COLD WEATHER

Good Morning Family, Friends, Neighbors and to all those that read this,

The cold weather in Georgia and in so many other areas around the US has forced people to make new friends, re-acquaint themselves with others, and realize how much we need each other. People were stranded in cars on the highways for hours, in schools, airports, Walmart, Home Depot, Kroger, and other areas around in North Georgia. People were concerned about the warmth and well being of each others including the woman that gave birth to a baby on the Expressway. I'm sure this is a day she and her family will never forget. Isn't it amazing how everything stopped........ which should have given families time to spend together. God knows what it takes to bring us closer together. I hope that time was wisely spent.

 "Time is both common and rare; we either have too much or too little. None of us believe we use it as well as we should. But unlike all the other ingredients in life, some time is for flavor and some time is just to give support to all the other ingredients we mix in. Time's importance is measured from where we sit when we do the measuring. Unfortunately, we frequently think to measure it after it is used rather than before. Then we realize that time is not a common luxury at all-but a rare and valuable gem."

"No man is so methodical as a complete idler, and none so scrupulous in measuring out his time as he whose time is worth nothing."  (Washington Irving)


Bren.............The Matriarch

KEEP GOING

Good morning,

So here we are into 27 days of January 2014.
As I sit down to write this post my thoughts shifted to all the resolutions that people made for the New Year. Let me encourage  you. If you haven't started, START. If you have started, KEEP GOING. So often times we start out the new year with something we're determined to start or finish and somewhere along the way we feel that it's not as important to us anymore, so we QUIT. Tell yourself, quitting is not an option, so you missed a day so what? Again gutting is not an option. Don't allow your mind to take control of your spirit. Bruce Barton says:
Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was SUPERIOR to circumstances.

Bren........The Matriarch

My thoughts this morning

Good morning to ALL,

Let me begin by saying sorry it has taken me so long to post anything. However, it has been a blessing to read SHOG's posts as well as the comments from those checking us out daily. Today is a very cold one in South Georgia, but I am thankful just to be among the living and not the dead.

I know that we can be sure that death will come to us some day because the Bible says so. However, for me, it is not easy to accept, digest, or understand without knowing JESUS. I can say from my own experiences with close family members and friends that without him, I would have lost my mind......literally. Last night, I heard about a friend of ours who lost her mother-in-law. My heart sank and with that I began to say a prayer in my heart for her family. I know that GOD has the final say. And there are situations that we have absolutely NO control over.  So, we have to know that HE has our BEST interest at heart and in mind at ALL times.

Does anyone realize that GOD allows us to experience things and situations in our lives because HE needs us to see that IT (the situation or thing) is not what we need or really want. We just think that we do. HE is so wonderful like that or as RED would say "HE's just a GENTLEMAN like that." HE never forces us unless, we are CHOSEN by HIM. Believe or not, I just got that myself (as I am typing this). Even with being CHOSEN, HE tries gently to get us to see which direction HE wants us to go or thing  HE wants us to do. But sometime, we are just bull-headed, and we're going to try it OUR way first, sometime second, third, fourth, etc.......times until we give up. Once we have given up, HE steps in again (if we want and allow him to) and begins to lead us. As you begin your day from now on, ask the ALMIGHTY GOD of the HEAVENS and EARTH to lead you and your family into the paths of HIS TRUTH, LOVE, AND PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE. I have begun to do this everyday and I'm seeing HIM change situations in my life. They maybe small to some people, but for me they are huge. I love you and have a super blessed day.

Tia-The Teacher

CHANGE

Good Morning out there,

I know we have not posted in a few days but, we're baaaack; Now, I got a question for ya. If you could change anything in your life right NOW, what would it be, and why? Please let us hear form you.


Bren...........The Martriach

!!!!!ALERT!!!!!!!

THIS IS AN ALERT

Good Morning to all of you out there as you began to start your New Day. Whatever you're doing right now STOP! Wife, hug your husband and tell him I love you. Husband, hug your wife and tell her I love you. Parents, hug your child or children and say I love you. Children call your mother or father and say to them I love you.  Friends, follow suit as well. For some of you it will be the last time you'll hear those words coming from the person you say it to. On yesterday I encountered a very dysfunctional family that lost a loved one that was very dear to the family, but because of so much bitterness and discord in the family nobody ever took on the responsibility to break that "bad blood" among each other. One would have thought a massacre had taken place when the family member passed away. When someone says the words, "I hate you", those words cut to the heart and soul of us. Just as those words have the power to kill, the words, "I love you", have an even greater power. They heal the heart, mind, body, and soul. Love's power is greater than anything on this earth. 
Sometimes, due to all the water under the bridge, we sometimes forget that the bridge is still "over" the water and you can still cross over to the other side of hatred to the love that's always waiting on the other side. It's not about whether someone accepts hearing the words I LOVE YOU, even-though we want those words reciprocated, those words are just as much about us as they are the other person. When we forgive and give LOVE, we can feel the freedom from the feelings of bondage from hatred or disdain that holds us. You may say, "What if I don't mean it?" My advice to you is, say it until it gets into your spirit and you will find you really do mean it. Don't go through life feeling regrets, when there is a loss, because you have right now to make things right. No more woulda, shoulda, coulda. 

Love NOW, because tomorrow may be too late.


Bren..........The Matiraich

What are you feeding your Spirit?

