Starving for the Vote

What they don’t tell you in history class

When I graduated from college I couldn’t find much out there in the job market. Congratulations! You have a non-teaching degree in English! Welcome to the part of life where you can speak clearly, write effectively, think strategically and none of those skills will be celebrated! Now, start paying those loans! Meh, whatever. I can sincerely tell you that I harbor zero regrets about earning my stripes from the ground up because those acts set me on a trajectory to be where I am now which is happy, fulfilled and eagerly still learning.

I come from a humble background: my first job was picking blueberries on a small farm in Blandford, Massachusetts. From there I progressed on an incredibly liner path of babysitting, house cleaning, waitressing, bar tending, being a secretary and then SLOWLY moving into management positions. The ironic part of my career history is that beyond the house cleaning, which taught me small business skills that would later help me as a freelance marketer, it was truly the volunteer roles I engaged in that developed my career skill set. Ok, back to my original point: I took my first job in an administrative role at Mt. Holyoke College (not coincidentally, one of the oldest female colleges in America). In it, I found myself intellectually bored. Like, SUPER BORED. So, I decided to take a night class at Smith in Women’s Herstory. The challenge I posed to myself was, could I reprogram the historical timeline I had learned in school to be benchmarked by women experiences and not by the traditional pedagogy of men, religion and wars?

The answer is somewhat mixed. What I will say is that I have no regrets in going through the exercise. I think rather, I walked away with an abundance of new knowledge and a real frustration that Herstory isn’t integrated in history. It’s generally some little blurb, a page or two that you’ll read in March as a token to the women’s movement like we’re something that happened one time and we haven’t actually been here all along. Again, it’s like civil rights: there was a war, an amendment and we’re done talking about it because it’s all better now. Right.

This blog is purposely more personal than the last. I think it was getting into the specifics of stories that belonged to individuals that really galvanized my commitment to the cause. Sometimes, when we paint with a broad brush it’s harder to connect on a personal level. When we look at the minutia, we relate person-to-person, heart-to-heart and soul-to-soul. When we focus on each other through our shared human experience we are freer to identify without barriers or boundaries.

So there are a few other peoples’ stories I’d like to share with you. Mostly, the Women’s Movement relied on peaceful tactics to garner attention, support and legislative change. Certainly those methods were adopted and utilized effectively during the continued Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. But some methods were more extreme—and the hunger strikes were one of them.

 

I learned a lot more about them at the point I made it to grad school and The Program for Women in Politics and Public Policy. There, I was fortunate to see a screening of a fantastic film, Iron Jawed Angels, which I recommend as a must see. Alice Paul is a huge character in the piece and they focus on the horror of the hunger strikes in a way that film brings far more tangibility to it than reading a paragraph in a text book ever will. Below is a prison diary entry from Rose Winslow that expresses the personal account of the solidarity that occurred inside those walls.

  

If this thing is necessary we will naturally go through with it. Force is so stupid weapon. I feel so happy doing my bit for decency? For our war, which is after all, real and fundamental. The women are all so magnificent, so beautiful. Alice Paul is as thin as ever, pale and large-eyed. We have been in solitary for five weeks. There is nothing to tell but that the days go by somehow. I have felt quite feeble the last few days‹ faint, so that I could hardly get my hair brushed, my arms ached so. But to-day I’m well again. Alice Paul and I talk back and forth though we are at opposite ends of the building and a hall door also shuts us apart. But occasionally? Thrills? We escape from behind our iron-barred doors and visit. Great laughter and rejoicing!

My fainting probably means nothing except that I am not strong after these weeks. I know YOU won’t be alarmed. I told about a syphilitic colored woman with one leg. The other one was cut off, having rotted so that it was alive with maggots when she came in. The remaining one is now getting as bad, They are so short of nurses that a little colored girl of twelve, who is here waiting to have her tonsils removed, waits on her. This child and two others share a ward with a syphilitic child of three or four 

years, whose mother refused to have it at home. It makes you absolutely ill to see it....

