FROM CHICAGO.... TO FLORIDA.
THE MOVIE! :-)
From this...
To this...
Many of you have been wanting to know what inspired the "sudden" move from Chicago to Florida. I started writing this Palm Sunday, after my first week here. Then, I provided an update today. I believe this "story" will blow you away! Make sure you let me know what you think.....
Palm Sunday, April 13, 2014
Thank you all for all the love and well wishes on my recent relocation to Florida. I love and appreciate you all, so I want to answer all of your questions, which no doubt, emerge from a place of shock and "what the heck is she doing now?!"
It's been a whirlwind of Blessings so, as we enter into the week when, over 2000 years ago, my Savior, Jesus Christ, prepared, with great anguish and trepidation to enter into the last leg of his earthly journey (Easter), this seems like a good day to sit down and finally chronicle this, most recent leg of mine.
Ok.
So, it went something like this:
A few years ago, I had a burning desire to leave California and run back to Chicago to "save" my nephew. Many of you already know that. And, if you've read my earlier blogs, you also know how that went. In short, I learned what my Pastor told me before leaving, "You're not the Savior".
But, I also wanted to conduct my Youth ministry there, and I had prayed extensively and gotten more than one confirmation that, even though God warned me it was going to be a difficult assignment in a very dark place, He promised He would send "Kings to the brightness of my shining" (Isaiah 60:3). In short, It wasn't going to be fun or easy. I'd encounter a lot of difficulties and opposition, but He would send me help. My dear friend, Bill, who made his transition, on my front steps, on Valentine's Day, was one of those Kings.
Though I didn't know Bill yet, I left sunny, Southern California with the knowledge, like Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, that I was heading into a cross carrying experience. Jesus was praying fervently in a garden. I was literally pooside at the Indian Wells Country Club the day before I left to drive across country with my three dogs. And from almost the time I arrived in Chicago I was targeted over and over at almost every turn.
But, I was warned. Like I said, God SHOWED me in a dream and described, in scripture, what I would go through. People didn't like me on sight! As soon as I'd walk IN, you could see the a cloud cover their faces. Employers, family, churches, landlords, politicians.... One person even exclaimed, when I walked in for an interview, "You're like sunshine!" Then, proceeded to have me apply twice and turn me down twice! --for a volunteer media position that I've done PROFESSIONALLY for over a decade! ("The Light has come into the world but the people loved the darkness more than the light because their deeds were evil" -- John 3:19)
In the space of two years, I had four jobs of four months each. I would always be the top producer, but in some cases, the companies would go out of business. Along the way, I'd have managers that would just "not like me". They'd complain that they "didn't like the way I bounced on my toes when I walked", or "didn't like the way I used my hands when I talked". They commented that I was too thin and "If I'd known you were this skinny I wouldn't have hired you." They complained about me always smiling and asking how people are doing. "We're busy!" They'd bark. "We don't have time for all that!"
When I was giving the bikes away in my ministry's bike drive, some of the adults in my neighborhood whispered that I must be a child molester. My family made a complete mess of my nephew's life, blamed it on me, cursed me out and put me out. My cousins assumed I must be like the cousin in "Soul Food" who came back and slept with somebody's husband, so they spread lies about me and all shut me out. One guy, who I hadn't spoken to in 16 years, showed up and spread particularly vicious lies about me through my family-- which, ASTOUNDINGLY, since I have ALWAYS been BLINDLY AND TENACIOUSLY loyal to my family-- they believed! That all but broke my heart.
The guy promptly, and literally dropped dead. ("Touch not my anointed ones and do my prophets no harm." --Psalm 105:15. It wasn't Bill, by the way. Bill was my friend. This was someone else.)
I spent three years in Chicago, literally shut out of my family, estranged from friends I hadn't seen in years, kicked out by my first landlord after the Supreme Court upheld "Obama Care", citing that now they'd have to pay their employees insurance and give them raises, so rather than raising my rent $200, they were not going to renew my lease. I was their only Black tenant.
Sweet home, Chicago.
But, God is the master orchestrator if you're yielded to Him. He had brought me back to Chicago and placed me on the north side for a season. I comforted myself with the admonition that, "a prophet is not without honor, except in his own hometown and among his own household." (Mark 6:4). I accepted what I could do as well as what I couldn't.
