NEW BEGINNINGS

Do Not Remember the former things Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ISAIAH 43;18-19

WOW! Where to begin, there is so much that has transpired since my last post and even though I titled this post New Beginnings, I don’t know where to start. I guess at the beginning, huh? (LOL)

These past few weeks, well months actually, I have lived in a very frustrated place. I am not talking about my physical home I am referring to my spiritual and mental dwelling place. So many things were happening in my life that I just didn’t understand what was going on. It was like one thing after another and people were coming and going in and out of my life-like a revolving door. It through this sister for a loop. For months I struggled and wrestled with emotions that I thought were dead but somehow decided to resurrect themselves. Thoughts and thinking patterns that I knew didn’t belong there were surfacing inside and out and I was a mess. It was a silent struggle and it was strangling me. I knew that where I was was not the place I was created to be. I begged God to set me free this internal prison.

I had been paying on my trip to go to “Woman Thou Art Loosed”, since March of this year and I always refereed to this trip as “my appointment” with God. As time grew near and life got even crazier I cried out to God even more. I remember saying to God one morning, I am not going to Atlanta for a “sprinkle, tinkle or even a touch, and I am not going for form nor fashion so if I am not going to be changed when I go then, well I don’t wanna go. At first I got kinda scared after having prayed that prayer because I had paid all my money, LOL. God is faithful though and He heard every prayer I prayed during that time and saw every tear I shed. He’s so good.

On October 2, 2012 our church sat out for Atlanta, Georgia and I was in my own little world. Thinking, wondering and praying. Even though I had such high expectations about the trip, what I would experience in the upcoming days outweighed anything I could have ever imagined. We arrived in Georgia and pulled up to the hotel and my mouth just dropped! We stayed at the Omni Hotel which is connected to the CNN Center and the Phillips Arena. I had never been in anything like this in my life. It was pure excellence, to me anyway. I felt like I belonged there. I am not talking about moving to Georgia, what I am referring to has to do with a mind-set more than anything. One of the things I felt frustrated with was the feeling of mediocrity and being stuck in the ordinariness of life . So walking in the Hotel I had that moment of, “Now this what I’m talking about.”

The first night of the conference was where God would start to answer my prayers as Bishop Jakes began to explain to me why I had been so frustrated and feeling the way I have been for months. I sat in my seat in awe of God as He brought it all together and made sense of it for me. The title of the sermon was, “The Pecking Order.” He said God told him He was sending to Atlanta 25,000 “CHICKS” that wanted out. Listening to him preach and bring everything together as if he was in my head was like almost unbelievable. God was speaking to me and I knew it. The reason I was so frustrated and uncomfortable in that place was because I was outgrowing it. I had to experience all those things so I could begin to PECK my way out. Now when he put that picture of a baby chick pecking its way out, that’s when I lost it, you see about 12 years ago God told me life was like an egg. The memory of that conversation came flooding back to my mind. I am still trying to absorb all that has happened to me during that conference. God used speaker after speaker to reach me at the point of my need and I knew when I went back home I would not be the same. Oh, I love Him.

The conference was 3 weeks ago and I am still in awe of God and how He has started the “PECKING” process in my life. Yesterday I attended a Writers Workshop and I watched as God put me in the right POSITION, by giving me the EXPOSURE, and the COURAGE, to get the KNOWLEDGE for where He is about to take me. While at this conference I walked up to the Keynote speaker from 2 years ago and began a conversation with him. While this may seem like no big deal to you it was a stepping stone for me. It was my first real experience with the change that has begun to take place in my life. You see prior to going to THE WOMAN THOU ART LOOSED Conference I would have never walked up to this man and started speaking to him. I would have wished that I had the nerve to go up to him that’s about it. God put me in the POSITION and gave me the COURAGE and I acted on it. My prayer before going to the Workshop was Lord, put me in the right place at the right time to make that divine connection with the right person who can help propel me to the next level. That man right there was the answer to my prayer!!!!! He encouraged me for a few and then told me that there are people would PAY ME to write their speeches for them!! I had all I could do not to bust when he grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and began to call this one man who was possibly looking for someone. The person didn’t answer but a voicemail was left for him. All I know is the divine connection has been made. I am living in expectation while I wait for that email or phone call. In the mean time I will give Glory To God as He works this out!!!

