So much is going on in the world, big and small. Friends, loved ones and colleagues are reeling from politics, surprise separations, health challenges, financial struggles, job transitions and so much more. I don’t recall my prayer list being this long in a long time. Like for real. In the midst of it all, I thank God for His word which promises peace. I will let my Lord and Savior speak to and comfort us instead. I’m so grateful for God’s word, now more than ever.
A funny phone call with one of my best angels on earth tickled me as we both shared how, sometimes in life, the first internal response to the trials of life is one that, well, how shall I say this, might shock the world or at least those in our worlds. Gasp…I know!
I’ve been a Christian a long, long time. I’ve not always acted as such. Sometimes I still don’t. I’ve tried really hard to allow the word of God to control the outward display of my emotions according to scripture because I recognize that His word works, I know people are watching me as an example of Jesus, and I accept that actions in any other way cost more than I’m willing to pay. Just being honest though, there are still times which test my attempt to have God pleased with my on the spot reactions. As my dear Baltimore bestie said, “We’re human, girl. I just had to tell somebody. Don’t let who you see fool you. This is not how I always was and sometimes it’s not how I want to be, but I will be because it’s the right thing to do.”
I so get that it would appear to be much easier to just let it RIPPPPPPPPPPPPPP from time to time. Oh how freeing it must feel to give somebody a piece of my mind (as if I have any to spare), or take to social media to slay (and I don’t mean in a good, fashion/make-up/model kind of way) or dispatch some of the cast of my crazies to avenge those things which I feel are not right. Don’t think I’ve never flirted with those thoughts because I have, and young girl Angela actually executed a few of them before she knew better or acted like she knew better when she knew she already knew better. Bless her heart.
With everything He’s placed within me I strive to go to God and allow Him to take me all the way on this journey called life. With that said, responding the way I know He wants me to is not always the first thought which immediately, as that shock, offense, disappointment, anger or hurt happens, comes to mind. Sometimes I have to scrape and search, reread and replay, wrestle and wrangle just to hurriedly find and use scriptures, inspiring messages, past testimonies, words of wisdom, lessons learned and anything else I can to respond as He would have me. While WWJD may not always initially flow first from my heart to my mind it makes its way there by the sweet grace of God. Better than any game show or big gamble Jesus is my final answer and HE has paid off for me.
@AngelaMMoore316
Recently, I’ve been battling my Lymphedema again. I was diagnosed, after a minor surgery to rule out the C word, and figure out why I had pain and enlarged nodules under my right arm. It’s not unusual to have bouts with my chronic illness from time-to-time, especially when I fly, when the seasons drastically change or if I do heavy lifting, which I’m not supposed to do. Given that I’ve done all of those things having flown this year to Baltimore and Anaheim with few troubles, experiencing the seasons changing from cold to hot with no troubles and having moved an entire house into another house with little trouble I thought I’d finally made it to full-on Lymphedema management stage, until a couple of weeks ago when the pain and swelling of my right arm came back with a vengeance. I mean that thing came out swangin’ knowing I couldn’t swing back.
I’ll be honest. I was mad. Like for real. I was mad. I was mad because I thought I could at least cross Lymphedema off of my “to-do” list, and place it on my “can’t be bothered” roster. I was aware of the maintenance aspect, and up for that challenge, but over the last couple of years, God has quickly taken care of me when the pain arrived and I could move on business as usual. This time, was different. Desperate for relief I did what I would normally do when a bout flared up. I revved up the prayers and prayer partners. I scheduled a massage and another one when that one didn’t fully do what I needed. I took time off to rest it. I resumed wearing my glove. I conducted my manual massages and all of that good stuff and no relief. I even called my Lymphedema specialist, the only one in this entire region, who just so happened to have moved to Murfreesboro, TN shortly after I no longer needed her. I didn’t hear back from her, as I’m sure her wait time now is longer than the six months it was when I was referred to her years ago. So my question to this temporary lymph node nemesis was, “who in the world let you come back?”
Then, as Facebook and it’s On This Day app would remind me, today, May 25th, marks the exact 5th anniversary of my Lymphadema diagnosis. Talk about a God having a sense of humor. Not only did it remind me of the date it reminded me of what I said on that date. Here’s what I mustered up enough arm strength to type from my trusty Blackberry.
