Miss me...but let me go (In memory of James Lee Ousley, Jr. 9/17/1936-6/21/2014)

"Miss me...but let me go." These were the last words written at the end of my grandfather's obituary. As I journeyed back home this weekend for my grandfather's homegoing, I was so happy to reconnect and connect with family. The homegoing service for him was so beautiful. We began with a song and we ended with a song. As I viewed my grandfather, I saw a smile on his face. I nodded my head, thinking to myself, "Well done, faithful servant." My grandfather lived a full life, overcoming so much, mainly an incident where he was paralyzed on his right side after being shot by a disgruntled employee. According to my father, he should have died a long time ago, but God kept him. No matter what adversity he faced, he kept going no matter the circumstance.

The word spoken on yesterday, was entitled: "Focus, Faith, and Finish". The pastor spoke of having focus and utilizing faith to finish this race we call life. In order to see God's promise, we have to endure tests and trials to make it to the end. We cannot continue to look at obstacles and adversity with fear and complaints. We must endure every situation that comes our way so we can be seated at the right hand of Christ as we transition. During the reflections time, my cousin Tumetris shared her thoughts. My aunt Josephine's (Tumetris' mother) wish for her 80th birthday was to visit her brother. (Sidenote: my grandfather was the only boy among 6 girls.) My grandfather spent his last moments in Orlando so all of the sisters minus one, my dad, and aunt went to Florida to visit. Tumetris shared that it was a wonderful time because everyone was praying , sharing stories, and just having a good time. She shared that she was continuously praying the day before that the Lord would intervene throughout their visit. She reflected on how one day she asked my grandfather "what does he do when he's alone?" My grandfather responded, "I talk to the Lord." I was so glad to hear that in those moments when he was alone, he talked to the Lord. The funny thing about my grandfather is that when he talked, he talked so I'm pretty sure he and the Lord had a lot to say to each other, lol. Even though, he wasn't submitted to a church home, the important thing was that he had a relationship with Christ.  Whatever situations that took place in his life, he made peace with God and it was his time to go. Yes, it was a somber occasion; hearts were grieved, but my grandfather is in a much better place. The beauty of yesterday was sitting among his sisters and hearing their stories about their time with him and his life.  As I listened, I was able to see where my mannerisms and my personality come from. Whenever I'm with family, I always get a great laugh. Thank you God for answering my prayer: to be closer to my family and for all of us to come together more often. The following is the complete poem from my grandfather's obituary:

When I come to the end of the road and the sun has set on me,
I want no rites in a gloom filled room,
why cry for a soul set free.
Miss me a little--but not too long,
and not with your head bowed low,
Remember the love that we once shared,
miss me--but let me go.
For this is a journey that we all must take,
and each must go alone.
It's all a part of the Master's plan,
a step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick of heart,
go to the friends we know.
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds,
miss me--but let me go.

I pray that those who are reading this right now, take the time to spend as much time with family, enjoying each moment, no matter the situation.


God bless

Prayer & Writing

In the midst of work and preparing myself for my grandfather's homegoing, I was so glad to have ended my night meeting with the Just Write group. It was our second meeting and I enjoyed conversing and learning more about how prayer is essential in writing. Our guest speaker, Barbara Winters did an excellent job conveying the importance of incorporating prayer daily and seeking spiritual wisdom. My favorite point that was discussed was the use of a dream board/list. I can attest that creating a dream board/list is an effective way to visualize one's ideas. I pray for God's hand to continuously sharpen and stretch me for what's to come. As I journey through writing, I encourage others to be open and #JustWrite!!