I am a CHICK that is PECKING her way out! I am forgetting everything that was behind me and I am pressing on towards what God has for me. I am not the same CHANTEEA I was before that trip to Georgia. Later for the junk. I was created for greatness and I am moving towards it. This Chick has hatched and is looking forward to the New Beginning God has for her!

Maybe you are in a place of frustration right now, you know that where you are is not where you belong and you’re trying to figure out how to break free from all that is holding you back. Trust God, He hears you and in due season, your answer will come. God has a NEW BEGINNING FOR EVERYONE!!

CHIRP! CHIRP!
CHANTEEA

Whatcha Worrying For, God’s Gotcha!

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. MATTHEW 6:25-33

The message in church last Sunday was, “I am To Blessed To Be Stressed.” Let me just tell you, I have been screaming that all week! What is gonna take for me to fully put my trust and faith in God? How many times has He shown His love for me through answered prayer, but like the Israelites I seem to suffer from memory loss at times. God had brought them so many things yet they still questioned His ability to take of them. Why? Why do we continually worry about things when God has promised us in His word that He would provide for us. He will protect us, and He will make a way when there seems to be no way.

I Remember the back to back blizzards we had about three years ago. The world called it the “Snowpocalypse.” I don’t think I have ever seen that much snow in my life. Talk about worrying. I mean stress was kicking my butt…. What are you gonna eat, what if you cant make it to work, you know you have bills to pay, what if you lose electric, if you lose electric you wont have heat, and on and on like the pounding of a hammer it went and this was before the storm actually hit! God, the faithful loving, Father that He is, showed me some things during this time, that I am ashamed to say I must have forgotten. I have to have or why else would I even give worry the time of day now.

Honestly, I had been listening to the weather report all day the day of the first storm, and in the back of mind I thought its not going to be that bad. Well I was wrong. It was about 7 o’clock when I got off work that night and that’s when the reality of it had hit. They had issued a State of Emergency, all cars needed to off the road. Well I had to go to the store so I ignored that. Thank God there are several grocery stores I would pass on my way home because the first one was EMPTY! I mean ZIP, ZILCH, NADA! No bread, potatoes, milk, eggs, chips, meat, and even the produce section was bare. I have never walked into a store and saw anything like that. Fear really kicked in then. I called my husband and told him about the situation and he told me he had stopped to the store when he got off work at 4 and he had some stuff. Although that reassured me a little bit I wasn’t satisfied. My second stop was at Giant, and it was there I made out much better. They didn’t have much meat but that had much more food on there shelves. I made it home safe and sound and food in hand. I was happy.

Upon arriving home I learned my hubby had to go into work and most likely he would be stuck there. Well I didn’t like the idea of that at all. All I could think about was him out there on the roads and what if we lost electric. After seeing him off I made my way into my room to talk with God. It was there that I learned my first lesson. It seemed I had been praying about us not losing the electric more then anything else so it was during one of those prayers God spoke to my heart and said, “When you pray, believe that you receive.” My next thought was well I do believe so I just need to start thanking God that we will not lose electric. And that’s what I did. I started thanking the Lord from that point on that we would not lose electric. When it blinked, I thanked God, that it was going to stay on. During both storms we never lost electric on our street. The streets parallel to us lost it, but not ours! We kept our electric it never went out. The lesson I learned was sometimes there comes a point when you have to stop praying about a situation and just start thanking God for the answer. Some people may think that’s silly but not me. When you pray, you must believe that God hears you and if you believe He hears you then He will answer you so why not thank Him in advance for the answered prayer.

