God and Dog

It’s the simple things that bless my heart so tremendously.  I’ve been in a season of life where the Lord is refining, not only me, but my husband.  We’ve found ourselves facing choices we’ve faced before and we know it’s because we need to make a better choice this time around.  I understand it’s all for my maturity, for my personal growth into the woman of God He’s called me to be.  Somehow it seems that the grace that covered me several years ago doesn’t cover me today.  Not that the grace  has lost it's power. I guess because I know better now, and when you know better you have to do better.

In knowing better, the simple things have become more important.  Ministry has become more important then music career.  Family has become more important then touring the country and seeing the world.  Daily things have become more precious and I’m much more aware of God’s blessings.  I use to think blessings equaled miracles and miracles were always big, jaw dropping events.  I understand now as I get older miracles can be big supernatural things, but they can also be little things that warm your heart and make you smile.

Like my dogs.  Despite the fact that Bucho likes to “date the living room pillows” and Bianca sometimes seems to think that the bathroom rug is grass, I love them tremendously and I am thankful for their presence in my life.  My puppies remind me of the love of God.  I think it has something to do with a dog’s willingness to take you just as you are, their ability to love you despite all your failures, their faithfulness even when you don’t pay them as much attention as you should.  And I found myself thankful and I wanted to tell the Lord I was thankful to Him for giving them to me. So I did what many do when they want the world to know something that seems so urgent and important.  I posted on Facebook, “Thank you Lord for creating dogs.”

It is amazing how when you pray a simple prayer of thank you, the Lord often goes an extra step to reaffirm His love to you.  He seems to say thank you back, because you thanked Him for His amazing awesomeness!  In a matter of minutes my dear friend Lani posted a video for me to enjoy based on a children’s book called, God and Dog.  I was in tears halfway through the 90 second video.  I’ll leave it to you to watch and see for yourself the gentle reminder of God’s love for us through His own creation – the dog!  For God to have her post this to my page was reaffirmation of His hearing my prayer.  And then, the funniest picture of a dachshund came across my Facebook feed.  This little blessing looked like he could be our Bucho’s cousin.  In the picture the dog is looking sheepish and he has a sign around his neck saying, “I steal food from unattended plates.”  It was the funniest thing I had seen all day and in a matter of 20 minutes I went from tears of gratitude to laughing hysterically! 

 And I thought isn’t that just like the Lord to give me these simple pleasures, joyful dogs, a great friend, a beautiful video and a hilarious picture – all because He loves me and wants to hear me laugh.  His love is a miracle and His attention to the details of my life are amazing.  The Lord’s creation reflects His heart towards us.  Think about that the next time a simple thing makes you laugh or a gentle thing brings you to tears.  These are the evidence of God’s amazing love.  These are the evidence of true miracles.

*Photo From Facebook Page: I Love Dachshunds Fan Page

Ascribe To Yahweh

So I started this new video blog on my thoughts on worship. I love to write so I won't be abandoning the written word anytime soon. But I thought I would share with you my first effort. It's based on one of the first songs I ever "wrote", well I didn't really write it, it's directly from scripture. Take a listen to the video about the song ASCRIBE! But before you do, go down to the bottom of the page and turn off the music player so you can actually hear what I'm saying... and singing. Hit the underlined text below entitled, Ascribe To Yahweh and take a listen! Blessings!

Ascribe To Yahweh

Consistency, Insanity and The Will of God

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I find this a hard pill to swallow when I’m trying to trying to build a ministry and business… trying to get the vision out of my head and into the real world. How can it be that after ten years I am still trying to figure out if I should be doing what I’m doing?

I’ve been in prayer about this quite a bit recently. Seeking the Lord on what the next steps are, where do we go from here, how do we do it differently so that we truly make an impact on the lives of others? How do we move forward when we suffer from a lack of resources and a lack of assistance? Better yet, why does it matter if we even have lack when we have the Lord and He is, in fact, everything. I think my vision is just a bit skewed.

I have coached tons of people and have always given the same advice. If being a creative entrepreneur is your passion, go for it and trust that the Lord will correct you if you step out with a pure heart, by faith, but go in the wrong direction. But you go for it with everything you have. Prayerfully, joyfully, thankfully – that is in fact God’s Will for our lives. The scripture tells us so in 1 Thess. 5 Verse 14. Simple isn’t it.