Alice Paul is in the psychopathetic ward. She dreaded forcible feeding frightfully, and I hate to think how she must be feeling, I had a nervous time of it, gasping a long time afterward, and my stomach rejecting during the process. I spent a bad, restless night, but otherwise I am all right. The poor soul who fed me got liberally besprinkled during the process. I heard myself making the most hideous sounds.... One feels so forsaken when one lies prone and people shove a pipe down one’s stomach.

This morning but for an astounding tiredness, I am all right. I am waiting to see what happens when the President realizes that brutal bullying isn’t quite a statesmanlike method for settling a demand for justice at home. At least, if men are supine enough to endure, women? To their eternal glory? are not....

... Don’t let them tell you we take this well. Miss Paul vomits much. I do, too . . . . We think of the coming feeding all day. It is horrible. The doctor thinks I take it well. I hate the thought of Alice Paul and the others if I take it well...

All the officers here know we are making this hunger strike that women fighting for liberty may be considered political prisoners; we have told them. God knows we don’t want other women ever to have to do this over again.

Source: Doris Stevens, Jailed for Freedom (Salem, NH: Ayer Co., 1920; reprint 1990): 246–7

I’m sure some people would regard Rose’s story, and the other women who participated in the hunger strikes as inciting self-inflicted wounds. It is interesting that one body of society could starve another of basic human rights and then find themselves trivially agitated and forced into action when that body of people turns the metaphor into a physical reality.  

So because this is an entry of personal stories, I’d like to highlight one more person to whom we women owe a shout-out. And that’s the man who swayed the final count of the ratification. Traditionally, pro-sufferageist wore a yellow rose and anti-sufferagests wore a red rose on their lapels. Harry Burn, a 24 year old representative from East Tennessee wore a red rose on August 18, 1920. But perhaps a leopard does change its spots.

“By the summer of 1920, 35 states had ratified the measure, bringing it one vote short of the required 36. In Tennessee, it had sailed through the Senate but stalled in the House of Representatives, prompting thousands of pro- and anti-suffrage activists to descend upon Nashville. If Burn and his colleagues voted in its favor, the 19th Amendment would pass the final hurdle on its way to adoption.

After weeks of intense lobbying and debate within the Tennessee legislature, a motion to table the amendment was defeated with a 48-48 tie. The speaker called the measure to a ratification vote. To the dismay of the many suffragists who had packed into the capitol with their yellow roses, sashes and signs, it seemed certain that the final roll call would maintain the deadlock.

But that morning, Harry Burn—who until that time had fallen squarely in the anti-suffrage camp—received a note from his mother, Phoebe Ensminger Burn, known to her family and friends as Miss Febb. In it, she had written, 'Hurrah, and vote for suffrage! Don’t keep them in doubt. I notice some of the speeches against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet.' She ended the missive with a rousing endorsement of the great suffragist leader Carrie Chapman Catt, imploring her son to 'be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the ‘rat’ in ratification.' "

And so after generation upon generation of suffragists’ efforts, herstory advances one move at the request of the same person who got all of us here into this world—a mother. Never doubt the power of one to better the lives of the many. All of our stories and contributions are essential to the collective battle of living lives of dignity, respect and fulfillment.

Have Women's History stories and facts to share? Women's History questions for Korri? Please comment below or visit us on Facebook, we welcome your comments and questions.

About the author

Korri Piper has a Bachelor’s Degree in English with a concentration in The Dramatic Arts and holds a Graduate Certificate from the Program for Women in Politics and Public Policy. For more than 11 years she has worked in the field of marketing in varied industries. Korri is fascinated by behavioral sociology. She enjoys staying active, the continued pursuit of knowledge and consideration and righteous social justice work. Korri is parent to an incredibly precocious daughter who reminds her – regularly – that life offers infinite proof of our fallibility, that humor is just a good approach to being and that active listening is the best base for relationships.

Women’s History Series Part 1

The Party that Started it All: Seneca Falls

So, the best party that none of us were ever invited to occurred 165 years ago in Seneca Falls, NY. It became known as The Seneca Falls Convention and it was planned by women from the area in conjunction with Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These women were primarily members of a radical Quaker group though Stanton was not. The meeting spanned two days, July 19th and 20th in 1848 (Yup. I just said 1848 and I’d like to point out that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) have still not been ratified.) Evidently, change takes a long time when you are busy having babies, raising babies and trying to run the world in general.