It was also during these storms that I took up a love for feeding the birds. There would be no work for me that week. I couldn’t even get out of my driveway. I was really worried, I had bills due that week and we needed more food so being out of work for a week was not really working for me. So since I was stuck in the house all week and had nothing else to do I fed them. I would put my boots on and walk in mounds and mounds of snow just to feed them. I popped popcorn for them and everything. (LOL) While watching them eat one morning the scripture about worrying and God taking care of the birds came to mind. Why do you question God’s ability to take care of you. Look at these birds, God puts it on peoples heart all over this world to set out feeders and watering stations for them so that they are well provided for so what makes you think He wont take of you? Silly me! I started thanking God for the provision we needed to get us through the week. My husband could get back and forth to work because his job let him use a vehicle with a snow plow. He is the Maintenance Supervisor in a huge housing development. People were coming to him and asking him to plow their driveways so they could get out. While he couldn’t do it on company time, he did it on his lunch hour and after work and they paid him!! He made tons of money that week and God had provided for us!

God is so faithful even when we question and doubt His ability to do as He said He would. Thank goodness He never gives up on us! So why do we worry? Why do we continually walk in fear instead of faith in Gods Word. He says in Philippians 4:19, that He would supply ALL our needs according to HIS riches in Glory. Why not rest in that instead of wrestling with fear, doubt and unbelief. Fear and faith cannot operate at the same time. We are so accustomed to taking care of ourselves so when situations arise and our ability to do so is question we become afraid and faith goes out the window. The truth of the matter is our faith should be in God anyway and not ourselves.

Look back over your life, can you remember the times that God has provided for you when you didn’t know how or where your provision was coming from. Those are the times you need to revisit and build your faith back to the point where you say, “Ya know what, I been here before and I know the Lord will make a way.” If He did it before He will do it again.

Father,

Forgive for putting our faith in our ability to provide for ourselves. Forgive us for worrying and doubting You and Your Word. It is only by Your grace and mercy that we have made this far. Thank You God that even when we are not faithful, You still are! Thank You for Loving us enough to never give up on us. Thank You God for making away when we see no way. In Jesus Name Amen.

Can You Hear The Voice of Hope

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumes, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I HOPE in Him!
LAMENTATIONS 3:22-24

What does the Voice of Hope sound like to you? Have you ever heard it? It doesn’t have to be an audible voice. It could be the voice that comes from listening to another share their story. Especially if there story is liken to something you are going through and they are telling you how they made it.

One of the definitions for the word voice is, something likened to the speech as conveying impressions to the mind. That is what this blog site was designed to. As we share our life experiences and struggles it is our desire that the voice with which we speak is conveying hope in your mind. The kind of hope that says, you know what, if they went thru that and God brought them thru then surely He can do the same for me. God is no respecter of persons, (Romans 2:11) and He loves you just as much as He loves me.

One thing we lack in our lives is transparency. People don’t want you to know their struggles. They just want you to see them shining, later for the ugly parts of life. Just get to the good part. We see the effects and scars but the story of how they made it over is hidden out of fear of judgement or shame. I can only speak to you from my experiences and in return this should offer you some kind of hope. How can I give you directions to get to New York if I have never been there myself? Sure I can maybe sorta guide you but if I have actually driven there myself and I know the ins and outs of the city then surely that would give you a little more confidence in taking directions from me, wouldn’t it?

When you are going through things in life you need to find someone with which you can identify with. Someone that can say, “Hey, I been there and done that and because I made it through you can too.” A couple of years ago I found a lump in my breast and fear was waiting to greet me with thoughts of dying at a young age. I knew I had better get a hold of those thoughts or else they would overtake me and win. The first thing I did was search the bible for healing scriptures so I could speak them over my life, then I asked God to put a song in my heart to carry me through, and He did. The song was by, Dewayne Wood, it’s called “Let Go.” I also knew of some women of faith who had battled breast cancer and won so I read their testimonies. The purpose of doing these things was to feed my faith. I also went on the Susan G. Komen website to read the stories of women who had cancer. Doing those things gave me hope during that dark scary time in my life. Turns out it wasn’t cancer (Praise God!) but just in case it had been I was getting myself in the position to hear the voice of hope come from others experience.

