No Complaining just dance

While traveling back through the Smoky Mountains on my way home from Nashville, Tennessee, I actually took the time to look out the window and notice nature! The landscape is just beautiful and such a reminder of the splendor of God’s work.

My family travelled to Nashville to participate in a dance video to a song called Bondye Bel—which means God is beautiful in Haitian. The song was written and performed by Haitian orphans and is probably to most beautiful song I have ever heard. Especially when you watch their sweet faces as they sing the song.

The hope is that our dance will go viral and people will rush out and purchase the song Bondye Bel! All proceeds from the purchase of the song will go to help the orphans of Jeremie, Haiti. One of the most interesting things that I learned is that Compassion International cannot even help some of these orphans because they do not have a responsible adult to receive the donations and operate care.

The ministry outreach team from Long Hollow Baptist Church in Gallatin, Tennessee has helped to build an orphanage and provide caregivers for some children. They have even helped to form a music program within the orphanage. The children singing the song are part of the “Lumiere du Christ” choir.

Bondye Bel! from Long Hollow Creative on Vimeo.

The video shoot was organized by Devoted Fitness® creator, Larae Puckett. Devoted Fitness® is a women’s only cardio fitness program set to Christian music! It is truly group fitness for your soul! I have been a Devoted Fitness® Instructor and choreography assistant since September! This past Saturday was just a wonderful reminder of how God purposes our gifts for his work.

About 20 women and my sweet 2 daughters danced outside barefoot in 27 degree weather to the song Bondye Bel. At first, the weather conditions seemed unbearable. The pavement was ICY. My hands were numb and as the minutes passed, my ears seemed frozen. However, as I began to imagine those sweet children with NOTHING singing about how beautiful God is, I HAD to dance without whining!

The barefoot experience ministered to me. My dance fitness ministry is not about getting famous or making enough money so that I can be comfortable enough to leave my job and love life. No, my dancing is bigger than that.

It is crazy how heightened your senses become under extreme weather conditions. As the frigid wind blew, I became very aware—very in the moment. Finally, my mind was quiet enough to hear God answer my “What am I doing” questions.

As the wind blew my hair in front of my face, I could feel God saying, “Silence your complaints and dance for a purpose greater than yourself.”

This post is part of a weekly meme hosted by Shell over at Things I Can't Say.

MLK Lesson from the Titanic

Our family spent the weekend in Nashville Tennessee! I am not quite sure that Nashville knew what hit it! We took pictures with all the statues on “Honky Tonk Row” and our nighttime carriage ride through town was just lovely!

On the way back, we stopped in Pigeon Forge and visited the Titanic Museum. It was a decent attraction—not to terribly expensive. We learned lots of facts about the Titanic and the people that were aboard the ship. The little voice monitors they give you are not worth the extra money but all in all a good family excursion.

When you enter the exhibit, you are given a boarding ticket with a person’s name on it that was aboard the ship. There are several artifacts about the passengers and you are supposed to find your passenger and then go to the final room of the tour to find out the fate of your passenger.

I was given the name, Juliette Laroche. Juliette was married to Joseph Philippe Laroche, the only black man aboard the Titanic. Juliette, Joseph and their two daughters were second class passengers on the Titanic. Although they could afford first class tickets, they were not allowed to travel first class due to Joseph’s skin color.

Joseph was a Haitian Aristocrat who studied engineering in France. Although he was very educated and came from a wealthy family, Joseph found it very hard to find work in France due to his skin color. Upon learning that his wife, Juliette was pregnant with their third child, he decided to move their family back to Haiti, where his family was prospering.


(Image source: http://www.titanic1.org/people/louise-laroche.asp)

The Laroche family story was very intriguing to me. I never even thought about a black person being on the Titanic. Their story certainly was NOT part of the Hollywood movie. As a thirty-eight year old African American woman, it is hard to imagine being able to afford first class yet only being able to purchase second class due to my skin color. It was a very chilling feeling to ponder especially as I had to explain it to my children who couldn’t understand what skin color had to do with it since they had the money to purchase first class.

