[Original post 8.6.2020]

This morning before I left out for work, I kissed my boyfriend like I normally do. He asked, “Do you have money?”, like he normally does. I responded, “Ehh, kinda”.. to which he said, “Take what you need”. 

I didn’t take anything because I didn’t truly need it, but all day those four words replayed in my head. 

The words replayed in my head because I kept thinking, how beneficial would it be to everyone’s well-being if we could just take what we needed. Not in a sense of tangible items but instead, things that helped us to be better people or simply brightened our days. 

So I compiled a short list of things that people may need: 

• Hope

• Love

• Peace

• Courage

• Strength

• Confidence

• Faith

• Forgiveness

If you need any of those eight things, keep reading! If you’re not a spiritual person, just know that the Bible will be referenced below. (Do with that information what you will.)

Hope: You are the light of someone’s life. Even if you may not feel like it. You may be in a season of darkness but you are being planted, not buried. Your season is coming and you will blossom beautifully baby!! Romans 5:3-5 says, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts.” ..Just like the sun rises each morning, so will you!

Love: Maybe you’re searching for love from another. Maybe you’re searching for love from within yourself. Or maybe you’re trying to figure out how to give love to those who need it from you.. Love is something that so many people want but not a lot of people know how to receive or give it properly. I’m here to tell you, it starts from within. If you don’t love yourself, love from another will never be able to fulfill that emptiness. 1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” .. I’d like to add, those same rules apply to self-love as well.

Peace: Perhaps you need some peace in your life. Things beyond your control are happening too quickly. Your world feels off-balance. I’m here to tell you, PRESERVE YOUR PEACE. Take 5 minutes out of your morning and 5 minutes out your evening every day for yourself. Scream, cry, stand outside in the fresh air, lock yourself in the bathroom, take a shower, say affirmations.. do whatever you need to do to collect your thoughts before you start and end each day. Here are 20 bible verses about peace. 

Courage: Some of us would do so many things differently if we just had the courage to do so. Let me say this— YOU HAVE ONE LIFE, DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY! Find the courage inside of yourself to start the business you’ve always wanted..go back to school and get your degree..move across the country or even the world!! Do what scares you because in the end, it’ll be worth it. Psalms 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” …So what are you waiting on? God’s got you!!

Strength: This one is something I struggled with for a LONG time ya’ll. I always felt so weak… like I just kept letting life happen to me and I wasn’t doing anything to change it. It wasn’t until recently that I finally believed an old friend when she said, “You’ve always been this enormously strong being in this tiny body”.. reading her text made something click in my brain. I am strong. I’ve gotten up every single time life has knocked me down! I may have laid there for a bit sometimes, but I got up eventually. If you’ve gotten back up already, GREAT JOB!! If you haven’t, compose yourself and then get up. Here are 20 bible verses about strength that I hope you find useful. 

Confidence: Now this one can be a doozy for a lot of people. We’re living in a time when we see people posting their “great” lives all over the internet and social media. I use the term great very loosely. Most people will only post their highlight reels. They’re showing you the best parts. The parts they want you to see. Everyone has parts of their story that they don’t read aloud. Do not let someone’s perfections (or lack there of, depends on who you’re talking to) allow you to feel less than. You are beautiful. You are amazing. You’re perfect in your own way because God made you in His image. 

Faith: If you’ve gotten this far (or skipped down to this part because faith is really what you’re in need of) then you know by now that faith is a HUGE part of my identity. I come from a long line of praying Black women and praying Puerto Rican women. Faith was instilled in me at a very early age. It has gotten me through so many things I couldn’t have imagined having gone through without it. Now that’s not to say I’ve always had the strongest faith, but it’s always been there. Faith to me is the belief that no matter what, all things work together for the greater good. My absolute favorite verse in the Bible is Matthew 17:20. Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. I have beat depression not once, but THREE TIMES! It was in those three different moments of my life that I only had faith the size of a mustard seed. Find the mustard seed that has been planted in you!

Forgiveness: You may need to forgive someone or you may be the one who needs the forgiveness. All I know is this, forgiveness is never for the other person. Forgiveness is always for you. Think about it, the reason you need others to forgive you is usually because you need/want to clear your conscience. I find myself asking for forgiveness often from not only God, but from myself as well. We tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be “perfect” but the truth is that we’re all heavily flawed. Do me a favor: meet yourself where you are. What I mean by that is, start by accepting who you are as a person and where you are in life. If you don’t like it, make a plan to change and then execute that plan. Daniel 9:9 says, “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;” ..so if God can forgive us ALL, why can’t we we forgive ourselves and/or others? Just think about it.

Okay ladies and gents… I wrote this with the hopes that someone would take what they need and recycle it. I can only pray that I was able to accomplish that goal. Now, you may believe in God and you may not.. but no matter what, I want you to know that He loves you regardless and so do I!

Until next time; Be YOU. Do YOU. LOVE YOU 💜