Good Morning to all of you out there. Today is another beautiful day, in spite of the rain that's falling this morning here in the south and and I'm loving it.
 Well, anyway, I wanted to share with you this morning about an experience that I had on yesterday. It was one of those profound moments that you have in life and so I hope that it will allow you to do what I did; A HEART EVALUATION.

In my first post, I spoke about love and the fact that it is still what the world needs. My belief, is that True Love comes from God, because to me, God is love. So anyway, on yesterday, a friend of mine was talking to me about my daughter and the man that took her life. As we were talking she asked me a very important question concerning love. She said, " How do you feel about the man that took your daughter's life?" I replied with, "I love him. I don't have any ill will against him." She said, "How can you truly and genuinely say you have love for him?" I said to her, "Because he could not take from me, what he didn't give to me." Then, I proceeded to say, "I wouldn't have wanted him to feel the pain that I had felt." So my prayer was, "Lord help me to accept those things that I cannot change." ( The Serenity Prayer) As I began to pray and allow God to heal my heart I began to feed my spirit the things that I believe true love is derived from; like joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, humbleness, and temperance; Against such things there is no law. LOVE is an amazing gift that we should all share daily with each other. So as we began to walk in true love and the let it fill our hearts and let that love shine through, then we can change the world one life at a time.

Maybe one day soon, I will find him and let him know that I do love him because we all need to be made free to live in love and forgiveness. Today, as you go on your way, don't forget to show love and make someone's life and not just their day.

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL.                                    


Bren...The Matriarch

What the World Needs

Dionne Warwick 

"What The World Needs Now Is Love"

What the world needs now is love sweet love,
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord we don't need another mountain, 
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb,
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross
Enough to last until the end of time

Lord, we don't need another meadow,
There are corn fields and wheat fields enough to grow,
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine,
Oh listen Lord, if you want to know

What the world needs now is love sweet love,
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love sweet love,
No not just for some, oh but just for every every everyone.

When I awaken this morning, these are the words I heard in my heart. Dionne sings these words so gracefully. It made me think about how GOD loved us so much that he gave his only begotten Son. Love is contagious, let's start an EPIDEMIC.......

Bren- The Matriarch 

Choices....Good or Bad

Hey.

What's up? How was your yesterday? Was it cold enough for you? It was way too cold for me...and today is not much different. Well, yesterday was pretty busy. I am starting a new endeavor and it can be tedious but overall, I think that I will continue to learn some amazing things. I am excited about it, but at the same time a little nervous, but forever optimistic. 

Which brings me to CHOICES. We all have them to make in our every day lives. Sometimes, there are situations that we encounter and feel like we have no choice in the matter. Oh, but that is always farthest from the truth. We just have to determine which one is the best one. It's not always easy to do that. I think that I have made a choice, recently, that I may have made too soon and without fully assessing the situation. Now I am having to wait for it to play out, and possibly take much longer to process through, than was the original plan. 

I am learning that, when making "good choices", in the hype of every situation, we have to learn to do 5 things:

1) Stop and take a breath and look at the big picture

2) Take an accurate assessment of the situation

3) Remember not to make an emotional choice, but an informed one

4) If needs be, gather more information and delay the decision until there is a definitive answer

5) Make the choice 

Always remember that every decision is YOUR choice, whether it is good or bad. Do your best to make as many good choices as possible. But, if and when, a bad choice is made, don't beat yourself up about it. Forgive yourself- (the most powerful thing you can do), get back up, dust yourself off, start over....fresh and anew.

Have a great day and don't forget to share the love...

Sister-Hood of Goddesses:

"Living My Truth"

Redd-The Comedian

Hello and Introduction....

Good morning.

It is so cooolllddd outside. I awoke this morning with my fellow SHOG (Sister-Hood Of Goddesses) members on my mind. They have been so many things to me; my friends, my surrogate moms, my mentors, my family, my girls, my examples...just everything that you can think of, they have been. I am so thankful for them.

I said that to say, this is what SHOG is all about. Its about creating a love and truth through and from one another to make us better as women. We are all family members and friends that believe in the power of sharing our lives and life experiences so that someone else may be inspired, uplifted, encouraged, comforted, and empowered. We believe in each other and are always there for each other. 

My sisters, (it was 4 of us), started SHOG some 20 years ago. It wasn't called this then, it was just the annual "girl's trip". Each year when a female turned 18, in our immediate family, she gets to go on the trip...(grown folks only was the motto..lol). I was the last of the 4, and unfortunately, my first trip was with only 2 of my sisters because the 3rd one passed away 4 months before the annual excursion. It was bittersweet. I was happy to finally be in the club and sad that we were not all able to share in my initiation. Anyway, the short of it is, we have not failed to get together for 3-5 days, every year since that time. We laugh, cry, sing, dance, exercise, be lazy, cook, clean, go out, shop, play, sightsee, and any other thing that we decide to do in those 3-5 days. These days come and are over way too soon for us. It's a time for us to not do anything, other than, care for ourselves and each other; which is something women don't do enough of. 

So we are starting this blog to take you on the journey of our lives, we hope that you will have as much fun as we do. Most of all we hope to inspire change through the bonds of unity, faith, truth, authenticity, and most importantly...the LOVE of true Sisterhood.

We are the Sister-Hood of Goddesses.......

Founders:
Bren-The Matriarch
Tia- The Teacher
Sheekie- The Southern Belle
She- The Girlie Girl (Chef)
Redd- The Comedian