GOSPEL NERVE Cafe » freedom series

Freedom 11: my summary

MizJAI — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:18:00 +0000

my face
my hands
my smile
my laughter
my hope
on some days, they all seem to hinge on my freedom
beauty reflected in the face that God gave me sometimes makes me free
my hands dancing or swinging in front of me sometimes makes me feel free
unexpected smiles imitating the light in the sun sometimes makes me free
laughter caught in the wind, insatiable and sincere almost always makes me free
my hope surging through my overactive mind sometimes makes me free

but the truth that what I face today
no matter how hard or how irritating
it doesn’t possess the power to own or destroy me,
and that always keeps me free.

even when I cry I know that inside me
is the ability to rise up and start over,
to smile again, try again, live more
free

freedom is a
fearlessness that allows me to face the world no matter what may come
freedom is a
relationship with God that changes the course of my entire life
freedom is an
excitement and passion that ignites my entire journey
freedom is
examples that save me time because I study, learn and live better
freedom is a
dream in my heart and a desire that burns in chest, driving me forward
freedom is an
opportunity that I am excited, maybe a little scared, but definitely prepared to take advantage of
freedom is an ample supply of
money for the mission or at least a legal, righteous plan to acquire some

freedom is living my best life no matter what may come my way.

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 1: the Beginning
Freedom 2: The way I see it, freedom is . . .
Freedom 3: every letter counts in F-R-E-E-D-O-M
Freedom 4: F-Fearlessness
Freedom 5: R-Right Relationship with God
Freedom 6: E-Excitement & Passion
Freedom 7: E-EXAMPLE That We Can Follow
Freedom 8: D-Dreams & Desires that Burn in Your Chest
Freedom 9: O-Opportunity That You Are Prepared to Take Advantage of
Freedom 10: M-Money for the Mission
Freedom 11: my summary

Freedom 10: M-Money for the Mission

MizJAI — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:48:00 +0000

The evergreens, near the railroad tracks that I crossover on my way to work, are loosing color. This Georgia ‘drought’ has left them thirsty; they need water.

There is a large, blank canvas in my mother’s living room; Her busy schedule has left it empty. It needs her touch and the paint strokes that come from her fingertips. This canvas, like children, needs some consistent attention until it grows up into what it is supposed to be.

There are melodies in a songwriter’s head; and those songs need a beautiful and honest singer to bring them to life. Songs need a voice.

I say that to remind myself that there are so many things that money can’t buy:

It can’t buy the honesty and the mystery in the smile of a couple that is still in love after years of marriage and reality. It can, however, afford them a vacation to change their lives and renew their spirits (smile).

Money builds houses but families turn them into homes
Money buys cars but friends and adventure creates memories to talk about
Money is necessary, but it’s not everything.

My last point on freedom is this, money is a tool that gives us more freedom in the form of control over our time and choice over what we do with it.

What would you do if you didn’t have a nine to five–would you write a novel, visit your friends and family more, take dancing lessons, only you know? Or rather, what would you do more often? Because we can dance and write and visit now, so don’t wait!

The mission in your heart, the passion that you dream about probably requires money to make it a reality that will last for life times. So don’t be afraid of what money can do. Just get ready for success, because some of your dreams with require money among other things, and your dreams if managed properly will make you money without you selling your soul ‘to the devil’.

So make money
and make plans that matter
and make your personal missions real.
Solve problems that others can’t or won’t solve,
and do it all with a love and excellence that will change the people you encounter daily.
LIVE!!!

See you tomorrow . . .

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 9: O-Opportunity That You Are Prepared to Take Advantage of…

MizJAI — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:25:00 +0000

They circle around us daily.

Every once in a while, we reach out and try to catch them, but often miss.

We can be so bad at this.

It’s our timing

our fear talk

our hands trembling

and us believing that we should just leave everything the way that it is (because it’s easier).

But then there is this opportunity in our face.
Yes, in many ways it has always been there. Circling around us in different forms, but present nonetheless. Reminding us and calling to us, “get ready for me, Get Ready For Me, I will be here shortly.” But we continue with our timing issues and our fear issues (that we were supposed to address 6 blogs ago, smile) and trick ourselves into thinking that everything is as it will always be.
But it won’t, the world changes daily.
You see, the sun doesn’t actually rise and set, but rather the planet changes her position in terms of the sun daily and moment by moment. The seasons change, the people around us change, the value of the dollar changes, so in order to get with the program, we should change too, at least a little. Take some steps to prepare for the opportunities that we dream and hope for. Take the time to work on our bad habits
i.e.
our selfishness or self-centered issues that we think no body notices,
our attitude issues that we think people will always make excuses for,
our control issues that we think family and friends will continue to tolerate,…
NO! Deal with yourself & then,

Get in position to win .

