Tag Archives: God

It’s Okay Because I Refuse

23 Dec

Summer 2014

I have been working a contract job during the day for the last few months. I have enjoyed it but I am glad it is finally coming to an end. I was sitting at my cubicle thinking about my life. Specifically, why I am still single and how that makes me feel? In doing so I realized something as I battled through my emotional roller coaster today, It’s okay. It’s okay to be in the emotional moment. Because that does not mean the emotions of the moment represent the actual view of how I see myself.

It’s okay to get frustrated with being single, not having children and yes even fretting briefly over if I will ever be married. It’s okay to have the longing to love someone and briefly, yes briefly to pause thinking “I am not worthy or even maybe there is something wrong with me”.  Because the bottom line is there is nothing wrong with me, I am just fine.

There was a time in my life that I probably would have done just about anything to be loved and married. Meaning I would have to compromise what I knew I deserved to have it. At this point in my life I have come to understand the value of my worth. I think that is why God would not allow me to marry before now. “I unfortunately did not learn my full value until I was in my mid 30’s.” Sad I know, but I spent the majority of my life thinking I was less because people close to me always said I was, mainly because of my weight. You hear something so many times it gets deeply rooted into who you are and it is damn hard to get it out of your head.  So at this point in my life I refuse to compromise on what I deserve not just in marriage but in life. I refuse to not be the dynamic woman that I am called to be. I refuse to not be the minister God has called me to be.

I am a Pastor, a motivational speaker, a singer, a writer, and an entrepreneur. I am not the quiet and reserve Naomi following behind Ruth in the Bible.

I am Deborah at the city gates sounding the alarm!

 I refuse to be denied the same level of love, respect and devotion I give to others. I refuse to be cheated on or abused (physically or mentally). I refuse to not be respected, loved and valued in that order. I refuse to not walking according to my calling to inspire others or work to be the best I can be. I refuse to allow another person’s insecurities dictate my potential or regress me into a position to allow someone unqualified to have authority in my life.

I am so excited about my future right now because in writing this my strength has been renewed, my motivation restored, my vision revived. Because I know I am going to be Okay because I REFUSE to be otherwise.

His Bondservant,

Joan White
AKA Voluptuous Diva

Voluptuous Diva Diaries is a newsletter sponsored by Voluptuous Diva, Inc.

We are an online social network, fashion design, and merchandising community
dedicated to the majority of American women.

Voluptuous Diva, Inc. was created so that my fellow Divas can
feel empowered, sexy, and inspired.

Joan White is the founder of Voluptuous Diva, Inc. and resides in
Winston-Salem, NC

Defining Moments: You Can Only Eat an Elephant One Bite at a Time

2 Apr

1 biteI have one of the best personal development coaches. Her name is Deborah Saunders-Carlton. She has helped me through so much over the past year. In my last session with her I expressed how this year has not gone according to plan. How I have not accomplished many of the goals I set-out for myself and I was feeling stagnant and discouraged. We talked about all I had been through a lot this year and truly I have overcome a great deal.

Earlier this year I lost my mental health business. The local management agency took it away within 4 days with no real explanation. I was devastated initially but I came to realize it was a real blessing. I am freer now than I have been in the last 8 years. I have more peace and God fixed it so that I could financially support myself to be able to pursue my passion which is blogging and inspiring others.

So I asked her why I have been so stagnant all these months. First of all she chastised me for not calling her sooner and remaining in that mind set all that time. Then she proceeded to tell me how I had a large vision with a lot of components and without a clear strategy I was overwhelmed and did not have a clear focus on what I needed to do. Then she made a profound statement “Girl you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time and even then you have to eat it in multiple place settings.” Of course I was blown away.

Timeline Solutions for Eating that Elephant!

As she and I began to talk we realized I had a vision whose time frame for initial fusion was roughly 15 months. So she suggested that I print out 15 calendar months and create a timeline that showed all the things I needed to do. Each task was to be represented in a different colored timeline and as I completed each task I was to highlight them and mark them completed on the calendar. She also taught me something a coach of hers taught her which was each day set a goal of 3 things to complete to further my business and improve upon my personal life. They were not to be things I should do routinely but tasks needed to further advance myself and business.

Final Thoughts!

don't stop believingLastly, I was encouraged to write down each of my vision objectives and detail under each one what was undone. As I did that, I should choose tasks daily from this information to accomplish daily to further my vision. Meaning at the end of 30 days I would accomplish 90 different things both personal and business. I was so blown away and excited. She also encouraged me to keep track of my accomplishments and celebrate them as wins to keep myself motivated.

I agreed and I am proud to say my momentum has improved my focus is better and I am accomplishing far more than I have earlier this year. I am truly excited about what is to come for the remainder of the year and the New Year to come.

I admonish each of your to write the vision down and make it plan, calendar you vision, detail your vision objectives and challenge yourself to accomplish something everyday, in doing so you will hit the mark every time.

To God Be the Glory; both Now and Forevermore.

Voluptuous Diva

Stay Blessed and Continue to Re-Define Yourself

Voluptuous Diva Diaries is a newsletter sponsored by Voluptuous Diva, Inc. We are an online social network, fashion design, and merchandising community dedicated to the majority of American women. Voluptuous Diva, Inc. was created so that my fellow Divas can feel empowered, sexy, and inspired.

Minister Joan White is the founder of Voluptuous Diva, Inc. and resides in Winston-Salem, NC

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Defining Moments: Know At Your Lowest Point God is With You

19 Mar

I don’t know about you but there have been times when I have been so low I could not see my way out.  But in my weakest hour of giving up something on the inside would not allow me to do so.

