Tag: hope

Life

It’s Okay to Cry

Shaun Bradford

Needed this Facebook memory. Last night, I was thinking about my mom and kept saying to myself, “Don’t cry.” I didn’t want to cry. I hate crying about negative things. Now, happy tears, I will cry happy tears all day. However, whenever the tears want to come when I am sad, hurt, heartbroken, frustrated or mad, I try to hold them in. I try to convince myself that I am strong enough to take blows without producing tears. Those tears make me feel weak and vulnerable so I try to hold them in. So, this particular memory I needed to see. I have a lot of built up tears on the inside that I need to release.

Facebook Memory: August 11, 2023

Heartbroken? Disappointed? Feeling BLAH? OR Just need to cry? Listen, do it because life is hard and your tears will NEVER be wasted. They will either water something new, revive something you believed was dying, or cleanse your soul (gem from my 8th grade Spanish teacher☺️). So cry! Believe me, you’ll feel sooo much better afterwards.♥️

I know I’m not the only one who needs a little soul cleansing. So cry. Get it out! Those tears will never be wasted.♥️

Praying you have an absolutely amazing weekend. Love you!♥️

Shaun

Life

Remain Open to Love

Shaun Bradford

Had a dream about turtles last night. Not just one particular kind but several different turtles. Two, in particular, stood out. There was this huge turtle with a turquoise shell with a baby turtle beside them. Then there was this other turtle that I first thought was a new kind lizard. It kept following me in a playful way. Now y’all, I am afraid of lizards but I love turtles. Well, I wasn’t afraid of this particular lizard. I finally turned my attention to it and discovered it wasn’t a lizard but a turtle whose shell had come off. It led me back to its shell and I attempted to put it back on. I taped it together with some clear packing tape and it was happy. Then it really followed me everywhere I went. There was also a tiny snapping turtle in my dream but I ignored it.

Of course I googled the meaning of seeing turtles in a dream but there were so many that I decided to interpret it on my own. Well, this is what came to me while I was attempting to draw a turtle and while this one particular song kept playing over and over in my head. Hadn’t heard it in forever… I Don’t Have the Heart by James Ingram. Talk about weird.

My interpretation:

It’s okay to protect your heart. However, you have to also be open to be loved. You cannot be so protected that you do not let love in. I am now realizing that that particular song is the song that has kept me from letting love in because in my experience, that was how the relationships I wanted always ended. “I care about you but…”. I have to stop assuming my story will always end that way. Guess I will never know if I stay guarded. Time to see what happens…

That’s all I have. Supposed to be getting ready to attend a conference, but know I couldn’t miss a day of sharing. I’m now on day 814, I believe.

Love you!♥️

Shaun

Life

Hmmm…

Shaun Bradford

Have you ever found yourself worried about what others would think if you did XYZ? Even if you don’t want to admit it, you know you have. Well, while you were deep in thought trying make sure whatever you were planning was acceptable or palatable for others, at any moment did you ask yourself, “What will God think?”. Will He approve? Will He disapprove? Will He get the glory?

In my opinion, most of the time we consider God’s thoughts after we have already made our decisions. Although His thoughts do matter to us, we tend to believe He could not possibly understand human affairs. I mean, how could He? Especially in today’s world. So we do our thing and leave Him to handle the spiritual and supernatural stuff.

Question–What would happen if we consulted God first? Would we do what He wanted us to do (y’all remember WWJD)? Or, would we do what we wanted, then ask for forgiveness later?

I believe most of US (because I’m definitely included in this) hear that still small voice saying, “I’m here. My thoughts matter,” and we tune it out until we need help. Just pitiful. Lol

Just thinking: Would a harmonious world be boring? Does conflict keep things interesting? Guess that’s a question only God can answer. Smile. My thought – Conflict is necessary. Who wants to live in a world of Barbies – fabulous movie. Yes, I believe conflict is necessary but should never become violent.

Anyhoo, let me go before I write even more. This Zyrtec is really kicking in.

Love you! Enjoy your day.♥️

Shaun

Life

Pray & Worship

Shaun Bradford

Happy Tuesday!

This morning I visited my Facebook memories for inspiration for today’s blog. Well, I found a lot of inspiration and wanted to share it all but decided to only share a few.

Facebook Memory: August 8, 2022

Caption: Once you experience something, it’s impossible to unexperience it. Your life is forever changed by that experience.

You cannot unknow, unsee, or undo anything that has already happened. All you can do is adjust and move forward. Life…

Facebook Memory: August 8, 2022

Caption: How are you waiting? With or without expectation? You know, “Whatever happens, happens,” OR “I’m expecting exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think.” Me. I’m doing the latter. I’m EXPECTING great things to happen!💃🏽♥️ Today’s 8/8. New day. New week. New beginnings.🌸

Lately, that’s the message I have been seeing everywhere – wait with expectation. Expect great things to happen. Kinda sad though. About two weeks after sharing that post my mom had a stroke and never fully recovered. Whew…

I’m going to end with this video by my fav, Mr. Tyler Perry. The actual Facebook memory from August 8, 2018, was a snippet of the sermon he delivered (yes, he preached – smile), Climb and Maintain.

Climb and maintain means to pray and worship. As we know, life is going to do what it does. No matter what we’re going through we must continue to pray and worship. I know sometimes it’s easier said than done, but it works. Believe me, it has gotten me through some really tough times. Had to make myself do it yesterday and it worked!