As I walked through the exhibit, I couldn’t stop thinking about the second class thing wrapped up in the tragedy of the ship. The Laroche family accepted their undeserved second class passenger status in the shadows of their dreams of a better life. As with many families that boarded the Titanic, those dreams never came to pass. Juliette and her two daughters survived but Joseph did not. She did go on to deliver a healthy baby boy but spent a lifetime never quite getting over losing the love of her life and their dreams of a new life together.

I cried when I read her story and those of many of the other people on the ship who were separated from family members. I could not imagine bearing racism, being pregnant, facing possible death and then having to leave my husband behind. How did she pick up and keep moving?

My brief encounter with the Laroche family reminded me of why our nation celebrates MLK Jr. Day.

Here is one Martin Luther King Jr. quote that I love:
“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change”

WOW.

Ephesians 5:14
…Wake up o sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.

Be Still...

The New Year happened. In some ways, I feel like the sprinter on the starting line that did not hear the gun to start the race. I have so many ideas spinning around in my head that sometimes thinking for a long time leaves me tired and I haven't even done anything (in reality).

No resolutions yet, just lots of thoughts: What am I doing with this blog? How should I grow my fitness company? How do I stop the heartache of not being passionate about my "real job". How do I keep up with the fast pace of our family life AND do all the other things that I am doing? How do I become a better wife, mother, and friend?

Let the monkey brain begin , huh?

So, unlike so many times in the past, I am NOT getting busy on trying to answer any of the questions in my head. I am not going to just jump into something for the sake of being busy to distract myself. This time I am going to be still and wait on God to direct me.

Divas, this is hard and really doesn't feel all that great. However, one thing my 38years have taught me is that I tend to go through things more than once. I guess my head is hard. I have been in this place before. In fact, I wrote a poem in May of last year, called Starting Over.

Here is an excerpt that reminded me of what to do:

"With nothing left, I let the Lord take the driver's seat.

Being a passenger meant I didn't get to decide...my destination OR who came along for the ride.

I couldn't break the speed limit to get to the next "bling",riding with the Lord meant sometimes doing nothing.

Nothing was really...Resting.Reflecting.Praying.Healing.Accepting.

After a while, I stopped looking out the window to see where we were going.

Then, I arrived at a new destination with out even knowing.."

I haven't arrived at my new destination yet (I don't think). So, I guess I am in the period of Resting, Reflecting, Praying, Healing and Accepting.

Psalm 46:10 (ASV)
"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

I may be MIA for the next few weeks as I practice being STILL.

This post is part of a weekly meme hosted by Shell at Things I Can't Say called Pour Your Heart Out!

Night Time Routine

The New Year came in with a whiz! So much so that I was TOTALLY UNPREPARED for the restart of school. The girls had been staying up late and sleeping in, all of the extra curricular activities were on break and there was NO HOMEWORK!

When last Tuesday hit, I did not know what was happening to me. I did not plan to fail. I simply FAILED to plan.

So, I am instituting a night time routine! I know I should have already done this but, the truth is sometimes I am so tired that I bargain with myself that getting up earlier in the morning will be the fix! Which we all know IS SO NOT.

Ok, so since I like to KISS (Keep it simple sista), here is my new nightime routine:

1. Pick out clothes and Pack lunches the night before---I KNOW this works but I have just NOT done it for thousands of reasons that sound really good at the time but in reality are just putting off the inevitable.

2. Do a quick 10 mintue clean up---Simple returning things where they go and gathering back packs, hats, coats etc. (Easier said than done, but a Diva gotta do what a Diva gotta do!)

3. DO a mental Dump-I tend to get wired at night when I begin think about all the things that I have to do the next day and over the week ahead. My new trick is going to be writing these things down. I may even log some tasks in my icalendar with reminders!

Proverbs 27:12 The prudent see danger and take refuge,but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

Do you have a night time routine?

