Simply Virtuous

I pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated in Fall of 2006. As we went through a MIP (Member Intake Process) process, I can remember being in a dark room with lite candles. I can remember kneeling in front of a table with items on it. I remember repeating oaths and singing songs. I can remember thinking, "This is demonic" but I brushed the feelings off and counted it toward nerves. A year later I remember someone saying that AKA and other Greek organizations were of the devil. I stood strong on what I knew and said it was a lie. I said, we pray and mention the name of Jesus in oaths so that's not true. Almost a year later from that time, my LS called me and said, "Did we sell our souls to the devil?" She stated that she read some things online and saw a YouTube video that talked about Greek symbols and how the Greek organizations are a trick of the devil. In the YouTube video it talked about Greeks and Idol worship. I told her I heard the same thing and I...

On April 8, 2012 an amazing man of God proposed to me in front of church. So, the next thing was planning a wedding. We didn’t want a long engagement so the date was set for May 12, 2012. That meant I had to get wedding together in 5 weeks. Wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses tuxedos hair, shoes, receptions, decorations, cake, invitations, programs, music, etc. The list went on and on. Everyday was consumed with running this way and that way. Everything came together beautifully. My wedding day was spent getting ready for my future husband. My hair had to look just right, my dress had to fit just right (no spots or wrinkles) my veil had to lay just right. I even made sure that my dress was handled with care so that nothing would happen to it. However, the preparations for my wedding were so stressful and I was so tired, I even cried and got upset. None of those things matter when the double doors opened and I saw my groom waiting at the end of the aisle with a smile. The thought came ...

In my past I often had a pork and beans relationship. My pork and bean relationship were those guys who were cool to hang out with but not what I wanted. They were those guys who had some qualities I wanted in a husband but not everything. However, I think those guys were actually comfortable being just pork and beans. It wasn’t the best relationship but it was better than a baloney sandwich and I wasn’t starving but I have to admit I wasn’t satisfied. The pork and beans guys caused many tears, scars and heartbreak. The pork and bean relationships sometimes were seasoned differently or had more pork in it but at the end of the day it still was pork and beans. The sad part was I knew I wanted a full course steak meal. I knew actually what I wanted for a husband but I was so scared to let the pork and beans go because I didn’t know what my next meal would be. But God… One day I got fed up with the Pork and beans meals and said, “I rather starve and be in God’s will than continue eating t...

It’s my favorite time of the year, its spring time!!! I just love the scenery. The flowers, the baby animals, the beautiful shades of green, the weather, flying kites, blowing bubbles, the time change, I JUST LOVE SPRING!!! One thing my family does often in the spring is yard work. (Now that’s one thing I am NOT a fan of.) We have to rake all the dead leaves up, tare all the vines off the fence, pull up all the weeds in the flower bed, over turn and up root the dirt in the flower bed, mow the lawn, and plant seeds and new flowers in the flower bed. This is a very hard job and of course I try to get out of it. LOL. However, it must be done to keep the property looking nice. Unfortunately, we spend almost two Saturday’s doing the job and of course maybe a week or two later we go back out for maintenance. No matter how long we take to do yard work we still have to maintain the yard by mowing the lawn, watering the flowers, and pulling up weeds. As, Christian’s after we initially do the ha...

This morning when I pulled into the parking lot at work I was so happy to see a couple of empty spots in the second row. I pulled right up and started to put my car in park until I glanced to my left, to my surprise there was an empty parking spot in the first row right next to the handicap spots. I was so excited and drove my little car right on in it. J As I put the car in park I began to think that if I would’ve settled for the parking spot in the second row I would have missed out on my blessing for the parking spot in the first row. Often times with things in our lives we settle for a second row parking spot. We settle for something that is comfortable and simple but we often miss out of that first row spot. When I told my story I forgot to mention that I almost settle for that second row spot. I thought to myself that this spot is a cool spot and it’s still closer than the third and fourth row spot. I almost cheated myself out of a blessing because I was willing to settle. God wa...