The Seneca Convention consisted of six sessions including legal lectures, comedic presentations (laugh so you won’t cry) and discussions regarding the role of women in society. The net result was the creation of two documents, the Declaration of Sentiments and a list of resolutions which the moderators wanted to discuss, debate and amend before garnering signatures. Exactly 100 of approximately 300 attendees signed the document, 68 women and 32 men. Can you imagine that 200 or so people were there, heard the debates and didn’t sign? Fear can be quite debilitating in politics.

Let’s take a look at one of the resolutions to gain some perspective. 

Resolved, therefore, that, being invested by the Creator with the same capabilities, and the same consciousness of responsibility for their exercise, it is demonstrably the right and duty of woman, equally with man, to promote every righteous cause, by every righteous means; and especially in regard to the great subjects of morals and religion, it is self-evidently her right to participate with her brother in teaching them, both in private and in public, by writing and by speaking, by any instrumentalities proper to be used, and in any assemblies proper to be held; and this being a self-evident truth, growing out of the divinely implanted principles of human nature, any custom or authority adverse to it, whether modern or wearing the hoary sanction of antiquity, is to be regarded as self-evident falsehood, and at war with the interests of mankind. 

Can any of us read that and not think that we’d like to apply it to everyone? Because here’s my thing about civil rights—I don’t think you can fight for one isolated component of them and get enough traction to make change at an exponential level. When you start talking equality, you start talking about everybody. I get really agitated when I reflect on how Abolition and The Suffrage Movement were so intertwined in the beginning. White women of means were one of the first groups to champion abolition as a cause. That’s because 1. they had money and access to important people and 2. they had time—everybody else was too busy working for a buck and trying to keep their families together and escape to freedom. It’s like Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins. She’s got all sorts of time and money to get prettied up and head off to the rally, but the housekeeper (who probably could have really used fair wages etc.) well, she was busy keeping house.

Fast forward a few years and there was a second convention in Worcester, MA called the National Women’s Rights Convention where the right to vote took center stage. I say this because it is again important to note how slowly things progressed. Both conventions were then held annually until the country switched focus to the Civil War. 

And that’s where I get agitated again. Why are we talking about race and sex like they aren’t related issues? That takes too much time. And, our power in numbers is so much greater when we attack equality as a singular focus. I know it’s a bit of a slippery slope argument—but think about it this way: In the LGBT Movement, do we really think the best approach is to let Lesbian African American women advance the cause one way while Gay Asian American men take a different course of actions? That’s fractured and fragmented and doesn’t handle a big problem with big picture thinking. 

There is still a lot of work to be done. Women alone can’t fight this on our own backs. And we can’t afford to squabble about line items amongst ourselves. We need brothers and sisters working together to get this done right. And we’re out there. We showed up in this last election. It’s time to take that collective energy, that collective we WILL move forward sentiment and do it. Whether you believe in God or Nature or both—there is a delicate balance in our world that intrinsically says one thing is not better than another, but that both things are necessary to our existence. Apples are good and oranges are good. One’s not better than another. And, if you want a good fruit salad, you’ll make room in the bowl for both.

Have Women's History stories and facts to share? Women's History questions for Korri? Please comment below or visit us on Facebook, we welcome your comments and questions.

About the author

Korri Piper has a Bachelor’s Degree in English with a concentration in The Dramatic Arts and holds a Graduate Certificate from the Program for Women in Politics and Public Policy. For more than 11 years she has worked in the field of marketing in varied industries. Korri is fascinated by behavioral sociology. She enjoys staying active, the continued pursuit of knowledge and consideration and righteous social justice work. Korri is parent to an incredibly precocious daughter who reminds her – regularly – that life offers infinite proof of our fallibility, that humor is just a good approach to being and that active listening is the best base for relationships.

Parenting: Sharing Black History

"I'm so glad they (my kids) realize we are living 

what generations before have dreamed of 

and to not take it for granted." 

– Sharon Brewster

Today, my daughter briefed me that she needed Jackie Robinson pictures and card board for a school project (like now). My son chimed in on something totally different – he was looking for a track jacket he likes to wear, his favorite I believe. Despite being tired and arriving two hours late from work, as a family we sprung into action googling Jackie Robinson photos and picked the ones she found most interesting that told about highs and lows of being the first Black the first African American to play Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. 

