 Let me start out by saying what we do know…
Things are hard. We are resilient. We can change. I want to open with a prayer to Jesus, for giving us everything we’ve been given. A gift. Truly. Of life. Thank you for your joyous abundance that we see, and then unsee sometimes. Thank you for your gift of an offering, an experience of life and death. The same treasure we are all given, yet seem to forget about. Distractions. They are everywhere. Anything that exists can distract us from The Source of everything. Life altering abundance, in a simple whiff of a feeling, of thanks. The most powerful energy comes from this moment of praise. An offering, the only one we are equipped to send up. Thank you, Alleluia! You are righteous, we are not and yet: This. A feeling shoots up my fingertips, my toes, my spine. THANK YOU! A force inside of me purrs and reminds me, I’m here. The offering of contentment you only feel, when you are humbled in a moment of deep gratitude. We don't think of gratitude as an offering, mostly thinking of it as a state. A place to be in to give ourselves pleasure, because pleasure surely comes. A pinging of emotion opens up inside of us, when we look around and feel awe. A burden leaves our shoulders for as long as we can cover ourselves in this thanks. Dear Lord, you are righteous, we are not and yet: This. Thank you, God for the gifts we’ve been given at every single moment. Thank you for this, here, now. It never stops. He never ends. Thank you for allowing us to feel GLORY, whenever we praise you tickling the insides of our arms, our legs, our scalps. He is good. Matthew 10:27 - “The things that I say to you in the evening, speak ye in the light.” Okay, I’ll start: I NEED you God. I need you Jesus. Thank you! Erinn Shaughnessy is a writer and painter living and working in Oklahoma. She graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University in 2016 where she studied Philosophy. She is interested in natural health, art, family, friends, and dreaming of her childhood donut shop that is no longer in business. She loves to write letters and has big plans to single handedly save the US Postal Service.
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Cooperation. The process of working together to the same end. What in our day could get accomplished without the cooperation of others? Whether getting children ready for (virtual) school, completing objectives for a project at work, or ordering lunch in the 6 mile long line at Chick-fil-A, we need each other to uphold agreements in order to move forward and make progress. Appreciating the cooperativeness of others can help us feel more grateful and connected throughout our day. Being in relationship with cooperative people enables us to build trusting relationships and take on complex, out of the box tasks and ideas. Cooperation gives all voices a chance to be heard and allows people to work within the skill sets with which they are most adept, which builds confidence and future collaborative opportunities. Cooperation makes the world go round. Alicja Carter, MHR, LADC, BHWC, has been working in the behavioral health and addiction treatment field for over 13 years at Gateway to Prevention and Recovery. Alicja is passionate about wellness and collaborating with others for the purpose of stimulating positive change in her community.  Hebrews 2:6-7 Amplified Bible
It has been solemnly and earnestly said that in a certain place, What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You graciously and helpfully care for and visit and look after him? For some little time You have ranked him lower than an inferior to the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of Your hands. In this scripture it reminds us how much God has invested in us. When I researched the word mindful, I discovered that it means to be thoughtful, attentive, aware or careful. Just the very thought that God was thinking of me, is reassuring in itself. I realize that thoughtfulness always causes a person to be singled out. The man that was healed at the pool of Bethesda was simply a man who was singled out. There were hundreds or even thousands of impotent or lame folk waiting for the troubling of the water. So why was this man chosen amongst so many? It is very simple, God was simply thinking of him. This man had spent the last 38 years being disappointed by his inability to get to the pool first. The Bible says whosoever would enter the pool first, after the angel troubled the water would be instantly healed. Year after year this man was robbed of his opportunity to be healed. How could people be so insensitive and thoughtless of this man’s faithfulness? Every year he was forgotten about and treated insignificantly. I am so grateful that God remembers when people forget. You may even feel forgotten and feel devalued, but God will always show up to let you know that he has big plans for you. My job as a Pastor is to inform everyone that God has not forgotten about you. As a matter of fact, God is very much aware of your situation. Jesus was aware of this man’s condition and had plans on visiting him. No matter how busy Jesus was, he always made it clear how important one person was to the Kingdom of God. We’ve heard the parable of Jesus talking about how the shepherd left the 99 to go find the 1. He left the secure to find the insecure. He left the stable to find the unstable. So today I want to remind you how much God thinks about you. Now the enemy’s job is to make you think that God doesn’t care about your issues, concerns or condition, but I want to share a personal story with you to assure you that God is always thoughtful of his children. One day I had to go to the store to purchase some items and my girls were with me. So I told Victoria and Kennedy, “come on lets go to the car.” We all were buckled up and ready to go, all of sudden I heard crying and sniffling in the back seat. I turned around and Kennedy was crying. I said “what’s wrong, she replied I left my baby doll in the house.” Well, for the size of those tears that were falling from her face I thought it was something way more important than