Today’s Challenge: Pray for our youth. I was sitting in my car during my lunch and had a strong feeling of sadness for our youth. Many times we walk through the mall or drive down the street and we see our youth doing, saying or wearing things that are distasteful. We shake our heads and may say “what is this world coming to? or "That's ashame” When we turn on the news there are more young people dying than adults... But do we ever pray for them? Do we ever stop and say a prayer for that individual? Sad to say it but I’ve shaken my head or said things negative about what I’ve seen too and I was slow to say a prayer for them. Today and here on out let us cry out to God and pray for our youth because they desperately need it… Our youth need God's presence in thier life.

Today’s Challenge: Tell someone something that the Lord has done for you. Sometimes we get in the habit of talking to others about the negative things in our life. Today and from here on out let’s try to talk more about the goodness of Jesus. We need to tell more about how he saved us, how he changed our lives, how he made a way out of no way, how he is just good just because he went to the cross for you and me. This is a great opportunity to brag on God and to also lead people to Christ.

As I looked up the definition of Trust I came across a great definition. Dictionary.com defines trust as reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence: a person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust. One thing that stood out to me is confidence. Sooooo, I looked up the word confidence and it’s defined as full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing. In both of these definitions the words strength, ability, surety, trustworthy, rely, integrity are strong words that do not indicate weakness or worry. When you sit in a chair do you first exam it, look under the seat to make sure it will hold you up, or do you just sit down knowing that it will hold you up. We should trust God in that same way we should just know that God will provide for us or will fix a situation without constantly messing with the situation. As I sit and think about trusting God I go back to a time in college when I...

I've been a little under the weather... I will be posting soon!!! God bless!!!

Matthew 19: 16-23 talks about a rich young ruler. The rich young ruler was so excited about Jesus and wanted to know what he could do to obtain eternal life. When Jesus instructed him to keep his commandants the young ruler was happy to reply that he kept all the commandants since he was little. Than Jesus told the rich young ruler to sale all his riches and give it to the poor. Jesus told him if he did he would have treasures in heaven and he would be able to follow Jesus. Unfortunately, the rich young ruler was not happy about the last part of the statement because he had a lot of money. The rich young ruler walked away very sad. When I look at the rich young ruler, I think of myself. Last year I started to change my life around. I wasn’t sure about everything I needed to do to get right but I was determined to do it. I began to pray and ask God about it and he gave me my answer. But it was up to me to follow his instructions. I was stubborn about a few things because I was so stuck...

Today’s Challenge: Let loose and cry out to God. Today I encourage you to take some time today and get in a quiet place. Once you find a quiet place start praying and don’t hold back. Don’t worry about anything but focus all your energy on God. CRY OUT to him!!! Let loose and don’t worry about being too loud or about the way you look (after all you are by yourself). Seek God for an experience of his presence. (I can remember before I was saved, I would look at people in the church and wonder how they were able to let loose and pray. I wonder how they could just ignore everything around them and praise God without caring what people thought. I tried it last year for the first time. I just Cried Out to God in desperation to live right. The tears rolled down my cheeks, my nose was running, my face was probably red, my voice was cracking but I didn’t care I wanted the experience. And I got it… it was an experience like no other!!!) WARNING: You will only get out what you put in. So DON’T H...

Often times in situations such as disagreement/arguments or when things didn’t go my way in the pass I would play the victim. I would automatically get in my feelings, get an attitude and choose to respond to the situation as if everyone was out to get me. Often times I would rehearse in my head how I would respond to that person the next time we would speak. Or I would dwell on whatever didn’t go my way and go around with my lips poked out and had an attitude with everyone. Lately, God has brought this to my attention. Basically he told me,”STOP PLAYING THE VICTIM!!!” It so easy to throw myself Pity Party and of course I was VIP. I never looked at the situation from the other person’s point of view and most importantly I never looked at the situation from God’s point of view. When I started looking at the situation from the other person point of view I notice that I looked at the person and their background. I also ask myself, “Is there something I’m doing or how I’m responding that ...