My son was an eager participant in her assignment. He sat criss crossed apple sauce on the floor and asked me, "Mommy can you tell me ALL of the black people in black history? I really want to know." And he waited too! My daughter told him all about people she learned in school, and then I told him about some the Black inventors, doctors and scientists I'd learned about in school (Garrett Morgan, Benjamin Banneker, Charles Drew, George Washington Carver, etc). He was amazed at their innovations and how they're still in use today, even saving lives. He was puzzled by injustice and glad to know there were people who sympathized with the plight of Black people and fought hard for Civil Rights in this country in addition to all of the Black activists and citizens who fought in their own ways during their time. We talked of love, not hate and rising above the most difficult situations. The concept of not being able to fight back was unknown to him (hmmmm). I told him loosely about Emmitt Till. Initially, I hadn't planned to share that story with him but my age-appropriate explanation of what happened during that time gave him some context as to: why many people were unable to fight back successfully and the importance of people getting together to help each other reach the same goal.

At the end of this discussion and image searching I discovered just how in-tune my children are to injustice both past and present. It hurts and bewilders them to hear of such brutal treatment. I'm so glad they realize we are living what generations before have dreamed of and to not take it for granted. Our family salutes those on the forefront of fighting injustice, breaking color and social/professional barriers by being the first in their field or industry.

As we said our good nights and sang our lullabies, I asked my son if he wanted to make a presentation too since his sister was doing one. He was excited to do so and insisted, "I want to make a presentation on Rosa Parks." So between today and Friday, we will learn more about the accomplishments of Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks. These are two presentations I can't wait to see!



About the author

Sharon has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. She combines her experience as an art director, understanding of healthy child development and therapeutic interventions to offer interactive art and talk therapy to clients. Sharon is a wife and mother who is passionate about family life and early childhood development and education. Sharon is known for her commitment to God, excellence and family; comedic wit and ability to empathize with others. "Love you to life!"

Freeing Our Minds

Depression, anxiety, phobias, trauma, suicide and eating disorders are among the top mental health concerns women are facing. Like physical illnesses, mental health symptoms are often different in women than men. This makes it even more important to pay attention to our natural range of emotions so we are able to identify irregularities in our mood and get help. If we're fortunate, our friends, family and even colleagues may share their concerns if they notice an unusual or ongoing change in our disposition or behavior. Awareness is key to remaining healthy physically and mentally. Here are tips on being prepared for mental health emergencies and facts about women and common mental health conditions. 

Be prepared for a mental health emergency: 

1. Ask your local doctor or mental health provider for an emergency phone number for the mental health crisis team in your area. If you or your loved one is ever in a mental health crisis this is an option in addition to calling emergency services. 

2. Always call 9-1-1 for help if you or your loved one is ever in a physical and mental health crisis and specify if it is a mental health emergency in addition to a physical emergency.

3. Ask the 9-1-1 operator if a crisis team specialist can be sent in addition to the emergency responders.

4. Have the names and dosage of any medication available that the person in crisis has been prescribed and/or taken prior to the emergency.
5. Notify the emergency responders of any allergies to medications and food.

How serious is mental health for women? Women are:

• twice as likely as men to get depressed (12% of women tend to become depressed)

• attempting suicide two or three times more often than men

• twice as likely to have panic disorder, generalized anxiety, and specific phobias
• 85% of all anorexia and bulimia cases and 65% of binge-eating disorder cases

• twice as likely to develop PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) after a traumatic event

Mental Health Moment: What is Agoraphobia? 