While on the north side, I got to know, love and pray with my Yale educated neighbors and the smattering of Latin Kings around the neighborhood alike. Kendra, across the hall, roasted garlic for me when I had a cold. John, downstairs, burst out of his apartment ready to fight for me when he heard me falling down the slippery stairs one night. He thought I was being assaulted and ran out totally prepared to do battle. Likewise, the local Latin Kings trusted and looked out for me, as well. Maybe the Latin Kings were some of the "Kings" God promised to send! :-) If I came in at 2 in the morning, they'd be out and, as intimidating as a group of them walking toward you at 2 in the morning might be, it was all love and "how you doin?". When one of them got shot and killed, I conducted a prayer circle with them on the sidewalk. It wasn't the first prayer circle I'd conducted with them. I rode my bike from group to group preaching and pleading they seek God's plan and reconsider retaliation.
Whether, in their grief. or at other times, stifling giggles through a blunt fogged high, they always listened to me with rapt attention. One time I said, "I know you all are trying not laugh at me right now." "They released the witheld chuckles. "Yeah, cause you're funny!" they laughed. But, quickly and seriously followed it with, "But, seriously. We really appreciate you talking to us like this. For real." I sought out their teardrop tatooed faces before I moved and gave them hugs goodbye. John called in contacts for me on my job hunt. God's always provided angels.
Then, God landed me in Dixmoor, next to Harvey, IL where there were sooooooo many kids I was stunned. Good Lord! There's a lot of kids around here!, I thought. I'D thought my ministry was supposed to be in Chicago proper. I didn't anticipate taking new, white friends to church or having street corner prayers with Latin gangs, but then, that's God. You can't put Him in a box. Not by color or background, geography or anything! And, opposition comes with the territory sometimes, but it should not be prolonged.
Though I was rejected by family, jobs, the local "power brokers" of Chicago and such, God brought the people to me who He sent me there for AND, He sent those instrumental to His assignment, to assist me. Like I said, there was John, who set up an interview with one of his Yale buddies when I got dropkicked by the manager who "didn't like the way I bounced on my toes when I walked.". There was Bill, who supported EVERYTHING I did with the kids of Dixmoor. There was my girl Cindy, who I met on my first job back there. She also rallied to find me another job after I got spit out of the first one. Out of the blue, one of my cousins (the only one who stayed in touch), called and offerred to rent me a house in Dixmoor, right after the North side landlords punished me for Obama.
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all else will be added unto you." (Matt 6:33)
I went back to Chicago because I felt God told me to. It was encumbent on Him to provide for me. That's His WORD and His word NEVER returns void.
I wrote a sermon once on letting rejection POSITION you. I was being POSITIONED. And, I reminded myself often that all of the other rejection I was encountering was just God telling me not to get comfortable. I was only passing through.
But, then there was Dixmoor. I won't get into how much I sowed into the lives of the young people there. Truth is, I got way more out of it. I FELL IN LOVE WITH THOSE KIDS! Our evening bike rides and later our Saturday night weekend winter pow wows became the highlight of my life! They touched me. With their sweetness, their little kid enthusiam, their teenaged burgeoning adulthood, their trust in me. Their love. If I had to stay in Chicago, there is no other community there I'd rather be than in that little neighborhood I became a part of. In fact, on the day I left, the Village called me. They said a teenaged girl had been put out of the house and needed a place to stay. They already knew I'd helped another child out of a difficult home situtation and wanted to know if she could stay with me.
Too late. The movers had just left my house. My season there had ended and I was headed toward Florida.
But why Florida? Why now?
Well...
Therein lies the next leg of the journey.
Ready?...
Ok.
A prophet came to visit this little church I attended in Hammond, IN. He prophesied, among other things, that The Lord was going to relocate me to Florida. I was stunned because I had no fond memories of Florida from my undergraduate years in Tallahassee, and never intended to go back. But, he was right about everything else, so I had to consider it. He said, the people in Chicago don't understand my anointing and are afraid of it. I think, "same reason Jesus was only able to perform a few miracles in HIS hometown..."
Fast forward. The last job takes the marketing territory I built, and kicks me out. Their business drops in half, so they call me back, try to pick my brain, but doesn't rehire me. The winter sets in and brutally shuts down the country. I'm stuck. Bill dies on my front steps. Trememdous loss and trauma. My kids rally around me but I'm truly ready to leave. Even one of "my kids" tells me I need to look out for myself. "There are no bunk beds in the coffin," this wise littl eleven year old says. In other words, "If you let this place kill you, you're dying by yourself, so you better save yourself." Money's short by now. I'd developed symptoms that looked like Fibromyalgia. I was in pain everywhere and so was one of my dogs, who I had to carry up and down icy, snowy stairs everyday... and fall sometimes.
Kept going to church. John Hannah and his associate Pastors preach a sermon, "It's Time To Move!" Stresses even if you think you don't have enough money or resources or whatever (which I didn't), trust God and do it anyway. It's time to move! They cite the Hebrews with the mountains on one side, the desert on the other, the enemy behind and the Red Sea ahead. Trapped.
