Category Archives: spiritual disciplines

Keep that same energy

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I just got back from vacation and it was amazing. My husband knows how to show me a good time. It was exactly what we needed after having a rough winter. I love to travel, going places doing things, just being out of my house and doing something new. Research shows that it’s easier to get through your days if you are planning a vacation or have something to look forward to. Why is that? Shouldn’t we have joy in our day to day?

Keep that same energy is Teyana Taylor new album title. I haven’t listened to it but the title really got me thinking. How do you do that? Once you get back from vacation why is there such a plateau, such a crash? It literally has a name…post vacation blues. When you are on vacation there is such a high and when you get back home its like, uh, let me get back to the grind. I want to break that cycle.

When I got home I didn’t get all sad, like man my vacation is over. Instead I’m making the best of my time here. I’m taking that just go with the flow vacation vibe and carrying that into my work week. I dont want to be down and just waiting to leave again. I want to enjoy my time in my home and in my city, just like I do on vacation.

I want to keep that same energy. I want to be carefree and let the stress roll of my back.

How am I am going to do that?

1. Be here now- when I am vacation I’m not on my phone. I am just enjoying each moment. I will continue that philosophy when I am home, limiting my time on social media and group chats. This way I am in control of what I take in.

2. Quiet time- when I am on vacation I dont have to rush through my devotional. I really get good one on one time with God. It is harder to not rush my devotional at home but it can be done, I just have to be more intentional with my time.

3. Be active- if you can believe it, even though I did a lot of laying around on vacation I actually exercised every day too. Definitely not something I do at home nor will I necessarily be able to duplicate but I can get close. Being active puts me in a better mood than laying around. Instead of getting off work and trying to catch up on shows or social media and I am going to try to do some physical activity.

4. Try new things- best thing about vacation is trying stuff you wouldn’t normally do at home. That can be anything, new food, drinks or experiences. Why can’t we do that at home? I am lucky that I live in a city that I can find all kinds of new things. So once a month I am going to try and find something or someplace I have never been before.

I know none of these things are super hard but it is the small things that make vacation great. If I bring all the small things I like about vacation into my every day life then I can bring a little bit of vacation back with me.

May wrap up

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I saw this post on Instagram and it hit me like a ton of bricks. May was an interesting month, my motivation was all over the place, home life was crazy in a good way. I did a lot of volunteering at the church with the food pantry which I really enjoy. All that leads to me slacking on my writing.

The good news is that I, I saw it coming and have been writing like crazy so I will back on my regular posting schedule in June. I am going to be out of the country for a week in June and traveling for work for a week so I am going to try and schedule some posts out.

My biggest problem is that I write when I feel like it. If I want to take this as far as it can go I can’t be mediocre about reaching my goals. In my work life I go hard All the time so sometimes it’s hard to come home and work a hobby as hard. I really enjoy it though so I just have to put in more time. I wanted my writing to be natural and organic. Some structure is not going to kill me nor is being more disciplined.

I know I seem wishy washy but I’m not. I’m just feeling things out. All this is very new to me, a year ago when I bought this domain I never thought I would be here. I am just trying to figure this out. I look forward to June and all the cool things I’m writing and the adventures I am going to have. Anybody have anything fun plans happening this summer? I am also going to see Beyonce and Jay Z this summer which will be amazing!!!

Letter to my followers

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Hi,

I have been gone for a bit. Not terribly long but longer that I intended. I have not posted in 10 days which is unlike me. I typically like to post at least two times a week, sometimes three. Every month, at the end of the month I set goals for how many new followers I want, how many posts, how many viewers, etc and every month I have exceeded those goals. I had a goal to have 16 posts for this month, and I could probably throw together 4 posts and have them up by Monday but I am not going to do that. Well, I actually I probably will have at least 4 posts before the end of the month but they will be organic, not because I am trying to reach some goal.

I can not believe I hadn’t posted in 10 days. I apologize for that. I appreciate so much you all taking the time out to read what I have to say, to comment, to come by this page consistently. I wasn’t in the mood to write though. I wasn’t really hearing from God like I normally do and I didn’t want to force anything. I didn’t want to post for the sake of posting, I owe you and God my best.

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Some of that was my fault for sure.  I went on a girls trip to Orlando last weekend and had a blast but I don’t if I really took God with me. I didn’t do anything crazy but as the days leading up to the trip were coming I was definitely listening to more Cardi B and less James Fortune.  I was taking in more junk food and less soul food. I was just kind of coasting. I really needed to get away and I kind of tuned everything out. I went to a women’s retreat at my church this weekend that really has me fired up. The words are just pouring out of me. I needed a tune up and I got it.

