Phenomenal Woman~~Maya Angelou

PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
And to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees.
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.


We are ALL phenomenal women...nothing less. Embrace it, congratulate it, dont hide it, dont fight it, respect it, protect it, we are beautiful. :)

A healing for all

Life, a mystery in itself. So many things in life are unexplainable, unchangeable and certainly unreasonable to the ways we want them to turn out. In life, comes sickness, in life comes burden...hardening hearts and weakening souls. But in life, among burdens, there has to be healing. There has to be a changing, hopeful presence that intercedes for all the bad that is being concentrated on. The burden, the sickness, can not be called by name, given respect, no...the soul that is being burdened on the other hand needs all the love that is available.

Healing, a kind of wellness that so many need. How is it possible? How do we get there? Maybe, just maybe, we can create this kind of wellness, through the healing of others. Can we receive our own healing for our own souls, through the healing of the one that we are trying to save, change? We could start a chain reaction, a wellness that spreads so fast we don't know how it came about. A kind of hope, that builds upon the laughter of children, the smiles of the old, the kind words of a stranger. A kind of happiness that is made through the loving selfless acts of your neighbor, fighting for your own healing as you in turn fight for his. What a beautiful world this could be! What a terrific place we could make of the air around us, filling it with joy, with peace, a presence of hope.

Life can drag us down if we ask it to, if we give in to the evil that presents itself on our door step each morning. Or, in turn we can act...speak, love, LIVE for a purpose. Humanity needs a reason to live, what if this reason starts right here; at the tips our fingers, the voice out of our mouths, the speed of our step. We have the power to move, to build, to create a changing environment that will remain forever. An imprint, a healing that touches every heart. We just have to decide to make it there.

SPEAK

SPEAK, out to the sudden disaster you are facing. There can be only way to silence the enemy. SPEAK, not a whisper but a SCREAM of sudden passion against every weakness. Your tounge cannot grow entangled any longer, your voice...it has to fight. Just listen to the wind..guiding you, if you wont it will.

SPEAK...into the night if the light is blinding your eyes; speak to the only voice that cares. Shudder a cry of defeat, a wave of victory, a sign of reality in your voice...that you can endure the quaking in your gut that is killing you. Just speak it away, speak it out of your soul. Throw it onto the cold harsh ground it came from. Cast from this hiding grave in your heart...the despicable distaste that drives you to harm.

SPEAK, for the ones that have already been silenced. SPEAK, for the souls that have a voice no more. One voice, two...10,000. We can indeed fight this battle. Just speak.

Hearts giving HOPE!

Hearts giving hope. Hope for a renewed perception, a reality beyond our reach but not totally undetected. Hope...a well-spring, a new and perfect happiness. Hearts giving out their vision of a united healing, hands joined in a united decision to live. Living life! Not a life of self-pity or denial, not a life of tears, or pain in every mirror encircling us. No. Real life, living for a purpose. A DREAM, of something created for peace. Newness. Wellness. Perfection thrown out the window. Deceiving images torn in fiery hatred of what they have made so many of us to believe already...but not in this present time.

Hearts are giving hope, giving a reason to believe and a chance to fight until it truly fades into the darkness. Burying it self no longer, completely out and trampled upon into the night. No love shown to the darkness, only the light.

Only hope, only love, only hearts healing the souls that have been crucified, terrified, diseased by its hatred, by its whispers and deceiving lies. Not another threat, not another silence undetected, not another rush of blood that could of been kept warm. Hearts are giving hope, after so long. Hear's to a new life, a new peace, love eternally lasting forever.

SCALES are for fish(a folow up to the beauty post)

I've seriously felt like doing this a couple times. :) After teh last post I thought it necessary to put this on here. It's funny, but it is seriously true. Scales are for fish, not humans. I refuse to let a peice of scrap metal tell me whether I should love or hate myself everyday. I think the world should have a national scale-smashing day. That would be amazing, saying GOODBYE to the un-realistic standards of beauty in America, the super-thin models that drive girls to hate themselves, the un-necessary diet EVERYTHING. It is seriously getting out of hand and un called for. America needs an awakening, and intervention. Anyone want to smash their scales with me? :) SCALES ARE FOR FISH!!!!! :)

Have a fun day, be yourself and no on else, live for GOd not the world,

Kayleigh

What is Beauty?

What is beauty? Where should we find our definition of how to look, what to wear, what size we should be? There are so many definitions, it can get so confusing and so hurtful when you can't seem to measure up to any of them.

