Motivating Monday (on Wednesday) ~ September 22, 2021

What Prosperity Means to Me

Welcome and welcome back! It's another amazing day in paradise. Thank you so much for being here. If your email led you here please continue at the asterisk (*). If you're just getting started please continue reading from here. 

Wisdom and I are just ONE day away from our permit expiring. It's both thrilling and frightening. I am grateful for all of you who have reached out to ask for more information. Thank you for recognizing my lack but not holding it against me.

There's a lot I'm trying to accomplish to move my son, Wisdom, and I "From Poverty to Prosperity". Regardless of all the people who have come through, God gets the credit for helping us make the biggest move. That was internally. In order to move from poverty to prosperity externally, it's a move you have to make internally first.

My inner work is not yet complete. There is a lot of excavating still to be done. But the diamond mine I've uncovered in my soul is beautiful and worth the work it has taken to reveal. With that revealing has come a desire for my external to mirror my internal. This doesn't mean I'm looking to live in a diamond mine or be covered in them. Eternal prosperity has absolutely nothing to do with money at all, to be honest with you!

And here is where I have to say thank you to Ms. Marie (thank you, Ms. Marie). She suggested I explain what prosperity means to me because it might not be what people think. And she's right. I have a very unique point of view.

BUT first... please let me address another inquiry. My goal is to earn $5000... before the new week begins. With a Go Fund Me, you have to let people know how much you're looking to raise. I forgot! I was so excited about the revelations I was receiving, I neglected to provide clear information.

My goal is to "sell" between $1500 and $2500 worth of merchandise tomorrow afternoon/evening. That would give me a good head start to take into the weekend where I will participate in other opportunities to present my selection. To reach that I need to sell out of all the inventory I have on hand PLUS take orders.

Looking at those numbers, I'm sure you might be wondering "how is that prosperity?" For some people, that is the cost of their bills for only ONE month. For me, that's prosperity because it is what I need to take the next steps to living the life of my dreams.

And that's the thing... I'm not asking for anyone to pay for the life of my dreams. I'm asking for support to honorably earn the money I need to continue to advance step-by-step in this world. Thing is... I'm asking to advance on MY terms, not someone else's. 

Now I need to be clear, because when I use the word "my", I really mean God's terms. He directs my life. Wisdom and I would not have made it this far without all the guidance and direction He gave that I actually followed.

I was trying to figure out a better way to explain this when the better way was made clear. It was as I listened to the online recording of Garth Live from Central Park this morning (yes, Garth Brooks circa 1997; I used to own the VHS). He sang a song called The River.  Here are the lyrics: 

*Verse: 

You know a dream is like a river, 

Ever changin' as it flows. 

And a dreamer's just a vessel 

That must follow where it goes. 

Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores...and

Chorus:

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Verse: 

Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide...yes

(Chorus)

Bridge:

There's bound to be rough waters
And I know I'll take some falls
But with the good Lord as my captain
I can make it through them all...yes

(Chorus)

Yes, I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
'Til the river runs dry

Living prosperously simply means I get to be that vessel on MY river sailing along, learning from what's past, not knowing what's in store and most importantly "chancing" the rapids. What does that look like for me? It means being able to be a mom to my son, first, and serve the world second. 

God gave Eve such an enormous responsibility when He bestowed on her the responsibility to bear children. She became the primary nurturer as Adam was called to tend the fields. As a daughter of the Most High God and a descendant of Eve, I want to execute God's call! And I want others to have that right too. 

Being a single mom, there is not a program that supports a mom being a mom to successfully raise her child or children in a way that makes them productive members of society. If there are programs that will pay for someone else to care for a child while a mom works, why not pay that mother to raise her own child/children AND teach her the best ways to do it?

In my mind, heart and spirit both parents deserve the right to have their roles as mom and dad recognized as a life long career. It is the most important one that will ever exist in the entire history of all mankind. Since this is true, as with all careers, there should be training and pay. 

That is my way of serving the world. That should come second to serving my family though. That is the river I desire to navigate. And no one has a right to take that away from me. By selling the gratitude journals this is my way of creating that life on the river with my son.

From all the experiences my son and I have had on this journey through the perils of poverty, the  story has been the same. An attempt has been made to move my vessel to another river. It is a very crowded river. It is so crammed with vessels that no one is moving. NO ONE IS MOVING?

How can Wisdom and I MOVE from poverty to prosperity where there is no MOVEMENT? We can't. Being out and about among people selling our gratitude journals, we now have movement. We have flow. Some days on our river has been calm and other days it has been like riding the rapids. But it's OUR river to ride. And I'm grateful for all it brings.

Before I conclude, I invite you to watch this video of a conversation about the relevance of the Parable of the Exceptional (AKA Good) Samaritan today. It might seem odd to just throw the invitation in there now but there is a connection. 

At least I feel like there is. It won't reveal itself until you watch the video. Please email me back and let me know if you received it. If not, I'll let you know tomorrow.

About the video, I invited Pooja Chilukuri, a resident of and entrepreneur in Cary and Rev. Chris Furr of Covenant Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Cary to join me. It was recorded in February of this year. 

If what you watch impresses you please consider subscribing to my channel and investing in their lives and ministries. More information about Pooja can be found on her website: http://poojachilukuri.com/poojasbooks/. Please consider purchasing her memoir for yourself and others. It is called "And Then There Was Jesus". This book changed my life. I am forever grateful for her story. 

And you can contribute to Covenant Christian Church via their website: https://covenant-christian-church.square.site/product/give-to-covenant/8. They have plans to renovate the church so please consider contributing to their building fund.

Thank you again for being here. Thank you in advance for your support. I hope something resonated with you so you can be resolved to ride your vessel down your river. Enjoy the amazing day you're creating. Peace...