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Five Years In: What I've Learned

We hit five years in NY today. A few words on what I've learned.

A quick reflection on a few things five years in NYC has taught me. Timing is Everything. Really. Sometimes we think our dreams are off base because they don’t come to fruition when we hoped or expected. When in reality, the timing just wasn’t right. It simply was not time. Now, I know this reality can be a bitch because “how long, Lord?” How long will it take to see the thing that God put…

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Reclaiming the Dream: Single Mothers and the Art of Innovation

The way out of the pandemic can begin with the way into the lives of Black and Brown single mothers.

Photo by Luis Quintero from Pexels

I found out I was pregnant with my daughter Easter weekend 2004. Though I had taken a pregnancy test at home and received a positive result, I went to the college campus infirmary the next day to be sure. It was my senior year at Spelman College and I had…

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#single mothers

Power of the Pivot Life can take unexpected turns despite our best efforts. Relationships fail, jobs end, programs lose funding, people pass away -- and even with all the education, resources, hope, will, and prayer, life has a way of forcing us to change directions at the drop of a dime.

There's Still a Vision

"The time from incubation to action is not time lost but time to create space for when the 'appointed time' begins."

Habakkuk 2:2 is a good text we like to quote/throw around as a reminder of God’s promises and vision for our lives. But that verse 3? Whew. That thing got me today.

“For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”

How often has God given us a dream or vision for something and…

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#appointed time #dreams #habakkuk #Habakkuk 2:3 #vision

Ever wonder why God seems to take us the long way from where we are to our destiny? #TheLongWay helps us understand why. Ever wonder why God seems to take us the long way from where we are to our destiny? #TheLongWay helps us understand why. Check out my latest sermon below. The Long Way - 10.28.18 from Impact Church on Vimeo.

#exodus 13 #sermon #the long way

Tell the Untold Stories

“If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.” – Zora Neale Hurston

During the 75th Golden Globes Awards this year, Oprah Winfrey received the Cecil B. de Mille award for outstanding achievement in entertainment, the first black woman to receive the award. Her riveting and powerful speech about the #metoo movement created by activist Tarana Burke, a black woman,…

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#black girls #black women #golden globes #international womens day #oprah winfrey #recy taylor #storytelling #women

Art of the Sermon Podcast Feature

Friends,

Check out my feature on Art of the Sermon, a podcast for people with an interest in preaching/public speaking and church communication. My podcast explored the church’s relationship to single mothers and how this unique ministry opportunity is one that churches often miss. We talked scripture, intersectionality, shame and single motherhood, conservative views of sex outside of marriage…

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#art of the sermon #defining grace #itunes podcast #podcast #podcast feature #single moms #single motherhood

Revisions and Reinventions: A Year in New York City "We movin' on up in the world like elevators..." -- Outkast A year ago today, I flew on a one-way ticket to New York City to start a new life -- a life that I'd always dreamed of.

Underground: If Not for the Women...

Underground: If Not for the Women…

Last week, the groundbreaking television show Undergroundpremiered its second season and I couldn’t be more excited! Besides being a fan of the show, I was hired to write the Underground Season 2 Faith Study Guide, a 28-page resource that churches around the country will use to engage in the theological and social implications in the show. I consider this project one of the most important things…

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#Atlanta #church #facebook #faith #faith study #television #twitter #Underground #WGN #writing

Something About Mary

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Friday, as I was traipsing through the City finishing some last minute tasks, I met a homeless woman.

She was sitting on a crate outside a busy Chipotle on Broadway. With every passerby, she’d say “Merry Christmas, can you please help me with some spare change?” Most people ignored her. Including me.

I walked inside the Chipotle and ordered my usual. I paid for my…

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Book Review + Give Away: Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower

Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower: Finding Answers in Jesus For Those Who Don’t Believe* By Tom Krattenmaker 245 pp. Convergent Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC $25 — Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower: Finding Answers in Jesus For Those Who Don’t Believe by Award-Winning USA Today ColumnistTom Krattenmaker is an honest assessment of one’s personal and spiritual…

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One Conference: We Believe Unity is Possible

One weekend. One purpose. One Conference.

I remember when my sister-friend Deidra Riggs first mentioned the One Conference, a place where people could unify around the belief that we really can be one with each other. In a world where the political and social climate has divided us further and further from each other, she was hoping to use the voices and stories of women from all different backgrounds to bring us back to, well, one.

Muc…

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#church #deidra riggs #hope #justice #reconciliation #women

Clear the Clutter: A Focus on Vocation

Clear the Clutter: A Focus on Vocation Talk on #SoundCloud

Inspired by my blog, Leaving Room, where I explored the idea of clearing the clutter in our lives to make room for God to do new and innovative things, I gave an hour-long talk at Union Theological Seminary about clearing the clutter to focus on vocation. How do we begin to clear the voices, the opinions, the social pressure to be (insert occupation here) when we hear God calling us in a…

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#leaving room #seminary #union #union theological seminary #vocation

Leaving Room

Leaving room: an opportunity for growth.

Today is my 34th birthday and I’ll be spending most of the day participating in a seminar hosted by the United Methodist Women on mass incarceration. Lead by three of my dynamic colleagues at the CCUN (Church Center for the United Nations), I’m running over with gratitude that my birthday will be spent learning about this work.

Lissen, my birthday’s used to be spent with hangovers. Which ain’t…

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#faith #leave room #leaving room

What I've Learned: A Week in New York

‘Bout a week ago [insert Shmoney Dance] I moved to New York.

I preached about this 12 year journey here. Since my move, I’ve learned a few things. Like to hear it? Here it go:

People tell you how to get places through cardinal directions. “Go north on so-and-so.” “Take the southwest train exit.” Where I’m from, we tell folks to go “left” or “right.” You don’t realize you don’t know directions…

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#Atlanta #humor #moving #new york #new york city #NYC apartments #relocation #shmoney dance

The Big Ask

I’m moving to New York City. It’s been a crazy six weeks since I found out I was hired as the Executive for Spiritual Growth at one of the world’s largest women’s organizations, The United Methodist Women. Excited is an understatement!

The story getting to New York City, believe it or not, started over a decade ago when I was a senior at Spelman College.

I tell the story in my last sermon at…

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#ask #impact #impact church #knock #luke 11 #new york city #nyc #seek #the big ask #umw

Transformation

A couple of weeks ago, I preached on the process of transformation.

One of the things I’ve learned in the very (very) short time I’ve been preaching is that you cannot effectively preach anything you haven’t lived or experienced.

Preaching effective sermons is deeply rooted in the lived experience; embodying the text is essential in translating what the ancient text has to say to modern…

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