Testimonial : Brenda 

In August I shared with you about the financial struggles of a non-profit I manage in the one of the poorest communities in the state.  You then gave me a copy of a daily affirmation you had written and thought it would be helpful to me. I received it with sincere gratitude because all that you shared about speaking things as if they were, was true to my own thinking and beliefs. I immediately began to read the affirmation daily and thought the words were powerful. I thought, you must be an awesome writer, even an awesome woman.  I read the words aloud, declaring them as if they were so, calling out the words into the universe, sometimes thanking God as I read the thoughts in each stanza of the powerfully and poetically written affirmation, or daily prayer.

I am writing to share that your gift has blessed my life, through God’s Grace and Favor.  I continue to read the affirmation today, but began to realize the Blessings as early as December.  Shortly before the Holidays began, I received a telephone call from a young lady I’d been working with, in hopes of getting a contract with a new State Project in the making. When she called, she shared that we had been accepted for the contract and I should be hearing from the business associates in the new year.  I was so excited, yet so nervous, so unsure, so afraid, as Satin would have me to be.  I would whisper thank You to the Holy One, but nothing overt or spoken out loud.  In January, I was contacted by the facilitators of the contract, and actually given an opportunity to work in the new Project. The experiences in negotiating were not pleasant, and low-balling, as they call it, was all a part of the business game.  My team and I were seen as, and were being treated as an insignificant player in this game, as if our work was of a lesser quality.

Without even connecting the two, I continued daily to recite my affirmation.  In February, we implemented our first month of work in this new project.  God is so good.  He Blessed our every effort.  We actuated in a proficient and high quality manner.  Our work spoke for itself.  Still not connecting the affirmation, I just believed that God was Blessing us, Blessing our work, and giving us Favor.  I saw the minds of people, who were fighting us — change, and policies changed, just as in the words of the affirmation, “if need be”. This Blessing even enabled us to receive a greater payment, in exchange for the services we provide, greater than the amount we were working toward in the negotiation.  The dollar amount was spoken by the person we believed to be our biggest critic, and we gladly accepted.

It was only a few Sundays ago, as I sat in Church and the Pastor spoke about Blessings and when do you shout.  When do you recognize that you have received your Blessing, or are you still looking for it, or are you wanting more, or are you looking for perfection?  I began to think about where we had been as a non-profit, and where we were and appear to be going.  Scared to be excited, not wanting to jinx it, or to have a spirit of boasting.  Uncertain, and insecure, I was thinking I should wait until we had x-number of dollars, and x-number of staff.  Yet, on this Sunday, the Lord helped me to remember that He had used “you” to give me the words I needed to speak, that I had been obedient and spoken the words, that He had been true to His promise and was proving the desires of my heart, the words of my lips.  Praise God.  I knew then that modesty was not what I should exemplify, praising God is what was needed, and thanking you – a good friend, who had given me the words.  Thank you Jesus, Thank you Rhonda. During the past three months, we have been able to provide new jobs for 13 people, and working to hire more people daily.

I don’t know how to express my gratitude to you, but know that God used you to Bless us, so that we can Bless others.  Your reach is almost as strong, or at least as long as the lineage of Leah and her 4th son, Judah.  Praise God, thank you Rhonda.

Brenda