Shhhhh….I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m not the smartest grape in my bunch and that suits my vine just fine.  Yes, I know, you might be shocked, stunned, and discombobulated even (I love the word discombobulated even if it is a bit extreme), to hear me make that declaration, but I boldly make it with crystal clear certainty. I am not the smartest grape in my bunch.

Growing up, my Daddy would often say that he was a “jack of all trades and master of none”. Welp, that pretty much sums me up. There are a lot of things I can do and like to do, but because I can do a lot of things I’ve not focused on taking time to master doing one thing and doing it extra, extra expertly (yet).  So, because of that, I have a blossoming bunch of people who can do what I do better.

I like fashion, but I’m so glad I have two friends in particular that take their passion for fashion to inspiring new heights. I love to cook, but I have some loved ones that can teach me a thing or two in the kitchen, and they do. I love writing, but there’s an amazing group of blogging Janes who teach me the true wonder of words daily. Do I love helping people? Absolutely, but I have some people who take compassion, sacrifice and plain old making people feel better and be better to an entirely different level. I work hard, but some loved ones leave me in the dust when it comes to work ethic and diligence. I love public speaking and I’m still paying Sallie Mae (student loans), but I come from a line of women who have been able to take their words around the state, country and parts of the world and a few of them are STILL doing it in their 80s. I have faith, yes I do! I believe and try my absolute best to let God’s Word be my first and final answer, but I have some sisters in my circle that keep me in awe and appreciation of their ability to see things God’s way regardless.

People, do you see where I’m going with this? Don’t become tangled up always having to be the “one” on the vine that outshines. There are definitely strengths we all have that are supposed to sharpen others. However, life has taught me that being the smartest grape in the bunch is bound to squeeze the juice out of you. And that would turn you into a raisin…YIKES!

@AngelaMMoore316

This blog is in honor of #TBT (Throwback Thursday)

A cleaning journey lead to the discovery of my Senior Class book. Yes, I’m a neatly, organized packrat  who has always kept anything of value with the hopes of it one day making an appearance on my “behind the scenes of the life of this mega-important whoever I was to become” biography. So I super-glued it, hot-glued it and kept it in tact with a large rubber band (that might have come off of a bunch of collard greens my daddy might have been chopping one day in the late 80’s) and I saved it.

Ha! Taking a glimpse in the life of the teen formally known as Angela Michele (with one “l”) Scott tickled me! This girl was something else.  This 122lb, 5ft 8in, 17 year-old with a metal retainer, dark brown eyes and a precision cut, dark brown, asymmetrical bob (as her book stated) described herself as “nice, happy-go-lucky, easy to get along with and with a smart mouth that would get her in trouble from time-to-time”. Yay and yikes! Not much has changed in that regard.

Ramsay High School’s Most Poised for the class of 1990 documented her life, favorite foods, fun times with friends, breakups, makeups and eventual breakups (sorry prom date for what I, I mean she, did to your picture, especially after you all went on to be great friends again). Of course Angela Scott had more pictures than the book could neatly contain. She also had a flood of what appears to be cryptic messages (i.e. hidden messages only her friends would have understood, nicknames of people who probably didn’t know they had those nicknames and “secret” stories that clearly should not have been in that book)  that baffled my mind at this juncture in life. Angela Scott also kept random pennies from 1990, report cards, greeting cards, graduation cards, concert tickets, party tickets, fashion and step show tickets, bowling tickets, Harvest Dance tickets, State Fair tickets, a copy of Life Every Voice and Sing and movie tickets, along with a Batman and Do The Right Thing button from her first job at Cobb Midfield Six Theatre. She had a couple of obituaries of friends she’d lost along the way, organized and stapled notes from Candygrams she’d received, and had labels from her hottest fashions including Levi, Generra, Nike and Polo.

One page in the tattered book especially caught my eye. “Where Will I Be in 10 Years” was the question. Angela had it all mapped out, or so she thought. She would weigh more (definitely and darnit!), be working on a PhD (not so much), would have been married to someone rich and intelligent (I’m tickled and weak even as I type), would be driving a car that cost between $25k-$55k (didn’t happen) and would be a broadcast journalist (whew, at least one thing on the list made it to her life). Well, well, well, let’s just say that by the year 2000, which would have been 10 years from her graduation, none of that happened except the career as a broadcast journalist and she gave that up after a few years to pursue other things.

Where I thought I’d be is not where I am and that’s alright with me! I’m glad the hopes and dreams I had at 17 didn’t come true or were short lived, because what I gained from what I did actually live will last a lifetime. I am, however, so very grateful for the wisdom I got from Angela Michele Scott, that Fuddrucker burger and Quincy’s yeast roll loving, curfew breaking, school skipping, academically average student who was allergic to Fashion Fair make-up, was called “mush mouth” when she had braces, made lots of mistakes, loved her CG Doves (my high school sorority) and wore dresses even when others didn’t. I’m grateful for the little girl who even had the audacity to dream big, write it down and organize it, even if most of her dreams didn’t come true! I’m grateful that she loved hard, cried even harder, never stopped growing for the better, bounced back from adversity and at the core of it all always cared for others. What I’m most thankful for is that the same gumption to dream that was alive in that 17-year-old child still lives in this 41-year-old woman today. 

