Woke up with the thought, “Handle with Care,” on my mind. When you handle something with care, you don’t just treat it any kind of way. You hold it as a gift, a treasure.
I know it’s the end of the year, but the next few months are a preface to the year to come. So it makes perfect sense that I set and implement my theme now—
“Handle Me with Care.”
Whoever enters my life, as well as those already here, must handle me with care. No, I’m not fragile—I’m rare and priceless. I am One of One.💎
I’m God’s Child
Listen, know your worth and make sure you’re treated accordingly. You’re not asking for too much to be treated with exceptional love, kindness, and respect.
I pray you have a wonderful day and the most beautiful weekend! May it be filled with lots of love, joy, and happiness.♥️
This morning’s song is Elevation Worship’s song, “Worthy.” The song says—
Worthy is Your name, Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is Your name Worthy is Your name, Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is Your name
First, all praises to God for His love, mercy, and grace. Where would we be without Him?
Second, worthy is the name of Jesus. Much too often, we as Christians leave him out of the equation. We rarely say his name. Did we forget he’s the “Christ” in Christian? Not sure how we got here, but here we are. The name Jesus should never cause us shame or shame anyone, and it should never be used to condemn. When people hear the name Jesus, they should immediately think of love, peace, and humility. If not, then we’re not doing a good job representing him. I hear you saying you represent a higher power. You represent God. But how can you represent God and not honor His Son?
If no one else does better, I must do better because worthy is the name of Jesus. Amen
This is all for now. I pray you have a beautifully blessed day. May it be filled with love, peace, and joy.♥️
For years now, I have had LaShaundreaB’s Wellness Wednesdays on my calendar; however, I seldom take my wellness day. Well, today, I can’t take the full day, but I plan to take at least half the day to focus on my wellbeing. Yay Me!
Anyhoo… Back to the song of the hour. The song that I’m singing this morning is Yolanda Adams’ song “I’m Gonna Be Ready.” The song says—
I say a prayer every night Whatever I do, I’ll get it right With no regret, no guilt or shame this time No not this time
Once I surrender, I won’t dare look back ‘Cause if I do, I’ll get off track Move ahead in faith, and patiently await your answer What will it be?
Sight beyond what I see You know what’s best for me Prepare my mind, prepare my heart For whatever comes, I’m gon’ be ready Strength to pass any test I feel like I’m so blessed With you in control, I can’t go wrong ‘Cause I always know, I’m gonna be ready…
Y’all, God has been so good to me. I’m so thankful for sooooo many chances to get this thing called life right. I’m finally at the stage in life where I’m moving without regret, guilt, or shame—all three!
I’m so looking forward to where this next stage of my life will take me now that I’m truly committed to taking care of myself first. I know I’ve been stressing this a lot lately, and I wish that I could fully explain what this means to me. Maybe one day I’ll be able to find the words. Just know that I’ve reached another level of freedom that I never imagined possible.
Feeling grateful and blessed.
This is all for now. Remember to take care of yourself, because when it’s all said and done, besides God, you’re truly all you’ve got! Others can only do so much. The rest is on you.
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the past post below. It’s a reminder to LIVE!
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve always had to make an effort to put myself first. It never came naturally. One call, one sound, or one look of despair, and I’d drop everything to tend to someone else’s needs. But not anymore. I believe that last conversation with my daughter finally got my attention. She told me that I needed to focus on me, and only me. She was right. My mom’s gone; she and my son are grown; my dad and stepmom have each other; my siblings have their spouses and family; it’s just me! For the first time in my life, I’m solo.
Here’s the post I shared three years ago, when I was a new 50 year old.
You better live! Life isn’t slowing down or waiting for you to catch up. Stop putting everyone else first like they’re more important than you. Listen… and hear me good… No one is more important or more valuable than you are. No one! You’re not being selfish, self-centered or inconsiderate. Nah… You’re just recognizing your worth. Now it’s time you start living in it. Love you!♥️ ~Shaun
So far, it’s been a week since I made a conscious effort to prioritize myself and my needs. Seeing this message today confirms and encourages me to keep moving in this direction. Not sure where it’s leading me; however, I’m looking forward to meeting the woman I’m becoming. The woman God predestined me to be.
