Monday Reflection: When God Says So...

I write my blogs when God gives me an Aha Moment! It's like this, I could be in the shower, reading a great novel, knitting, designing bracelets, having a tea moment, cuddling with my baby girl Sophie, talking with a friend or even walking to the post office when it hits me. BAM! Profound, silly or prophetic. It hits me in my gut and I know I have to give to you what has been placed in my spirit.

So lately I haven't been blogging and I'm wondering why? I can't blame my health because other than my regular, I'm having a bad "HIV" day as I call it, crazy fatigued  that makes me want to stay in bed a couple of days, my health has been good. March and April no major complaints. Thanks be to God!

Since my health is not the problem, what's my problem? I was sitting on the plane half way to Austin, Texas  last week thinking about it.  "What the heck is going on with you girly?" I asked myself. You have been so off blogging, I sighed to myself.

What makes it so bad, I know many of you are waiting and look forward to this wisdom God has given me to give to you. Not blogging is out of God's will for my life. It's a place where I minister. I get it, so ummmmm what's my problem?

I wonder, has God stop talking to me or have I stopped listening to God? I've be thinking a lot about this lately and feeling guilty.

The best way to put it, I've been feeling like a child who knows she is disobeying a parent. You  know what I'm talking about. You have that guilty look all day, praying that your mother doesn't discover the truth.  I've been like Eve hiding from God in the garden after she ate the forbidden fruit. The thing is, God knows the truth already, He just wants you to admit it.

As I was looking out over the clouds, I said to myself, "Rae you have been busy doing everything but what you really should be doing."

Yep! God is talking and I hear God very well, but I confess, each morning I wake and have one excuse or another why I'm not going to blog on that day. I've allowed background noise to interfere with the message. You see, the background noise comes from my alter ego. The one who thinks she knows it all and has the answers to everything. She is in direct conflict with faith and God's will. "She to grown for her own good," as the old folks use to say.

I've allowed my alter ego to speak louder than God. This is not a good thing because my alter ego, relies on herself and not on God. She's the one that says, "I've gotta make it happen, so me and Sophie ain't homeless."

My truth about not blogging is simple,  I've been balancing those couple of bad days a week that I have fatigue, with working on my Spring/Summer 2013 Bracelet Collection. I was so sick December thru February that I got behind. Typically I try to start designing a collection a couple of months before the season.

So in March, in the back drop of being so sick the early part of the winter, I had this overwhelming anxiety about money. The speaking engagement I had last week at the University of Texas, Austin was the only thing on my speaking calendar. With summer fast approaching and colleges out for the summer, bracelet sells are the only income I have coming into my humble abode. With no new bracelets on the website I started to panic.

Panic has a way of controlling your life. It clings to your thoughts and make you do what you shouldn't do. This is why people trample each over in a crowded room  trying to get out. The immediate danger makes you so irrational that you bring more harm to yourself and others.

In these last two months, especially this month. I've been spending my time worrying about money, instead of blogging; and that has created imbalance in my life. I've been giving my bracelet business all of my attention. God has blessed my bracelet business and I love love love designing! But designing and selling bracelets is not my ministry; NOPE!

That 2 1/2 hour flight brought me back to my senses. I have been out of the will of God and the purpose of God for my life. Lessons in the past have taught me, when you get out of God's will for your life it becomes a messy mess and it has a long, painful clean up time, taking you even further away from God's plan for your life.

Yep!!! When we do what we want, rather than what we were ordained to do, when we apply our logic, when our alter ego does the talking, we get further out of God's will. I've done this in other ways over the years. Being with men I know I ain't got no business being with; Wasting my pretty on madness. Hanging with a crowd that didn't have my values but it was better then sitting at home alone. The "it" group is always fun, but never meaningful.
Spending money on "things" for the wrong reason and the list goes on. Doing what we know we should not do and not doing what we should do. I've learned in 50 3/4 years that being in God's will is the best life with the best possible outcome.

It hit me like a ton of bricks... Girl get back on your life path! You don't have speaking engagements, but God has given you a voice, a message, a ministry and a vehicle to reach people. 30,000 people read my blog monthly. I couldn't speak to that many people in a month no matter how hard I tried.

So I'm back!! You can expect 4-5 blogs a week starting this week. I have book reviews, tea reviews, stories to tell about my crazy ass life, and whatever wisdom God gives me to give to you.

The money? Well God always works it out! I may not be able to get a designer handbag (my weakness) whenever I want one, but me and Sophie will never go hungry. I just have to do what I'm suppose to do and let God do the rest. My faith has to take center stage. In a nut shell, I must practice my faith as I live in purpose.

When God speaks, you not only have to listen but you must also act. The bible says, "obedience is better than sacrifice." In the end, your way will never be better than God's way.

