…In The Gifting

This world keeps us pretty busy, doesn’t it? We focus on things, people, and circumstances so much that we unfortunately end up thinking about God as an afterthought. This saddens me, but thank God for shifts in the right direction! Shifts. Shifts that go from “What can the world do for me” to “What can I do for the world,” from “What do they think about this” to “What does God think about this,” and from “What will people give me,” to “What does God have for me.” That last one may seem like it’s self-centered, but it’s not. What God has for us is far greater than what we may hope to have on earth through money, status, titles, and possessions. What God has for us is according to HIS will, and when we seek HIS will over our own will, that is when we have made a shift in the right direction. Awesome and amazing blessings happen when we align ourselves with God’s will for our lives. It’s even more exciting when we embrace and enjoy the path God has us on. Going with the grain of God’s Holy Spirit is so smooth. Things flow in a beautiful and supernatural way!

In 2009, I struggled financially and sought to find what gifts, talents, and skills were inside me that could be used to edify God’s people, glorify God, and provide income for myself in order to improve my situation. After much prayer and late nights up with God, I believed to have God’s approval to pursue fashion. HE has since blessed me in many phenomenal ways in that area and has sent people to confirm my calling in that area. Just read my blog post Brocade.

Fast-forward to now. God is still affirming and reaffirming the path and one of the directions HE has blessed for my life which is fashion.

Dear Reader, as you know, this blog site is branded Looking for God #HEISEVERYWHERE, so allow me to share with you how I found God…in the gifting.

Most of my birthdays, especially since adulthood, have been pretty glum with no significant celebration. After years of disappointment, it can be tempting to pretend as if it no longer matters. Deep down inside, I really wanted the people around me to care enough to do something special for my birthday. I wanted them to do more than just text and call. At one point, I was concerned that I wouldn’t get any gifts for my birthday and had found myself worrying. Silly, I know…especially since I usually don’t get any gifts for my birthday from friends, family, and loved ones outside my household. Why would this year be any different, right?

Things really turned around this year, and my birthday was pretty great overall. I was able to dress up pretty nicely, buy new shoes to match my outfit, go out to eat, spend time talking over the phone with a beloved friend, see a phenomenal movie at the theater, and rest at home. Two days after my birthday and after her medical procedure, my best friend/sister-in-Christ cooked for me! She’s a fantastic cook, and I LOVE her Puerto Rican spices! Additionally, she was going through some Christmas lights that were gifted to her and gave me some of them. The lights she happened to give me were the type I love and always wanted, white icicle lights! She had no idea they are my favorite!

Last Thursday, a friend and die-hard supporter of Ebony Elice Fashion “Because IT Should Fit YOU!” blessed me with some “just because” money that she didn’t know I needed that day. That afternoon while out working, I went through a drive-thru and received a free beverage. (On a side note, it pays to be kind to people. You never know what unexpected blessings can happen as a result.) The next day, I was treated to a birthday lunch by my good friend/former supervisor/sister-in-Christ. We had a great time together at a nice Italian restaurant and got to catch up since the pandemic.

Now, I mentioned earlier in this post that I’d been worried about the possibility of not receiving any gifts for my birthday. As you’ve read since, I’ve received many blessed, thoughtful, and needed gifts. What I had not mentioned until now is the conversation I had with God while I was worried. This is what I said to God concerning worry: “This is silly! *half-heartedly laughing at myself* This whole time, I’ve been so preoccupied with things and people and worried about what people will get me for my birthday. *epiphany* Here’s something I’ve never thought of before…what would YOU want to give me for my birthday, from YOU to me? You love me most. I’m Your daughter.” This was around my birthday 11/28.

Fast-forward to last night, it was the final hours of Cyber week for a particular website where I purchase my fashion education materials. I’d broken my rest on my off day from self-employment to earn money specifically to spend on new classes at 75% off. The classes would be a further investment in the area where God has called me to minister to women and young girls.

The money earned automatically loaded to my business card and was supposed to be immediately available, but my card would not work for anything. Maybe the funds needed more time before fully available?? Most of the time, this is not an issue. No matter how the items were readjusted, added, removed or altogether changed in my online shopping cart, no purchase could be made with the card that held my newly earned funds. It didn’t matter what device I used that worked before, it was a no-go. This went on from around 5 PM CST to around 11:26-ish PM CST. Finally, I stopped everything and went to God again, “This is a distraction from the enemy. I had never planed to buy anything [on that website] today anyway. I was supposed to be printing class materials, making a new binder, and getting better organized [for the week(s) ahead]. You know what, God? It’s in Your hands. What You have for me is for me. I’m going to make a list of all the classes I want from this website and place it in YOUR capable hands! *to myself* My Heavenly Father is ABLE! HE owns cattle on a thousand hills! NOTHING is off limits to HIM!” I removed everything from my cart online and started going through the classes to see which would be added to my list. What seemed like only minutes after surrendering, I checked my “owned content” on my account and noticed that I had full access without a membership to one of the alterations classes that could be used right now for my business. That didn’t seem right because a transaction never went through. Logically, if I had that class, then I should have had the other 4 that were in the cart when the purchase was attempted. I checked the list of all the classes I owned. Only the 3-class set bundle by the same instructor had been added. I had no active paid membership, yet those 3 classes were unlocked and fully accessible. I checked my order history. There had not been a purchase since December 1st. (Note that since this is downloadable content we’re talking about here, invoices/receipts are immediately available without fail through the site and my email address.) I checked my business card balance and transaction history. The balance was unchanged, and there were no pending charges in the amount for those 3 classes. There was no proof of any purchase. There was no human saying, “Here you go” or “Here’s a discount” or “Here you go for free! It’s on us!” It was God saying, “Happy Birthday, Daughter! I heard you.”

If you feel like I feel right now, you want to ball your eyes out at the “reckless” love of God! Oh, how HE LOVES HIS CHILDREN! Oh, how we love HIM back! Eyes have not seen, hears have not heard, nor has heart conceived what God has for those who love Him!!! God bless you, and thank you for reading about how I found God…in the gifting.

Please know, Beloved, that God loves you very much! I can’t wait to continue sharing with you in future blog posts just how much!!! Enjoy the worship song embedded in the word “reckless” in the previous paragraph. It is linked to “Reckless Love of God” sung by Anthony Evans Jr.