Habits form our futures. Whatever we do everyday prepares us for tomorrow. The ‘old & bitter’ people don’t just become ‘old & bitter’ without practice;
Practice @ shutting people out;
Practice @ being a know it all and in turn pushing people away;
Practice @ the habit of letting their bodies and appearances go.
Believe it or not, they practice the loneliness until it is a profound reality.

Our HABITS form our futures. What do you do all the time? It will become who you are. You see,
writers write,

designers design,

singers sing,

dancers dance,

directors direct.

In other words,

dreamers do.

They do the ‘grunt work’ that shapes their dream into a reality. They form the habit of their dreams, so that when opportunities come, they are prepared to take advantage of it. Preparation liberates us. Planning gets us ready for our futures. Practice reminds us to enjoy our freedom today, because it is freedom to do what we love day in and day out (even when it’s a challenge, even when it is only a few minutes in the day).

Dreamers use habits to get in position to win!

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 8: D-Dreams & Desires that Burn in Your Chest

MizJAI — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:21:00 +0000

I’m on fire and you should be too.
It’s the kind of blaze that we don’t need to be delivered from
And quite frankly we don’t want to be.

It’s passion burning inside us, not the misplaced kind that has some of us sleeping around with all manners of people trying to reach the bottom of a flame that always goes out in a few of minutes.

Not the lazy kind that pursues a dream with very little preparation or practice.

NO, it’s a real passion. The kind of fire that wakes us in the morning and makes us become more excellent than we have ever been. It’s the kind of flame that dominates our thoughts on most days. It makes a shy woman speak up, a scared woman stand tall, a weak woman become strong enough to build her dream, to hold on to her dream, to live her dream, to grow her dream into a touchable reality.

Fire burns.

Flames light.

Blazes warm.

Our dreams and desires should burn in our chest, light our way, and blaze a path that we couldn’t be paid to leave!

And if by chance you don’t have dream yet, then

start praying about it, to find out what unique and exciting thing God created you to do “Father, what’s my purpose, what problem was I created to solve, who can I help & how can I enjoy my life more and a make a difference?…” It’s simply a conversation that God will respond to like a whisper in your ear or a message that enters your spirit or, the simplest answers that I have ever received were, well placed but unexpected scriptures in a Sunday morning sermon by my Pastor. In addition to praying, another thing that I do is
start trying all kinds of new things until I find that thing that sticks with me. In other words, start living, and experiencing life and your purpose will seek you out. You just get ready to respond to it.

Our dreams should distract us
from the mundane parts of our lives.
They should ignite us and wake us up
They should inspire us to work harder than we have worked before.
Our dreams should drive us forward

burns right through me.

flames my righteous desires

with light and choice

in my everyday actions

blazes my heart warm

with compassion and excitement

my dreams

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 7: E-EXAMPLE That We Can Follow

MizJAI — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 06:31:00 +0000

We Need Help!
You know what,
we spend so much of our time,
too much really,
trying to pretend that we came out the womb knowing everything.
If we could get over that one issue
our family could enjoy us more and our friends wouldn’t be making so many faces.
We need examples, people that we can study and learn from.

Admitting this is a challenge for some, but the real problem comes when we won’t accept the package that this new information comes from. We have all kinds of rules about who can teach us or tell us anything:

sometimes we want a man to tell us,
anyone in the world can tell us, except our mom,
we want famous people tell us, instead of our own pastors,
please don’t let our sisters or brothers tell us, ‘because I need a new word.’

Well, why should God send us a “new” word, when we haven’t taken the obedience and discipline to hear and respond to the old one.

Teachers and mentors are life long companions for the man or woman who seeks life long success.

They are our counselors, and without them our best plans will eventually fail or at least be more painful than necessary. Seeking and receiving help is wisdom. So from one do-it-yourselfer to another, let’s build a team and impact the planet more than we ever could on our own, but choose wisely and study them hard. Know the strengths and weaknesses of the people who ‘speak into our lives.’ This way you can consciously emulate the good, and leave the bad on the table; because humans are humans with jewels on the inside, but still human with errors & mistakes too. You may think you can’t live with them, but you definitely cannot live without them. So learn from the people around you and learn to live well, because (s)he who listens to counsel is wise. So be wise and be free.