 Equally important, when you are not being true to God's purpose for you life, you are cheating God's people of your gifts and talents.


Post Script: Follow RLT Collection on Instagram for updates on the collection, giveaways, and all of your bracelet fashion and trends from around the world; its @RLTCollection, my personal Instagram is @RaeLT

ALSO... I'm looking for a new blog editor.. please email l.renae@raelewisthornton.com if you are interested.

RLT Reads: Book Review-LIttle Bee

I love reading historical fiction, you really do learn something that you never knew. Now, some historical fiction will take a particular event or period in history and that will be the baseline for the story. Then others will create a story around themes in history. That's what Chris Cleave, a writer from the United Kingdom (UK) did in Little Bee. He took the ongoing oil issue in Nigeria and the issue with immigration dentition centers in the UK and crafted a story in the presence. In Little Bee, the past meets the right now, dead in the center.

I have got to be honest. This book sat on my shelf for at least 4 years. Published in 2008 it was a New York Times best seller. I finally picked it up and for sure the topic was so heavy that I had to put it down a few times and pick up some lighter reading.

This story starts in the UK with some girls being released from an immigration detention center. The story centers around Little Bee, a 16 year old Nigeria girl was has been in the center for two years. The only contact she has in the UK is the name and number of a man Andrew that she met along with his wife Sarah on the beach of Nigeria a tad over two years earlier.

That chance meeting outside of a resort where Sarah and Andrew were vacationing changed all of their lives forever, Sarah, Andrew, Little Bee's and her sister. That day on the beach a horrific decision had to be made. One that speaks to the humaneness and inhumanness of people.

I never give away the story in my review and this one will be no different.

Needless to say, Little Bee arrives on Andrew's and Sarah's door step and the story unfolds. It is told in the voices of Sarah and Little Bee alternating chapters. I love this format because it gives voice to both of these women. For sure this is a powerful story line! Cleave's creativity is brilliant.

I love a fictional novel that makes me Google a topic. From this book, I learned that I knew nothing about Nigeria Oil; NOTHING. I even called my good friend Keith who works in international politics to get a briefing.

The oil in the "Delta" of Nigeria is some of the best in the world. It requires less processing, I learned then other oils. I also learned that the continent of Africa Imports about half of their oil to the United States. SHUT UP! And someone got us thinking that the Mid-East is the major source of our oil. Just think Royal Dutch Shell spent $383 million to protect it's staff and the oil in 2007-2009 with over a total of $1 billion going to security. I wonder how many people who could have been feed and how much infrastructure could have been built with $1 billion.

Well, this book dances around the conflict of oil in the Delta and the on-going fight for control. Little Bee is a tragic story of horror and mayhem and how one recovers from such trauma or not.

It also gives us a glimpse into the UK culture and the detention centers that store illegal immigrants looking for a better life.  And to think that we in the US think that we are the only one's with immigration issues. It made me wonder about the conditions of detention centers in the U. S. See, this book made me think. It made me cry and it made me laugh.

Little Bee left me wanting more and that is a great story in my opinion . It also had some great lines. This was my favorite.

"We must see all scars as beauty... Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived."

I think Little Bee by Chris Cleave is worth the read. Its great to read international books for it gives us insight on the lives outside of the United States. I gave it five stars on Good Reads.
Post Script: If you love to read you should consider joining Good Reads. It's a great place to share and learn about books.... And if you have read my book,  The Politics of Respectability. will you please join, rate and review my book on Good Reads. Here is the link to my Good Reads Page.

Monday Reflection: Before The Year Ends..

So we have made it to Spring! We are three months into the new year and what have you accomplished of your New Year Resolutions? As for me, going to the gym went to hell in a hand basket. Every single week I say, "I'ma do it this week," but then I have some reason or another. Now some of my reasons are real and others are excuses. I had a bout with my health in January and February. Then there was the bronchitis I had two weeks ago, but for the most part, not going to the gym has been nothing but excuses, excuses, excuses. I think if I dig deeper enough, there may be some other New Year Resolutions that are lagging in progress too.

We make these resolutions and we whisk right pass them like the Chicago wind. The good thing about a quarter of the year assessment is that you still have 3/4 more of the year to go before it ends. Right? Right! This means that it's not to late. I remember a trainer at one of the gyms I worked-out at frequently. He wanted to go to graduate school for Sports Medicine. We talked often about his dream. In the meantime, about a year in, I went to seminary for my Master of Divinity degree. Three years later, I was graduating and he said to me, "Shoot, I was talking about going to school long before you went and now here you are graduating and I still haven't applied." This was the truth and my only response was, "It's never to late, but first you have to fill out the application Boo." We laughed and he said, "And you know you're right."

