expect it. I can't, of course, go anywhere without him. 

There's always something to learn; to apply; to discern; to understand, and nothing is off limits or irrelevant.

I was moved by the art; the scenery, the costumes (Hopefully, Oscar-nominated Ruth Carter will soon become an Oscar winner); the camera angles; the colors; the beauty of the people who looked like me. 

I'm of the generation that screamed out of windows into the ears of kickball-playing friends, "Black people on TV!" Seeing positive images mattered and always has. 

When I was a child, someone was always reminding us that we were descendants of kings and queens, and they wanted us to believe it even though we'd never actually seen evidence of it.

Seeing so many Black actors and extras wasn't new, but it triggered something. 

I was eighteen years-old and sitting in a mandatory, 8:00 AM freshman course I loved called "Blacks in the Arts" before I knew that people who looked like me had, for years, produced, directed, carried films, and were principal performers.

I left the theater smiling and feeling empowered (and with a popcorn refill) and proud. I also left with many thoughts:

1. Never be surprised when someone questions, minimizes, misunderstands, or criticizes your best intentions or efforts.

2. Be careful who you support, confide in, and trust. Not everyone is in your corner.

3. Benevolence and charity are often demonized and discouraged in order to make way for greed and selfishness.

4. Loyalty should never be blind. To an arrogant, self-centered, broken person, everyone is either dispensable or to be manipulated.

5. Secrets and lies, no matter how cleverly or repeatedly told, never erase the truth.

6. It is stunning when the Judases in your life are revealed--but rarely a surprise. Deep down, you knew.

7. Everything you've been looking for is closer than you think.

8. Help is always near, and can come from the most unexpected places.

9. The right thing isn't always the easy thing, but do it anyway.

10. Insecurity and jealousy will motivate a person to try and make others look bad in order to elevate themselves. They will always come short of their goal or utterly fail.

11. Always have a spare.

12. "Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right."

13. Appreciate people who think for themselves.

14. As much as possible, find the beauty and good in everything.

15. Remember your source. Ignore those deluded voices that would have you to think you must depend on them.

16. Your full potential will blow your mind.

17. Remember who you are.

18. A wise person taps into and employs the strengths of everyone; a fool sows seeds of discord.

19. What you need-- your wealth-- is in your own hand.

20. Armor is only effective if it is worn properly.

21. Art is healing.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE...

ENCOURAGING WORDS

It was so nice to worship and sing with friends last Saturday morning at Capitol Hill Seventh Day Adventist Church. As usual, the message, preached by Pastor Gene Donaldson, was encouraging and relevant. 

I figured I'd better save the notes I wrote all over the bulletin while I can still decipher them:

1. Your challenge is a stanza in your song. You might as well sing it."

2.  There are some things in this life that you are going to have to go through by yourself.

3. How in the world can you know that you know, that you know that you know, that you know that you know, that you know that you know, without going through a storm--and surviving?

4. Human rationalization will always annul God's revelation.

5. Compromise is relief from something, but to get deliverance you've got to go through something.

6. Stop expecting everybody to go through everything with you.

7. Whatever crisis is cornering you; whatever test you are facing, it's there by divine permission--not to defeat you but to develop you. If God has permitted you to go in it, that's a tell-tale sign that he's designed a way for you to get through.

8. In God's construct, the worse thing that will ever happen to you will not be the last thing.

9. When you have navigated hardship and danced through difficulty, the good news is that you were never alone. God is present; God is near; God is there.

10. God is so awesome, that he can make the very people who got you in the mess have to use their resources to get you out.