Love this combo! For more maxi skirt ideas check out some of her other posts on http://instagram.com/stylepantry
http://www.acfitnessforwomen.com -
HUGE Thanks to AC Fitness for Women in Columbus, GA for allowing Virtuous Daughters to place a donation bucket at their gym, this will help us reach even more young ladies in the community!
strawberries, blueberries, banana, lots of spinach, ground flax and chia seeds= YUM!
So here I am taking a moment to write down some of my thoughts about the last month or so. Truly God has blessed me in amazing ways…I finally got my car fixed and it cost much less than estimated (where they do that at!??) and God is taking me on this natural journey.
For those who may not know, I recently cut off the remaining relaxed ends to become fully natural. I am enjoying my naturally curly/coily hair. I actually LOVE IT!! But I am also learning something about “clean eating” which basically means getting back to more “naturally” whole foods. Foods that are not altered at all by the hands of man. This is important for me because I have been battling adult acne for almost 8 years now and its not fun. I am tired of it and the visits to the dermo, and not really getting long lasting results. So currently I am blending up some green smoothies and will soon venture into juicing! This is spiritual as well as physical. Often in the bible we are told to put away the things of this world. And you know what? I know it will be hard at times but I don’t need to eat a burger every weekend to be happy and I don’t need to have sweets or pizza either. I will live without those things. They tempt the flesh but are not good for the body…think about that. Sin is really the same way. Don’t wait to you get cancer or have bumpface like me to change your lifestyle! BE STRONGER THAN YOUR FLESHLY MIND!
“‘Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence’” — Psalm 42:5
Something that my mother always told us and that means more to me today than it ever did is:
“Where there is a will, there is a way.”
It means that if we are determined to acheive something there is nothing that can stop us. No interference, no delays, no obstacles, no “haters”, no devil in hell…perioid.
It does not mean that we have all power and we don’t need God. It is not meant to glorify the human power of “will.” Our “will” is only as strong as our spirit and our spirits are weak/incomplete, without God. Satan often times provides a substitiute or mimic of God’s spirit (you see this in drug users, heavy metal addicts, and the obsession with “Eros” love.) but in the words of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell “ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby.”
So whatever obstacle you face, arm yourself with the will He has blessed you with. You get this by being filled with His Spirit (Acts 2) and continuing to feed yourself with His Word.
Never give up!!
Its a new year and I know many people want to lose that weight and they ask me about my own “dieting” habits. Today, I got several compliments on my skirt and I realized I’ve had this particular skirt for about 10 years. Its more than me just being “naturally thin” (or the fact I treat my clothes as good as a department store) if I ate the way most people do, as I approach the big 30 I would spread like everyone else.
Here are some of my tips:
TIP # 1 DRINK WATER INSTEAD OF POP (UHHH SODA)!! REMEMBER GOD MADE WATER NOT PEPSI!!!
Think about it like this: Jesus turned WATER into wine, He doesn’t turn wine into water, LOL!!! Once that black sugar juice enters your body, its gonna stay black sugar juice, friend.
Now to be fair, I had to learn to drink water due to being prone to dehydration which led to other medical problems. But trust me the more you drink the more you like it. It feels so…natural!
Help Virtuous Daughers While Shopping!
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New Years Prayer 2013: Father, yet another year is upon us. Father I want to pray for all those who you have called and chosen to be Your own. Through the trails we face still help us carry a new perspective of it into the new year. I declare this is a year of obedience to Your will and not our own will. Not just in denial of sinful pleasures but also our will in Your Church like lethargy, self-righteousness and legalism: a.k.a. “churchiness”. Yes, its Your Church and not ours. Therefore God, I pray you reign in the atmosphere of our every breath, teach us to represent You and not ourselves. Teach us how to live as you have designed, each one of us with unique purpose. Help our faith God, I declare victory to manifest in the physical this year as You will it! And Your strength to help us endure until the end!
