Lotus Flower Podcast

What do we do when God interrupts our lives? Many times, like Jonah, we run! Our special guest today redefines interruption and shows that interruption is oftentimes God’s invitation to do something beyond our wildest dreams. Ms. Barnes can identify personally with what it means to have your life interrupted by God. In her intriguing book These Shoes: A Spiritual and Poetic Journey, she uses the w...

Our featured guest today is my cousin Heather Bass. She is the founder and CEO of Beauty Pie Beats an online marketplace for black-owned beauty products. Beauty Pie Beats, sells high quality consumer products that offer mental and emotional health benefits and a spiritual healing moment for women. Mrs. Bass believes that though women naturally use lots of products, self-care and spirituality is pa...

"Are You a Hidden Pearl?" We are God's pearl of great price. Our featured guest Ms. Kibby Blakely's life reflects many of the attributes found within the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price in Matthew 13:44 & Matthew 13:45-46. Having grown up in up in a loving Godly home as one of six children in Jacksonville, Florida; she recalls being an introvert without a voice. Per Ms. Kibby, "My cou...

Even When it Doesn't Look Good - You Still Have to Depend on Jesus “I’ve said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the world you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the world.” John 16:33 CEB This passage from the book of John makes clear for us that while we are living in this world, we will have distress. Distress can be caused by unexpected crisis, adversity,...

When you face situations you don’t enjoy or problems you can’t readily solve, it is helpful to shift your perspective. Shifting your perspective can allow you to focus on the good, elevate your mood and bring you to new creative solutions. You shift perspective by thinking or doing something differently to change yourself, your situation or others. How To Change Your Perspective & Be Positive Stop...

When you were very young, your parents had to tell you what to do, and they had to do nearly everything for you. As you grew older, your parents (and other people) expected you to start making some of your own decisions and taking care of yourself in certain ways. You learned to do what you should (will power) and stop yourself from doing what you shouldn't (won't power). You started using self di...

On this podcast our featured guest is Wayne L. Bond II. We spoke to Mr. Bond to delve a little deeper into some of the service work he has been doing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Bond has always been a fan of literature and has finally found a way to put that passion to use. In early 2020 when the Pandemic hit, he did everything he could to try to help out. This ranging from consider...

How important is faith? Faith is a necessary ingredient of salvation. Without faith all is lost. Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith is trust. Faith is belief. Faith is confidence. Faith is Surrender. Faith is certainty and assurance. Faith dictates that we do not depend upon what our eyes see, but we rest upon the promises of God wh...

In chapter 5 of Shifting , Charisse Jones and Kumea Shorter-Gooden provide explanations and various example of “Sisterellas.” A Sisterella, like the classic Cinderella, is a black woman so consumed with the care of others (e.g. family, friends, businesses, etc.) that they neglect caring for themselves. The Sisterella Complex is an example of shifting gone awry. Sisterella -- a form of depression -...

We all know that there’s a lot of negativity in this world. That leaves us with a choice. Do you want to fuel the fire of negativity or would you rather approach life from an optimistic perspective and be the light that you’re supposed to be? Let’s take a look at the importance of a positive attitude in life and how you can live optimistically. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broke...

On our podcast today Leigha speaks candidly about ups and downs of social media and youth. There is much to be admired about our special guest today. Her name is Leigha. She is our 15-year-old cousin from southern Florida. Born to a musical family , Leigha plays guitar, clarinet, ukulele and sings in the church choir. As an athlete from childhood, Leigha loves sports of all kinds specifically bask...

Our special guest today is Kathy Haymon-Colson Hometown: Middleburg, Florida Mrs. Kathy is a devoted wife, a proud mother of six, and a grandmother of two. She is an avid fisherwoman that loves to go Shrimping on her beautiful boat in the Florida Intracoastal Waterway. "Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches on the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops, at all." Emily...

Special Guest: Barbara Andrews MA Counseling Liberty University BA Interdisciplinary Studies Trinity Baptist College BA Elementary Education, St Leo University First Lady (Pastor's Wife), New Hope Baptist Church, Penny Farms, Florida Hometown - Penny Farms, Florida People are going to annoy you, disappoint you, and fall short. They won’t mean to, but they will. In these moments, you could stay sil...

“. . . pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness…” 1 Timothy 6:11 The pursuit of godliness should be the pursuit of every person who claims to love God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to have godliness as a goal, one must understand what godliness is. We can start by looking at what godliness is not. Godliness is not merely religion. Religion is the a...

What does it mean "to live is Christ" Philippians 1:21 says, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Most people focus on the second part of the verse, “ to die is gain ,” and contemplate the joys of heaven. But we should not overlook what comes before. The importance of the phrase “to live is Christ” cannot be overstated. In all honesty, this phrase should be central to every Christia...

It’s an interesting analogy that indicates how important placing all the right pieces together is if you want to see the bigger picture. For some people, life can be quite simple, like a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle that is not that difficult to put together. For others, however, it might take more time, patience and effort, to complete it and find all of those missing pieces and then place them where...

We have all been born “for such a time as this” and we need to open our eyes to the glorious mission that our Father has for us. To go where He wants us to go, say what He wants us to say, do what He wants us to do, and be what He wants us to be. One caution as we seek to improve our spiritual vision—do not get discouraged. Our vision may be damaged. We may feel we are spiritually blind. We may ha...

Good physical eyesight is a blessing. However, as amazing and beneficial as our eyes are, they have a significant limitation: they can only see physical realities, like chalkboards, leaves on trees, and a mother's face. Spiritual vision is far more valuable because it enables us to see external realities, things that are not visible to our physical eyes.

It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life; it is how you handle what happens to you. Zig Ziglar

God alone is the source of spiritual eyes and undivided hearts. Only He can make blind eyes see, deaf ears hear, dead taste buds hunger, and hardened hearts soft.

Coping strategies refer to the specific efforts, both behavioral and psychological, that people employ to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize stressful events. Two general coping strategies have been distinguished: problem-solving strategies are efforts to do something active to alleviate stressful circumstances, whereas emotion-focused coping strategies involve efforts to regulate the emotional...

Excerpts from the Nehemiah Code by O.S. Hawkins

Excerpts from the "Nehemiah Code by O.S. Hawkins

Our ability to step out of ourselves and observe ourselves from the wall or ceiling is core to our ability to be human. That ability to see ourselves from another point of view gives us instant perspective and the ability to separate stimulus from response. The question, then, is how often do we step out of the frame in the course of a day or week? How often do we trigger reflection and perspectiv...

Paul writes that God works all things for the good of those “who are called according to purpose.” We must ask ourselves what our purpose is. ... When God works all things together, He works all things together for our “good;” that is, that we would become more like Jesus. “And we know that God works together all things for good for those who love Him, for those who are called according to purpose...