MayoClinic.com explains, "Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder in which you avoid situations that you're afraid might cause you to panic. You might avoid being alone, leaving your home or any situation where you could feel trapped, embarrassed or helpless if you do panic. People with agoraphobia often have a hard time feeling safe in any public place, especially where crowds gather. The fears can be so overwhelming that you may be essentially trapped in your own home." Agoraphobia can be brought on by a traumatic or severely stressful situation and is often accompanied by panic attacks. Individuals living with agoraphobia may find it difficult to drive, socialize, travel or be outside of their home for any length of time to avoid 'phobic moments' and 'panic.' (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/agoraphobia/DS00894)

Agoraphobia arises from an internal anxiety condition that has become so intense that the suffering individual fears going anywhere or doing anything where these feelings of panic have repeatedly occurred before. Once the panic attacks have started, these episodes become the ongoing stress, even when other more obvious pressures have diminished. This sets up a "feedback condition" which generally leads to increased numbers of panic attacks and, for some people, an increase in the situations or events which can produce panicky feelings. Others experience fearful feelings continuously, more a feeling of overall. discomfort, rather than panic. A person may fear having anxiety attacks, "losing control", or embarrassing him/herself in such situations. Many people remain in a painful state of anxious anticipation because of these fears. Some become restricted or "housebound" while others function "normally" but with great difficulty, often attempting to hide their discomfort." (http://pages.infinit.net/drnayman/agorapho.htm)

This week pay attention to the voice on the inside. How are you feeling emotionally? Are you avoiding people or situations out of fear or not wanting to confront ongoing issues? Most of us are not agoraphobic but we have tendencies and behaviors that many who suffer from agoraphobia have. When we're upset or mildly traumatized we often put up walls in affected areas of our lives. We may not be house bound, but many of us are yet bound by the opinions of others, embarrassment, failure and we're also feeling trapped by decisions and situations we may not be able to change. Today, there's freedom in awareness. If you're feeling that you've gone beyond your normal range of emotions, please reach out to those close to you and ask for help and/or visit a mental health provider in your area.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we ask you to free our minds from things we can't control. Help us to cast our cares on you. Please bring balance, freedom and emotional wholeness to our lives and the wisdom to walk in it continuously. Allow us to not be bound by fear from past hurts and to operate in mental and emotional freedom in Jesus' name we pray. We give you glory and honor this day, Amen.

For additional prayer visit: 

http://tabernacleofpraisemin.org/ or call 781-963-5300.

Please share this blog with your friends.

About the author

Sharon has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. She combines her experience as an art director, understanding of healthy child development and therapeutic interventions to offer interactive art and talk therapy to clients. Sharon is a wife and mother who is passionate about family life and early childhood development and education. Sharon is known for her commitment to God, excellence and family; comedic wit and ability to empathize with others. "Love you to life!"

The Right Moment Part 3

Understanding the right time to take action is the key to walking in destiny, in Kairos time. 

There are many different types of times scholars throughout history refer to that date back to ancient times. How this helps us today is, it teaches us what we can ask for and empowers us to set expectations. Understanding the different types of set time allows us to better utilize and perceive time as it relates to our purpose in life. It also motivate us in our day-to-day time management. 

Waste no day, each one is precious. You were called for this time. Even in times of loss, please understand that despair and grief have an end date. Understanding 'Set Times' allows us look at the long-term destiny of our lives without becoming overwhelmed in our current state. It also enables us to maintain a healthy perspective in the process. To live by "Set Time," we must pray and have a connection with God so we can understand His overall will for our lives rather than His will for only our current season. Here are a few examples of "Set Kinds of Time" that were submitted by a reader in comments on "The Right Moment Part 2."

Set kinds of time
Eukairos (noun) – A convenient or opportune time. A good opportunity.

Hemera (noun) – Set day; the interval between sunrise and sunset. 
Qatsiyr (noun) – Process of harvesting crop, what is harvested or reaped. 
Yaad (verb) – To appoint; (noun) an appointed time to meet. 

Benefits of understanding time and seasons 
1. Helps us to prepare accordingly and with wisdom for the next season of our lives.

 

2. Builds patience and endurance because we know our situation has a beginning and must have an end. We are able to plan and live our lives without becoming engrossed with what seems impossible. (Psalm 30:5)
3. Reduces stress, it destroys our fears and anxiety about problems we face in our lives and allows us to rest. 
We can live with a holistic view and understanding that imperfect moments and difficult seasons are not going to overtake us. (Philippians 4:11)
4. Positions us for success by motivating us to take advantage of the season we're in and use the favor we're experiencing during that time. 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we thank you for establishing "Set Times" in our lives. Help us to walk according to the purpose you have for us. Bring us into alignment with the seasons you've established for us, help us submit to you and surrender our will and worries over as well. Help us not to be confused or discouraged by those who may misunderstand or even walk away from us as we become who you have created us to be. We thank you again for your blessings upon our lives. We give you all the glory for it. For yours is the kingdom, power and glory in Jesus' name, Amen.