.... but then God parts the sea.
That's my daily reminder.
I'd also re-read, "The Prayer of Jabez" by Bruce Wilkinson and started praying the prayer before Bill died. Things started happening in the extreme-- including Bill's death. It becomes more clear to me that God is taking me to a new level in Him. Bigger assignments. I need to be tougher, thus, He allowed me to go through allllllllllllllll the difficulties, including Bill dyng in my presence.
It's clear that it's time for me to move but then I learn that my mother needs a double hip replacement, "my kids" want me to attend their 8th grade graduations in June and one of them has a particularly challenging situation that I've assisted. Situations are changing again and they're wanting me nearby as well.
Two days cement God's will. I try again to go back to the old job. Even for less money so I can be there for everybody else. God says no. My mother callls and assures me she's got plenty of support and I should go. My Godmother, calls from the Ft. Lauderdale area and says the dogs and I can land with her, and the very next day, Friday, a resume I sent out down here, callled for an interview.
I packed up a 4 bedroom house in two days. I book a moving company with just three days notice. We load the truck on Monday and prepare to hit the road right after.
I go to the doctor about my pain but no time to follow up and limited resources anyway. While there, my friend, Donna texts me that she can send me a donation toward my move.
My friend, Perez, stops by. He's been working on my BMW. It starts, but it still won't stay on. I decide to leave it, along with pretty much all of my furniture and drive my Ford instead. He offers to drive with me THAT DAY! He goes home, gets his brother to watch his dog, and DRIVES ME AND MY DOGS THE ENTIRE WAY TO FLORIDA! TWENTY-FOUR HOURS!!!! Thank GOD! Because Im in so much pain there is NO WAY I would have made it. Not AT ALL! We get to Ft. Lauderdale Wednesday afternoon, I book a flight for him from the car and take him directly to the airport back to Chicago, land at my Godmother's, get ready for the interview. I'm still in pain and exhausted but I get up the next morning and make the interview ON TIME. The woman I interview with couldn't be nicer. She says I'm "an amazing woman"! No mean-mugging. No glares at how "skinny" I am or complaints about how I walk. She calls me for a followup interview with the owner before I even get back to my Godmother's!
That was on a Thursday. The next interview was Monday. They made an offer Tuesday morning.
I saw a FAMU (my alma mater) license plate frame on a car and left a note. Turned out it was a sweet, young girl, Class of 2013! (A REAL baby. :-) She asked, "Do you have a church home?" I visited her church today. Met others. They referred me to a good Chiropractor, a Day Spa, I took the offer letter and am "this close" to getting a nice apartment in a resort-type community complete with pools, spas, lakes, ducks, a fitness center and dog parks. :-)
I've sat and chatted on the beach, ridden my bike, and on the way to Florida, I met a woman in a gas station, in Tennessee, who opened her own assisted living facility. I told her I had a business plan and idea to create a "Safe House" for young people who can't go home for whatever reason. Maybe they're runaways, thrown-aways, or whatever. I told her I was headed to Florida and didn't reallly know why but that God told me to. She informed me that Florida was a top state for runaways! Said, soooo many teenagers run away to Florida and they have a horrible, dangerous life. She said, maybe THAT'S why God was sending me to Florida! And she'd be happy to help me.
Oh! And get this! After I got the job offer, I was having trouble finding an apartment that would take all three of my dogs. I called the owner of the company and told her I was having trouble finding a place at my price point. She said she would HELP ME find a place! She called a friend of her's that 's a realtor and said if they couldn't find something, then we'd talk about raising my salary.
Now, you know that is NO ONE BUT GOD!
I don't profess to alway obey God fully or all the time. God KNOWS I screw up! But, He also knows I try. I really do. And, I've become more willing to do the "illogical" at His direction.
God told Abraham to "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, go to a land that I will show you" (Gen. 12:1)
I did that when I left 17 years ago for California.
Now, I'm doing it again. And, once again, He's parting the sea.
Chicago really beat me up this last go round. My body. My Spirit.... the weather gave me arthritis in almost every joint... got an extreme Vitamin D deficiency from the lack of sun, I shoveled so much I got pulled ligaments and pinched nerves, I fell down the stairs a bunch of times trying to carry one of my dogs, who also got arthritis in that tundra... but I'm declaring COMPLETE restoration of EVERYTHING the devil thinks he stole from me! Completely and SEVENFOLD!
I truly learned to let go of "things". To get out of there, I left furniture, my classic BMW, fur coats, exercise equipment..... thousands of dollars worth of "things", but I literally felt like my life was on the line. It was!
But, I KNOW it can't compare to what's in store. And, I don't just mean materially.
Goodness!
And Mercy!
