Blessed Life Countdown

I watch very little news. So sometimes the weather catches me off guard. Recently I even drove right up to a crime scene not far from my mom’s house because I just am not tuned in to that. It’s just so overwhelmingly negative and imbalanced that I’ve chosen to opt out. And as a self-proclaimed media mogul, I make it a part of my personal mission to counter those stories. I always want to spread the gospel through real life modern day views and practices. Whatever is motivational, uplifting amd empowering is what I want to give light to. This is what Live Full, Die Empty is all about. It’s a hope, it’s a command and it’s a prophecy.

Speaking of weather, with these unbearable hot days of summer we have now, for many the countdown to fall has begun. I’m already seeing pumpkins and colorful leaves throughout stores along with candy corn, which I absolutely love. But I want to take a moment, go back in time a little bit and countdown some crazy good blessings in the lives of women I’m connected to.

FIVE.
Let’s start with me. Five years ago I was fighting for my life. I was not losing weight but I was losing money because I missing work being in and out of the hospital. I was trying to figure out why I was having chest pain and couldn’t breathe normally. It turns out my heart and lungs were failing and after countless ER visits, 26 days in the hospital, and flatlining twice I finally got a diagnosis. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is what they call it.

Constricted blood vessels and airways absolutely turned my world upside down. And yet it was at this juncture that I was my boldest for God. After some very scary quiet time I knew that my prayers to leave earth immediately and forever were not answered. Instead I was given the charge by God to spread love and light wherever I could. So I began to write and broadcast myself. This turned out to be my first published book and the early version of my podcast. My prayers of faith sustained me, God healed me and I’m here today because He’s not done with me yet.

FOUR.
Four years ago Miranda spent five days in a cold hospital room, pleading with God to save her. Her liver was infected, her body covered in sores and track marks and her spirit was broken. Just days before she was begging to die; drugs consumed her. Miranda couldn’t escape the madness in her mind. She started drinking and partying at a young age and became a high school drop out. That caused her to carry a heavy amount of shame and trauma for years. Addiction took everything she valued and loved away from her.

By the grace of God Miranda is free from the bondage of addiction today. Four years free. It took months to get her mind right. She struggled with fully surrendering to God and still wanting to do things her way. But God was with her through it all. His grace and mercy made her new and she’s becoming the person she prayed so hard to be. Miranda and the tribe around her, including me, are forever grateful that she got another chance at life.

THREE.
Three years ago Marcey was a beautiful sister that had a budding deliverance ministry and an amazing speaking voice. Then one day God highlighted me to her. I got a call seemingly out of the blue inquiring about my coaching services. I was delighted, nervous and dang near speechless honestly. After listening to some interviews that I had done and getting a more in-depth view of my triumphs she knew I was the right partner to unlock her next level. Let me pause a moment and say this is not a humble brag nor a shameless plug. These are Marcey’s words that she has shared on multiple platforms. Anyhoo, Marcey was very much in a stuck place. At the time she didn’t need formal training, she didn’t even need a marketing manager, she needed accountability.

Marcey and I met weekly to begin unpacking some thought patterns and behaviors that simply weren’t aligned with what God showed her and where she was headed. Her overarching goals were to get a handle on her health and her finances and get serious about her business. Well through prayer, some tough conversations and real soul work she did all of the above. Marcey shed pounds, habits and her old job! She is now a full-time minister, business owner, and talk show host who is thriving and investing in others

TWO.
Two years ago Hazel set out a path that would change her family’s life forever. Hazel decided to follow my lead by pulling the curtain back and sharing her story with the world. The truth of her best-selling book Unmistakably Made is bloody and violent. Hazel came from a certain neighborhood and was viewed a certain way but she never wanted to be a product of her environment. Her heart was to be what God created her to be. In coaching her as she brought the pieces of this book together we both realized this is what had been missing all along.

Hazel was used to ministering in song and supporting her pastor, who is also her husband, in any way that she could. She was comfortable serving the community and leading the women in the church. But this release was next level. Through prayer it was this leap of faith that finally took away the guilt, shame and secrets. The pain and trauma Hazel experienced as a little girl and a young mother is now the hope and healing salve God is using for women all over the world.

ONE.
Just one year ago God started speaking to me in the middle of the night (I have texts to prove it) about a new way to bring women together. He gave me The BELIEVE Team. This branch of ministry is to curate safe spaces for women to heal and grow. Our coming out event made a big splash. It was the first annual BELIEVE Brunch and it even blew me away. The focus was to bring women together to help them understand that we are the next big thing.

Women of God don’t need to wait for permission nor do we need to wait to be invited. We need to carve out spaces for ourselves and make sure that the next woman has the opportunity as well. My ministry partners and I all talked about the burden that we carry as being Kingdom Entrepreneurs, how we got started and what it means to submit to God even in the marketplace. It was so beautiful and powerful that I still get teary-eyed thinking about it.

NOW.
Today I am able to share these beautiful, masterful stories with you because these courageous women did the brave thing. Not the easy thing, but the important thing. They gave their lives over to Jesus in a brand new way. So many of us think it stops at salvation. One and done. Do the basics and then I’m set for life. But nothing could be further from the truth. As life continues to do what life does- challenge you, push you, nearly crush you, learning how to trust the Lord in different ways becoms vital. You know the saying you don’t appreciate the sunshine without the rain? The same can be true with your faith walk. You don’t really know that God is a healer until you get sick. You don’t really know that God is a provider until you’ve gone without. You don’t really know that God can mend a broken heart until you feel like your heart has been shattered into a thousand pieces. These women, my sisters and I, know God for real because life got real for us and we decided the best way to overcome trauma and struggles was to give it all to Him and follow His plan. I can speak for us all when I say, thank God we did!