Happy Faith Friday, Garden Fam! 💕
According to Jeremiah 5:1, God knew us before He formed us in our mother’s wombs and according to John 15:16, He has appointed each of us to go forth and produce fruit. As such, each of us has been given unique gifts to fulfill a specific purpose and contribute to the Kingdom of God in a special way. Unfortunately, the enemy often uses our experiences, some of the very experiences that have actually prepared us, to cause us to feel counted out, disqualified, or unworthy of walking out our callings. When shame enters the picture, we can often be tempted to abandon our gifts, purpose, or assignments altogether. However, we must press forth to do what God created us to do, in the fullness of which He called us to do it. Don’t let your shame deprive people of the gifts and knowledge God has placed in you to help them!
The world needs YOU and what you have to offer.
If you find yourself shrinking back from being who you are or doing what God has called you to do, today’s video is for you! I pray you’ll be encouraged and set free 🙏🏾
I love you bunches!
Have a healthy & wholesome weekend 💖
Video Notes
What is Shame?
a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.
Distress = extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.
How Does Shame Affect Our Lives?
Shame may cause one to...
Avoid relationships, vulnerability, and community
Not sharing your true self
Suppress emotions
Keeping your thoughts and feelings to yourself
Feel worthless, depressed, and anxious
Avoid healthy risks
Only making moves that you are 100% certain will end well to avoid the possibility of others having negative views of you
Revisit unhealthy or unfruitful behaviors
Shame affects your ability to believe that you can be healed and that you can make positive changes
What Does the Bible Say about Shame?
Bible Characters that overcame shame
Elizabeth — Luke 1:5-25
Her shame was not caused by her own sin or shortcomings, but rather a curse of barrenness
Shame was removed from her, so that they could birth the purpose God planned for them (ie. their son, John the Baptist)
Takeaways
Don’t believe that what you DON’T have will hold you back from fulfilling the purpose and assignment God has for you.
With your YES, God will fulfill what He planned for you and remove shame from you.
Paul — Acts 9:1-22 and Acts 26:12-23
Was literally killing Christians until Jesus called Him into ministry
He did what Jesus told him to do and immediately after began teaching the gospel
Paul wasted no time. He dove into the work and became one of the most influential preachers in the Bible
Takeaways
God has a plan for each of us
It requires us to answer the call, go through the preparation process He has laid out, and go forth and do the work!
Your previous identity does not disqualify you. In fact, it may position you to reach communities others may not have been able to reach due to your experiences and perspective.
Peter — Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75 & John 21:15-17
Jesus’ disciple who denied knowing Him 3x after Jesus’ arrest.
He was ashamed of what he had done, but Jesus later returned and restored Peter, calling him back to the work he was commissioned to do
Takeaways
God will restore you, dust you off, and clean you up, so that you can be sent off into your ordained destiny.
When he does, allow your heart to receive His forgiveness and release the shame so that you can do what He has commissioned you to do!
Jesus focused on the assignment at hand when restoring Peter, reminding him of those who were in need of his obedience to the call.
Don’t let your shame deprive people of the gifts and knowledge God has placed in you to help them!
Scriptural Affirmations to Combat Shame
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for every person watching!
Thank you that you have blessed us with all spiritual blessings and that you chose us before the foundation of the world.
Thank you for making us who we are, for each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made.
Help our souls to know the truth about what you say about us.
Thank you for your promise to forgive our confessed sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.
Please help our hearts to receive your forgiveness and to forgive ourselves so that we may go forth and do what you have called us to do.
Lord, when shame and fear try to pop up in our thoughts, help us to remember that you have not given us the spirit of fear or timidity, but of love, power, and of a sound mind.
Thank you for everything you have for us and for giving us the strength and courage to go out and pursue them, knowing that you are always with us.
We love you, we honor you, and we praise you!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen!
Happy Wellness Wednesday, Garden Fam 🌸
I'm back with Part III of our 'Cleaner Living' series!
If you haven't caught the other two posts, go check them out. This week, we're talking about one of my favorite things:
HAIR 💇🏾♀️
Black women’s natural hair has not always been accepted & praised in the ways it is today, nor have products and information always been so readily available to care for our natural hair. So it is understandable how we came to embrace products like chemical straighteners to make our hair more “manageable” for ourselves and “palatable” in professional and academic spaces. Thankfully, we are in a time where our hair is finally being embraced in its natural state and we have so many tools and resources at our fingertips. The stigma is being broken, and it is wonderful to see, but the ties to old ways of doing things are not easily broken. In today’s video, I share the science behind chemical straighteners (relaxers) and the risks of introducing our bodies to their harsh ingredients. My goal is to present you with the facts so that you can make well-informed decisions about your hair regimen that are in line with what is best for your health.
To learn more, watch the video and/or check out the information and resources below!