Maybe I should simply take my own advice. Maybe I should do what I tell everyone else to do… now that’s a novel thought! I found myself informing the Lord about this head banging against the wall feeling I’ve been having. Round and round on the ministry merry go round. I often find myself giving the ministry back to the Lord. Proclaiming, it’s yours, do with it what you will. And the funny part is I often feel like His response is to hand it back to me!

How? Well, there is that story of the talents (big shout out to my girl Carlita for this one). In the book of Matthew, Chapter 25 we read the story of the Master and the three servants. The Master leaves 3 servants with varying amount of talents to work with in his absence. Two take the talents and bring increase to themselves and to their Master. One hides the talent by burying it out of his fear and self doubt. People always preach about the importance of using the talent. But what was brought to my attention was the simple fact that the Master never told them what to do with the talents, he just gave them to the servants and left. The servants were left to decide when, where and how they would use these talents. What if we have the same choice?

Earlier that same day I was praying about what I should be doing and the Lord directed me to Ecc 9 Verse 10: Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

I said, “OK Lord, what should my hand be doing?” His response was, “Something!”

Hum… what if discovering the will of God for your life isn’t as complicated as we make it? If my hand finds singing, teaching, coaching and writing as the things to do, then shouldn’t I just do those things and leave it up to the Lord to course correct as needed? Should I just take my talents and apply them to my life, my business, my ministry and trust that the Lord will bring the increase if I do it for His glory delighting in Him and always seeking Him?

That sounds like a winning combination: faith without works is dead, so I work with faith, delight in the Lord and receive the desires of my heart while seeking the kingdom of God and knowing that all these things will be added unto me as I use the talents He has given me to advance the kingdom through faith and the work of my hands. Wow…. (James 2 Verse 20, Matthew 6 Verse 33, Ps. 37 Verse 4).

I found myself asking the Lord yesterday if I was insane. I often look at people who started in ministry before me or after me and it seems like they have accomplished so much more then me, done so many great things for the Lord while I’m still trying to figure out if I’m really called to do this. To much thinking can trip you up… it’s that annoying PhD. It seems I have been measuring if I’m called by how other people are using their talents. Maybe I should stop hiding mine.

So I said, “Lord I keep doing the same thing over and over again and I keep expecting different results am I crazy? What exactly should I be doing?” And the Lord in all His wisdom said, “Be consistent, that’s one thing you have not tried.”

Face is cracked and on the ground, I’m going to dig up my talents now…

40 Ways To Market, Promote and Develop Your God Given Dream!

40 Ways To Market, Promote and Develop Your God Given Dream!


Grace and Peace Loved Ones!

I am excited about a new class I have to offer those who are determined to achieve their God Given Dream! As we gear up for 2012, this is a perfect time to review your accomplishments, set your goals for next year and develop a strategic plan that will honor the Lord, bless the Kingdom and meet the needs of those you have been assigned to reach!

Sometimes we struggle with finding creative ways to share our gifts with the world. This new class will give you creative ideas that you may not have thought about and will assist you in moving your ministry forward!

Here’s a taste of what the class will offer:

Number 10 – Offer free giveaways to college radio stations. Do an online search for the stations or contact the Student Activities Office for information about contacting the station manager – you can give away products, CDs, or even services. The DJs will mention your name/company name on air and it will be free promotion for you for very little cost.

Number 37 – Host a yearly business or ministry dinner. Give updates on the work you do, recognize supporters and investors build a support team when you invite the community to a dinner that highlights your dream. Invite the mayor, the local newspapers, other nonprofit organizations; anyone you feel can assist you in moving your dream forward.

There are more then 40 of these types of tips designed to solidify your foundation, improve your networking abilities, increase your exposure and maximize your marketing budgets!

In an effort to continue to support Broken Box Ministries and allow us to continue to provide quality programs, this class is available for a limited time for your love gift of any amount!

If you’d like access to 40 Ways To Market, Promote and Develop Your God Given Dream, simply send a love offering by December 1, 2012 via pay pal (www.paypal.com) to naimasbrokenbox@yahoo.com or via snail mail to: Broken Box Ministries, 410 Clover Street , Fairborn , OH 45324 . The class will be sent to you via MP3 on December 2, 2012. Or if you so choose CD (please include a $2 shipping fee for CDs).