For additional prayer visit 

http://tabernacleofpraisemin.org/ or call 781-963-5300.

Please share this blog with your friends.

About the author

Sharon has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. She combines her experience as an art director, understanding of healthy child development and therapeutic interventions to offer interactive art and talk therapy to clients. Sharon is a wife and mother who is passionate about family life and early childhood development and education. Sharon is known for her commitment to God, excellence and family; comedic wit and ability to empathize with others. "Love you to life!"

The Right Moment Part 2

"There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth..."  – Ecclesiastes 3:1

The one thing that is constant and sometimes appears to work against us is time. Is time on your side? Time is present, and neither for you or against you; its neither your friend nor enemy. It ticks and measures like a recorder of our days, behaviors and schedules. The good news is Kairos, God's timing, intervenes and overrides Chronos. 

Facts about Kairos:
• it's another dimension or perspective of time. 
• it consists of seasons and moments not limited by measured time 
• is what we use emotionally and spiritually, and is governed by divine assignments and our destiny
• it requires us to seek God, search our own hearts, invest our well-being and walk in purpose and faith

In ancient Greek culture Kairos conveyed the idea of time as the right or opportune moment. The most important interactions and occurrences in our lives take place in Kairos time. These moments can not be planned or created, but are a part of our overall destiny. Many of us stumble upon Kairos moments and only realize we stepped into that dimension for a moment or season after it has occurred. These moments, as we recognize and yield to them, we begin to see that Kairos moments impact our "Being" while Chronos time impacts interchangeable aspects of our lives.

Learn more about recognizing Kairos moments and understanding the impact of Kairos time on our lives 
in "The Right Moment Part 3" later this week.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we thank You for who You are, for our existence and the time you've given us. We ask that you would open our eyes and make keen our senses and discernment to know when we're having a Kairos experience. We acknowledge and praise You; and welcome your intervention in our lives. Shake up our daily routine, move in our lives in a way that we know it was only You that could have stepped in. We thank You, we honor You, we give you heartfelt praise and thanks for this season in our lives. We ask these blessings, in Jesus' name, Amen.

For additional prayer visit 

http://tabernacleofpraisemin.org/ or call 781-963-5300.

Please share this blog with your friends.

About the author

Sharon has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. She combines her experience as an art director, understanding of healthy child development and therapeutic interventions to offer interactive art and talk therapy to clients. Sharon is a wife and mother who is passionate about family life and early childhood development and education. Sharon is known for her commitment to God, excellence and family; comedic wit and ability to empathize with others. "Love you to life!"

The Right Moment Part 1

The time to go from fear to faith is now. How is the right moment in time defined so you can operate in your purpose? The Greeks referred to time with two different words: chronos and kairos. Chronos is the chronology of days; it refers to time designations on a clock, calendar and other references associated with tracking increments of time. Kairos deals with specific, God-ordained times, sometimes called "the right time" or "appointed/due season." It's God's dimension, not constrained by past, present and future; a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action; the opportune and decisive moment (Gordon Atkinson).

These ancient references dating back to Greek Culture that are often referenced in the New Testament still influence us today. While chronos refers to time as a means of tracking our existence, Kairos defies this and demands we operate outside of the influences and constructs of measured time. Kairos encourages us to sieze moments, create opportunities, and view life in seasons – and not be limited by time.

Are you ready to operate in seasons, rather than minutes? Are you ready to operate in time as it relates to your destiny? Operating in Kairos builds our faith, because we're conscious of how our actions impact our destiny and those around us. When things appear to go wrong, a person who understands Kairos time realizes delays, unexpected changes and set-backs are opportunities. Have you ever been delayed only to discover something good came out of it?

Why is Kairos important?

1. It is the right moment, it is God's timing set in eternity that impacts our destiny. It goes beyond the clock.

2. You function optimally and are productive without being conscious of or even driven by "the clock." It allows us to work and use our gifts, knowing it will create opportunities we should act upon.

