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Just Me
Serving God. Loving my husband. Talking to my husband. Speaking volumes into his heart, mind and soul in deep word-less conversation. Laughing with my children. Making them smile no matter how uncoordinated, silly or ridiculous I may seem to passersby. Supporting Michael's dreams. Never allowing my husband or children to take back seat or back burner to my calling. They are my main ministry -- if I fail there, none of my other successes in life amount, count or matter. Never being so busy being a preacher that I forget that I am a woman, a lady, a pensive persona, a wife, a mommy, a daughter, a sister and a good friend. Taking time for SELAHS. Taking time away from ministry so that God can minister to me. Remembering that ministry is an outgrowth... a by-product of my walk with the Lord and not the other way around. Making God, my family and the friends of my soul proud. Fulfilling my purpose, living my dreams, realizing God's visions and plans for my life. Laughing hard -- loving harder. Working hard - vacationing well. Patiently possessing my soul. Always living higher than what I preach. Being a sermon people will watch. Achieving wealth, success and prosperity and never losing my anointing, my dignity, my morals, my high standards of holiness, my mind or myself. Living a holy, consecrated, separated, wonderful, balanced and happy life. Persistently reaching for souls. Praising in the face of disaster. Laughing when I want to and crying when I need to. Being honest with God and myself. Being a living epistle. Being transparent enough to be an example and yet keeping what is meant to be personal and private uniquely and distinctly mine without question. Being focused enough to reach all of my goals but free enough to smell all of God's roses. Turning lemons into lemonade. Speaking for the silent, lifting the low, healing the hurting, fighting for and with the embattled, standing with the strong, standing for the weak and standing for what's right. Telling the truth. Listening to what's spoken. Hearing what's unspoken. Prayer, prayer and more prayer. Healing the people in the dark. Talking to the people in the nose-bleed section. Really listening to young people -- they have so much to say. Learning from the aged -- they are volumes of wisdom, power and yes they tell the most hilarious of stories. Reaching out to the people society neglects, forgets and ignores. Seeing the invisible among us. Walking in discernment. Never being so deep that I drown but always willingly losing myself in praise and worship. Finding myself in the Word. Rejoicing in tribulation. Looking forward to tomorrow. Learning from yesterday. Enjoying my today. Finding cures. Finding answers. Giving answers. Giving true answers. Giving great answers -- even when my best answer is "I don't know the answer." Being a great leader. Being an even greater disciple. Breaking curses. Destroying yokes. Breaking through the walls of silence. Praising and worshipping for who God is and not just for what He's done, doing or going to do. Looking forward to a better tomorrow. Dealing with what is. Hoping for the best. Working towards that end. Following God's voice. Marching to the beat of my own drum. Being grown enough to be uniquely me but child-like enough to yet be taught. Being fearless in the face of opposition. Truly caring about how people feel but never letting what FOLKS say control, break or destroy me. Loving the unlovable. Reaching the unreachable. Rescuing the lost at any cost -- that is what I am interested in. This is who I am.
Just me.
Written by
L.A. Artis
(From the Psalms of Artis)
Photography by
Princess Grace Artis
(My Daughter)
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