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👋🏾 it’s SUNDAY!!! Pause with @simone.butterfly 

On Saturday, I found myself in the conservatory of the Ivy, a historic bespoke hotel located in downtown Baltimore.
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After breakfast, I wandered into a sun soaked room anchored by enormous potted plants that reached all the way to the ceiling.  The grand piano in the corner was silent but the air was alive with the smell of teak wood and earth.  I could live here, I thought.  After 20 minutes, my eyes became more accustomed to the opulence and my attention turned inward.


No surprise, my anxiety returned as soon as my mind focused back on me and all my projects.  How would I get it all done?  Should I pick up the pace? Did I miss my window of opportunity?


As the questions began to crescendo, he appeared, a dandy of a man with a full beard- more pepper than salt..  He was not terribly old but very distinguished.  I never caught his name.  Though I know he led with it.  I sat and he stood in a quiet purple striped grey three piece suit, starched white shirt, and black bow tie. I never looked down but I imagine his shoes were freshly shined.


We talked for an hour.  He tested the edges of the conversation by interjecting quotes from Paul.  When I was able to finish the scriptures he shared, he pushed a bit further. Soon he was openly sharing his story of triumph in the face of illness, of peace even as death loomed all around.  He was recovering from a life saving surgery.


I mentioned my fear of running out of time. 


He was ready with a response.  You must replace your watch with a compass, he said kindly. 


If you are a believer, you know that although time is relentless in its march forward, it should never be the motivating factor.  Your quest is to be guided by God’s compass.  If you are always facing the right direction, you are always in the right place at the right time.  Your actions in this moment and in every moment dictate how and where you will progress.  


Be present and be yourself- the version of yourself that is striving to be like Christ.  Radiate that energy where you are right now.  You do not need to agitate and plan and forge a path.  God is the path.  Just BE in the place where you are.


I was stunned into silence.  I have been asking the wrong question all along.  Instead of asking, "Where do I go next?"  Ask, "How can I help while I am here?"  The next destination or phase will come without your help.


Enjoy your present situation.  Enjoy your current iteration. Do your best where you are with what you have.  God will take care of the rest, it is a promise, darling.


Thanks, Mr. Roarke.  (not his real name…but my name for him)

👋🏾 it’s SUNDAY!!! Pause with S1m0ne @simone.butterfly 

Remember those grants I applied for a few months ago?  It took a herculean effort to submit them.  I faced computer issues, an expired business license, an unexpected road trip to NYC.  Despite it all, I was able to submit both of them on time, with all relevant attachments.  And, though I was exhausted, I praised God for the capacity to do the impossible.

But then, guess what?  I was not awarded either grant.  What a profound disappointment. How did I get it so wrong?

There is a blessing in each disappointment. Each time I write a grant, I refine my “ask”, I meet new funders, I learn more about the grant writing processes.  When I am ready and in God’s time, I will meet the perfect funder and I will know exactly what to say.

If God has not answered your request in the way you expected, do not give up.  Continue to prepare for the blessing so that when it is presented, you will be ready to receive it.

God is faithful, it is a promise, darling.

👋🏾 SUNDAY PAUSE with S1m0ne

Dreams are funny things. They can inspire and they can misdirect. How do you know the difference? 
 
Before I started studying the ways of the Spirit, I used to put a lot of emphasis on dreams and  premonitions.  I used to think that all dreams were sacred and revealed much about how I truly felt and how I should act in daily life. 
 
I subsequently learned that dreams are not always Godly.  Sometimes, our nocturnal dreams and day dreams are just our daily desires amplified or intruding messages from a darker place.  Do not be fooled.  Before you rely on a dream to guide your earthly actions, be sure to compare the instructions you extract to the word of God.  Do not act if the action contradicts God's law. 
 
When God speaks, there is no confusion, no doubt, no chaos.  His messages align with His word.   It is a promise.

🔐 You can’t listen to every voice in your head. 👱🏾‍♀️☕️🫖

👋🏾SUNDAY PAUSE with @simone.butterfly

If you are a practicing believer you will receive all you need to accomplish the goals that God has set for you.

Sometimes God provides gold and sometimes God will send a rose.  All gifts fulfill a spiritual need.

You might ask, what good can a rose do when you are facing terrible difficulties?

Consider this excerpt from “God Calling” by A.J. Russell -

God says:
I thought of you, a bud opened, you converted that into a cheer for one you love or a smile. That cheer meant increased health. Increased health means work for me, and that means souls for me. And so it goes on, a constant supply, but only if the need is a spiritual one.
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God will provide all your spiritual needs.  It is a promise, darling.