I have learned that there is freedom in knowledge; and living examples cause us to see what we read with a different eye; just like books cause us to understand what we see with a different mind. Both are necessary, but there does come a time

to put that book in your purse or briefcase
go live among people
study what they do
and feel the soaring in your heart as words on a page and dreams in your mind become a reality, because you have just put legs to the process of learning; so walk it out.

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 6: E-Excitement & Passion

MizJAI — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 02:57:00 +0000

One day about ten years ago, I was jogging/walking in a local park.

It has a dirt trail, close to a rail road track that you can hear but not see.

Trains seldom came.

For the sake of diversity and a more intense workout, I would walk certain parts and run others. For me, sometimes intensity and sometimes diversity are excitement.

There were a few people scattered through out the trail, but for the most part it was extremely silent, except for the sound of my feet on the white, crushed rocks that marked the way. Upon approaching the running-point (that I chose) & being winded from the prior two and a half miles that lead to this moment, I began to slow down in an attempt to stall. I also began to make decisions. I would not only run despite being tired, but I would run hard and give myself something to feel excellent about at the end.

And, I decided to become a super hero who had just turned on her SUPER SONIC SPEED.

(Quiet as it’s kept, I have been a secret-super-hero for years now, so it was easy for me to “turn on” my “powers.”)

When I reached the running point,

I turned that Super Sonic Speed on, and took off!

And with every stride

I could hear the sound of a train

(an actual train) gaining speed to catch up to me.

It was like superman & I were out for a morning jog and the train decided to join us.

Suffice it to say, they could hardly keep up with me.

After passing the walking-point,

I finally began to slow down,

the trains voice began fading in the distance,

and I made a mental note that I possess the power to run strong & free

Now, I am not the fastest woman on the planet, but for that moment, I not only outran all of you, but I outran a train too.

This is the point…We can find freedom anywhere that we find the big and small things that excite us. Whether it’s ‘outrunning a train’ or curling up for half an hour with a book we’ve been trying to read for months or playing a song that dances in our soul or daydreaming while looking up at a sky that calls our name or peering out the window on a rainy day with a Liz Wright or Aretha Franklin ballad playing in the background–excitement and in turn, freedom comes in all sizes. Please don’t pass it up!

Some things that excite me are:

music and singing

dancing and daydreaming

laughing out loud

trying something a little new & a little scary

spoken word & poetry

traveling & writing…

I try to do them often,
I have to do them often,
because when I don’t,
I’m not nearly as happy as I could be.

There are other momentary things that I do that aren’t necessarily my passion, but they remind me of who I am:

horse back riding (with a spirited horse),

makes me feel free

& reminds me that no matter how challenging & painful one day in my life or one season or one decade may be, I am still free, & I can gallop with the best of them (with a little, well maybe a lot of help)

white water rafting (with a life jacket),

makes me feel bold & scared at the same time, & for a woman who can barely swim, I also feel a little crazy; but I definitely e-x-p-e-r-i-e-n-c-e the water instead of only looking at it

hiking (up a mountain),

makes me feel connected

& aware that life is better when I take advantage of the things that God made, His trees, His hills, His valleys, His sunshine & His rain

taking a painting class

makes me feel creative
& appreciative of the people who actually have a gift for this form of art

oh, and the spa! (well this one may be a passion)

makes me feel like a queen and a diva with deep pockets
and liberated thoughts,

Do what ever adventurous or not-so-adventurous thing that you need to do in order to find your passion and rediscover your excitement and dive into the third part of freedom. Feel yourself wake up again, dream again, try again, renew and go after that desire again and again and again…

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 5: R-Right Relationship with God

MizJAI — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:58:00 +0000

Relationships are interesting parts of human life. I watch, and even investigate the rise and fall of all my important relationships.

This investigative list includes:
my parents,
my sisters,
my girlfriends,
my family,
my co-workers,
my mentors,
my advisers,
my teachers,
my ex-boyfriends,
my newest loves,
and even my “enemies”

I want to know how I “got here”
what makes this relationship work?
what makes it fail?
what makes it important to me?

When I answer those questions, I remind myself of why I care about these people
I like knowing, it keeps me from taking my relationships for granted. It keeps me from making the same mistakes twice. It keeps me from staying the same and always blaming “them.”

