St. James AME in Odessa… Thank You!

While I might have been invited to bless the women in attendance at your first women’s conference, truly the pleasure and treat was mine. I remain humble and amazed at how God moves through “This Is the Poem” and am just overwhelmed that it touches so many so profoundly. To me, sometimes my poems are just an outward expression of my inner turmoil and triumphs. That anyone can share in them, relate to them, be freed by them, is something I only dreamt about growing up.

Your “Secrets of an Irresistible Woman” Conference was friendly, warm, and just what a women’s conference should be. Thank you for having me and I hope to see you all again soon!

Celebrate That You Never Could Have Made It Without the Hand of God on Your Life

I placed this video before my own words because Marvin Sapp says this so perfectly… he so superbly sets the tone for this post that my hope is that you play the video and let it minister to the hurt child in you. While you read these words, listen to what he is saying. You know as well as anyone that there is no reason that you can name this side of heaven as to why you made it through all you have gone through. You know better than anyone that you considered so many other ends and alternate lives… but to be standing here today, living out loud and striving everyday to be more than a simple statistic is a testimony to the work of God in your life.

And it does not matter that you still struggle to feel His presence. It does not matter that when you were being abused, you could not believe in Him. It does not matter that there are still scars to heal and nights when you cry out “Who is this God?” It only matters that He is and He is here… was there… with you… always. He kept you from ending your life prematurely. He kept you from disease. He kept you from a abortion. He kept you from prostitution. He kept you from mutilation. He kept you from promiscuity.

Whatever it is you are not, know that it was God and God alone that protected you. Know that it was God and God alone who held your hand in the dark of night as what was done to you. Know that it was God and God alone that walked the streets with you, keeping death at bay when you ran away. Know that it was He and not another that brought you through.

I know one thing for sure, I am here today only by the grace of God. I tried to end my life, and yet here I am living proof everyday that there is life after. All we have to do is hold on.

Listen to what Marvin is saying. From everything that he has suffered, he has gained strength and wisdom. He says he is better. And, watch this now, he says he made it. Know that you can make it. No matter what it is that is plaguing you, whatever the trouble is in your life, whatever you are going through or have endured, you will make it. I dare you… shout now.

Searching for that Special Someone

When you have been battered and bruise, beaten and abused, mistreated and misused, it can be next to impossible to find that special someone to spend your life with. Not because that person is not out there, but because we ourselves have so much baggage to work through in maintaining a healthy relationship that we often send the good ones running for the hills. That’s real talk… and often, real talk is not what we areinterested in. We want to believe that we have dealt with the pain of our past and that people just don’t get us. That’s not true. You don’t get you. Looking at our own reflection is not always easy but it is ever so necessary. I challenge every survivor of abuse to live a Happily Ever After by creating and shaping it first by honestly and realistically looking at self. And it wouldn’t hurt to do this as a single person. If you have the luxury to deal with you under the cover of singlehood, thank God for that. Your relationship-to-some will be so much the better for it. If you are in a relationship, it is not too late. Do it anyway.

I found this website today and could not take my eyes off of this trailer. This movie is so important and I am proud to spread the word. The Soulmate File at www.soulmatefilm.com.

 

“Time” – A Poem

Today, I will be speaking to the young women of New Directions for Teen Parents (a Catholic Charities program and I am super excited for this opportunity. This short poem is an old one that reminds us that no mistake is so defining that you can not overcome it and become whoever it is you want to be. I salute you, young mothers, striving to be more than the statistic someone says you will be. Enjoy your Life After!!!

“Time”

 

indeed

time waits for no one

and no one can escape its reach

you can either let it teach

you what has to teach

or you can struggle

troubled by the things you simply can not control

but try

the things that make you cry

things you don’t understand

but lie about

time can teach you to forgive

to live free from the stains of pains

you needn’t own

time can show you where you’ve grown

and where you’ve failed

if you let the mistress of time tell the tale

instead of trying to write the book yourself

let her be the help she is intended to be

then see…

just wait and see…

whatever should be

will be

 

A Miss Mai Original