that. I told her, “baby it will be alright because we’re not going to be gone long, we will be right back.” Well, why did I say that? She really broke down and cried even more. So I had a choice, either I could let her continue to cry or do something about it. I decided to go back in the house and find this baby doll and deliver it personally to Kennedy. She immediately wiped her tears and said thank you Daddy. God taught me a very important principle that day, no matter how small or insignificant that baby doll was to me it was still important to Kennedy. Her problem immediately became my problem because of the love that I have for my children. Then God said, “don’t ever think your problems are not important to me because whatever is your problem becomes my problem. You are my children and I hate to see my children in tears. So whatever bothers you bothers me.” Do not think that God is insensitive or thoughtless because anyone who is willing to die for you clearly has you in mind. There is not anyone who is more thoughtful than Jesus. A man who was thinking about you while he was being crucified on the cross. A cross that became an intersection for our heavenly Father to have a relationship with his earthly children. God is not only thinking about me, about you, and all of us, but he has also invested in us by giving us his son, Jesus. So tell the devil, I know God loves me because he gave me the greatest gift a person could ever receive. He gave me, himself! This week's blog writer is Pastor Orrick Quick. Pastor Quick, the son of Bishop Alber Oliver Quick and the late Mother Rosetta Quick was born and raised in the city of High Point, NC. He has been married to his lovely wife Ashley Quick for ten years. To their union they have been blessed with three beautiful daughters: Victoria, Kennedy, and Taylor. Pastor Quick is a prolific teacher, preacher and motivational speaker that helps people realize their God given potential. Pastor Quick has taught in the foreign country of Belize, Central America on various mission trips which has impacted thousands of lives. His slogan is, “You must be able to convert your pain into passion, so your passion will fuel your purpose.” His mother Rosetta Quick was diagnosed with Lupus during her pregnancy. Even against the doctor’s recommendation to abort this child, his mother had faith to proceed even while her life was threatened. Pastor Orrick Quick had to overcome many obstacles in his life such as: being in a coma, learning to walk all over again three times, being temporarily blind, remaining in the hospital for a total of 8 weeks, and being confined to a body cast for 13 weeks. All of the above injuries were a result from two deadly car accidents that Pastor Quick encountered. In 2016, Pastor Orrick Quick was a TV Co-Host for the FOX Daytime talk show, “The Preachers.” As a result of the 15 episode showcase, Pastor Quick was selected as one of EBONY’s Power 100 honorees which can be revealed in the December 2016/January 2017 edition of EBONY magazine. Pastor Quick was a featured guest on the Dr. Oz show twice and appeared on the television show, “The Real” showcasing his Forever Candles. As of 2017, Pastor Quick has released his first book entitled, “Your Reign is Over” which deals with discovering your God given purpose while overcoming depression. It also teaches you how to overcome the enemy's greatest tactics such as manipulation and intimidation. In addition to the book, Pastor Quick has a brand new album entitled, “Spiritual Warfare.” The album has a fresh new sound guaranteed to inspire the world. “Spiritual Warfare” is an album that incorporates Christian hype music to keep you invigorated for your lifetime goals. Pastor Quick plans to use his voice and his experience as a witness tool, to help this younger generation overcome any situation that they may encounter. “Too many times we allow our mistakes to define our destiny.” Therefore, Pastor Quick believes that you should “never allow your past, to have a meeting with your future, without your potential being present!”  Even one second of peace is difficult for most of us, but now more than ever, we must find it. Shared grief, trauma, and anxiety hang heavy in the atmosphere. I practice yoga to dig up my peace. There are 8 sacred limbs of yoga. Achieving them takes much time and much practice. To find them is to find peace. I believe it. I practice it. I also mostly do yoga to un-sacred punk rock music, while I bang and stomp on my mat and sing and fire breathe at the top of my lungs. This isn’t popular or “correct” according to most enlightened yogis, and I’m all the way cool with that because this is my peace. Here’s my punk-rock yoga playlist… it fluctuates. https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/punk-yoga/pl.u-DdANxxNCg6JoWM Your peace doesn’t look like mine, or anyone else’s. Respecting others’ space for peace is vital in this climate. Bare in mind, if there is hate present, peacefulness will not be achieved. Some phenomenal females weighed in on their peacefulness point of view for me. The running theme is calmness with a side of relief.
Find your peace and rock it. Help others find their peace.
Stop judging people. We must strive for freedom from disorder, war, commotion, strife, and violence. I implore you to take this as a call to action. Find peacefulness in yourself. Whether it’s through God, creativity, physical activity, meditation, or your own special blend of weirdness, find it! Then spread the love, patience, empathy, compassion, joy… share the burden of the heavy. To The Indifferent Women BY CHARLOTTE ANNA PERKINS GILMAN Yet you are mothers! And a mother's care Is the first step toward friendly human life. Life where all nations in untroubled peace Unite to raise the standard of the world And make the happiness we seek in homes Spread everywhere in strong and fruitful love. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46059/to-the-indifferent-women Natalie Hogan all around weirdo This week's blog writer Natalie Hogan is a mom, wife, writer, yogi, and outdoorsy. |
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