Through relationships I have learned that even in my ‘perfection’ (I’m kidding!, a little), that I miss the mark sometimes. I fail to give the object of my affection what they truly need from me:
my attention, my ear,
an expression of my love in a language that makes sense for them,
my prayers, my presence, and/or my thoughts.

Sometimes,
I fail to see them as they need to be seen.
Sometimes,
in an effort to spare their feelings, I fail to give them the truth that real friendship requires.
Sometimes,
I fail to give them the grace that they require in order for my voice to be a source of joy instead of pain,
Sometimes,
I simply fail to realize that all of the (righteous) things that I seek out of my many relationships are the same things that God wants from me:

my attention, my ear,
an expression of my love in a language that makes sense to Him,
my prayers, my presence, and/or my thoughts.

Freedom is discovered in salvation,
a right relationship with God.

Freedom grows in salvation,
me being delivered from all my bad habits one step at a time

Freedom sores inside this right relationship,
me laughing in the presence of a God who truly loves me,
me dancing and singing and smiling for His pleasure and our joy,
me living a life that matters

Freedom without this right relationship with God is something other than freedom.
It’s close, but not quite the same.

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 4: F-Fearlessness

MizJAI — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 13:09:00 +0000

dogs, molded food, bogey man, horror movies & the moving walls in the Whiz
a list of some of the things that used to scare me when I was growing up

disappointing my family,
not making or keeping any friends,
being different,
being alone,
being broken from old pains (some of which I could not control)
not being different
being misunderstood,
being ignored or forgotten
being ugly
a list of some of the things that used to scare me as an adult

fear seems to be every where, seeping in to us when we are not even paying attention

but I have learned that it is powerless to my heart when it is determined to LIVE Big, nmw (no matter what).

Some fear is healthy because it keeps us from doing something ‘not so smart’
but some fear is limiting, keeping us from truly living
and when it’s a limiting fear, I have developed the habit of diving in anyway
you want to start a business, then start it–just use your fear to help prepare you (in excellence)
afraid of water, so go white water rafting–just use your fear to prepare with swimming lessons (and a life jacket)
I’m afraid of traveling alone, so I travel alone with research about the safest places to travel for one

my desire is–with every year I will fear less and less and less and less…because a life with less fear is a life of more FREEDOM and I love Freedom!

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 3: every letter counts in F-R-E-E-D-O-M

MizJAI — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:34:00 +0000

I had a salad for breakfast this morning,
mainly because I ran out of breakfast food,
but back to the salad.
It was simple to make, just toss together:

a small plate of mixed baby greens with red and green romaine and other welcomed leaves inside,

a firm golden delicious apple (that’s the name of it) thinly sliced

and my new favorite dressing, sonoma mustard vinaigrette with olive oil, champagne vinegar, whole grain mustard & honey inside.

When I bit into that salad the flavors danced in my mouth & I smiled.

This salad would not be the same without ALL of those ingredients. It would be something different, even if you only changed the dressing.

Freedom is the same way. There are seven key areas that make freedom real & tangible for me. Anyone of them changes how I feel about my life, but with all of them active, I am potent and unstoppable and the flavor of FREEDOM dances in every area of my life and I smile, even through the hard times.

FREEDOM is, freedom comes with, freedom creates the following:
Fearlessness
Right Relationship with God
Excitement & Passion
Examples that we can learn from
Dreams & Desires that burn in our chest
Opportunities that we are prepared to take advantage of &
Money for the mission

Freedom is real. I cannot move past her quickly, so I won’t. She is the mission of my life
‘to live fearless, faithful, and free forever’
I seek to understand her more, if you do as well, then I’ll ‘hear’ you guys tomorrow as we dive into fearing less & less…

-MizJAI-

FREEDOM SERIES

Freedom 2: The way I see it, freedom is…

MizJAI — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:27:00 +0000

Freedom is choice

Freedom is the awareness of our right to decide our lives, to change our minds, to redirect or maintain our course.

That’s why real love is so liberating

because we don’t just fall into love it

like it’s some kind of accident.

No matter how magical or second nature

at some level

we choose to go with the flow of love or

just walk away from it (our choice, our freedom).

Freedom is not so much about controling everything and everyone around us

It’s about breathing deep
Living well
Loving hard
and paying attention to what we have (or haven’t) allowed freedom to create in our lives

I have found that there are seven key things that help me to own my freedom, but I have an early meeting this morning, so we will have to get into that tomorrow, until then be free . . .

-MizJAI-