And the plot thickens…so there’ve been some serious complications from my surgery in March. I won’t complain, but instead will compare this to the other times I’ve seen God move in my life. Each time my body has been attacked my blessings have been attached. So as the plot thickens so does my praise!!!! (If I don’t respond to your calls, texts or fb posts right away forgive me. I’ll be back soon:)
And so it is. If it’s time for another round I guess I better hop back on the saddle and ride this thing on out. I felt bad for even being mad. Shame on me. I have no right to complain. I simply don’t.To quote that wise old 39 year old Angela Michele of old…”Each time my body has been attached my blessings have been attached. So as the plot thickens so does my praise!!!!” I’m shifting my focus to praising and planning the celebration while nervous at the same time because I have absolutely no idea what my God could be up to now because He’s already been SO, SO good. Anywho, I’ll keep you posted. You keep praying.
***And while you’re praying for me, please pray for others who battle this illness in ways FAR worse than I. (Google Lymphedema please). Insurance doesn’t often cover treatment. Treatment for some is deemed impossible. Breast cancer is sometimes a component to this disease. The physical aspect can often pail in comparison to the mental and emotional issues attached to having a limb much larger than the other. My case is so very, very, very minor compared to so many. I truly have so much for which to be thankful. Please add those who battle the painful illness Lymphedema to your prayers.
@AngelaMMoore316
My church, Church of the Highlands, observes 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer starting the first Sunday of each January. This time of the year, and when we do it in August are always a tremendous blessing for me. It’s also a challenge too. I’ll be the first to admit that when taking spiritual gifts assessments, the gift of intercession (prayer) isn’t on the top of my list. I don’t know if it’s on my list at all, as other gifts are what I’ve been given. I’m so okay with that, because I know I know how to talk to my Daddy (God) in my own special way, and I know I know some people who REALLY know how to go the distance for themselves and others like me because intercession is their undeniable, number one gift. What a blessing!
With that said, I’m a simple prayer girl. I try to talk to God throughout the day, much like I would talk to a friend. Often it’s sporadically (with the exception of our “Good morning. Thank You, Jesus” chit chat early each day), and often it’s as things happen, right off the cuff whether in the car, at work, or in the shower, and it’s mumbled from my mouth or urgently delivered straight-forward to Him like He’s right there with me (and He is), as situations are unfolding. I cover the biggies in life regarding my loved ones and me and want to become even more disciplined and strategic about that, but I also want to be even more intentional about coming to Him regarding things perceived to be not so big of a deal. God cares about us, which means He cares about it all, big or small. No thing is too simple to pray about and believe God’s best concerning.
Have you ever thought about praying for the following for yourself (or others)?
@AngelaMMoore316
Today wraps the final installment of the “At the Movies” series at Church of the Highlands.
I’m so grateful for this opportunity to grow closer to God and my loved ones as we shared an hour and 15 minutes over the last four Sundays experiencing every emotion known to man, meeting all kinds of wonderful movie characters, eating pound cake in church, some enjoying Coke and popcorn and all leaving with one of the most important ones…hope through the love of Jesus.
While the At the Movies series has ended, and most of my readers were not able to experience what I’ve been blessed to know, feel, see and witness over the last month, I pray something as simply special as a movie speaks to you at your point of need. It can happen. Trust me. I know.
@AngelaMMoore316
A friend and I were talking about a situation recently, one that is stretching me to grow in an area I thought I was already fully grown. After stating my “claim”, this trusted sage said, “Oh, and here I thought you were a Christian.” Huh? What?!?!?! I blinked my eyes and said with southern sarcasm, “I am!” The response…”Well, you’re not acting like it. Where is your faith? You talk all that talk and now that this is happening, and you’ve been waiting on it to happen you’re acting like a little chicken. This is nothing new to the God you say you believe in. Gone way from here with that!” And just like that I got “read” like a Housewives reunion on repeat.