Today’s Challenge: Mend a broken relationship. Take time to think of a relationship you had with someone that’s been on the rocks and think of some ways you can fix it. It doesn’t matter if it was your fault or theirs that caused it to go bad but do your part to fix it. It’s a slow process and it may not work the first time that you try to reach out to them but try again. Just keep in mind when God reached out to you, you didn’t listen the first, second or third time but he continue to give it another chance. The challenge is to try and don’t give up the first time!!! You never know that by you reaching out to them you could lead them to Christ. Have a bless day!!!

Today’s Challenge: I woke up with conviction this morning. I felt like I needed to take my relationship with God to another level. Often times I find myself on fire for God and doing everything I can to spend time with him. Other times I feel like I am going through the motions (I really hate when I feel this way). So, today’s challenge is to examine yourself. Pray and ask God to remove those things that are not pleasing to him out of your life. Ask him to purge you of any behaviors or conversations that are not like him. Then alter your daily routines to include more time with God. One thing that I need to work on is my prayer time. Sometimes I can get so engaged with my surroundings and irrelevant stuff that mind seems to wonder when I talk with God. This is something I will work on and it WILL change. Have a Bless Day!!!

Have you ever been out shopping or grabbing a bite to eat and you hear someone cursing? I mean every word out of their mouth is a four letter curse word. I was that person almost every word out of my mouth was a curse word. I called my friends female dogs and would let the f word slip all the time. Oh, and don’t let me be upset, the curse words came flowing out of my mouth like a river. . Sometimes they would even slip at church while I would whisper to a friend. (Of course I felt bad when I did it at church). Smh, yes I was that person who didn’t care what people thought about me when I used those words. BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEP this and BLANK, BLANK that… was the extent of my vocabulary. When I started changing my life around I wanted to stop cursing. Oh man was it hard as ever! I would do okay until I became relaxed in a conversation and BOOM a curse word. I would immediately ask God to forgive. Then I thought I was getting better until I went to kickball practice and BOOM another curs...

Many people are labeled or called “Fake” daily. Some people describe being “Fake” as a person that will smile in your face or be friends with you one moment then behind your back talk about you. Some would describe a “Fake” person as a person who pretends to be one way and acts another way in front of different people. I agree with both. Being “Fake” is most defiantly frowned upon and not socially accepted. As I searched for a deeper understanding of “Fake”, I began to look at it in a different way. A person can also be “Fake” towards God. Being “Fake” towards God is saying, “I am a Christian.” But you don’t act like one. Being “Fake” toward God, is when you go to church on Sunday and praise God but the rest of the week you give him no thought. Being “Fake” towards God is when you only call on him when you are in trouble or need something. (There are plenty more examples but you get the point.) I am sad to say that I was being “FAKE” as well. I would go to church on Sunday and clap my...

Today's challenge: Today is Valentine's Day and today is not only for couples but for others too...Today I challenge you to show someone that they are appreciated by giving them a card, candy, words of encouragement or a sweet note... You don't have to be in a relationship to show love... Also, read John 3:16 this is an example of TRUE LOVE!!! Have a Bless Day!!!

Lately I’ve been praying that God will give me patience’s for people and situations in my life. I prayed that I could be patient with others and situations like he was patient with me while I was walking in darkness. I am praying for patience’s because I am going through a big test in my life. It seems like everything is not going my way. This is kind of hard for me because I was use to getting what I wanted quickly. I must say that this test is very difficult for me because I am being tested in more than one area in my life. Sometimes I am able to brush off the disappointments and other times I began to get discourage but I know that I must keep the faith. During it all I am continually reminded of Job in the bible. How everything was taken from him in one day kids, cattle, land, health, house etc. But yet he said, “And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Job 1:2...

Today’s Challenge: Give up something for an hour. Example- give up checking your Facebook or watching your favorite television show. During this time spend time praying and reading the bible. Sometimes we seek God for things but we are not willing to give up things for him. Have a Bless day!!!

Today's Challenge: Have a lunch break with Jesus... Take ten/fifteen mintues out of your lunch break and have a little talk with Jesus. Read a scripture and give him praise for everything he has done for you. Remember Jesus love's you!!!