This blog is the springboard for the many other things that I want to do. I need to take it seriously all the time, even when I don’t feel like it. I did not feel right when I wasn’t blogging but I just didn’t want to. I couldn’t get motivated. I know better to trust my feeling because feelings lie, but I couldn’t shake it. I know I am not going to meet all my goals this month and that is ok. I know I didn’t try my best. Thankfully, I have next month. I have so many things to tell you all, there is going to be some changes around here. I am so excited!  I hope you all have been growing over this past six months. I certainly have.

I’m glad to be back, I missed you guys.

Love,

Dominique

SOAP bible study method

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Do you feel like you do enough bible study? I know I don’t. I have been trying to do 30 minutes a day 5-6 days a week. The struggle is definitely real. Its hard. There are so many methods out there. I am going to be trying a few of them out and letting you guys know how they work. The SOAP method is one I found on Pintrest a few years ago and I really like it. Its so simple, it can easily be done in 15 minutes. Its a great way to get some time in with God and it helps you dig deeper into the word. If you want to longer than 10-15 minutes you could do longer passages but when I first started out, I did one verse everyday. I wrote them down all in the same place, so when I when I needed that encouragement later it was handy.

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S: I do believe, help me overcome my belief! Mark 9:24

O: I do believe; I’m just scared it wont happen. I do believe, I just don’t want to be disappointed.

A: This verse is instruction. God is telling me to ask Jesus to help me with my unbelief. God made me a promise that I am waiting to be fulfilled and I believe but its hard. Jesus went through the same thing I am going through which is why he wants me to ask him for help.

P: Jesus please help me with my unbelief. I am trying so hard but I have wanted this baby for so long that I don’t think I can take another disappointment. Please help me pray without ceasing. You say ask and we shall receive. Please intercede on my behalf. I know you have been were I have and you didn’t let your circumstances change how you feel about your father. You were able to keep your faith. Please tell me what to do to be all more like you. I’m ready and willing to do whatever it takes. Thank you for being an intercessory for me. With you I know I can do all things because you give me strength. Thank you. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Meditation

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Meditation is combination of reviewing, repeating, thinking and analyzing. It’s a physical, intellectual and emotional activity, it involves our whole being.

For some reason people seem to have issues with mediation. I’m not sure why. Jesus mediated. We also are told over and over in the bible to meditate so I’m not sure what the big deal is. I guess when people think of meditating they think of someone sitting cross-legged, with incense lit, going hummmm…I’m not sure where this misconception comes from but it doesn’t have to be that way. I feel like meditation is just slowing down your mind and clearing out the junk to let God in.

One of my biggest problems is that I think to much, so mediating before I go to sleep helps me relax and I often wake up more refreshed when I do it. The most common way I meditate is to repeat a verse over and over depending on what was going on that day. Another thing I like to do is put on soft music while I do my devotional or journal. The music doesn’t have words typically. Its not jazz or classical but soft sounds or waves, things that will slow my thoughts down and allow me to drill down more into God, not into myself. I can block out what happened at work or what I saw on tv and just focus on what I’m trying to do. You know how sometimes when you are trying to pray and or read your bible and your mind keeps wandering to everywhere else than where its supposed to be? Listening to this soft music definitely helps. One album I like is Kim Clement Sweet Moments, another is Dreamy Vibes by Spotify. Meditation is way to add some spice to your prayer life and variety. God doesn’t care how you to spend time with him He just wants you to do it.

In doing research online these are some things that I saw about meditation. I do most of these activities on a regular basis but there are few that I would like to do more often such as memorizing verses. I have them written on notecards already but I fall short on the memorization side.

-read a verse over and over

-memorize all or part of it

-personalize it by putting it in first person

-write the verse on a notecard and memorize throughout the day

Do you have misconceptions about meditating? Think about what is stopping you. Meditating could vastly improve your prayer life, your sleep, your overall deposition. When you get a spare 10 minutes try it, I think you will like it.

I just discovered this Abide app through the YouVersion Bible App and I really like it. You have to pay for the longer meditation but I found them on Youtube for free! The guys voice is nice and relaxing and he asks insightful questions to really get you thinking about God, the verse and yourself. I am trying to incorporate these into my quiet time every week. Let me know if you try it.