Shaun, I got you girl!😘
Just a little self-love this morning. Smile
This message is also your reminder that you matter and must take care of yourself first. Take care of YOU before you pour into others.
Where you begin rarely looks like what you envisioned. Give yourself space, time and grace to grow. Don’t give up. You’ll get there!♥️
Recently, I decided to prioritize myself and my needs first. In doing so, one of my goals is to get 5-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Right now, it’s about 3-4 hours. When I wake up, I usually stay awake for 1-2 hours before falling back asleep. Then, I only sleep for another 30 minutes to an hour.
Y’all, this new self-focused version of me is something I must be intentional about working on because it’s definitely not something that is happening naturally.
Yes, growth is a process.
This is all for now. I pray you have a wonderful weekend. May it be filled with lots of love, laughter, peace, and joy.♥️
Last night I decided to start reposting on Substack (Shaun Inspires). Thought I’d give it another try. Hadn’t realized I made so many posts before I abandoned it. I was struggling with figuring out how to connect. Today, I’m not too much concerned about connecting. I’m at a point in life where I just want future generations to know I existed and that I held a space in this point in time.
Yes.
I’m here.
I exist.
Feeling like Miss Celie from The Color Purple— “Dear God, I’m here!”
Blessed to be in this space in time. Taking nothing for granted. Purposefully and intentionally setting out to do something new for ME.🥰
I pray you have a wonderful month. May it be filled with lots of love, joy, peace, and happiness.♥️
Stopping to say, Thank You, God. Thank You, for being You.
Be sure to take a moment to thank God for everything He’s done and is doing in your life. The things you know about and those you don’t. Thank Him for His love, mercy, and grace. For His kindness, covering, and protection. Amen
Y’all, I have gotten more rest in one day than I have this entire year! No joke. On Monday, I accepted that I must put myself first—not second or third, but FIRST! I am my only priority. Then, yesterday, I rested. And not like I had been resting before. Nothing like what I’ve done previously. I’m laughing because I actually cleaned my house and did laundry. The rest I needed wasn’t physical; it was mental. I needed to rest my mind. I didn’t listen to any podcasts, or watch any spiritual or motivational videos. I put on a random show, downloaded a random game on my phone, and did housework in between playing the game and watching the show. I also responded to a few emails. But I didn’t even check my email until sometime yesterday afternoon. Oh! And I also said a few no’s. No’s without the guilt—the guilt I would typically place on myself.
Yesterday, I broke free from the box I’d put myself in. Sometimes, we create our own stress—lol, and I was definitely creating some of mine.
Yesss… yesterday, I set myself FREE!
Here’s to me doing better and being better, because I matter to ME!🎉
By the way, I retired my “Quote of the Day” posts. There’s still a quote, but it’s now part of my daily inspiration message.
This is all for now. I pray you have a wonderful Wednesday. May it be filled with lots of love and peace.♥️
YOU are your priority. Not another task. Not another goal. Not another mission. Not another person. YOU, my friend, are your only priority. Everything else is secondary.
My kids have been telling me for the longest that I am my only priority. The last time my daughter was here, she kindly told me that although she’s glad I still consider her and my son when making decisions, they should no longer be a factor in whatever I choose to do. She said that I need to reimagine my life not centered around them.
So what did I do? I started taking on tasks and putting other people’s needs, goals, and interests before my own. Not like I hadn’t been doing it before. Smile. But yesterday was my breaking point.
Yesterday, by noon, I had become so overwhelmed by everything I had taken on that I could literally feel my blood pressure rising—plus I was having hot flashes like CRAZY! Y’all, hot flashes are no joke!! Then, yesterday evening, I saw a post about one of my step-cousins passing from an apparent stroke. He was only a year younger than me.
After finally taking time to sit and breathe, I remembered what my daughter said, I am my only priority.
Today, I need to focus only on myself and what I want to achieve. I live to help and be there for others, but who’s here for me? Who’s helping me? Umm… no one besides ME! So I need to make sure I put myself first and do it daily, not just today. I’m not being selfish. I just want to live a long, healthy life. I have at least 50 more years of life to live.😊
This is all I have for now. Thanks for allowing me to share/ramble. I pray you have a beautifully blessed day!♥️
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