This article is amazing, I found it while browsing the Brio Mag site. I just had to post it on here because it is so true! The way our culture is telling us what to do to be "beautiful", it is crazy! Paint and cake your face? Slice and dice your body? Burn your skin to a crisp? Starve yourself? What? What in the world happened to the beauty of a true daughter of the Lord. The beauty of a quiet ad gentle spirit. The amazing style of a girl set in her faith, following the king, running with her head on straight, not being twisted and conformed into the worlds standards. The beauty of a maiden of Christ. Sounds so majestic...maiden. We are maidens and that is what God intended for us to be. I think he cries, when he sees his daughters struggling to become beautiful in a world that will never let them rest, will always keep raising the standards. His standard is set, he will never change with the seasons. That is amazing!!

Here is the link, please, please read it. :) It is so worth your time.

http://www.briomag.com/briomagazine/briobeyond/a0007261.html

I love this song, and it reminds me that we have to be desperate for him, to let him into our lives and follow him without a doubt in our hearts. Every breath in me, I should be giving to him. How can I do that if I can't trust? This is something that I really struggle with, this is so much talking to myself more than anyone. I have such a hard time realizing that he is the one who made me and I need to learn how to open my heart and let him in.

I HAVE TO let him break me to pieces, mold me into what he wants of me. To shadder me into a million pieces, not gently because I need more than that to really become his...I've had my easy way out, and it has already come and gone. I NEED him to tear me to pieces and really conform me to him. Just some further thoughts. Hope you enjoy. :)

Family Force Five-Replace Me

"This heart it wants to beat
These Lungs they want to breathe
These eyes they want to see
Gotta Mouth that wants to sing

Desperation
Needing You
Every last breath
I scream for You
Shatter me into a million pieces...Make me new

Crush me, tear me, break me, mold me
Make me what You want me to be
I am Yours for You to use
so, Take and Replace me with You

Needing more than just a jump start to get me through
My disconnection is now the issue.....

Desperation
Needing You
Every last breath
I scream...

Desperation
Needing You
Every last breath
I scream for You
Shatter me into a million pieces...Make me new

Crush me, tear me, break me, mold me
Make me what You want me to be
I am Yours for You to use
so, Take and Replace me with You


I need so bad, to have my whole self "replaced" by Christ. Everything I am centered on is wrong, I need him and everything I have I want to scream out to him. I want to cry out to him with all I have. I am truly desperate for his spirit to dwell in me.

Desperate, its such an awesome word. The Israelites were "desperate" for God, when the Midianites were destroying them, in their desperation, it says they cried out to God with all they had because they couldn't do it alone.

We can't do it alone, he is out only hope. This is the most important thing to start with. We HAVE to give our control up to God, give it ALL to God. It is so hard, I know we all struggle with GIVING it up to God. Why does it have to be so Hard?

He says he will NEVER forsake us, leave us. He loves us so much and we should have every reason to trust him.

Hebrews 13:5--"Never will I leave you, NEVER will I forsake you."
He tells us not to let our hearts be troubled with things of the World, because he is the only way, and he has prepared a way for us. (John 14) He is the ONLY way, the truth, the real reason we are living today, without him we are nothing. He created this world, he knows our hearts but still we cannot trust him. He says he has "searched our hearts". (Psalm 139) Not only does he know us, he has searched us deeply, he knows when we sit and rise...he knows every tiny thought that we can think. It is amazing how much he knows us, how deeply he cares to spend that much time getting to know our hearts, and so why can't we trust him?

PROVERBS 3:5 (one of my favorite verses)

TRUST in the LORD with ALL your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in ALL your ways acknowledge him and HE WILL make your paths straight."

We can not lean on our own perception of things. He has the big picture of our lives, we may be able to see within a couple years, maybe not even that far, but he can see our whole lives before his eyes. We forget how much he loves us, and that he would NEVER let us fall. It shouldn't be that scary when we think of it in that way.

We have to unlock our hearts, from the inside out, and let him in!! He can not help us if we don't let him in. He knows our weaknesses, he knows our strengths, he wants to remove ALL doubt from our hearts. We may not understand why he wants us to give up a certain thing, or how something is going to work out, but If we would only trust that he knows best and take his hand, then maybe we could really find peace. Because we spend so much time worrying, and carrying all these burdens, that he wants so desperately to take from us.