Don’t miss this informative and practical class that will assist you in taking your dream to the next level! This information is adaptable for music ministries, Christian businesses, nonprofit organization or other ministries seeking to grow and develop.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thank you in advance for your support and thank you for allowing us to be a part of supporting you as you achieve… Your Calling!

Blessings!


Naima

Confessions of a Big Girl

Excerpts from Confessions of a Big Girl by
Dr. Naima Johnston Bush

From The Introduction…
But the direction came, write the story of my life, and I think who would want to hear about it? There is a blessing in obedience, by recounting it, maybe I can dislodge it and close the moving picture show in my head. So I’ll tell the story of food addiction, of a loving and struggling family, of mixed up men and musical masterpieces. Yet, I have been accused of playing house in my mind, so maybe pouring out this tale of woe, of triumph, of the dismantling of a life and the reconstruction of a saint, will speak for me. Perhaps if I share with others the truth of who I am then they will understand why I have played house in my mind. Perhaps they will say I never played at all.

From, The Truth of Ralph…
Women like me are defined as “testers”, we get involved with men and give them all these silly little secret tests instead of communicating with them our needs and wants. You know what I mean – we assume. Shouldn’t he know how much I want to be with him? We scream to ourselves, despite the fact that he could never really know our heart since we never shared it or showed it. Women like me are matchmakers. We meet our Mr. Everything and what do we do? Assess that he could never be interested in our imperfections and proceed to hook him up with our best single girlfriend, since she’d be perfect for him. Then stand back devastated since our heart’s desire is now hanging with our best home girl. And my favorite, women like me are defined as husband preparers. Sure, work all your little kinks out on me, let me tell you all about how a woman should be treated, listen to your emotional mess and pray with you and for you, then smile at your wedding. I try not to be bitter, but this guy, like several other men I cared deeply about married someone else and had the nerve to send me an invitation to the wedding.

From, An Ode To Government Cheese…
The lobby was teeming with people, line out the door; some were from the local community hoping that they could get down with the free cheese program. Oh… but that was the purpose of the rent book. In order to claim your government supply of surplus goods from the farmers of Ohio, you had to actually prove that you lived in the projects! And if you couldn’t prove it, you were dismissed and sent on your way cheeseless. We were high class, living in the projects; we didn’t live in the tenements across the street. We were privileged to obtain this gift from the government, it contributed to healthy kids, we would have good nutrition, perhaps it made us less of a Medicare risk. Cheese was good for you the government asserted, never mind that it was fattening, caused earaches and mucus build up, as well as constipation.

Weird Harold and Other Boys…
Angry and resentful I ate and determined that no one would take from me again so I started to give it away for free. Never realizing that God had a plan for me, that these violations were not my fault, that I was worth more then my sexuality, I packed on the pounds hoping no one would notice me, that no one would want me. But the cage I imprisoned myself in never kept them at bay, there was always someone willing to take what I was offering. What a strange way to live, not wanting to give of myself, but feeling compelled to do so. My life has been fraught with many failed attempts at losing weight. From the time my parents dragged me at age nine to Harlem Hospital to lose thirty pounds, to biannual bouts with Weight Watchers, diet pills dispensed by a morbidly obese male doctor, to even sleeping in plastic bags to sweat the pounds away.

The Story of Everything…
Our relationship died after that. And that day the song was birthed that would direct the course of my ministry. As I wept before the Lord, not understanding anything that had happened over the last year, not understanding why I was alone again, I knew that I had missed it. Did I hear from the Lord? Did Peter know he was supposed to be my Mr. Wonderful? I don’t know. But I know this, as I lay across my bed sobbing and stuffy nosed after another man I loved walked out of my life the Lord spoke to me clearly and asked, “Who is your everything? Is it this man who has let you down and failed to love you? Or is it I, the one who will give you everything and love you no matter what?”

I had made a mistake, one that could have cost me the ministry and the call on my life. God never confirmed if I heard right or wrong in regards to my relationship with Peter. He only confirmed in me that He loved me no matter what and that I had made a man my idol. Lifted him up higher then God and that I even allowed someone to become a priest in the temple of my idol, listening only to their words and not the words of the Father. The song was easy to write, it flowed out of me as a song of penitence and praise, a personal reminder that God was everything I wanted, needed and dreamed of. But even knowing this did not mean I was content with the fact – I still struggle with this today. I had to run to God and give up my dreams, I had to come to Him and pray to be changed and then have the courage to apply those changes to my life.

