March 20, 2017 Today’s song is a musical setting of the Prayer of St. Teresa: Let nothing disturb you, nothing distress you. While all things fade away, God is unchanging. Be patient, for with God in your heart, nothing is lacking. God is enough. To listen to the song, click the link, then select “Prayer of St. Teresa,” the fourth track in the song list. The song was used in today’s Pray-As-You-Go devotional, and I strongly encourage you to take the 12+ minutes to listen to the full devotional, which includes a reading from Matthew 1:18-21, 24a. #Lent2017 #EncourageYourselfInTheLord #BeEncouraged Read More
Category: Uncategorized
Lenten Reflections – week 3
March 13, 2017 The mystery/complicated nature of “already/not yet” allows me to prepare for the death/burial/resurrection of Christ while also being confident that He has already conquered the enemy. It’s the victory that I often need to grab hold of during times storms or times of uncertainty… #Lent2017 #EncourageYourselfInTheLord #BeEncouraged March 14, 2017 I can’t deny my southern/country roots! While I was cooking breakfast, this is the song that “dropped in my spirit,” as the old saints might say! 🙂 When going through tough times, it helps to remember the times that God brought you out! #Lent2017 #EncourageYourselfInTheLord #BeEncouraged#WeDontNeedNoMusic Read More
Lenten Reflections – week 2
March 6, 2017 “In God alone is my soul at rest. He alone is my rock, my strength.” In your times of trouble, may you find rest and strength, in God, our rock. To hear this song, click the link, then select “In God Alone,” the first track in the song list. By the way, I discovered this song while using the Pray-As-You-Go website’s daily devotionals (it was used for a January devotional). #Lent2017 #EncourageYourselfInTheLord #BeEncouraged http://www.kevinmayhew.com/light-in-our-darkness-cd.html#.WL1kuDvyvb2 March 7, 2017 “If I had everything that I could ever ask for, but I didn’t have you, then I’d have nothing…nothing without Read More
Lenten Reflections – week 1
Those of you following my page on Facebook know that I’m engaging in a “nontraditional” Lenten practice of encouraging myself in the Lord. However, I recognize that there are people whose Lenten practice includes giving up social media. I know a few who also follow me and have shared that they enjoy the things I share. So this is for them/you. At the end of each week of Lent, I’ll post a summary of the Facebook posts, so you all can be engaged as well. March 1, 2017 Yesterday, I mentioned that I was attempting to take on a bit Read More
Beauty in the Chaos
This morning, I came across a Facebook video of a Swedish soul/gospel singer who stunned Kirk Franklin and his musicians at a concert with his rendition of “Don’t Cry.” This is one of my favorite Kirk Franklin songs, for a number of reasons, so – of course – I had to then go listen to the original recording. Just seconds into it, I was sucked in by the chord structures. There are so many dissonant chords in this song, and they are jarring and beautiful all at once. This is one of the reasons that I love this song. As Read More
Fun with Flash Fiction, Part 2: The Assignment
I advanced to round 2 of the NYC Flash Fiction Challenge and am pretty excited about that! So today’s unexpected post is the entry that helped me advance, “The Assignment.” This is a story of 1,000 words max; genre: spy, location: a hiking trail, object: a car battery. Tabia sipped some water as she took in the breathtaking site of the waterfall in the distance. The stunning beauty might have taken her breath away if she weren’t already breathless from the insanely long hike she’d taken along the Oconee Passage of the popular Palmetto Trail. This was not at all Read More
Wassup Wednesdays – October 19, 2016
Today, I’m operating in the spirit of “imperfect action” and starting a new feature on The Dreamer Speaks. I’ve come to enjoy the “Friday Five” types of posts that people share on their blogs. Based on feedback that I receive often from people who enjoy my social media musings, I thought that I might try my hand at this thing. Since everyone else’s digests focus on Fridays, my girls Common Sense and Wisdom hipped me to the fact that I should probably pick a different day. I considered Twofer Tuesdays (or Thursdays), and that didn’t really work for me. Mondays Read More
The Myth of Selflessness, the Gift of Selfishness
In the world of ministry, there seems to be a badge of honor for those who work themselves like a dog “for the sake of the Kingdom.” This goes for those who serve in full-time paid ministry as well as those who are bi-vocational or volunteers. I don’t know where this came from, but I know it’s got to stop! I was just at a retreat/conference/gathering for African American ministers/leaders in my denomination, and we had a workshop on soul care. The presenter, Rev. Harvey F. Carey, started us off by having us listen to Larnelle Harris’ recording of “I Read More
3 Leadership Lessons
To introduce the next giveaway for this week, I’d like to share three short leadership lessons. Listen. Listen to God, listen to mentors, listen to trusted experts and “thought leaders” in your sector. Also, listen to your gut. Learn. Learn all you can about your craft/field/area of ministry, learn about how to genuinely engage with other people, learn how to listen, learn how to love. Also learn what makes you tick – your strengths and weaknesses. Love. Love God. Love the people God created. Remember, all humans are created in the image of God, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender, economic Read More
Welcome Back!
I’ve been hyping up this relaunch for weeks, now, so I’ve been stressing over the need to create an amazingly witty blog post. First, I needed a title. “Welcome back” kept running through my head because The Dreamer Speaks has been on hold during our “construction” period, but I didn’t think it was deep enough. I finally came up with a pithy title and got excited, but then the words wouldn’t come. Instead, not only was “welcome back” still floating in my head. Now, it had morphed into the opening line of the “Welcome Back, Kotter” theme song. So, if Read More