Irritation

Today was one of those days where I was just really frustrated. I woke up with an attitude and a headache...not good. My attention span was short. I couldn't seem to focus on anything. No matter what I tried to work on nothing would come full circle.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I have a website to work on and articles to write. On top of a business to run. Lord, please allow me to focus on my purpose in life.

This journey is tough. I know people are not going to understand why you have me doing what you have me doing. Give me the strength not to second guess myself or you. I am your servant here to do what you have called me to do. I thank you for this gift. Thank you for trusting me to carry out this plan.

Patience on my journey

So much has happened over the past few months. I wanted to write about everything that has been going on, but my motivation to write about my personal life was no where to be found. I should be miserable and upset over the past 6 months and everything that has taken place, but I'm not. I am truly at peace with my decisions that I have made.

I told God I was ready to walk in the path he has created for me. Yes, it's been scary not knowing what's coming next but my faith in Him has been helping me through this. Every day is a new adventure for me. I wake up and go to bed with so much peace in my heart. I am truly living out my dreams right now. I love what is happening right now in my life. God is doing some amazing things and I am just so grateful for it all.

This journey is teaching me patience. I am learning to trust Jesus more and more. Waiting on the milestones of my journey to manifest is teaching me to enjoy the position I am in right now. Being thankful for where I am right now. Praising God as if I have already gotten where He said He is going to take me. 

Being Confident in Being Me Day 1

As much as I love technology and love to read it only seems fitting that I would have a Bible app on my phone. For the past few months I have used the YouVersion, Bible app on my phone to look up scriptures, meditate, and read some of the many devotionals that they have. I just started a new devotional called The Confident Woman, it's by Joyce Meyer. After reading this first message I knew I would journal about this passage. Below is today's passage. My will follow at the end.

Believe in Your Value


Take a minute and look into your heart. How do you feel about yourself? If your answer does not agree with God's Word, I encourage you to begin today renewing your mind about yourself.

See yourself as God sees you. Study God's Word and you will find out that you are precious, created in your mother's womb by God's own hand. You are not an accident. Even if your parents told you they never really wanted you, I can assure you that God wanted you. You are valuable, you have worth, you are gifted, you are talented, and you have a purpose on this earth.

Not only must we ask God for things He has promised us but we must receive them (see John 16:24). If you feel unworthy, you probably won't ask, and even if you do, you won't receive by faith. Don't let feelings rule you anymore. Take a step of faith and start improving your quality of life today. Believe that you make good decisions, that you are a valuable person with a great future, and something good is going to happen to you today!

Pray: Lord, I ask You to imprint Your love into the depths of my heart. I believe You have a great future for me and that I can walk in Your purpose for my life. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional by Joyce Meyer. Copyright 2011 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

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I see myself in a very different scope than I did a year ago. I'm much more happier and focused now. Working on my dreams and goals keep me motivated. I'm still spending a lot of time in prayer and studying my Bible but I do make more time for family and friends. When I would normally spend most of my time reading and just sitting in one place, I am not going out more since I moved here. One of the reasons for that is finding a church home. This was a big deal for me. I finally found a place that I feel comfortable in.

Finding a church home has helped my transition a lot over the past year. I began to really look at who I am as a person, where I want to go in life and how my relationship with the Lord was growing. I began really feel like I could step out on faith once again.

Taking a leap of faith and starting my own business was definitely something I had to pray about. But since starting Southern Roots Kitchen, I am happy and excited.  My food blog is up and running, I have implemented my Meal Planning Services. There is a lot more in works too.

I am thankful that God placed this vision in my life and is allowing me to live out my dreams. I am confident that I will succeed in all He has for me.

Blessings,

Kimberlee

Patience, Hair, Patience

You have a vision, you have a purpose, you can see the finish product right in front of you but you have so much more work to do before it is done. Patience. It is definitely something you have to learn in life.

My journey to see my natural hair texture has been just that a journey. There have been times where I want to just give up and say forget this. I don't care if I don't see the curls anymore. But then there are other times where I get so excited about the process, I look at how far I've come. My hair is growing like crazy, it's big, it's puffy and I love it. Through the entire process I have to learn to be patient, there are times when I don't want to be patient and I contemplate throwing in a relaxer or just doing a BC (big chop). But I have to remember to stay calm, be patient and just wait. I chose a long transition so I could get used to the curls and the texture.

There are weeks when I get real excited about trying new styles, other weeks I am ready to just say for get it and throw a relaxer in it. But then I remember the pain, the headaches, the money I have to spend and all the trouble I have to go through for my roots to only swell up and need a touch up in 4-6 weeks. Nope that's okay I will continue on this journey of learning my natural hair texture.