So I pose this question to you all. What makes faith? I think it’s the situations we face which cause us to stretch and grow, especially when we thought we were already fully grown, think we can’t go another inch, think we’ve already made it through, push us out of comfort, knock the wind out of us which make our faith. It’s the times we (rightfully) believe we deserve a break, have just come out of battle and face another way, have had success in that area already and thought that “class” was over, can’t figure out the solution to save our life, have to daily battle fear within our flesh and HAVE TO HAVE absolute, total reliance on God as the only One to see us through which make faith and make the best testimonies of God’s great, great power.
@AngelaMMoore316
One of my favorite songs from the 80’s was Oran Juice Jones’, “The Rain”. In that melodic tale of love gone astray he belted out an often falsetto-esq tune about catching his unfaithful lover “walking in the rain”. With an infectious beat and a hypnotic hook, as if the song couldn’t get any better, mid-way through it goes into an all-out hip-hop inspired bridge (as in take me to the bridge), with my favorite line being “Now close yo mouth cause you cold busted”. When I tell you the middle school me loved that part! I loved that part, and suppose as indicated by the fact that I’m incorporating it into a blog post today, at 43-year-old the same must be true.
So what does Mr. Juice Jones have to do with my life? Glad you ask. I’m headed in a different direction with this one so hold on tight.
Yesterday, after leaving work and before going back to work I decided to ride by a place representing something for which I was believing God. I’d only seen it online and wanted an up-close, “I have to see it for myself” view just to, well, see it for myself. After surveying what needed to be surveyed I began to head back to my destination of home before returning to work. I was focused on studying the environment I was in, when out of my peripheral view I noticed a car that looked like one of which I was very familiar. I reduced my speed to examine the cautiously moving black Mercedes with tinted windows. I slowed to an almost turtle’s pace. The driver of the other vehicle didn’t see me as they too tended to surveying what needed to be surveyed. And boy, there was some surveying going on. I used power from my right “lymphadema” wrist I didn’t know I had and laid on the horn, probably startling the driver as I now recall. Like a scene from a gansta-style, B-movie, we met window to window, pressed our buttons to roll down those said windows, stared and glared in disbelief then both broke out into a laugh that lasted so long I can’t recall when it actually stopped. And as if it were made just for me, the words from Mr. Juice Jones came to mind and out of my mouth as I said to the driver, “You cold busted!”
Who was this mysterious person? Glad you asked. It was my Mama, doing what caring, loving, supportive humans do. In the middle of the day with dilated eyes and glasses that would have made Ray Charles look even more fly, she was coming by to “see it for herself”, and pray (even though she didn’t tell me that’s what she was doing). I shared this funny story with my sister who quickly informed me that she had already been by the day before. Wow! Now that’s what I call love, and faith. My Pastor Chris Hodges preached a message on this past Sunday from Church of the Highlands called Better Together. He talked of the importance of not doing life alone and having others in your corner in times of good and bad. That’s what that 2pm Pelham, Alabama exchange with my mother was for me. She didn’t have to be there, and I wouldn’t have known that she was there joining me in this prayer had I not been there to see it for myself. She could have been home, shopping, napping, running errands or doing any other thing a 68-year-old retiree does, but instead she was exercising her faith and joining her daughter in that same exercise to see what God has in store.
(So, I snapped a picture of her near the “Scene of the Faith”. She begged me not to tell anybody I saw here there. Of course I said I would, hence this blog post. I hope today is one of those days she’s not reading by post.)
And that, my friends, is what life is about. We all need and deserve people who are there for us whether we know it or not. I pray that everyone has those kinds of angels on earth whose faith, love, sacrifice, example, encouragement, support, prayers and kind actions toward us continually remind us of the amazingly beautiful and awesomely wonderful promises from God which are sure to come to pass…one way or another.
May your days be filled with the best possible reasons to say #YouColdBusted
@AngelaMMoore316
Let’s be real. It can be tough as an old Cordova’s “thickly cushioned” Corinthian leather (Google it) to think that things in life are going to change in our favor, especially when we desperately need things in life to change in our favor. This is the tea, and can be a serious struggle. Ask me how I know. The sweet-as-can-be sweetener in this tea, however, is the fact that in Romans 8:28 God promises that all the things we’re going through will work for our good if we love Him. And that He also promises in Galatians 6:9 that if we keep doing good we will reap if we don’t faint. That is some good news!