So here we are 3 months into this year and your  goals are floating in the wind. This means it's assessment time. Ask yourself these questions, Why was that particular thing on my list?; How important is it to Me? I want you to rate it, 1-5 with 5 being most importantly and then move from that point.

Now, its importance should be about YOU. Not about what people will think of you, but about how it makes you feel about YOU! Ask yourself, what sense of accomplishment will I get from it?; What values will it add to my life? You have to ask yourself, "Will this thing in the long run make me happy, content, accomplished?"

With these questions I want you to be really honest. If it was on your list because you saw it on Twitter or Facebook and there was peer pressure to say YES count me in, ummm then you need to get it off your list. That was not about your fulfillment but about how others will view you when you said you were going to do it.

You have to dig really deep within yourself about your list. Some of those things were superficial, but some had some real meaning; substance that will add to the the quality of your life, making it a better life.

So now that you have reassessed your list. Ask yourself what have been the impediments in my life to making this thing happen? Ask yourself, "Am I just lazy?" Or is there a deeper reason that I have not done that thing? Sometimes we sabotage ourselves because we are afraid of what it will mean and the lifestyle changes it will require.

Or, we are afraid that it will take longer than we would like? Especially when it comes to weight lost,  it takes time. You have to change your behavior and be consistent. Consistency takes work; but in this I want success right now, we devalue hard work. That's why so many "quick fix" diets have been more successful at sucking people in, then the actual amount of weight people have lost. For Real... If we added up all the quick fix diets and the amount of people who have tried them, there would be so many pounds in that number.

Trayce's Before and After to date!

My hair Stylist Trayce Madre has lost over a 100 pounds but it has taken a lot of hard work and she is still at it! Trayce's commitment has been STELLAR!

Commitment is key and so is your reason! She told me once, that there were to many health problems in her family as well as, early deaths connected to weight. She wanted more for herself. Not only did she want it, she went after it, one work out and meal at a time! She has made a life style change, not a diet.

I'm sure that we all have areas of our life where we want something for ourselves; something more; something better. When I started RLT Collection I had NO customers. August 9, 2013 will be 4 years and I have built my business one bracelet at a time; one customer at a time.

I have had to reinvest the dollars that I make, forgoing a new handbag. I have had to invest time. Learn my skill and most importantly spend time with my gemstones. Sure making a stretch bracelet takes 5 minutes, but designing a stretch bracelet and an entire collection takes hours. Yes, I could just put some beads on stretch and sell them, but excellence is my standard. I have a gift of design and I work hard at growing that gift. My BFF Luke will tell you, he calls and ask, "What you doing?" My response, "Working on bracelets. Let me call you later."

New Unisex RLT Collection!

There has been a natural growth to RLT Collection. I know another bracelet company that had major contacts. They got in with the stars and athletes and BAM! recently they made $30,00 at a truck show at Nordstrom's in a couple of hours. You know what? I'm not even mad. Kudos!!! I know a woman that has brought bracelets from both of us. The world is large and there is enough to go around. Don't be jealous of what others got! Thats the wrong spirit. Get your ass out of their success and direct your energy on your own!

Would that kind of mind blowing success be great? Damn straight, but everyone don't get those breaks, some of us have to work hard. We should NOT measure our success by others, but by what is organic. I just don't think God would plant a seed in our spirit and gift us with talents to go unfulfilled. Sometimes our measuring stick is off. Our energy and spirit is directed on the wrong think.

Luke's Instagram Meditation this morning confirmed this blog for me!

Now with that being said, get off your tush and do the things that will add value and enrich your life! My former therapist use to say to me, "Rev I know you can do it!"

"But Doc," I would wine.
He would say,  "Rev, discipline is a transferable skill."
 I would give him that black woman side eye. He would continue because he was not intimidated by my side eye.
"But Doc I would wine."
He'd cross his legs and say, "Rev, and I know that you have discipline. Ask me how I know? I know because you take your medication like clock work twice a day."
 At that time I was on Fuzeon that I had to inject in my stomach twice a day. It was incredibly painful and I cried everyday for a year; But I did it because not doing it meant death over life. My value was placed in my living.

Where is your value placed? If it means that much to you then why haven't you done it? What are you waiting on to be a better you? You have ______days ahead of you before the year ends!

I'm headed to the gym!


Postscript: I had a little writer's block but I'm back :)

 FOLLOW my new Instagram account for RLT Collection @RLT Collection It's all about bracelet fashion-- the latest trends in bracelets, as well as, RLT Collection news and contests.

And send me your bracelet pictures, I would love to post you wearing RLT Collection.

You can Tweet, Facebook, Email or Instagram your pictures, but make sure you tag @RLTCollection #RLTColleciton on Instagram so I can find it. I want pictures of YOU wearing the bracelets... but I'll also take pictures of your arm wearing  arm candy from RLT Collection.

My personal Instagram is @RaeLT