GALATIANS 5:1
"1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

We are not slaves to sin, to burdens, to pain. Nothing can hold us captive now without our own permission, and the enemy has no authority over us once we decide we are ready to get out. Christ has set us free from these things through his blood when he cancelled out the old laws with his sacrifice. Sure we will experience pain, and suffering, but he has told us:

JAMES 1:2-4
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Anyway, we have to learn how to trust God. He loves us so so much and it is impossible for our lives to be changed entirely, of him to mold us, to break our hearts and conform us if we can't give him the key to our hearts first. Every victory starts with the Lord, and nothing can be done without him in our lives. Simple as that. We NEED him! We have to have him inside our hearts. <3

PSALM 18:28-36
28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop [a] ;
with my God I can scale a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You give me your shield of victory,
and your right hand sustains me;
you stoop down to make me great.
36 You broaden the path beneath me,
so that my ankles do not turn.

In Christ,

Kayleigh :)

P.S. By the way, I would LOVE to get feed back on this, it would be awesome if I could start a discussion on this. It is good to talk about things, to disagree, to agree...etc. Feel free to correct me, to comment, anything. :) thanks

Encouraging verses and thoughts

Just some great thoughts, some good verses, great reminders and encouraging things to study. I have enjoyed reading these verses and really just kinda wanted to write about them, or just put them on here so others could be reminded also.

"Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12

God's gifts are irrevocable, it says in Romans 11. His mercy is filling us each day. We are called to be living sacrifices, as he puts it in the verse above. We are called to be lights to the world, in a world of darkness and evil, to run the race given us with complete certainty that he is our God and that we are his children. His will is perfect, and without his will we are broken and hopeless. There are allot of things in this world that can not be explained, and are very hard to understand. But one thing I hold on to and constantly remember is that God has a perfect will, he created everything and he has the power to work out everything for good, no matter how horrid it seems at the time. I have personally seen this in my own life. He has taken every thing, and has worked into my life to become something for the better. We are like clay being molded in his hands. He is molding us, taking the things that come into our lives, and molding them into a stronger, taller, solid pot that cannot be easily torn down. We start as a lump of clay, something that can be easily smashed, not able to stand on its own, but if we let him work in us we can end up a beautiful strong, piece of art that is able to stand strong in his hands. And that is a wonderful thought, wonderful hope.

" Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened up for us through his body. and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is FAITHFUL!"

He is so so faithful! There has never been a time that he has left me, everytime I have fallen and been so down, there has been something that happened to bring me right back up again. There's always opportunities that he brings me, it is just a matter of will I take them? We have a "new and living way" it is so full of joy and hope and peace, we just have to draw near to him. We have to make an effort to take the opportunities, focus our hearts on him, and draw close to him in a relationship that can not be broken. That is one thing that can't be taken away, our relationship with Christ. and that leads me to the next verse.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38

Nothing can separate us. He is in our hearts for good, he is there to stay and nothing Satan throws at us, nothing the world puts at out feet, nothing anyone can say or do can separate us from his love. Jesus commands my destiny and yours. And that is an amazing thought, an amazing promise. <3

(the whole chapter of Romans 8 I LOVE by the way, I greatly encourage you to read it, and if you already have, read it again, and again and again.) :)

"If God is for us, who could be against us?" Romans 8: 31 amen!!

Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

The love of God should be overflowing out of us. His joy radiating out of our very spirits. That is the light people can truly see, the visible character of a disciple of Christ.

1 Peter 2:4 " As you come to him, the LIVING STONE, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him, you also like living stones, are being built into a spiritual priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

This made me think of how much we need each other. Christ is the living stone, he is the capstone, the foundation, the one that holds everything together. We are also called to be living stones. We are connected to him, a family of Christ and if we are all called to be living stones then we are all connected. This made me think of a brick wall. All the bricks are interwoven together, without one brick, the other would fall and shadder. This is a metaphor of how much we need each other in the body of Christ. We need to learn to rely on each other in both good and bad times. Because without the accountability of the other, one may fall and stumble. We are supposed to be a loving family of believers, and I truly believe if we could be open up to each other, praying and confessing on a regular basis as we are directed to, the church could be such a powerful place. Because even though we seem so friendly and happy on the outside, we are still broken...there is pain in the church that no one can see, because we are too afraid to open up and support each other. We need to crush our stained glass masquerade and start seeing the real thing.


"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16


He was tempted in every way imaginable, never failing, never giving in. He is our high priest, our capstone, our living salvation. He is able to do so much more than we can ever imagine in our lives. If we would just allow him to be put in the driver's seat of our lives, and allow him control then maybe we could find the mercy and peace that we are longing for. If we trust him, approach the throne with confidence, he can help us. He will never turn us down. He wants a relationship with us and is waiting for us to approach him and accept him. He loves us and cares for us more than we could ever imagine, we can not fathom the love that Christ has for us.

