Tag: Wednesday

Life

Wednesday Writings

Shaun Bradford

Happy Wednesday! Today’s blog is coming from a place of worship. Since Monday, the song I Do Worship by John P. Kee has been on repeat in my head. It’s like lately my soul has been in this constant state of worship. Which is beautiful because I used to think it was impossible, at least for me. I remember my great, great grandma humming songs of praise throughout her day as she did her daily tasks. Which I found amusing because the only time I remember her going to church was for funerals. Yet she hummed songs of praise throughout the day. Today I realize it’s not about how often you go to church or how religious you are that defines your relationship with God. It’s about your personal connection with Him. And y’all, I’m so grateful for my relationship with Him.

For those who are familiar with Christianity, I got saved (accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior) when I was 8 years old. When I did, I took my relationship with God very seriously. Over the past 40 years, the amount of time I have spent in God’s presence has fluctuated; however, there’s never been a time that I haven’t acknowledged Him, even before I got saved. With this said, the relationship I have with Him today is truly indescribable. Y’all, I really wish I could give you a glimpse of the way He loves me. Forever humbled and grateful. I’m truly blessed.

Before I go, I’m going to leave you with the lyrics from I Do Worship.

I Do Worship
John P. Kee & The New Life Community Choir
Source: LyricFind

I do worship, I do worship
I do worship You
I do worship, I do worship
I do worship You

For Your goodness and Your glory
For the joy inside Your story
I do worship You

Oh, how excellent is Your presence
We will bless Your name
For Your goodness and Your glory
For the joy inside Your story

For the peace You gave to me
For the day You set me, set me free

For Your goodness and Your glory
For the joy inside Your story

I do worship, I do worship
I do worship, I do worship
I do worship, I do worship
I do worship, I do worship
You

For Your goodness and Your glory
For Your goodness and Your glory
Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah

He’s so faithful, He’s so faithful
He’s so faithful, He’s so faithful
Yes, He is, Yes, He is, Yes, He is, Yes

Lord, I love You, Lord, I love You
Lord, I love You, Lord, I love You

Wishing you an amazing Wednesday!

Shaun

Life

Wednesday Writings

Shaun Bradford

You cannot be who you’re going to be and who you used to be, at the same time.

Bishop T.D. Jakes

I shared this quote six years ago. Today, I feel like I’m finally living in the space of where I’m meant to be as well as becoming the woman I’m meant to become. It’s taken me a while to get here. HA! Almost half a century! (Smiling) But I’m here.

Yes.. I am here!

Okay, let me stop and give myself roses for making it thus far because I absolutely deserve them.

You see, I’m so proud of myself for not giving up when times got hard. Oooo.. if you only knew how many times I just wanted to give up and settle where I was. I’m also proud of myself for rolling with the punches. Whew! I’ve taken so many hits over the years– disappointments, heartaches, heartbreaks and losses. Sometimes I stumbled. Sometimes I fell. However, through the grace and strength of God (all Him) I always managed to bounce back stronger than ever. Yes, you best believe I’m resilient!

Lastly, but most importantly, I’m so proud of my relationship with God. Y’all, for as far back as 5 or 6 years old, I have always acknowledged God’s presence in my life. I love my relationship with Him and I love where He’s taking me. Even though I can’t see the entire picture, I can look back over my life and see where I’ve been compared to where I am now, and know my future will be great. Y’all, I’m truly blessed.

So, to refer back to the quote. No, I cannot be who I used to be and who I’m going to be, at the same time. Wouldn’t be honoring God if I did. It’s called–

Maturing

Growing

Evolving

Becoming Me

Thanks for reading and following my journey to becoming the person God’s called me to be. Enjoy your day!

Shaun

Life

Wednesday Writings

Shaun Bradford

Hello June! Oh how I’ve missed you.

Y’all, it’s my birthday month and the final year of my 40s. All I can say is, WHAT A RIDE! Y’all, if my 40s were a movie, it would win Oscars in multiple categories. Like.. for real! Talk about one wonderfully, crazy decade! If someone would have told me my 40s were going to be wild, I would’ve laughed my head off – “Quit playing!”

So, I always set a theme for my birthday year. This past year I focused on embracing my freedom. This next year it’s Smooth Sailing. I just want to lay back, relax, create and let the gentle waves take me wherever they please. Whatever blessings come my way, I’m grasping them without overthinking. And the troubles I encounter.. HA! I’m handing those over to God.

Yep.. Smooth Sailing.

Well, I still have a little over three weeks to build up to the big event. Today I’m celebrating with a road trip and lunch– both work related but I’m going to celebrate like this event was planned in my honor. Then tonight I’m going to chat with a few sistas as we watch our favorite show, Tyler Perry’s Sistas. Yep.. the second half of Season 4 returns tonight! What a way to kick off my celebration!

Anyhoo.. let me publish this so I can get on the road. Enjoy your Wednesday!