God bless

Stay On The Course

From reading this morning's devotional entitled, "Do Not Quit!" to listening to a conference call from my sis in Christ, to reading several quotes and scriptures alluding to the notion of not quitting and finally a heart to heart conversation with my co-worker this evening, God has constantly spoken to my spirit, telling me to not faint and grow weary in well doing. Lord knows I'm in another season of tests and trials. Every second, minute, and hour of the day, it's a constant battle to fight, die to oneself, and fulfill God's purpose in my life. As I grow more in Christ, the battles will not stop. It is a battle that's worth the tears, rejection, tired days, good days, bad days, and in-between days.  Throughout it all I have to remind myself that God's grace is allowing me to get up and continue to serve Him. It's not my strength. He is my strength.  I am nothing without Him. Who am I to forget that? I have to stay on course and focused. He is my Source, Sustainer, and Peace. I can do all things through Him. Phil 4:13. For anybody that is reading this, remember when you are going through a storm in your life, you are "passing through it ", to get to the other side. Pain+Process=Purpose

God bless.

He has His hands on you....

This post is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, James Ousley 9/17/1936-6/21/2014. As I was leaving work today, I received a voicemail from my father to call him regarding my grandfather. When I heard the tone of my father's voice, I instantly knew in my heart my grandfather passed. The last time my father and I talked, it was on Father's Day. He encouraged me to contact my grandfather's room with a possibility that I might not here him talk because he had been extremely sick. He was right. I called but I didn't get a response so I just prayed for him. The last time I saw my grandfather was on my 27th birthday, July 7, 2012. Lord knows I needed a vacation so I took a week off from work and went to Orlando to visit my bff/sis from college and see my grandfather. Our last visit together before that was Sept.18, 2010, a day after his 75th birthday. He was in good health then but overtime became sick. As a child, I was never around my father's side of the family so it was a blessing to be able to see and spend time with him as an adult. I will never forget sitting and talking to him for almost 2 hours on that day. In that short timeframe, he shared with me so much wisdom from his life and he encouraged me to stay single, lol and work hard for everything that I want. I will always cherish that moment. Seeing him on my birthday was a great time as well. He was so overjoyed to see me again after that last visit. I could tell that he didn't want me to leave. He kept asking me when I would come back. To hear the news today that he's no longer here broke my heart but I know God makes no mistakes. My grandfather experienced a lot of pain and I'm so glad that he's no longer in that place. I have peace and solace that God is using this moment to restore, heal, and draw my family back to each other. The one song that popped in my head was Marvin Sapp, "He has His hands on you." These last few months have been tough and whenever I feel overwhelmed, especially today, I listen to that song. I know God is with me and my family during this situation. I pray that this moment will show us that time is precious. We have to love like Christ and live each day doing His will. With so much going on in the world today, it's imperative that we continue to strive for righteousness. I would write more but I'm gonna take this time and reflect. Below are moments I shared with my grandfather: the first two on the day after his 75th bday, Sept. 18, 2010. The last two were from my last visit with him on my 27th birthday, July 7, 2012.

Love you all,

God bless.

New Season, New Changes

Today is the first day of summer and as usual, I got up to handle some business affairs. As I finished, I ran into a sister that was on my mind recently. It was so refreshing to see her again. God is so awesome because whenever I think of someone, I instantly pray for them and then God allows me to see them physically. We both rejoiced as we embraced and began sharing our trials as well as our triumphs. I knew her from a church I visited occasionally and we shared a great conversation about how things must change for the body of Christ as well as within the church. We both agreed that people need to be focused on being transformed spiritually. Instead, we have people committing themselves to the Lord but not taking the necessary steps to be whole and restored while continuously reading the Word and growing. That's a big problem we're facing today. That's why it's so important to seek God's face everyday and not get caught up in a routine on Sunday. We are the church. We are the ministry. We have to change our mindsets and know who we are in Christ. Just like this new season of summer, the heat is rising. There are tests and different levels we have to face so we need to use this time to focus on where God has us at this point in time, read the Word, pray, and disciple so God can elevate us. As I close, I pray that the body of Christ continues to grow daily with more focus on transformation, healing, restoration, and deliverance.

Thank You Lord for allowing me to fellowship. Prov. 27:17 (As iron  sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.)

God bless.