I was listening to a marketing podcast the other day and was struck by a statement made by one of the guests, "Do the right tasks with your restricted time.” 

​With a full time job, and 3 passion projects, I don’t seem to have enough time for much else. Most days, I find myself working from 7am until 10pm.  The result? I am starting to look and feel more like a moth instead of an exuberant butterfly.


“Do the right tasks with your restricted time.”  This statement resonates because it echoes an admonition from God.  God likewise implores us to only take on the right tasks that HE assigns. 


God promises divine efficiency and divine power.  Join me in asking God to reveal your “right” tasks. When we are in sync with Him, we will have the daily bread needed to do all that is required.  It is a promise, darling.

A few years ago, a very close friend asked me whether I truly believed that Jesus was the Son of God.  

Now, the question itself was not odd.  But, it was oddly timed.  We were not talking about spirituality or theology at the time the question was posed.  Rather, we were actually discussing career plans and the minutia of the day. 

“Yes, I do believe Jesus is the Son of God.”   

I also believe that Jesus is a perfect example of what man can do when he commits himself to learning about God and following His precepts. 

Today, is Easter Sunday, the day in which we celebrate the resurrection of the Son of the Living God.   

When Jesus died, He became the ultimate sacrifice.  This sacrifice was needed to atone for the sins of the world.  It is because of His death that we can even approach the Holy God with our petitions and requests. 

I am ever grateful to Jesus for His selfless act.  

Happy Easter, darlings

We love to learn about the benefits of being a believer: the access to super natural spiritual gifts, the ability to call on and to be heard by God Almighty, healing when we are ill.
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But there are some requirements.  Matthew 6:24 says no one can serve two masters. In other words, we cannot follow the dictates of popular culture and God's law simultaneously.  Eventually, we will abandon one set of ethics for the other.

If you think about it.  The decision to follow the Power who can solve all earthly problems should not be a difficult one.  But, alas, the choice is made difficult because the world's ways appear much more exciting.

But do not be fooled.  There is no success without God.  Anything contrary is an illusion.  If you read the biographies of those who chose a gilded Godless path you will soon discover that a reckoning for bad behavior always comes.  

Sin wreaks havoc on your life and those around you.  Sometimes the ramifications are physical.  Other times the results are mental.

God is the only One who guarantees peace and happiness.  It is a promise, darling.

✋🏾 Are you searching for answers?  🙋🏽‍♀️🗣️“Read the book of Proverbs.”

The book of Proverbs provides practical guidance to help us live fruitful and beneficial lives.

Here’s a Proverb that really resonates.

Proverbs 11:14 
“Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”

In other words, the wise woman gets advice from many people of GOOD JUDGEMENT before making a decision. 😉

God has all the answers. Read it for yourself, darling!

⁣⁣SimoneButterfly.com/Sunday 
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Growing up with two  parents working full time was a the ultimate exercise in patience. (smile).   As the middle child, I felt I was always waiting for one thing or another.  Waiting to be picked up from ballet, waiting for the 36 bus, waiting at mom's office after school, waiting to eat dinner after church.  Thank goodness, I had a library card to transform mundane stretches of time into fantasy  courtesy of Nancy Drew, Pippi Longstocking, Anne of Green Gables, and Margaret Simon. 


Fast forward to the present and I still hate waiting,  Why? When I'm waiting for someone else, I am not in control.


What about when we are forced to wait on God? 


If you pray, you must learn to wait.  To be clear, though, you are waiting on God to move.  You are not waiting on a grantor to pay out, a friend to reimburse you, or a colleague to apologize.  Instead, you are waiting in silence with child like anticipation for God's solution to the problem. 


God favors those who fear and reverence His Lordship through obedience to his requirements.  It's a promise, darling.

Charles Fillmore, author of Teach Us to Pray  defines LOVE as an ability to extend kindness even when it is not deserved.

Exercising this type of “active” love requires supernatural help.  It is impossible to be loving in the face of prolonged cruelty, hatred, mean spiritedness and betrayal without God’s help. 

Recall the words of Jesus found in John 14:6.

And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John 14:6

The Comforter that Jesus speaks of is the Holy Spirit sent to dwell inside of us and to provide us with all we need to be our most perfect / healthy / happy / beautiful selves.

The Holy Spirit is really the light of God...it is GOD ENERGY that resides inside each of us. This GOD ENERGY enables us to be LOVING to ourselves, our neighbors  even when we do not feel particularly lovable.   

It’s a promise, darling.