Living in VA definitely helps with the transition because the weather is so different here from what it is in Massachusetts. The humidity makes my hair big and fluffy, I have found a hair dresser that specializes in natural hair, and one of my younger sisters has decided to go natural. The two of us are constantly looking at different styles, she's always asking about the texture of her hair, different products, and hair styles. She got a kick out of using EEVO in her hair. She told the hair dresser what I was doing one night and the hair dresser said: 'Girl, EVOO will become your friend lol' So this journey has it ups and downs, but I know that being able to finally see my natural hair texture will be amazing.

Once I figure out this weekend's hair style I'll do another post.

Super Bowl Weekend

NY Giants won!!! WOO HOO!!! So for those people who know me, know that I am a HUGE NY Giants fan. I always have been. I love sports period. My mom and I had made plans to go to NY to spend the weekend with my older sister who happened to just open a lounge called Epiphany NYC. But due to last minute changes we decided to stay in VA and just chill. Oh my gosh, we had an amazing time. We were all dressed in our jerseys, I even bought a new racing jacket and wore it to church for Team Spirit Sunday. We made some wings with a honey hotsauce glaze, taco dip, veggie platter, smoothies, cupcakes and cookies. You would have thought we had a house full of people with all the food we made but it was just my mom, my sister Erica, my nephew, my sisters boyfriend and I.

We were scremaing, yelling at the TV and laughing at the commercials like we were at some party. Had such a good time with them. It was sad that we were with the rest of our family who happen to be Giants fans as well. But we still managed to enjoy ourselves. I took today off because I knew I would be tired and need to relax.

I do have some studying to do in the book of Ester, so off to read for a while.

New Year, New Journey....or is it?

Happy New Year! It's a new year, new journey, resolutions to be made. Do you really make resolutions? I haven't made one in years, if I say I'm going to do something or not do something then that's it. I don't wait until January to decide to change things. It changes when I make that declaration.

I'm still working on getting things in order with my business, a lot of behind the scenes work gets put into place beforehand. I am also going to be opening the blog back up. After much prayer and talking with my business coach things will be much different this time. You can check out the blog here and let me know what you think. There is quite a bit that will be happening there. I'm excited and ready to share with everyone. I've had some people ask if I was going to do Foodie Friday's again and I am. That will definitely be back, along with Taste Test Tuesday, where I showcase new products or just products people see and want me to test out. My journey to becoming my own boss continues.

I went home to Massachusetts for what was supposed to just be Christmas weekend but turned into a 10 day stay. I really enjoyed visiting with my family and friends. I even surprised my family by blow drying and straightening my hair. I was surprised at the length but after 3 days I missed my curls lol. I stood strong and waited almost 3 weeks before I washed my hair. I'm proud of myself. There are still some relaxed ends that I need to get rid of, so I'll cut a little more off in a few months. This transition is taking it's course but I am loving my hair even if other's don't.

My cousin Tiara has finished her transition and is completely natural now. Her curls look amazing. People spent the entire week mixing us up. If my hair had remained curly during this visit it would have been even worse. We do look just a like so we can't help it. Once I find the picture we took I'll post it.

This also happen to be our first Christmas without my great-grandmother. It was kind of sad, but we celebrated her life the way she would want us to. One of my cousins moved into her house so I went over there to hang out with him and it was a bitter sweet moment walking into that house knowing that she wouldn't be sitting in her recliner looking at me. I definitely felt her presence in the home.

Peace and Blessings

The fact that I have found a church that I absolutely love has been a blessing. Ever since my first visit they have made me feel like family. I walk in the building and I feel at home. Friendly people and they are so passionate and excited about the Lord. You can't help but be excited with them. This past weekend we had a Women's Ministry Fellowship. The night started out with a pot luck dinner, we played some games, had a workshop on overcoming our fears and doubts and then ended the night performing a play about the 10 virgins.

The weekend really helped me put a lot of things into perspective. I've learned to stop thinking so small about my business and what God has called me to do. As I continue to prepare to open up the bakery, things keep happening that I thought were roadblocks but they were actually blessings and lessons to learn. I am moving this weekend to another city near by, at first I thought it was going to stop me from opening up my business when it's actually helping me with the process even more. The house will be mine, I will be able to expand my kitchen when it's time and I have more space. I am truly thankful. My business will be up and running as soon as I get all the paperwork and permits done. Not going to rush things  because they won't come out the way God wants them to, so I am being patient and watching God work. My God, He is working because the blessings that are already flowing are just overwhelming me.

Well off to bed I go, got lots of boxes to move in a few hours.