Who Am I To Be??? - My Mind Is Even More Beautiful

Recently I began blogging on identity formation, particularly among young women. Check out some of my thoughts and tell me what you think.

Who Am I To Be??? - My Mind Is Even More Beautiful

The Journey Continues

Republished from Fall 2010 issue of Joshua's Journal- A Reid Temple AME Church Publication from the Commission on Public Relations (pp. 22-24) (http://www.reidtemple.org/)

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers [and Sisters,] I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:12-14
New International Version

This Fall, my daughter Zuri and I bid a fond farewell to our Reid Temple family to relocate to Evanston, IL. There I will begin studies towards the completion of the PhD in Theological, Ethical and Historical Studies at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary on the campus of Northwestern University. 

Know Who You Are

“When you know who you are, you don’t have to live down to who other people want you to be.”~ Rev. Dr. Rudolph McKissick, Jr. (Hampton Minister’s Conference 2010)

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. (Romans 12:3 NIV)

While listening to the comments and backlash from General McChrystal’s recent commentary in the upcoming Rolling Stones article I was pulled out of a writing slumber to share some thoughts on the need for us to know who we are.

Called away from the acquisition of more "stuff."

So often in life we look at what our friends and even sometimes our enemies have and become envious and jealous. We want to have a better car than our neighbor, we want better jobs than our peers, and we strive for greater material gain as evidence of “arriving.” And while some of it is human nature to strive to be the best, at a point there must be a limit. We cannot be so consumed with possessing what our neighbors have, or what are friends are capable of accomplishing that it becomes our raison d’etre. God gifts every woman and man according to God’s own will and purposes.

"It's Been A Long Time. . . I Shouldna Left You. . ."

Apparently the best way to be delivered from writer's block and blog silence is to be forced into a two day hostage situation with an almost two year old completely bent on commandeering the cable and subjecting you to countless episodes of Special Agent Oso, Dora the Explorer and other preschool favorites. So it happened on Sunday February 7, 2010 at 11:45pm that I realized it's been close to six months since I said anything official in cyberspace; to think there are readers actually missing my commentary is probably far too presumptuous. Nevertheless, for those of for whom this is a reality. . . read on.

In the words of the all too familiar Timbaland's intro to the late Aaliyah's "Try Again" song, it has been a LONG time and possibly I should not have left readers, but take note that I'm back!


Every once and awhile it's important to take a step back from what's comfortable, common and convenient and really seek out that which is the calling. This is what I've been doing over the last year.
Amidst Saints winning, snow trapping and almost two year old entertaining I regained my sense of focus. For the last two years I've gone through an amazing journey of self-rediscovery. I've started taking more risks (some probably think this is a terrible idea!) and am learning that naysayers are often fueled by their own personal angst and doubts. So beginning today, fueled by the belief that God has purposed my fearlessness for a reason :), I pledge to blog a few times a week... Well, at least I PLAN to!

I've been coming to grips with being a single mother in ministry. I've been coming to terms with how to live out who I am and how not to focus too much on who others want me to be or even who I envision myself to be. Along this path of rediscovery I've been blessed to have some inspiring people in my circle to encourage me to regain my focus, but above all, the power of the Holy Spirit has poured into me a new level of understanding that although this may be my journey, it's really not about me. . .

So in the coming weeks I will be blogging about this process and how God has begun a new work in me. I pray you may follow along with me in this process and that you too may find some support for your own soul.