This is all I have for you today. Praying you have a wonderful day. Be blessed.♥️

Shaun

Life

Patience

Shaun Bradford

Today’s post is a simple prayer/request:

“Lord, please give me patience.”

Release and breathe…

Today, I’m choosing to let go and let God. Have a blessed day.♥️

Shaun

Life

Hello Sunday

Shaun Bradford

I actually slept all night! Believe I fell asleep around 11 PM and didn’t wake up until 5 AM. I needed the sleep.

Yesterday, one of my friends drove down to have lunch with me and we talked for hours. Y’all, I needed the company. I needed to feel like an individual again. I needed to feel like Shaun again. It felt so good to be able to freely express myself without judgement or tiptoeing around feelings. Grateful for true friendships.

I’m going to leave you with a few gems from August 6th (wish I could share them all):

Facebook Memories

All it takes is ONE.

There’s only ONE you. Chosen.♥️

I have loved basketball for decades (since high school). Went to one BIG3 game and knew I wanted to own a team. Optimistic.😊

Trust God’s plan.

I pray that you have a joyful day. Love you!♥️

Shaun

Life

Present and At Peace

Shaun Bradford

Had forgotten about the theme I had chosen for this year, “Present and at peace.” Life started happening and my focus shifted from drawing from my inner peace to focusing on things happening around me. And about a good 90 percent of those things were someone else’s problems. My daughter says I internalize other people’s problems. She says it’s okay to empathize with them but their problems are theirs. And she’s absolutely right. I’m listening.

So today, I am once again choosing to stay present – only focusing on what’s in front of me – and at peace. Praying you do likewise. Have a wonderful day!♥️ ~Shaun

Staying present isn’t easy but it is so necessary to remain at peace.
Life

I Received My Answer

Shaun Bradford

I’m not sure what’s going on with me waking up around 3:00/3:30 AM nowadays. Like, I’m wide awake. Then around 5:30/6:00 AM, I find myself falling back to sleep. At first it was annoying, but now I just start everything two hours earlier, then take a nap before officially getting up. Anyhoo…

After waking up with Marvin Winans’ song, Draw Me Close to You/Thy Will Be Done, playing over and over in my head, and much needed prayer time with God, I received my answers. I know what’s wrong. Not going to go into details because those revelations were just for me. Now that I understand what the problems are, I can deal with them. Now, how I choose to do it is totally up to me.

Here’s what I’ll call one of the “solutions” to the revelations. Listen, it had me shaking my head and smiling at the same time. Y’all God is so good. It’s an excerpt from one of my journal entries from this date. Debating whether or not to share the entire entry. Will let you know what I actually decided before I hit publish.

Shaun’s Journal Entry: August 4, 2014

So I’ve decided not to fight it any longer. I may as well give in and just let things be. No, I’m not happy, but as I’ve told others many times before, make yourself happy. So life has given me a barrel of lemons & grapefruit. Time to make sour punch (sounds gross huh?). Oh well…

God will work it out. Turn it over to Jesus, he will work it out! He can, he can, work it out. You won’t even have to touch it. Hallelujah!!

Although that entry was about something completely unrelated to what I am currently going through, I believe it was written for this very moment. Nine years ago, God already knew exactly what I would need to get through this time. So yes, I’m smiling and now tearing up. I needed those words of encouragement. I’m turning everything over to God. I won’t have to lift a finger or touch a thing. He will work it out. Amen

By the way, I shared the entire entry. All of it was relevant. I keep telling y’all God loves me. Smiling

Praying you have a blessed weekend. Thanks for reading. Love you!♥️

Shaun

Life

Be Patient

Shaun Bradford

You have seen the vision. Be patient. You are either being prepared or protected. In due season, all things will be revealed.♥️ ~Shaun

You may not understand it today, but you will in time. Delayed is not denied.
Life

Your Blessings Will Find You

Shaun Bradford

Already up reading past journal entries so I may as well write. This particular message is a brief summary of what I wrote eight years ago, August 2, 2015.

Message…

Your blessings will find you. You won’t have to seek them out, God will deliver them to you. Remain faithful.

Eight years ago, I was at one of my lowest points in life. I had recently separated from my ex; car was breaking down every other day; house was going into foreclosure; and I didn’t know if I would get the raise that I so badly needed. That was eight years ago. In that same journal entry I wrote –

“I feel like the world is weighing down on me. This load is very heavy, but I thank God for helping me make it daily. The steps forward are very small, but I do know I’m moving forward.”

Despite what I was going through, I knew deep down I was moving forward. Later on that same evening, I had received an email from the department chair saying that they had petitioned for me to receive an even larger increase in my salary from what we had discussed. I didn’t even have to lift a finger. God intervened on my behalf.

Since then, I have been up and I have been down, but never that far down. Even with setbacks I have constantly moved forward. I was listening to a message yesterday where the young lady said your setbacks have made you stronger. And she was right, each setback did make me stronger. What would’ve taken me out eight years ago seems like child’s play today. God is good!

That’s all for today. I haven’t been drawing like I used to. Feel like I’m running out of flowers to draw. Maybe I need to really focus on drawing one thing and perfecting it. I’ll let you know how that works. Until I draw something new, I will reshare from my Facebook memories. Here’s what I shared last year. Be blessed.♥️ ~ Shaun

Stay focused.