3. We work according to our purpose and the extras the come from it are a bonus. It takes us beyond working and being "on-the-clock."

Check out "The Right Moment Part 2" later this week and read more on how to live in Kairos moments. 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we thank you for the time you've given us to live and to operate in your time. We ask that you show us the difference in our lives when we operate in Kairos while living in within our time. Help us to be effective in all that we do as we go from fear to faith. Let our efforts not be in vain. We give You all the praise, glory and honor; and ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

For additional prayer visit 

http://tabernacleofpraisemin.org/ or call 781-963-5300.

Please share this blog with your friends.

About the author

Sharon has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. She combines her experience as an art director, understanding of healthy child development and therapeutic interventions to offer interactive art and talk therapy to clients. Sharon is a wife and mother who is passionate about family life and early childhood development and education. Sharon is known for her commitment to God, excellence and family; comedic wit and ability to empathize with others. "Love you to life!"

At the end of your rope?

The best thing about being at the end of your rope is jumping down and landing on your feet.

Some days we get tired of people saying, “well just hang in there, it is going to work out.” There comes a time when hanging in there is no longer an option. It started out as a temporary state because of a larger circumstance and today we find ourselves still “hanging in there” with tired arms from pulling our own weight and those attached to us. I submit to you today, admit you’re at the end of your rope and let go. This is the time to go from fear to faith. Am I saying to walk away or give up? No, I’m saying let’s move forward. Hanging in there, is surviving – barely, not advancement. In order to apprehend the opportunities to make what you call your dream a success, you must take the plunge.

I watched Tangled, Disney’s modified version about the heroine Rapunzel from the Brothers Grimm classic German fairy tale with my kids. In this version, Rapunzel has spent her entire life high up in the tower. Then, local thief Flynn Ryder comes to the tower for refuge and ends up getting Rapunzel out of the tower to live out her dream. Despite circumstances designed to prevent her from seeing her dream come true, Rapunzel never gives up and she lives out her dream and is also returned to her parents. 

Are you in a self-made tower and unable or unsure how to get out of it? Here are four ways to jump down and move forward:

1.  Commit to small actions and build on them. The more you exercise your faith the stronger it will be. In other words, the more you do what you say you're going to do the more consistent you become. When you exercise faith by trying new behaviors and being consistent with them your esteem, courage and strength will increase. Keep going!

2.  Start functioning in your purpose. Dr. Myles Monroe wrote, "The purpose of something determines its nature, design and features" in Understanding the Purpose and Power of Woman. Take the time to know what your purpose is. Think about the nature of your personality, how you’re designed to handle situations.

3.  Use your gifts to change environments. In order for your gift to make room for you and bring you before people of influence, you must use your gift consistently and excel in it. Boldly, not boastfully, share what you’re able to contribute. As people notice your gift, you must be able to articulate what you’re about and plan to accomplish. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

4.  Embrace change and denounce fear. Say good-bye today to your fears of failure, believing lies you’ve believed about yourself and embrace the change from ‘hanging in there’ to walking into ‘a place called there’ as our minister would say. A ‘place called there’ is our ideal place, our destiny. And you do have one. (Isaiah 43:19)

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we thank You for our gifts and the destiny you've set for our lives. We thank You in advance for opportunities and your favor. Let Your will be done in our lives as we walk in faith and function in our purpose. We ask that you begin to open doors that will allow us to change environments naturally and spiritually. Help us to let go of our fears as we embrace and become conduits of change Jesus' name. We give you all of the glory, honor and praise. Amen.

Check out other blog entries: From Problems to Opportunities, Preparing for Opportunity and Opportunities: Acknowledgement. 

For additional prayer visit 

http://tabernacleofpraisemin.org/ or call 781-963-5300.

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About the author

Sharon has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. She combines her experience as an art director, understanding of healthy child development and therapeutic interventions to offer interactive art and talk therapy to clients. Sharon is a wife and mother who is passionate about family life and early childhood development and education. Sharon is known for her commitment to God, excellence and family; comedic wit and ability to empathize with others. "Love you to life!"