@AngelaMMoore316

Rest assured.  There is not a trial, an issue, a challenge, a test, a temptation, a situation, a scenario or an unexpected “Oh no! How am I going to make it through this?” or “I need help right now!!!!!!” or “I know he or she didn’t just do or say what they did or said!!!!!” that the Bible doesn’t cover with confidence through Godly authority, wise advice, personable example or proven experiences, offering it to all who will receive it with everlasting support, proof, promises of well-described provisions, back-drop details, a hint at future benefits, play-by-play guidance, spiritual reinforcement and guaranteed answers.

That’s it. That’s my blog for the day. Whatever you’re going through or headed to is covered somehow, somewhere in the Word of God. You may have to do a bit of work to find it (hear and head, read and recall) and a bit of work to activate it (have faith) and a bit of work for it to come to pass (work your faith), but trust and believe… The Word still works!

@AngelaMMoore316

I was lamenting the other day about needing a professional/civic mentor. Most of my life I’ve been blessed to have super-wise people in my life helping direct and correct me for whatever professional or social season of my life I was in. Whether it be school teachers like Mrs. Gladys Williams at Edgewood Elementary School, Professors like the amazing Paul Delaney from the University of Alabama, or my marketing maven Marcia Twitty and former hospital president Charlie Faulkner from Baptist, I’ve rarely been without guidance to support the guidance I receive from my parents.

Entering into the first leg of my professional career, I was blessed to make connections with great people much, much wiser than I in the media, public relations/marketing, and community service.

It wasn’t until I started working in ministry full-time for seven years that I found myself feeling like an island…a far, far away island. That was not a good feeling. Many attempts at reaching out to and securing mentors (outside of the awesome pastor’s wives in my bloodline) were unsuccessful. As life would have it, it turns out that I wouldn’t be in that role long anyway. So that wasn’t much of an issue. But now, at this stage of life, having started anew three years ago, I would like a mentor, or two or three.

I’m a firm believer that if Jesus had a crew I need one too. I have super friends, with great strengths, listening ears, wise advice, strong opinions and lots of life’s experiences that support me. I have wise, loving, caring, honest family members who mean the world to me. But professionally and in my passion for community service I’m lacking and I don’t like it.

I believe we all need professional people and a civic support walking with us and before us to help us get to where we’re going. The problem is, I’m not sure of how to get to where I want to go, or if where I want to go is a lay-over or last destination. I’ve done so much, do so many different things at work and want to do so much more in life. So I’m going to be peeking around corners and praying for who’s in my circle (or needs to be) to hear who’s supposed to help me. Knowing the value of mentors I want help, and I know I need it. Knowing the beauty of life something in me tells me the time is prime for me to be mentored for the next trek in my amazing journey to getting to where I’m supposed to be.

@AngelaMMoore316

There’s nothing, absolutely NOTHING too hard for God.

There. That’s it. My blog for the day, motivation for the month and words for life.

@AngelaMMoore316

Staying still can be a struggle, especially when it comes to a career! Whether it’s needing a job, desiring a new job, dealing with difficult people, feeling unappreciated or wanting increase from our present job it can be HARD to “hold your horses” when it comes to work. Sometimes we want to be quick to quit!

Life is showing me that the more we wait, the more God is working things out on our behalf. While we’re in a hurry, He’s strategically picking the right job, the perfect parking place & office space, premium benefits, the classiest business cards, the best co-workers, the ideal salary, the tastiest free lunches, an optimum schedule, the best window view, divine connections, plans for growth and mobility and the list goes on. More importantly, He’s also using right where we are to teach us patience and discipline, to line us up with people He desires us to influence with our presence and even to connect us to people who can help birth our promises.

Our jobs are the places we spend a great deal of our lives. If you’re like me, your job even follows you home most days after you’ve left it. It’s what we studied for in school for years, trained for, paid to be able to do, prayed for, rejoiced over….and still, there’s often an innate urging to want to move concerning our careers when we think it’s time. Sometimes desiring better, different or more in our careers can override the need for us to trust God and His timing. There’s a reason behind every move of God, even if that move seems like it’s not moving.

Earlier this year, I left my job for one WHOLE week to pursue another job that paid a considerable amount of money more. (When I say considerable, I mean considerable!) But during that week away I wasn’t happy, and knew without question that I’d made the wrong move. Thankfully, I made that wrong move the right way and was able to return to my old job, but that didn’t help me debate, and doubt what I was going to do concerning the reason I moved in the first place (money).  I just had to trust, and so I did. I’m not saying that the time won’t ever come in life when we’re supposed to make a move concerning careers, but the “in between time” can be the best time of life to let God prepare the best for our life. The moral of the story is: We never know what God is setting up while we’re sitting still.

@AngelaMMoore316