Master Gardener

Words have a way of filling us up when we need it the most. Sometimes they cannot leave our mouths but only come pouring out through our pens. Reading good poetry pierces the depths of my soul the same way a good gospel song sends chills down my spine in church on a Sunday morning. Beyonce's Lemonade has reignited my craving for good poetry. Poetry that speaks of Blackness, womanhood, love, life, heartache, and loss. Poetry that evokes tears, joy, fury, passion, and gives hope. I am grateful to personally know some really good poets.

Here is a poem from one of my dear sister friends that is serving up all kinds of poetic goodness right now.

Whoa. 

I told y'all she was good! Make sure you read that at least three times to let those words sink in.

Know any other great woman poets we need to be reading right now? Leave their names, blogs, or books in the comments below. Be sure to come back for more poetry from @cecewriter and others in the coming weeks and months.

Be lifted my friends.  

Mid-Week Boost: Beautiful Transitions

Contrary to the title, transitions are often far from beautiful. They are in fact often extremely painful. Childbirth, failure, heartbreak, and rejection--nothing glamorous about those. Beyonce's Lemonade displays the many sides of transitions in a way that is so real and applicable to almost any life transition.

Intuition. Anger. Apathy. Emptiness. Accountability. Reformation. Forgiveness. Resurrection. Hope. Redemption.

It is perhaps through the most painful transitions in my life that I have filtered through that very same spectrum in order to be led to a place of redemption, joy, and love. My sweet baby boy being born. Stepping out of my comfort zone as an educator to embark on a new career path as a family therapist. Taking the painful yet courageous step to end my marriage of almost nine years in order to not settle for less than God's best for me and in order to save myself from breaking to the core. Leaving my work family of over seven years to start a new career in which I will be able to do something that I am fully invested in every single day. These transitions have given me a chance to stand on my own, find my voice, and speak up for what I really need to be whole. They have allowed me to start to move beyond a place of merely surviving to a place where I can actually thrive. I am reminded everyday that God does not allow for something to die without replacing it with something far greater than we could ever imagine.

I have lost greatly and been hurt deeply in this season of transition; but now more than ever I am grateful. Being in my thirties has caused a major shift in how I see myself and what I want my legacy to be. I have long craved for something new that would allow me to find an ebb and flow of love, motherhood, work, and life. I may not be where I want to be yet but I am certainly on my way.

Our problems---especially those we encounter during transitions are real but the promises of God are realer. This year has been a transformative year for me so far and I know that in the end it will be beautiful.

How have the transitions in your life allowed something beautiful to born?

Pause and take in that beauty.