So what do we do between this and that? I would suggest remembering our seeds. Talking to a friend recently who was going through some life-changing testimony builders (as I prefer to call them) I had to remind her of just how faithful to God and her situation she’d been, and how sacrificially kind she’d been to so many people, including me. She was in a time of need and needed to remember her seed. She’d sown some major blessings, that, while the main harvest might not have been meant for her, the residual reaping sure was.
Now don’t get God twisted. He’s not in the lottery business nor is He vying for Wayne Brady’s gig on “Let’s Make a Deal”. We can’t bet, barter and finagle with him like a mid-day game show or a midnight casino run. What we can do is know that, if we’ve done things to please Him and if we’ve been a blessing to His children, like any good Father, in fact the greatest Father, He’s got our back. No, that’s not going to mean that our situations will immediately improve. No, that’s not going to mean that we will necessarily reap from the exact people or places we’ve sown into. No, that doesn’t mean that it won’t even appear (note, I said appear) that somebody “done come all up in our crop” and plundered our stuff. But yes, Romans 8:28 and Galatians 6:9 are true, and there’s nothing any situation or struggle can do about it, but succumb to it. Bow down struggle. Bow down.
So, when we’re tempted to think all hope is gone, things can’t better, there’s no way out, this is as good (as in bad) as it’s going to get, and so on and so on, we can’t forget the seeds we’ve sown. And we certainly can’t forget the works and wonders God has already done. We have to ponder on our seeds and successes for a few then get right on up and sow some more. In fact, I dare us all to sow in the very area we need it most. Need money? Give money. Need a job? Volunteer. Want children? Babysit. Need a marriage miracle? Bless a couple. Desperate for healing? Care for the sick. Family matters? Help another one. Got it? Good! Now let’s get going, and keep sowing.
@AngelaMMoore316
Soooooooooooooooo much is going on in the world around us, especially of late, in the United States. There have been senseless killings, protests all around, civil unrest and injustice. There are sides spewing points of view at every second of the social media timeline tickers. The holiday shopping season is here, prompting mad rushes and frantic searches of shopping centers, malls and online stores. Big nasty flu bugs, and their cousins are causing sickness in some. Reality shows are rearing the uglier side of the two headed monster now threatening long-standing institutions of poise, service and dignity. Hollywood stars are accusing and being accused, and it seems so many have opinions. Hollywood movie powerhouses are entering the big leagues of politics and first amendment rights in a way not known before with disappointing actions internally and threats from abroad. Many are emotionally drained dealing with debt, depression, lack or lingering pain from the death of loved ones this time of year.
Personally, I’ve come to accept 2014 as one which will go down in the history books being defined by “development” for me. From very unfortunate business dealings I’m still dealing with from my divorce to times of feeling stagnant in my career, finances and personal life, I have gone through, and grown through some interestingly, valuable lessons this year. Not at all to complain or sound whiny, but most of which I would have preferred to skip right on by like a mean game of hopscotch on a hot West End sidewalk.
Just typing all of that made me “feel some type of way” as the modern day youth say. So it strikes me as no surprise how some can get easily distracted during what should be a time of expectation, gratitude, love, joy and peace. I woke up this morning around 2:38am and the words “don’t forget about Jesus” came to me. When I woke up again (for real) around 6:30am, the scripture on my daily devotional was from Luke 2:11-14.
Here’s the deal. When our birthdays are approaching we usually want and expect all eyes on us, in the most humble of ways, of course. The gifts, the celebrations, and all that good stuff are usually a reflection of the person being celebrated. On December 25, we celebrate the biggest, longest lasting birthday party ever, during the time set aside to mark the most miraculous birth on record for the Greatest guest of Honor in history, and yes, this is still so during this tumultuous time we are all currently in. Regardless of our reality, we are in the season of love and miracles.
This Christmas more than ever, through our actions, our reactions, the things we think about, the ways we interact, the spirit of expectation we have, our acts of kindness, our personal sacrifices, our fortitude through challenges, our expressions of gratitude and our God-given gumption to hope and believe for miracles should be a reflection of the One who has the power to change things for the better on our behalf.
Whatever you do this Christmas (and in all the days to come), don’t forget about Jesus Christ.
@AngelaMMoore316
Life Gets Better 