Here’s to giving up the creamy crack, embracing our natural hair, and living a cleaner life 💁🏾♀️
As always, have a healthy and wholesome week!
Love you bunches 🍇
Focus Scripture
Psalms 139:13-14
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
Video Notes
Getting Off the Creamy Crack: The Journey to Natural Hair Care
Learn to love your hair in its form
This IS the part where I tell you to love yourself as you are, including the process involved in taking care of you (and in this case, your hair!)
Psalms 139:13-14 NKJV
Enjoy and embrace the journey
If you’ve been getting relaxers forever, expect there to be some transition and adjustment along the way.
Make it enjoyable like an adventure of learning or relearning your hair.
Find style inspiration and follow natural hair channels on YouTube
Replenish your hair and your body with nutrients for health
For your hair
Protein treatments
Natural rinses and hair masks
Protective styles
Not good with hair? Find a good natural stylist near you, or even a good girlfriend!
For your body (and your hair, too)
Eat well – fruits, veggies, collagen, biotin, etc.
Check out our ‘Giving Your Body What It Needs’ series for more guidance
Don’t relapse!
Stick to it and don’t go back to the creamy crack! 😆
Review the Facts
How we temporarily or permanently change the curl patterns of our hair
Our hair is made of keratin proteins that are held together by two kinds of bonds
Disulphide bonds (stronger)
Hydrogen bonds (weaker)
Our curl patterns are based on the shape of our hair follicles
Protein bonds impact curl patterns once hair grows out of the follicles
Straightening our hair
Temporarily
Hydrogen bonds are affected by temporary heat straightening through methods like:
blow drying
flat ironing
curling
These bonds can be restored upon wetting the hair
Permanently
Disulphide bonds are broken when using permanent straightening methods like relaxers
These bonds are not restored upon wetting the hair again
Recent Lawsuits
There are a few links below detailing the lawsuits that have been filed against companies making chemical straighteners. Women are suing due to being diagnosed with:
endometrial carcinoma
Uterine cancer
Ovarian cancer
Uterine fibroids
Problematic Ingredients
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals
Our endocrine system is responsible for our hormones
EDCs affect this system and therefore impact hormone functioning
Phthalates are EDCs that are often found in relaxers
Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to make plastics more durable.
They also can be used to help materials dissolve.
Can also be found in vinyl flooring, lubricating oils, and personal-care products
Possible adverse and long-term effects
“Previous studies have found hair product use to be associated with a higher risk of hormone-sensitive cancers including breast and ovarian cancer…” – JNCI
“Exposure to excess estrogen and a hormonal imbalance of estrogen and progesterone have been identified as key risk factors for uterine cancer” – JNCI
Salon workers may experience the following due to repeated exposure:
Respiratory difficulties
Dermatitis
Other forms of skin irritation
Nerd Out 🤓
Happy Faith Friday, Garden Fam 🌸
I hope you’ve had a blessed week!
If you caught last week’s post and video, you know that we talked about praying more powerful prayers. If you missed it, I strongly encourage you to go back and check it out. I truly believe it will bless and sharpen you. This week, we’re continuing the conversation and discussing faith, a key ingredient needed to activate our prayers and to radically change our lives.
Last year, God asked me, “Do you truly believe what you say you believe?” & sadly, my answer was no…
God had asked me to step out of the norm in many ways, and though I was committed to the idea of following His voice and His way, the process definitely revealed some major weak spots in my faith. In today’s video, I share God's Word and what I learned along my own faith journey to bring insight on what faith truly is and how to grow your faith.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), so where is your faith today?
If it’s not where it needs to be, or if you’re unsure, may today’s video set you forth on a faith journey of your own!
As always, I am wishing you a healthy & wholesome weekend!
Love you bunches 🍇
Focus Verses
Closing Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for another beautiful day.
Thank you for your Word and your Holy Spirit who enables us to understand it.
Increase our understanding of you and your Word and our belief in who You are
Give us spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear so that we can more readily be led by your Spirit
Continue to guide us into all truth and help us to govern our lives according to Your perfect will and perfect plan for our lives
Thank you for being who you are, for choosing us before the foundation of the world, and for the plans you established for each of us before you ever formed us in our mother’s wombs.
Thank you for your plans to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us a future and a hope, an expected end.
Thank you for being a wonderful Father to each of us and for leaving us such a beautiful inheritance.
Lord, please continue to align us with your Will and your Ways so that we may be in right standing to receive and carry out all that you have for us here in the land of the living.
Lord, if there is anyone watching who does not yet know you, I pray that you would make yourself known to them in a way they’ve never experienced before. Give them a heart of flesh to receive you in the fullness of who you are, your goodness, mercy, forgiveness, correction, salvation, and especially your perfect love!
We love you, we honor you, and we praise you!
In Jesus’ name, Amen!