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www.createspace.com/3549920 or at www.amazon.com

Discredit My Faith - Not

I'm finding that folks love to try and discredit my faith. No matter what you pull put of your own bag of doubt you can't discredit my life or my experience. It's not always been what folks would define as "good" or "fair" but based on what I know, God has ALWAYS BEEN FAITHFUL, in the midst of tragedy & when I had to live out the consequences of my wrong choices, Jesus is FAITHFUL in my life. That's a fact that can't be debated.

So thanks for pulling out all the stops to let me know that what I believe is wrong... all you do is reaffirm what I know to be true, Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father. Thank you because you cause me to think more deeply, read more of my Bible, pray even harder. And these things bring me even closer to the creator of the universe.

I won't debate you, I won't engage you... I'll simply love you, I won't judge you, and I will pray for you. I'll treat you with the respect you deserve as a child of God, even if you don't admit who your Father is. You have the right to make that choice, and as you have the right to share what you share, you push me to share even more the truth of a God who loved the world so much, He died for it.

Thanks for the encouragement!

2011 The Year of Unfinished Business

So, here I am determined to achieve a multitude of goals in 2011, got my action plan all thought out, developed a list of projects to take on and was ready to take it to the Lord in prayer. But then I felt a pause in my spirit. And a list, a long list of a multitude of projects, unfinished business, unsorted financial records and sticky tabs of half written songs came to mind.

When I began to actually think about all the unfinished projects I had, all of the things I had started and not finished I felt like the Lord was saying, “Don’t dream another dream, launch a new program, develop a new idea until you’ve proven faithful over these small things.”

Faithful… doing what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it. A simple but true definition. And how could God know that He could trust me, that I could move on to bigger things in ministry if I had not been faithful over the small things that He had given me to do? That’s a major life lesson: In order to move forward to bigger things you must be faithful over little things – right from the Word of God.

I came to understand that I had not been faithful not only to the Lord but to those I’d been assigned to reach through the ministry He had given me. I preach all the time that your dreams are not for you, but rather they are the manifestation of the love of God coming through you to encourage, edify, empower, educate and yes, even entertain His people. And all my uncompleted projects represented some ministry that the Lord had given me that I had not given to His people. Yikes, now who wants to stand before the Lord and answer for that? Not me!

And let’s not even talk about missed opportunity! Unfinished projects resulted in bookings that never happened, interviews that never got conducted, books that had not been finished… I could go on and on.

So I made a list and I’m tackling my unfinished business, it’s a daunting task but one that must be done. And not only do I have to finish the projects, I realize that I have to put a system in place so I overcome my habit of generating unfinished business.

For example, I came into 2011 with over 300 emails in my inbox that needed some kind of attention – over 300!!! Now that’s just wacko. And so I gave myself a week to answer, handle or deal with ever single message. I refused to deal with any other project or situation until I dealt with all that old email. I spent seven days preparing press packets to go out that had been requested, submitting music to radio stations I had inquired of, answering artist questions, writing thank you notes, condolences cards and renewing memberships and canceling e-zine subscriptions. And then I made a decision, I would respond to each email the moment I read it, if I wasn’t able to respond I wouldn’t even read it. So far, it’s worked! My inbox has less then 20 emails in it!

I’ve now moved on to finishing my book, Confessions of a Big Girl and this past week I did not allow myself to write anything else – no songs, poems or work on other books until it was done. Check two on my unfinished business, my proof is actually ready to be reviewed before final publishing!

So 2011 – the year of finishing unfinished business, keep reading because this should be exciting! Why? Because I know enough about the Lord to know He won’t stop with my professional life. It’s just a matter of time before we’re digging into my personal stuff – my own intimate unfinished business. And when He starts digging that stuff up, my life always turns into a whirlwind of wacky lessons like Open Pants and Pumping Gas…. What the heck is that you might ask? Check the video and have a laugh!



Stayed tuned for the ongoing adventures of Dr. Nay!

Blessings!