New Year-Now What?

So, it is a new year. All around me, everyone is talking about their resolutions. For the first time in YEARS, I have NO idea what my resolutions might be.

I have so many thoughts running around in my head that it makes me tired. What should I do with my blog? What direction should I be going in with my fitness business? Are my priorities in the right place?

Different from other years, I am not going to get busy making plans, I am just going to be still and listen to God's voice.



Romans 12:1-2 The Message

Place Your Life Before God

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Writer's Workshop-Favorite Posts of 2011

Can you believe 2011 is almost a thing of the past? Where has the time gone? Hmmmm?

Periodically, I participate in a weekly writing inspiration meme hosted by Mama Kat! Her Writer's Workshop is often just what the Doctor ordered to help with writer's block! So, this week the prompt I chose was: This year in blog posts...choose a favorite post from each month of 2011 and share. What a wonderful way to reflect over the past year!

Here goes:

January 2011 Word for the Year

February 2011 -What I learned about Husbands!

March 2011- Mama Taught Me Well!

April 2011- It's Official Mommy IS Crazy

May 2011- Starting Over Poem

June 2011-Sisters are Truly Special

July 2011-Ordinary or Popular

August 2011- The Help Movie

September 2011- Dancing in the Rain

October 2011-We Can Do Hard Things

November 2011-Back to the Grind

December 2011-Dealing with Disappointment

Psalm 103:2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;may I never forget the good things he does for me.

Post Holiday Clean-Up

Ahhhhh, Christmas is over! I really enjoyed the wonderful family time and watching my children's excitement but all good things must come to an end. Now for the part I can't stand,----CLEANING UP AFTER THE HOLIDAYS!

Yea, forget Santa coming to town...when will the Clean Up Fairy be arriving at my house?

For some reason, I just don't have the same energy in taking down the decorations and packing them away as I did in putting them up. I also don't have the same zeal in cleaning after the family gathering as I did before.

Let's not even talk about CLEANING UP DE 'OL Diet! (That will be my next post.) :)

What is a Diva to do?

Well, I did a little research and y'all know I like to KISS (keep it simple sista), so here are MY 5 tips for after Christmas clean-up.

1. REFLECT---- So often, I experience something and just move on. Taking the time to reflect on what went well and what I would have liked to see done differently is a skill that is very helpful but one that I majorly UNDERUSE. I found an awesome article on post-holiday clean up on a blog called Organized Christmas. The article contained a great printable called a "post-holiday debriefing". The post-holiday debriefing worksheet is a tool to help you record the highs and lows of the most current holiday and plan for better results next year. LOVE IT!

2. Decoration Removal- Take down Christmas Decorations and put them away. Easy to say but not so easy to do. Some people leave their decorations up well into March simply due to feeling overwhelmed about taking them down. I actually organized my decorations a few years ago so putting them away is a lot easier. Everything is in clear plastic totes! Yea, don't get too excited, the Christmas Decorations are about the only things organized in my home! I found a great article on Christmas Decoration storage.

3. Tackle One Room at a Time--I don't know about y'all but when I am returning things to their proper room, I seem to get sidetracked on what needs to be done in that room instead of staying focused on the room I am working on! Focus Divas!

4. PURGE-When putting away gifts, take notice of over-stuffed drawers and duplicates. If you are not going to use it or wear it and if it doesn't bring you joy.... PURGE IT! Regift, donate, etc.

5. Practice a Mini Osoji- Osoji is the Japanese tradition of thoroughly cleaning homes and businesses before the New Year. The word osoji literally means free and clean. Although the Japanese do a whole lot more than a little straightening, any amount of wiping, sweeping and vacuuming are good things!

I like to think of Osoji more broadly as getting my affairs in order before the New Year. Stuff like clearing up overdue bills, making good on old promises, cleaning up, and prayer time are all great ideas to help me enter the new year ready for whatever awaits me.

Psalm 51:10 KJV
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

What are your post Christmas Clean-UP tips?