Obedience: Season of Separation

As I read today's devotional in "Called to Conquer", the key verse, Genesis 12:1 said, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you." My mind immediately went back to a recent conversation I had with my aunt about how when I moved to Atlanta in 2008, I was still carrying my family's problems and burdens on top of my own burdens. Outside of that, I was trying to build a life for myself and most importantly enjoy life. Not completely separating myself in spirit from my family caused much stress for four years straight. It finally caught up with me in 2012 when I went through a burnt out period. I had several deaths in the family, and stress from school and work. I also experienced a situation the year before that I never dealt with. I never spoke of it, but I believe I went through a depression. I had trouble getting up in the morning for work and everything seemed unreal. Instead of me placing all of my cares in God, I just carried it and threw myself in work and school. My spiritual life was dead. Yeah I was attending church but I wasn't consistently talking to God one on one. It wasn't until God removed those things I was focused on (job, school, friends), that I realized my family and other situations have to be placed in God's hands. He is the only one that can fix those situations. The more I gave Him my stuff, the more I was able to focus and see things clearly. Yes, I love my family, but I love God more and I choose to trust Him during this period of separation. The same thing stands for friendship. So anyone, who is reading this, DO NOT delay your season by holding on to distractions and hindrances. Obey God and step into your Canaan. Enjoy your season of separation.

God bless,

MissQuvi

Give Him glory always

Today was a very tiring work day. Outside of writing, I am a staff accountant and a substitute teacher. Since it's the summer of course, accounting work has been apart of my daily schedule. While I'm working, I listen to a lot of inspiration messages/music which helps me get through a long day. One artist that I love is Mali Music. I first heard him on Kirk Franklin's song, "Give Me" from the "Hello Fear" album.  That's one of my favorite songs I play when I need a boost in the morning to wake up. He was also featured in Deitrick Haddon's, movie "Blessed and Cursed". Anyways, Mali Music is a great artist with a unique sound. I like that he is taking praise and worship to another level. His music has also reached the secular music scene, which is very much needed(that's a discussion for a later post.) One particular song I love is "Yahweh". I love the pure worship for God. He says, "All the glory belongs to You, oh God."  Like I said, today was one of those busy days in the office and once I played that song, it reminded me that even in the midst of my tiredness, frustration, or whatever emotion my flesh is feeling, my spirit says, give Him glory always. Sometimes in the midst of our trials, we get caught up in how everything looks and we forget what God has done for us prior to those moments.  He has kept us, provided for us, protected us, and been everything to us that we didn't even deserve to get. The point I'm making is, whenever you feel discouraged, disappointed, and just plain doubtful on life, just praise God anyway. Give Him glory in all situations. Check out the song here: http://youtu.be/uhFauQ-9nhY



Peace and blessings,

MissQuvi

A fresh start.....Introducing DivineGift317

As one chapter of my life ended today, I decided to unleash the new name of my blog: divinegift317.blogspot.com. For the last 2 years, I was the CEO/Blogger for ROAR, a nonprofit geared towards providing resources to students and community. I enjoyed bringing my inspirational infused blog posts to the forefront. Today, that all ended when I was told that due to funding, I would no longer be needed. I was crushed but the Lord reminded me to step out from behind the scenes and to focus on my personal blog. I've always been a huge supporter of other's dreams. It's time for me to fully live out God's purpose for my life. So I decided to rename my blog from missquvi.BlogSpot.com to DivineGift317.blogspot.com. This name was birthed from an idea God placed on my heart a few times. The name is significant because my first name, "Lequvia" means, "Divine Gift" or "Gift of God". 317 is the exact time I was born; the numbers 3 and 17 in numerology represent divine completeness (Holy Trinity- Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and victory, two things that I strive for daily through the love of Christ. It was very befitting to rename my blog as such for God has given me multiple gifts that I refuse to waste.  After pondering about my abilities, I realized that I am a natural encourager by words. I love positive affirmations and sharing good thoughts, quotes, and life's beauty in words. Most importantly, I love sharing God's truth. I'm so excited for the chance to write and share again. This blog will be my way of helping and healing others by sharing my testimony, positivity, and how God has changed my life. Join me on my journey.
MissQuvi