When you see that someone else has overcome the same thing that you maybe be struggling with and they survived it, that gives you hope. I was listening to Bishop Jakes on TV the other day and He was talking about this very same subject. The man he was interviewing was talking about a time in his life when he had lost his job and had his car repossessed. He felt like he had failed his family. He was struggling on the inside and was too ashamed to tell anyone. He said, he would go to church and look around at all the people who he “thought” had it all together and he would leave church feeling worse than when he went in. Then one day he met a fellow who had been through the same exact thing he was going through and he shared his story of how he made it through that season of his life. Hearing this mans story encouraged him so much. It gave him some hope and placed something within him that said, “EVERYTHINGS GONNA BE ALRIGHT!” People love to share the glory but not the story that goes with it.

In your everyday life you may come across hurting dying people. I don’t mean dying from a sickness or anything like that. I mean dying for lack of hope or strength to carry on. All you have to do is look around they’re everywhere. The things you have been through in life may not have been all that good but like I said before God can use it for your good. Especially to help another person. No experience you have in life will God waste. Just take a look at Saul in the bible, he was a murderer, he killed Christians for a living. (Acts CHAP 9) Then one day God got a hold of him and not only changed his name from Saul to Paul but He changed his life forever. He was forgiven, his past was wiped clean, and he became a new person. That story alone should give you hope. Surely if God could give a person like Paul a new life, imagine what He could do for you! Paul went on to become the author of thirteen books of the New Testament and its in those books that you can find, if your listening, “THE VOICE OF HOPE!”

~~ Be Blessed ~~

Chanteea

LET GO ~ Dewayne Wood

Wait on the Lord

Psalm 5:3
Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

It’s been about six weeks since we moved into our new place. After we got unpack and settled; we realized we were missing our friends. We were getting discouraged about not having met any people who we could call friends. I thought we could meet people at church or out that the park but as of yet we really have not been able to connect with anyone in either of those places. My husband and I know of one or two people out here but we haven’t been able to connect.

Part of me was just thinking the bulk of the friendships would be generated after school starts. Yet, as many times as I moved in my life, I know how scary it can be to start a new school in an unfamiliar area.

I started to pray about it. I asked God about developing some friendships before the kids go back to school. We live in a condominium complex that has an interesting layout. It’s mostly car friendly which is really not a good place for the kids to play without supervision.

My bedroom leads out to a balcony and there is a patio below also that leads to our backyard and out to the parking lot. I started going out on the balcony to read, write in my journal, and pray. I realized sitting out there that I could do my writing and still have a good line of sight while the kids play in the parking lot.

So we tried it. Once the sun went down, I went on the balcony and the girls went through the backyard out into the parking lot. I gave them boundaries as far as I could see from the balcony. That was as far as they could go.

The first night, they played out there alone and no kids came out. The second night, they played out there and no kids came out again. However, after the girls came inside, I was still on the balcony. Suddenly, I heard this lady say excuse me. I looked up and said yes ma’am. She asked me if my kids had been out there playing because her daughter was looking for the kids who were just out there.

I said yes, but they were going to get a bath. I told her I would check to see if they had made it to the bathroom and if not I would send them back out. I could have just sent the kids out to play with the girl, but I decided to go out and talk to the lady too. We stood out there and talked and the kids rode the scooters until it was so dark we couldn’t see each other.

We all came back in the house, feeling refresh and rejuvenated. We finally met someone we can call a friend. We can’t wait to see them again tonight.

There’s a lot more I can share about waiting on the Lord. When we want something, we want it right now. Sometimes, it’s not the best time to have it. I believe there was as reason we were not connecting with people out in those other areas we were looking. The friends God chose for us were right outside our backyard. No matter how long we wait on the Lord. If we truly wait expectantly, He will come through for us.

Prayer

Lord, it’s hard to wait on you. I want things in my own time and in my own way, and under my own circumstances. Help me to trust that your timing is better than mine in all things. Amen!