It is at that very moment inner strength comes, pulls me out and encourages me to keep moving forward, to keep believing for the better. 

Throughout my 20s I was a depressed and defeated individual. I came home from college without a degree and I felt so low and defeated. It did not help any that I disappointed my mom by not finishing and (she never let me forget it). All my friends got married in their twenties and were starting families and I was left alone. I was living at home with my mother, no car, working temporary jobs and no relationship. I use to sit and cry for long periods of time and eat. I thought I was unlovable, unemployable, and destined to be stuck in my moms house forever.

Yet something inside me kept me going. I was involved in a local church at that time and I spent every moment I could at that place. I even volunteered in the church office for several months. I know now that it was God me and letting me know in my heart not to give up, not to give in, that no matter what I was going to make it.

I am 45 now and I look back on those times with such amusement. I realize as I have matured as a women just how much I have grown and been able to withstand the hardships of life that were designed to destroy me and I thank god that I stood.

It was only because strength comes in our weakest hours, hope and the ability to keep fighting is an inherited part of our nature.  It is Gods way of letting us know he will never leave us nor forsake us, especially in our darkest hours.

I continue to find however, that I must continue to guard my mind against regression. I have found myself this year not as productive as I wanted to be. I have not lost the weight that I wanted, or accomplished the things with the business I set for myself. But it is okay. I realize God is calling me to go deeper in him and I will not get to the level that I want until I do.

Beloved know that it is okay to feel frustrated, it is our minds way of letting us know that we need to continue to make changes to improve ourselves.  Never give up or give in, ass long as you keep moving and progressing towards your passion in life you will never be a failure.

To God Be the Glory; both Now and Forevermore.

 

Voluptuous Diva

Join the Revolution and Define Yourself!

Power of Positive Confession

5 Mar

Positive Confession!

move mountainsOne of the most powerful tools utilized in my life is also one that posses the greatest challenge to execute and that is the power of positive confession. As a Christian I have been taught throughout my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ that I AM WHAT GOD SAYS I AM.  In the world system, I AM WHAT I SAY I AM.  Both have validity and require action on the part of the confessor.

Even now as much as I have accomplished and through all that I have gained I still struggle with this in some parts of my life. I find myself in a constant mind battle to stay victorious in knowing that I am a powerful woman destined for greatness.

The word Power means a strength or force capable of being exerted. Confession means to disclose or acknowledge faith in something.
Translation-In us lies a strength or force cable to helps acknowledge a faith in something, often times bigger than ourselves. The key is where our power comes from and what it is we are confessing.

I am firm believer that the power is Christ Jesus and the confession is the Word of God and positive things instead of negative.

The Positive Confession of a Growing Christian

growOne of the first slogans I learned as a baby Christian was “confess it, believe it, and count it done in the name of Jesus.” I remember as a young teenager in high school confessing for good grades, confessing that the lord would bless me with whatever I needed. I was so excited back then, on fire, faith unwavering. I confessed for God to use me to do great works and to allow me to accomplish many great things. As I look back I chuckle at my naive and innocent faith.

As I have grown older and life has handed me quite a few blows (bombs is more accurate), I find that it is harder to have the fresh naive and positive outlook of my youth. As I continue to struggle with hardships and heart breaks in my life, it is difficult to stay positive and I am not ashamed to say that I have looked at my circumstances and failed to see no way out on many occasion. I have viewed positive confession as ridiculous and ineffective method to improve my circumstances many times in moments of despair and frustration.

Yet one thing has continued to remain constant for me is that even though I am down I don’t stay there. I begin to call upon the name of the Lord and say I can do all things through Christ Jesus who Strengthens me (Philippians 4:13) Even in my darkest hour as I began to confess the word about my circumstances peace would come. Hope abounds when there is an acknowledgment according to the word of God.

Negative Thinking: Positive Confession’s Greatest Enemy

negative butterflyOne of the greatest enemies of positive confession is negative thinking. It is interesting to me how the nature of man has always been to gravitate towards the negative. Yet the positive has so much more power and benefit to our lives. The bible tells us that we are born in sin and conceived in iniquity, therefore, it is in our innate nature to look gravitate towards a negative perspective first. How many times have we jumped to conclusions and automatically thought the worst, only to find out upon closer examination that things were not as bad as they seemed? I can honestly say, for myself too many times.

It feels comfortable to our flesh to dwell on the negative. How many times have we been quick to pass along the latest juice gossip and hesitant to pass along good news? It is amazing to me how easy it is to say something negative about someone and so hard to say something positive.

Here me with your heart when I say this. You must learn to overcome negative thought and speech if you ever expect to walk in your fullest potential. I cannot tell you the number of times thinking and speaking negatively has cost me opportunities and killed my momentum to develop and grow into my God ordained Destiny. The bible says that we have what we say and that death and life lie in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). This let’s me know that I have the power to change my life for the better or worst by what I say and how I think.

I have found that the more I speak the Word of God and positive life fulfilling words from my mouth the better I feel, the clearer my outlook, the better I perform and the more effective others are around me as I speak positively into their lives.

I admonish each of you to begin this day to cast down negative imaginations and begin to view the world from a more Godly and positive manner, begin confessing that the glass is have full instead of half empty and I promise that as you do your life will definitely change for the better.

To God Be the Glory; both Now and Forevermore.

Voluptuous Diva

Stay Blessed and Continue to Re-Define Yourself!

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  • Positive Confession
  • Christ Jesus
  • The Word Of GOD
  • Christian Faith

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