Our Unique Life

Kassie Marque & Friends

Unapologetically Me: 2016

by // 2 Comments

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful brown-skinned girl who dreamed of being an explorer and donning rainbow colored hair.  That girl had dreams out of this world and knew she would achieve them.  She had all the love and validation she needed from God and her parents.  She had pretty amazing friends with hopes and dreams of their own.

Then adulthood happened.  She soon saw the limitations others placed on her life.  She saw the hurtful things people do and say when they’ve been hurt.  She saw the extremely hard work required to achieve her dreams.  She saw her parents suffer while her father had a minor stroke and her mother passed away in the hospital.  She saw that hate and racism still existed in the world.

But this young woman learned a few things from her mother.  Perserverance. Strength. Love. Hard Work. Trust.  Hope.  She knew that this too shall pass, and her reward will be in Heaven.  Despite all she had seen and experienced, she had a heart to help others through life’s mess, through the pain, and through all of the hurt.

So from this year on, I’ve decided to be unapologetically me.  That is the only way I can truly enrich the lives of others.  God has called me to be a ‘light’, and who am I to hide this person God has created.

I dedicate this year to being me unapologetically.  A woman God is perfecting and sharpening to his liking.  He has placed dreams in my heart, and I will achieve them.  I will use the talents and gifts God gave me to help others in this world.  I will focus on the positive and pray for the negative that I see in the world.  I will continue to treat my body like a temple, not trashing it with bad food or substances.  I will speak the truth in love.  I will be confident and have faith that the Lord is working this all out for my good.

This year, I will unapologetically be the woman God has called me to be.  I will not shrink to make anyone else feel better and I will not tout myself more highly than I am.  I am a strong, black, smart, talented, caring, big-haired, romantic, inquisitive, beautiful young woman.   I will live the calling God has for my life.

I challenge you to do the same.

Much love,

Krystal Antonique

  

The Sweet Life

by // Leave a Comment


In my woman’s study bible, I recently fell upon an excerpt about bitterness.  It proved extremely relevant to what God had been revealing to me and it tied in nicely with my recent study of Ruth at a weekly morning bible study.

The scripture focus Hebrews 12:15 states, looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.  


Bitterness can truly take a hold of your life creating an environment of perpetual hurt.  To be completely honest, when I lost my mother I let bitterness take hold of certain areas of my life.   Instead of growing stronger, I allowed the actions of others affect me while I was grieving making me bitter and resentful.

I’m thankful for the Lord not letting me wallow in this area for too long and my amazing husband, my father, and a close mentor for telling me the truth in love.

When I think of Ruth, I often think of the content woman who married a wise man of God despite being in a foreign land.  What I often forget is the struggle Ruth had to go through and the leap of faith she made to follow her mother-in-law Naomi on a long journey to Bethlehem.  Ruth also had to trust the Lord to care for them.  After she lost her husband, she took on Naomi’s God and customs.  She also was obedient and went to Boaz. In the end she married a man of God who loved her and provided all that she needed.  Ruth did not ruin her life by becoming bitter.  In the end, God created something special out of her marriage with Boaz.  Their lineage led to the birth of Jesus Christ!

Here are a few ways I learned to have the sweet life:

Thankfulness.  We all have reasons to be thankful.  I remind myself of all of the times God has brought me through in the past and all of the genuine people he has placed in my life.  God has placed me on this Earth for a reason and that I have His work to do.  He hasn’t forgotten about me, and I’m truly thankful for that.

Grace. Remember the grace that God has given you.  I am not perfect, and I should not expect anyone else to be.  My mother always told me not place the same expectations on others that I place on God.  This has proved so helpful reminding me that while people may fail me, God NEVER will.

Forgiveness.  This is a must.  Instead of struggling to make up your mind to forgive, just make the decision.  This will bring you closer to the Lord and remove the unnecessary weight from your life.

Love.  Ruth allowed her love for Naomi to cause her to abandon all that she knew and go to a new land.  The Lord also tells us to love those who hurt us.  Love is the only way for redemption and to truly please God.

I encourage you to read the book of Ruth.  While it is a short book, the message covers a multitude of topics.  I’ll leave you with this scripture:

Above all else, protect your heart, for everything you do flows from it.  Proverbs 4: 23

Much love,

Krystal

Tough Times Don’t Last

by // 8 Comments

Tough people do.

She is strong. Proverbs 31:25

In my recent scripture study, I’ve been focusing on James chapter 1.  James 1:2-4 states, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

God never said that our Christian walk would be easy.  Look at the life of Jesus and the disciples. Jesus even cried out to the Lord asking Him if their was another way His will could be done.  God’s only son dealt with the pain of the world throughout his life just like we do.

The beauty of this is that our Savior understands and that He will never leave nor forsake us.  He will always be there for us no matter what we’re going through.  Whenever I’m placed in a bind, I remember that He is right there with me.  Despite all that is going on in our lives, in the end, the Lord will win this war against the devil.  Remember that God would never give us more than we can handle and He does not tempt us. We need to live out our God-given purposes on this earth to help others despite how hard life gets.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned to get through tough times and be strong:

1. Know that this too shall pass.  We all go through tough times, but it has an end.  You will have times when you are on the mountaintop and times when you are in the valley, but you must know that the Lord is with you whatever the situation.  This leads to the next tip…

2.  Read the word and meditate on it daily.  The word will renew your mind.  The Bible will begin to replace all of the lies that the devil is telling you, and it will guide your path.  The word also tells us to put our focus on the good things.  Philippians 4: 8 states, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”  Reading the scripture will also build your faith.

3. Have faith.  Sometimes I feel like having faith in certain situations can be too difficult, but the word states that you only need the faith the size of a little mustard seed.  God will increase your faith, you just need to take the first step.

4.  Surround yourself with other believers.  Find other people who love the Lord and will tell you the truth in love.  They can put things in perspective for you.  Proverbs 27: 17 states “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”   Recently, I’ve been going to GriefShare classes at a local church, and the classes have helped me in ways unimaginable.  I’ve learned that grieving a loved one is a natural response and it takes time to work through.  Being with people who completely understand and are working through the grief and pain of losing someone as well has helped my life tremendously.

5.  Stand.  Despite all that we’re going through, we must stand and endure until the end.  I know for me standing and persevering has been hard.  There have been times when I haven’t wanted to get up out of bed in the morning after I lost my mother.  After she passed, life continued to get harder, but that has made me a stronger woman than I could have ever imagined.  Remember that in Him, we are made strong. 2 Corinth 12: 9

6. And don’t forget to pray! “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4: 4

Much love,

Krystal Antonique

Categories