And Joy!
And Peace!
And Perfect Health!
Strength!
Love!
And, every good thing will FOLLOW ME all of the days of my life and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever!
UPDATE: MAY 31, 2014
Ok! So I got the beautiful place with the lakes and the ducks, pool and palm trees..... a friend GAVE me leather furniture here that fit my new place BETTER than the furniture I left..... He also helped me get excellent medical attention to deal with my pinched nerve and all my "Chicago ailments" and I'm getting better and better. In fact, God has not let me lack for anything! Although I left Chicago with limited resources, God provided ALL of this within my FIRST TWO WEEKS HERE!... the job, the home, the therapists.... I keep thanking Him daily!
I've gotten to the place where I basically can't use a cellphone. The radiation has had my fingers burning since January and having 15+ kids in my living room every Saturday ALL on their cellphones the whole time surely didn't help. My home was a virtual homing device for every cellular signal from every carrier! I have developed almost a complete intolerace to radiation... but now I know and am doing what I need to detox and restore my system.
Though I left deeply wounded by my family, I recognized that I was in good company... Jesus, Joseph, David.... and recognized it was part of the "Preparation" God was building in me, so, by faith, I consciously forgave and prayed for them everyday. One of the fruits of my prayers is that my mother had the hip replacement and STUNNED all her doctors and therapists with how quickly she recovered. Within two weeks, the therapists shook their heads and said, "It's a miracle! There's nothing else we can do for you. You're fine!" Last week, I called my mother and she had just gotten back from a party. God never fails.
I met a Haitian minister here with a small, Haitian church who asked me to assist hm in starting an English speaking service. Presently, I'm still getting myself together and unpacking but I already know ministry is a main reason God sent me here. I'm listening and still being carried.
Since last October, I put a note and a prayer in my daily Calendar. The note read, "This is my opportunity to step out on faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God!"
The prayer was the Prayer of Jabez as well as adapted prayers from the book, "Releasing The Prayer Anointing", by Larry Lea.
It reads:
"Oh Lord, that you would Bless me, indeed and enlarge my territory. That your hand would be with me, and that you would kep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" -- 1 Chron. 4:9-10
"Lord, keep me safe from the pain and grief that sin brings. For the dangers that I can't see, or the ones that I think I can risk because of my experience (pride and carelessness), put up a supernatural barrier around me. Protect me, Father, by your Power!
I declare Your Kingdom to come and Your Will to be done in my life, my relationships, my works, and my ministry for,
I have your Wisdom.
I have the Discipline of a Disciple.
I Prophesy!
I Visualize the Life You want for Me.
I AM Well Taken Care Of.
I Relax in My Spirit.
I Trust You.
I Worship You in Spirit and In Truth.
I Let Go & I Let YOU.
YOUR WORD INSTRUCTED ME that "whatever things I ask when I pray, to BELIEVE that I RECEIVE them and I will HAVE THEM!" -- Matt 11:24
YOU also instructed me that when I stand praying TO FORGIVE ANYONE I have ANYTHING against. -- Matt 11:25
Therefore, In JESUS' name, I FORGIVE _________________ for they know not what they do. And, I release them to their highest good. I send the LOVE OF CHRIST to them and I BELIEVE I RECEIVE ALL THAT GOD HAS FOR ME! In Jesus' name! Amen!"
I invite you to take this on for yourselves. I saw the movie, "Dauntless" when I got here. There's a scene where the initiates are asked to jump off a building into a black abyss several stories down. They don't know if there's a net or not to catch them. If it's not, it's surely death, but they do it. I thought to myself, "why would you put that kind of trust in man but not God? If you've made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior and He is Calling you to do something... whatever it is... Whether it's something broad like moving across the country or something "local" like, getting out of an unGodly relationship, why wouldn't you trust the Creator of the Universe? The one who has every hair of your head numbered? Who clothes the lillies of the field and who has ALWAYS brought you through?
The world is full of counterfeits and counterfeit allegiances, but only the devil would call for you to risk your life pointlessly like that. That's why it's called, being a "daredevil"!
God would never ask that of you. If you abide in Him and let him abide in you, He will never lead you to do something that will not be for your good and His Glory because "ALL things work together for the GOOD of those who LOVE Him and are CALLED according to HIS PURPOSE." --Romans 8:28
Seek first the Kingdom of God AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and ALL ELSE will be added to you." --Matt 6:33
That doesn't mean that you won't go through tough times. No great man or woman of God yields a testimony without a test... but if you keep your priorities straight, HE WILL ALWAYS provide a net!
I LOVE YOU and I BLESS YOU ALL... IN JESUS' MIGHTY NAME!
PEACE! :-)
Rayel