I long for a relationship with him, I pray for the strength and will to let go of myself, to trust him, put everything behind me, put Satan beind me and allow him to work in me. I have a hard time giving up my control. It is so hard to say"OK, you know best, why don't you take control know and I will take the back seat." I get so frustrated that I can't get better at what I need to get better at, when I know that I can't even give up my stubbornness to trust him. I have to give it up to God, because that is the only way my life will truly be complete. I love him, and without him I am nothing. I am working daily on reminding myself that he loves me and will do everything in his power to get me on the right track. And I just pray that I can give it up to him. It is so hard, and I can't even understand why it has to be so hard. I guess it is Satan telling me that I can't afford to give it up. And yes that is exactly what it is, but even with knowing that I still can't find myself really submitting my power, not fully.

I have no idea who will be reading this post, but if you have gotten this far then you must care enough that I can ask for your prayers. Please pray for me, pray that I can give my life fully ot Christ and submit my control. Because nothing can be done, can get better unless I can fully do that.

God bless you!! :)

Kayleigh

Mission Trip 2007

This past week, I was greatly blessed with the opportunity to go on a senior high mission trip with my church. We went to Picayune, Mississippi and helped out with an origination called "Walls of Hope" building houses for Katrina victims.

Not only was this trip a great blessing spiritually, it really helped me to see how blessed I am. I have an amazing youth group, church, friends, everything. I am blessed with a God who is omnipresent, grace that will never fade and a relationship with Jesus that cancels out everything else that I could ever care about. This trip really helped me see and understand that I really can become a disciple of Christ, and by disciple I don't mean just a follower, or someone that goes to church. I mean a living breathing example of the love that is in God and the grace that follows.

People don't need our money (although yes I am sure in some way it helps), or our church services. They need our time, our love and care. It is so great, to be able to go somewhere that is out of your way, and help these people who have lost everything, people whose only entertainment is to sit in the humid weather and watch a bunch of kids build a house, and learn from them. I can't say that I would be able to be so chipper, so trusting and understanding if everything I ever loved was gone, and to be able to say to someone that God has blessed me and always has. Because that is exactly what the owner of our house said to me. I told him "God bless you", and he responded with "he always does...he always will." And you could see in his face that he wasn't putting up a front in anyway. He was a child of God.

We can show we are Christians by our love. We are meant to show are faith by our love, by our example and our actions. I don't think we become focused enough most of the time to remember this. We need to remind ourselves that we have an influence, we have the power to keep each other accountable, reliable. We have to be vocal about our faith, we have to go to people. We can't expect them to come to us, to strike up a conversation, and we can't go to them and practically force a bible into their hands.

We have to show them love, caring. I really think this is the key. It all comes back to being a disciple of Christ. We have to have a relationship with God to be a disciple, and before we can lead anyone else to being a disciple, we have to be one our selves. We have to have that love of Christ embedded deep in our hearts. The kind that overflows onto others when we walk into a room. The kind of light that people see from miles away. We have to be on fire for him.

Romans 12:1-3

THEREFORE, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living scarifies, HOLY and PLEASING to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. DO NOT conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve of what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and PERFECT will."

"Disciple" = "living sacrifice"

When we devote our selves to becoming a living sacrifice to God, or a disciple of God, and we set our hearts on him...then our minds are renewed and we have the love and the light of Christ inside us that is greatly noticeable.

I pray that everyday I can strive to become a disciple of God that is unmistakable to others. I want so badly to be on fire for him, every single day. And yes I do think that is possible. Sure we all need encouragement, reminding. But it is also absolutely true that EVERYTHING is possible in Christ, there is no where that says I can't be on fire for him 24/7. I want this.

God bless you and hope you can respond with "He always has...and always will." :)

Kayleigh

P.S. I added some pics of the trip below. I hope this was an encouragement, it certainly was to me.


1 Corinthians 2:9
Romans 8:11
Romans 15:13
Romans 14:7-8



This is our whole youth group on the last day.

This is Andy, Haylynn, and I in front of the house we were building.

We went and prayed at the Levie protecting the lower 9th Ward.

Holding the walls in place so they could be nailed in and supported.

The inside after we got the outside walls up, with the interior walls in a big pile.

I beileve this is after the jigsaw puzzle was finally solved. :)

Andy and Josea...:) he was one of our group leaders, the one that didn't speak much english but he was awesome. :)

LOVE!!

A much enjoyed break.

Our whole group on the last day after we were flooded with rain. (this was only a 5th of the people, we had 5 groups on differn't sites.)


What an amazingly true statement.