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The Last Five Years Of Ladies On Life

I still remember getting that first call from Trish telling me about starting and joining Ladies on Life. I hung up in shock telling myself, “She’s got the wrong girl, and surely God didn’t tell her that I was a part of this group of great women!”

These past 5 years have proven to be faith building. Little did I know that I would even be here at this moment writing this in celebration of all that God has done! Through these years I have faced so many, many hardships. I thought that I might not make it through in one piece let-alone have something encouraging to share with someone else.

God’s plan and timing are so perfect. He has plans beyond our wildest dreams! God knows my heart. He knows that I love to be a part of things that are so much bigger than me. I love to be an encouragement. He knew that I would need sisters to back me up through my hard times. Overcoming times of deep depression, an eating disorder, and a horrible divorce. Even though my L.O.L. sisters were not by my side every day physically, I knew that I could count on them to lift me up in prayer and encouragement. My most memorable time thus far was when I called up Trish one hard night. I fought through the tears as I told her that I had nothing to say to anyone, that I had no encouragement because I was so empty and full of pain, and that I should not be a part of L.O.L. any longer. Her response was “I understand if you need a break from writing, but Bombi I’m never letting you go.” WOW! Incredible!

This team has echoed that same message to me. The power of agreement and unity, my goodness it’s a force to be reckoned with! To know that I have sisters backing me with the attitude of “Satan, you’ll have to get through us if you think you’ll destroy my sister. We are our sister’s keeper!” The scripture that says the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man/woman availeth much? Psssh, this must have been written for Kenika, Devon, Sonya, and Trish. I am so full of gratitude to them more than I can express. I am thankful to God who is the author and finisher of my faith who knew JUST what I needed so that I can be held up, and then in turn hold others up. Thank you Lord for the first five. To you Lord, be all glory, honor, and power.

Ladies, let’s do this!

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The Other Pride

Are there really “types” of pride? I believe there are, because I have experienced it for my own self. I’ve come to put myself on blast yet again for the betterment of you, and here it goes.

Recently I’ve been in a slump. A funk. I mean feeling mighty low. The funny thing is, nothing major has happened. Nothing too drastic and dramatic. Matter of fact, I was recently promoted and have had some other surprise blessings come my way. This led me to wonder, “Why am I so distraught?”

For those of you that don’t know, I’m a single mama. I share custody with my daughter’s father. Every summer and winter school break, my big girl travels thousands of miles away to be with the other side of her family. This has been a routine for years. But recently, this send-off was the hardest yet.

While I’m feeling the separation anxiety, my girl is having the time of her life on summer vacay, as she should! Each time I got an update of all the fun she had, I grew more angry and sad. This is new, because usually I rejoice when she is blessed. But this time, I felt jealous that I wasn’t giving her all of the fun stuff.

Then a couple of weeks ago, a family member pointed out that I have grown a bit prideful. I listened. It was hard to hear, but I heard. A week later, a precious pal shared with me the possibility of my being a prideful person. She explained that it was not pride as in thinking I’m the “stuff dreams are made of”. This kind of pride would be the one that says, “I don’t need to reach out. I got this. I don’t want to look needy. I don’t want to ask for prayer. I just need to be strong”. Sound familiar?

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a handout hanging on the wall at work. It read: “Pride VS. Humility” BINGO! The light bulbs started turning on as I read it! I began to recall a few things I’d learned about pride; pride brings suffering and pain. Pride brings sin because it leads us off the beaten path, therefore we miss the mark. Lastly, pride surely is not related to faith.

Here are a couple of Biblical facts on pride: God hates it-as in it’s on His top list of stuff He can’t stand (Prov. 8:13), and He resists them that are full of it (James 4:6), pride-that is. YIKES!

I feel like I could go on and on about this subject, but I’ll leave you with some thoughts to ponder. Have you lost your joy? Have you been feeling jealous of others possessions and positions in life? Have you been pushing God and His people away? Could you have the “other” pride that doesn’t seem so obvious? The one that’s also called “self-reliance”?

May I suggest, repent of your prideful ways. Ask God to increase your faith in Him, because faith pleases Him. Let Him and His people love you in your broken times. He will not resist you when you are broken because the word says He’s near to the brokenhearted (ps 38:18).

By the way, the moment I realized my pride and repented of it, which started with a text to Trish of Ladies on Life…the pain and funk seemed to disappear. Well what do you know?

James 4:6 (NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”