Rising

When life takes a sudden unexpected turn that totally rips away every joy, excitement, and anticipation of what you thought your future would be, there are two ways you can respond. You can respond by throwing in the towel and accepting for yourself there is no overcoming the blow that has hit you. Or you can respond by doing all you can to rise above the weight of burden that has heavily pinned you down.

For almost 2 years I have done my best to choose the latter. Each day I wake up with a determination to rise above the fray. There has been moments when I wanted to quit everything in life. Moments when I wanted to disappear and not have to deal with what I believed was an unfair hand dealt to me. Moments I dreamed of turning back the hands of time to retake my normalcy. However I did not allow those moments suppress my mental, emotional, and spiritual resolve to rise.

I thank God for keeping me, keeping my family, and keeping the resolve in me to rise. When I look back on where we were August 2015 and where we are now in June 2017, God has truly blessed us in spite of. Though the path still has steps ahead, we’ve come a long way from where we began. I believe God is providing a bigger view of light for me to see at the end of the tunnel. There is a powerful glorious proof at this tunnel’s end. Proof that when you stay faithful to everything and every person you made a promise to be faithful to even in the worst of times, God will do an amazing work in your life showing that He has been and will be faithful unto you.

God has been faithful in blessing me to become the next pastor of the incredible Bethel Colbert Missionary Baptist Church in Leighton, AL. God has been faithful in blessing me to write my first book In Sickness and In Health: A Story of Love, Strength, and Faith that is sure to inspire everyone who picks it up as I tell my journey of struggle and endurance. Lastly, God has been faithful in blessing US to bring another beautiful life into this world in just a few weeks. As I embark on a new pastorate and a new book, we will also be welcoming a new child.

I ask that you continue to pray for us and with us. My hope and prayer is that with this season of newness, also comes with it a season of turnaround. A season of full recovery. A season of full restoration. A season where I am no longer rising, but I am risen.

(In Sickness and In Health: A Story of Love, Strength, and Faith will be available for purchase Father’s Day weekend. You are sure to be encouraged and inspired by it.)