This Week's Yappable Adventures

Sunday Coffee ☕ + Paint Splash🎨

Hello love!

Sunday Blessings☀️

Have you had your coffee or tea yet?? If no, let's brew one together. This won’t be your usual black or creamed. It will be more like splashing paint on a wall and letting the patterns guide you.

What does that even mean?

Honestly, I’m not sure, but it feels right, so let's roll.

I've been trying to strengthen a habit, one I truly believe could transform a lot of things if I stick with it: journaling.

This week? Mmm…Not so bad. Okay, I lied. It’s been rough. But I managed to write down some things before the week snuck out the back door. And here's three things that stood out.

Again, like splattering paint on a wall. Totally random, no particular order.

Ready? Let's go;

1. Being A Child Is Hard

Sounds strange I know. Kids just play, cry, eat, and occasionally break the TV remote. What's so hard?? But hear me out. I've been on the book of Luke since last month and a place in chapter 18 struck me.

Parents were bringing their kids to Jesus to bless them. The disciples tried to shut it down, but Jesus said: 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆… 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 (Luke 18:15-16)

And it got me thinking, how do you become like a child when you were never allowed to be one?

Growing up with a single dad and two other siblings meant attention was scarce. I heard more yelling than encouragement. I became my own person way too early. Before I clocked ten, I was eighteen.

Honestly, I can't even say I blame my father. He gave all he could and knew how to.

Fast forward to now, Jesus has found me, God has become my “father” and now I'm supposed to “be like a child”? How??

How do I become vulnerable and receive love when I was taught to be strong, not soft?

It became a big thing because I would sometimes catch myself worrying, wondering if God’s too mad at me to want to talk. Or questioning whether He’ll actually meet this need.

It’s not that I haven’t heard He’s a loving Father. I’ve read it, heard it, sang it. But that’s just not the kind of fatherhood familiar to me.

This is what the Holy Spirit has been gently unraveling. And whatever He's doing, it's working. Because now I find myself learning to have honest talks with God about all the random things that go on in head, without fear He’ll use it against me later.

Is there something that helps you trust God's tenderness??

2. Discipline Rubs Off

I recently made a quiet oath to commit to two things: maintaining a prayer altar and sticking to a four-day workout week. By commit, I mean I show up come sunshine or rain. And honey, it hasn’t been easy. There’s been days I felt exhausted to my bone marrow, and all I want is warm milk and interrupted sleep.

But I remind myself: You’re a woman who works out. You’re a woman who prays.

Discipline plays a role sure but more than that, it’s God’s grace at work. Because honestly? It’s not my first attempt at this. Some days I have no idea what I'm doing. Yet the stability feels so good that I’m now making more commitments , verbal and written, to show up consistently in other areas in of my life.

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝑴𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆: 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆.

—𝟐 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝟏𝟐:𝟗 𝑲𝑱𝑽

3. Beauty Is Pain

Today I wore an ankara skirt I love but rarely wear and I was immediately reminded why. It’s knee-length long, tight, shortens my strides and makes my knees beg for freedom.

As I walked down my street to find a cab, I thought: Beauty is pain. But almost immediately I asked myself "Is that true?".

I remembered the gym mantra: No pain, no gain. Entrepreneurs sacrificing sleep to chase dreams. Women enduring hours in the salon for that flawless look.

It seemed to be a popular concept.

But still I had to check in with the Bible and the clarity came from Hebrews 12:2;

𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉; 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔, 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅.

—𝑯𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝟏𝟐:𝟐 𝑲𝑱𝑽

Phew...That settles it

True, lasting, purposeful beauty, is pain.

Any adventures on your end this week?

Let’s yap about it, I’m listening. (Also can I just say? I really enjoy these little chats with you 😊)

And oh, someone really sweet dropped this song recommendation beneath one of my notes last week 🎶

Love,

Ahbiee 💌

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