Shaun

Life

Moment of Silence

Shaun Bradford

Today I would like to ask you to take a moment of silence to remember those who have recently lost their lives to mass shootings in the United States (May 14 – 24, 2022):

Buffalo, New York (Supermarket)
May 14, 2022
10 lives taken

Laguna Woods, California (Church)
May 15, 2022
1 life taken

Uvalde, Texas (Elementary School)
May 24, 2022
21 lives taken

Prayers for their loved ones who are heartbroken and confused. Prayers for those who are saddened, hurt and angered by those who fail to recognize and address the racial and ethnical issues we have in the U.S.; as well as the gun violence that continues to plague the United States. As much as I desire to see the good in everyone, I’m actually beginning to believe that some people are incapable of love, empathy and compassion. Because if they were, they would care more about lives than their agendas.

I have to remain hopeful or I will become like them.

Shaun

Life

Wednesday Writings

Shaun Bradford

Disclaimer: I have decided to publish the unedited draft of this blog. Not going to change a thing. Talk about completely random! Laughing. Y’all, I’m so fascinated by how the mind works.. how my mind works. Yes, today I’m going to let it be. So, two, 10 or even 30 years from now, I’ll smile when I re-read it. I’ll definitely cringe too. But I’ll smile and say, “That was me. This is me. I love you, Shaun.”

Hello! And Happy Wednesday!

Today is another random blog. Was reading journal entries from 1992 and decided to write about those writings.

On May 20, 1992, I wrote, “Love is so powerful and strong, but when it’s one sided, it’s not so great.” I was 18 years old. Two weeks from enlisting in the Air Force and a little over a month from my 19th birthday. And I was in love. Well.. at least I believed I was.

His name was Will. I usually don’t include names but hey, it’s been 30 years. Yes, Will was his name and I was in “love.” Looking back, what did I really know about love besides what I saw in movies and read in novels. I had to be in love because love hurts, and I was hurting. I mean, the deeper the pain, the deeper the love. Right? Boy, was I confused.

Now, here I am sitting here 30 years later wondering if I have ever been in love. Real love. Or was it that make believe kind of love. Here’s my theory, which I shared with my ex-husband when he would ask if I was in love with him. I would say, “I love you, but I’m not in love with you. Because if you fall in love with someone, you can always fall out of love with them.” Hmm.. It sounded good; however, in all honesty, I didn’t want to be in love because I only remembered the pain associated with it. I never wanted to feel that pain again.

I once read, it’s not love that hurts but the rejection and heartache we associate with love. When I think about it, I believe I have only been in love once.. maybe twice. I say this because they’re the ones I still smile about when I think of them. The ones that still make me feel all warm inside.

I believe when you fall in love with someone, you never fall out of love with them. You can relabel it as, “I care for them,” or “I love them like family,” but deep down you know there’s a difference. Sometimes things aren’t meant to be during this lifetime, or perhaps it happened during a past lifetime, but it happened and you know it because you still feel it.

Love…

Shaun

Life

Wednesday Writings

Shaun Bradford

Happy Wednesday!

Today makes 361 consecutive days of blogging! For some reason, I assumed the one year mark was closer to my birthday, in June. Well, I actually began this journey on May 14, 2021 with this blog, Just Dropping In To Say Hello.

After reading what I wrote almost a year ago, it seems as if I have a pattern of logging off social media around the same time every year. It’s always around this time (April/May) and the end/beginning of the year. Makes me wonder what it is about these specific times that I need to take a break from social media, a.k.a. chaos.

Back in December, I officially logged off my main twitter account, the one that was beginning to make me feel like I didn’t belong and had my anxiety levels through the roof. Imagine feeling like you don’t belong, on your own account. It was crazy!

Well, after logging off, I reverted to my secondary account. The account that I once referred to as “boring.” Shaking my head. I only invited people who I believed I made a positive connection with, to follow me to this account. You know, real people with real lives. I no longer wanted to be in that pretentious, competitive space. I needed calm, boring (anything but.. Lol) and real.. real conversations. Every now and then I get the urge to discuss my shows or a good movie, and I’ll provide a comment or two. However, I will never go back to where I was. I didn’t like it there.

Today, I’m happy where I am, in the spaces I’m in. In last year’s blog I mentioned the Facebook group, We Are Sistas (private group based on Tyler Perry’s Sistas). Well, I’m still there. For a minute though, I was thinking about leaving the group. It was becoming too much like my old Twitter account, too many negative vibes. Then I thought about the people I’ve connected with over the past few years and decided that my bond with them far outweighed the other stuff. Now, Instagram (IG).. I still have a love-hate relationship with it. However, I believe I have unfollowed all of the accounts that used to trigger my anxiety. Either that or I’m becoming better at managing it. Currently, I mainly follow people/accounts that feed my soul. Sorry but I don’t want to hear bitter rants or about how awful people are. I’d rather have a calm, uneventful, inspiring timeline. Oh! And I do follow my shows on IG and Facebook. So I still get to comment on posts and replies whenever the urge hits me. Yes, it’s still my happy space.

Okay y’all.. I did not intend for this blog to be so long. Guess I felt like writing. Hope you’re having a wonderful week thus far and wishing you an even better rest of the week!

Shaun