Purpose, a powerful concept that can change many lives, Father, help us to find your lost sheep, who have been brainwashed, lied to, and deceived. Help us have compassion, understanding, patience and wisdom to save more than a few. And Lord I pray for the sinner’s heart to be open, to be broken. Open the eyes of the blind, raise the dead once again Jesus! Help them to see that the world they depend on and idolize so much will only betray them in the end. Like the flames that devoured so many Idol worshipers in the past, not by coercion but by choice they passed themselves and their children in sacrifice to false idols. Open their eyes Lords and help them escape death.
As we walk in obedience and love, change our homes, our churches, our cities, and yes, our nation, and the world. In the Powerful Name of Yeshua, at which all demons tremble! Amen!!
” —Prayer for 2013
Desiree
I know it has been far too long since my last blog. I recently failed an examination that cost me upward of $260. This is what brings my pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) :-).
We all want hope and change. And I was hoping that getting my license would bring the change I needed to alleviate some of the distress financially and professionaly. I am currently in a position that does not satisfy nor do a whole a lot of good. Now to most lay people, what I do is great! And “much needed” but what people don’t know is that most government programs skim the surface and “half-ass” do things. Just enough to get by and get paid. But in our society that sort of mediocrity is praised. Good enough is just enough “good” to look good.
Well, as an avid student of His Word. I know that my God doesn’t half-ass do anything. His work in wholesome, complete, and very effective. I wish that I could spend 40 hours a week learning how His way works instead of man’s way.
So anyways, with so much riding on this hope of passing I failed the examination (by 1 point no less) and at first I wanted to be strong and positive. But soon I found myself sulking, and wishing I could turn back time. Why just by one point? Why despite the prayers of family and friends, did I still fail, by just one point? Why later? Why not now? I don’t understand. I feel like I needed God’s help and He didn’t help me. I always think, well this is a test, but to test what? Why do I keep being tested and denied the change I need in my life?
Melancholy right? Ha! Well, after I calmed myself down and reprimanded my thoughts. I opened my heart to receive an answer or at the least some comfort. That’s when God steps right in, no delays. The daily devotional I received this morning was about “Self-Denial.” It spoke about how God works through paradox (such as joy through pain). The writer said we ”must deny ourselves to be filled and lower ourselves to be lifted.” It spoke to me and made me cry much needed tears. What is self-denial? Its easy to be focused on what you want and get angry/upset when you don’t get it but there is a lesson to be learned in the the denial of self. One such lesson is humility and then there is also pateince.
If God keeps testing your pateince its because you haven’t gotten to a level that is pleasing. I examined my attitude this morning and I went through a specturm of emotions including sorrow and anger. This made me consider this: here is a wonderful opportunity to learn how I respond to grave disappointment and uncover some deep-seated beliefs that I didn’t even know I had. It forced me to face this side of me. I’m now a better person than I was yesterday. So what I hope you do, is next time someone let’s you down, or you don’t get your way, or your hopes are crushed you walk out of self for a minute. Become a third party observer. Anaylize yourself. What are your automatic reactions and thoughts? How rational or negative are those thoughts? What assumptions about God or yourself do you make right away? Do you get angry? Do you feel worthless? If you are humble at first, how do you feel later? Usually if your true thoughts surface one way or another.
Disappointment sucks. Failure hurts! But your reactions to this can define whether your ready for the next stage in your life or will you get stuck? What sort of things get us stuck?
I don’t want to be those things anymore and I hope you also pray this prayer with me:
Lord, you are absoultely soveriegn and a loving God. Too often the rough edges of life challenge our deepest held beliefs but without these challenges faith would not be necessary. Lord I pray that You teach me to deal with this disappointment as a child of God should. As your called and anointed I want to learn to humbly find my way in spite of challenges, not gawk at challenge or shy way from defeat or rejection. I’m not looking for the easy road but I am asking that You keep me close during this journey and place me under the “shadow of your wings” because it is Your divine purpose that makes me whole.
I pray these words bring you comfort:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV