Natural Hair.

So, I am officially Natural Again! I took my braids out about 2 weeks ago and have had such a hilarious time finding styles to do and browsing YouTube. Today ends my 2nd transition to natural. After being natural about a year and a half, I was fed up and gave in and relaxed my hair in December 2012, after having colored it 2 months prior. So I had a great cut and nice color BUT my hair is fragile (the main reason I went natural in the first place) so of course breakage ensued. I was not a happy camper. So,  in January 2013, my hair went back into braids and have kept my hair braided all year. 2 weeks ago I was just over my hair being braided and when my braids would slip out I could cop a feel on my curly roots and I LOVED it, I messed it really and so I took them out. I wasn’t sure what to do so I blew out my hair and pinned it up in my moms old roll and tuck style she used to do on her hair and a few times for my sister and I.

I also did some pompadour styles and twists in front with a puff in the back but I realized something- my relaxed ends had broken off in the back of my hair which cause the front of my hair to be about 4 inches longer in the front than the back. So today, after my bro and BF left for work, I snipped those relaxed ends off and tah-dah……

Back to my mini fro! I’m so excited. I took that picture this morning and then twisted my hair and now it looks like this! You can’t really tell from the pic but whatever. I felt to good like Yes my hair is finally free again!  Okay Toodles!

Pastor Paula, Pastor Paula

Today is Pastors Appreciation Day and I just want to write a quick post to THANK Pastor Paula White, whose church I currently attend- New Destiny Christian Center. Thank You Pastor Paula for breaking a lot of spiritual blocks I’ve had in my life. I grew up loving church and not until recently had I ever felt connected in church. I’ve always known the bible but never before have a read it and really understood it. Never before have I been thinking about how I, a GIRL, can have a spiritual impact int he lives of people around me. I pray that I use my talents, like you have to bring people to know and understand God and to follow Jesus.

 

Pastor Paula has been through a lot and never holds herself as a “holier-than-thou” air of mystery, She is very transparent and give God all the glory for everything happening and everything about to happen for her and the church. What I love most is, she has a saying- to give her a year, to really impact your life- and I have. And it has been a phenomenal one.

Sometimes you feel the attack of the enemy, just as a lot of people have told me but when you feel the confidence, that she has shown me, in GOD for Him to overcome since no one else reigns higher than God- I feel I can fight the fight and WIN by GOD.

 

Thank you Pastor Paula for being a great force in the Kingdom of God and Thank you for helping to give me my God-Esteem. Its been amazing growing as a woman who is taking action in the Kingdom of God. I tithe, I pray, I attend church, I have been tuned out from secular music as it no longer holds my interest and my desires and dreams that I’ve been working on for years- now that I’ve added God and my Christianity into the equation, have all begun to make more sense and fall into place as I know God will use me as a tool and allow me to be who I was born to be. I love you for it!

 

Live. Love. Limitless!

-Monica Nouvelle

An Alarming Warning- Dream I Had Last Night

Last Nights Dream

I have no idea what was happening before…but I was at a coastal city. And Out of the water came a man in white clothing on to the beach- EVERYONE SAID, “Jesus is here!!!!” and He emerged out of the water and didn’t stop walking, shortly after he was followed by like a league of these people all looking a metallic steel grey. There were drones of these people coming out of the water and they looked like men but MUCH taller and they had no expressions of any emotion on their faces. There was just a blank, militant stare and they walked in pairs and they followed the leader, thought to be Jesus up this cliff/mountain, and this continued- it seemed like it did not end my entire dream.

I also remember that while this was happening, I also looked to the right and also noticed another set of people coming out of the water. And, instead of being the first one out of the water,  another man came out of the water amongst this group of people, the same metallic people. When this 2nd notable man emerged from the water,  and all the people of this city said it is GOD, and they were so excited and were so happy to see God, so they started to follow Him. Now, this man had a happy face, and he was actually dressed like a surfer- hawaiian shirt & board shirts and he has a long grey beard. And I also noticed- the people of this city, the crowd that had gathered at this beach were not following who they said was Jesus as he had those intimidating people with Him but they were going in His direction just to see what was going on and where he was going. But they kept their distance- just looking on at him but still keeping space between him and theirselves- they were hiding so that if he looked back, he wouldn’t see that they were there.

So, I started to see friends and people I knew. I don’t know who these people were supposed to be in my life but for the dreams purpose they were apparently my friends. SO I was kind of standing there letting it all in. And I started to walk into the city and I was feeling scared thinking “Will Jesus accept me, how I am now?” I was a bit scared wondering what is going on and where is my family?

So then some of these friends said, “We want to follow Jesus and we’re thinking about going up that mountain to see what He is doing.”, so they left and went in the direction of Jesus behind the crowd that was distantly following him.  And then I had another group of friends who kind of just sweep me up and started running in the other direction saying, “We think we saw God go this way.” SO I said “Um…okay. Lets go.” BUT,  I kept thinking, “Hmm maybe I should go the Jesus way instead. I mean I dont wanna get too close just wanna see what He’s doing like everybody else was doing.”

Now the other part of this dream, kinda didn’t sit right with me. When I was at this, beach that Jesus, God and all of these militant people came out of the water, there was also another group coming out of the water: Animals. First it looked like all black dogs, and then other animals were coming out- but mainly dogs were coming out of the water, still all black. I dont remember what else happened but, I do remember that after I had followed the group of friends in the opposite direction of Jesus, we got to a diner and had to wait there.  All the people that had gone that way were all told to go into the shops and stores along that street and the doors were closed after them.

And I saw that the animals were all in a line in the streets but they looked vicious! Like killers. And I do remember still seeing the dogs but I also remember seeing a gorilla beating its chest. All the animals were in the street and they were being led by the metallic militant people who came out of the water. But they were on leashes or anything.

But then, all of the militant people who were with the animals started to run back away from the animals and ran behind these doors, these old medieval gates and locked the doors behind them. SO of course I thought…”Oh no, this cant be good,” and the last thing that happened is the animals broke through the glass and ….then I woke up. My first thing I did when I woke up was prayed for forgiveness and repentance because I felt in my heart that the dream was a message to me. I am still sorting it all out since I just woke up about 10 minutes ago. I don’t have vivid dreams like that, so it concerned me greatly.

God I pray that I heed to your warning, that I have discernment and really take this walk with you seriously. Amen.

IF anyone has some Biblical/Religious insight about this dream, please let me know. Any kind of interpretation would be appreciated. Thank you

God’s Grace

This year has been a very spiritually awakened year for me. I am 26 now, and never before have I been so enveloped in the things of God. I have been on a mission to put Jesus at the Center of my life and I’ve succeeded in doing that with many aspects of my life. I’ve adjusted my music tastes. I’ve sought after new faith-based books. I befriend more church-goers and I have been almost obsessed with the trending topics of discussion in the church today.

My greatest and most pleasing discovery in all of this, is seeing how my inner desires have changed. I remember in January, when I got to see Bishop T.D. Jakes speak at the Faith Center in Sunrise, FL, he spoke about 2013 being a year of shift. I’ve also heard many pastors I’ve been blessed to hear from since then, also touch on the ideal of there being a shift taking place in the Kingdom of God this year. From Pastor Paula White, Joel Osteen, Bishop Noel Jones, Bishop Clarence McClendon to Joyce Meyer, and the list goes on….

The theme remains the same- there is a lot going on in your life but, through your faith and faith-action, a sudden change, by God will move you into a different circumstance, situation, element, season or whatever else you want to call it. The bottom line is YOU LIFE IS GOING TO CHANGE.

What that change is, how quickly it comes, who it will include and WHEN it will happen; all are determined by you and your life. I don’t know about you, because I am not you, but I know for me, there were too many things carrying on that just weren’t right. They didn’t add up, people weren’t making sense. There was no justice but then a SHIFT began in my life.

When I was at rock bottom in my relationship: angry, annoyed, sick and tired and feeling even alone, when I had someone willing and trying very hard to show me the love I wanted, all I could focus on what the circumstance and the past and the bad and the worst, but…. a SHIFT occurred, in me and I said NO MORE. I. Am. Happy. I am content and THANK YOU GOD for blessing me with a great love and with a laser love-centered focus. Now I see what I have and I thank God, he stuck around despite my own blind heart.

Even when I was at a dead-end job working with people I did not like and could not make it through the day without cursing them in my mind…. a SHIFT happened and I was blessed with a better, higher paying, more fun and fulfilling job. I love the people at my job I have now. I love the company and what it stands for. I feel blessed to be in the position I am in and I KNOW God is not done blessing me in that area of my life.

When I felt stuck and felt my creativity was dying inside me… a SHIFT clicked in my brain. My GOD told me that I was made to display the talents and gifts He has given me and that I was to take up my tool and use it for the advancement of His Kingdom and I’ve begun to use my writing and speaking talents to become the author I want to be. I’ve been working on my book and my blog and some other projects with the boldness God has blessed me with.

The enemy is working hard in your life to create challenges and dissatisfaction in your life, especially if God has great things in store for you. But there is good news- some I am already experiencing. God is SHIFTING things around for you and its going to come out of nowhere.

A pastor I heard this year spoke over us that “suddenlies” were going to start to pop-up in our lives, and I believe that. Suddenly you will get the job you want. Suddenly your marriage will get saved. Suddenly your child will come home, Suddenly your family will accept salvation from Jesus. Suddenly God will move mountains in your life, BUT its not just because you are cute or come to church every Sunday, or that you deserve anything. But these “suddenlies” are going to be a testament of your faithfulness and your belief in God’s faithfulness.

Another pastor I heard from recently said that, as we are under God’s grace and are to live by Faith, through Christ, under the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we ought to only have 2 phrases in our prayers: “I believe” and “Thank You.” And he was right. When we pray to God about something, like an advancement at work, just as an example. We ought to be able to pray, “God I ask you in your son Jesus’ name, for favor at my job for this next promotion. I believe I have received this blessing from you, if it is your will. Thank you Father. Amen,”  And that’s it. Why? Because our God is Able and Worthy to be Praised. Pray to Him like you TRUST Him and His Promises for your life. I am doing that everyday, and MAN, does it feel good to know and trust that God is God. Amen?

If this has blessed you, let me know and comment below. I love you all. God Bless You.

Live. Love. Limitless,

Monica Nouvelle

Ginger Beef Stirfry

First,  Marinate strips of beef with soy sauce and sesame oil. Let marinate overnight in refrigerator and takeout to get to room temp right before cooking.

 

SAUCE:

1 cup low-fat reduced-sodium beef stock ( I use Rachel Ray’s brand)

1 tbsp ginger powder

3 cloves garlic (sliced)

2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

2 Fresh Bay leaves

1 tbsp cornstarch & 2 tbsp water (reserve)

1 tbsp honey

Mix all ingredients, except for the cornstarch and honey into a small sauce pot and bring to a rolling simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered, and let reduce to half.

 

STIRFRY:

Long green beans ( I use Valley Fresh Steamers)

Marinated Beef

Carrot Strips

Red Onion

Basil (may be an odd addition, but I love it in Thai food and I love how it tastes with Sesame oil)

Sesame oil

INSTRUCTIONS:Cut first 4 ingredients into bite pieces about an inch long and no more that a quarter inch thick.

Heat wok on high (i have the $5 one from Wal-Mart, that used to be sold at IKEA, too- LOVE IT)

Drizzle some oil (does NOT matter what kind) I used Olive Oil because I LOVE the stuff) into the wok and pick it up off the heat to swirl around the oil, let it heat up again, just until you see a wisp of smoke and then toss in the beef. Allow the beef to just do its thing, for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly- this is stir fry after all. Then, remove the beef from the wok and let it sit. I actually do this to stop the beef from overcooking. Immediately add a bit more oil, like 1/2 a teaspoon and then toss in all the veggies.

Now, for some reason I like a little bit of char on my veggies DO NOT BURN them, but I like little flecks of what looks to be burned veggies. So, anyhow, stir, flip the food in the pan a few times and get it all nice and cooked up. The cooking process is very fast, so be careful and don’t think you can walk away. IT will burn, remember the high-heat part….yea!

OK, so now the veggies are doing their thing, in between stirs, or if multitasking is not your thing, lower the heat for the time being to avoid burning your food. Now, take the cornstarch and honey and add to the reduced sauce mixture. Give it a good swirl. Maybe add in a touch more water, no more that 1 teaspoon or two, and add to the veggies. Stir everything together, and now add the beef back into the pan. Flip the pan a few times to incorporate. Now, remove the wok from the heat source and let everything marinate together in the pan.

I usually serve this over some Jasmine rice. I cook the Jasmine rice plain but I season with rice vinegar, butter and soy sauce before cooking. I feel its the same as salt and butter, but so much more character is added.

 

VOILA! MY Ginger Stirfry Beef

 

Last Day of Vacation

Today is the last day of my very-needed vacation. Tomorrow I return to work but I am happy about what God has revealed to me in these last few days. I see that the number one area I need to work on is mt relationship with God and I’ve come to see that no matter how much I attend church, attend conferences, events, concerts, listen to gospel music, etc. If I am not spending time with God, what relationship am I really building. Just like any relationship, you have to spend time and really just sit in the love of Jesus Christ. I’ve had fear compel me to pursue God for so much of my life and to finally turn it around and understand that God loves me. Jesus loved me so much, He sacrificed His own life so that I may have a real chance at life. And, my GOD, I am grateful for that.

I’ve delved a bit more  and more into God’s messages and promises to me, each day I’ve been off. I’ve noticed major changes in me. I usually watch TV all day I’m off and even today, I couldn’t stand more that about an hour or two to TV. I just felt like, nothing is on that I want to watch because nothing is on that God wants me to watch. All day, I’ve been browsing my Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest for people and events and quotes and other blogs, focused on God’s love and ministering to that Part of me.

I’ve been searching for like-minded people and channels on YouTube that I can follow who are putting their love for Christ out for the world to see. I’ve been posting about the #ChurchGirlMovie like crazy, well, because it was so moving, why wouldn’t I. I’m still excited about that movie, y’all! Well, anywho, I’ll be making more posts and reviews later. For now, God Bless You All.

 

Live. Love. Limitless.

 

Monica

The Church Girl Movie Tour Stops in Orlando!!!!

I’ve been attending New Destiny Christian Center for almost a year now and it’s been nothing but a great experience. So, I wanted to blog about an upcoming movie called I’m in Love With a Church Girl, which will be in theaters October 18th, 2013. When I first heard about the movie, I thought, “Oh, nah I’m good.” I couldn’t help but to think at the time that if they made a Christian movie with Ja Rule in it and he just got out of jail , then I’m not sure I’ll see it.

I thought probably the same way many people all over the US thought when the trailers came out, when the posters and board appeared at the local theaters and when the movie tour was announced at church, still that “judgmental religious” came out and thought, “Ja Rule” seriously??? Oh I dunno about this. Why couldn’t they get some other person that was more prominent in the Christian community? It was the same judmental thought that rang clear as I searched all over the internet for movie reviews and critiques. It was all the same ideas of “foul-mouthed rapper Ja Rule casted in faith-based movie” a=in all of the “Christian” blogs I came across.

But what I was able to see by attending the movie tour/concert is that, you cannot judge a book by its cover. AND that Ja Rule needs to be in this movie. There are some people who would never want to see this movie, simply because it has CHURCH in the title, but will see it because Ja Rule is in the movie. They’ll see it because Adrienne Bailon is in the movie. They’ll see it because Stephen Baldwin is in the movie. And they should. BUt more than anything, I’d love for people to want to see the movie because the essence of Christ is in this movie. The way God moved into a man’s life, a man that many had written off as “up-to-no-good” is in this movie.

After attending the movie tour/concert, I felt the need to repent because I first used ill-willed judgment against the actors and the idea of the movie and probably have used that same poor judgment towards people in my life and people I have come across and that is NOTHING like Jesus. One thing as a Christian we must remember is that Jesus used the most unlikely, the most messed up and the most sinful people he could find in order to let us understand that God wants the WHOLE world to be saved. Isreal Houghton mentioned during the Q & A Session after the concert, that we as Christians often suffer from AMNESIA. That we forget how messed up we were before coming to know God and how messed up we are even as we live through our Christian walk daily. We sin, we mess up, we fall short. NONE, not one of us, DESERVES the Grace of God, nor do we deserve His mercies, so before we judge the movie by its cover, or a person by their past, we should really look at this movie as a great ministry tool. A tool that we can bring our friends to see this movie and let it minister to their hearts.After all, the movie is based on a true story. The man who found God and changed his life ALL the way around after meeting and falling in love with a Church Girl is one who wrote this movie and conceptualized it.

The message that the producers, the actors the staff, the creators  want us to understand is that no matter who you are, where you are from, how you grew up, what kind of big, criminal, deadly, etc. mess you’ve been in., Jesus. Loves. You. and He wants More. For. You.

Go see this movie and bring a crew with you. Bring some kids from school, brings some friends from work, bring your spouse whoever, from wherever and as they told us at the movie tour, buy the popcorn! 

I hope you all go see the movie! Add them on twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, whatever, just get the word out about this movie. I will because I am actually excited about what this movie can do for God’s church!
Check out the official website: http://www.iminlovewithachurchgirl.com

 

Church isnt Everything

Church isn’t everything but THE Church is. The people who praise God and the praise is connected deep down in their hearts and they work daily to please God- this is what matters the very most.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Quest of Fire Youth Conference hosted by Bishop Hezekiah Walker of New York. It was a great weekend filled with praise and worship to God along with a word from several phenomenal speakers. Plus great gospel artists where their, like Tye Tribbett, Vashawn Mitchell and Anthony Brown, that had me giddy because I so love a great voice. It was great.

But what I wanted to write about today is Beginning a New Life. What I heard this weekend was summed up to the question, “what is your relationship like with God?” Why is everything else so much more important to you than God? I’ve always loved going to church, I’ve always loved gospel music and praising our Savior Jesus, but what is going on with my personal “behind-closed-doors” relationship with my God?

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I read a lot of books and magazines, but when, besides in church, do I open the Bible to read it…consistently? I also love to write but when do I write about God and how having a relationship with God has changed me? I want a pure, celibate, righteous life, but how is that going? I want to shine a light in the world, but am I not always checking my face to turn that “natural frown” upside down?

I’ve realized that Jesus is knocking at the door of my life and I’ve finally turned the music down low enough to number one, hear Him knocking. And number two, realize,  when I open the door, that I’ve left him outside of my life and not allowed Salvation to really be a part of my life.

So, I sit here thinking of all the things in my life that I have done wrong and I say, “Woe is me, how can I be saved? I’ve had this pity party but,  I know Jesus seeks people like me out and I know all I have to simply do is say yes and get committed to being better. I just haven’t acted on it yet. So, I’ve decided to act on my faith and delve deeper, because I’m tired of just going to church. It’s time to be part of THE CHURCH. Christ’s Church he died for.

 

Love you all!

Live. Love. Limitless.

 

-Monica

 

New Findings and Goodies

Wow! Today has been a “Discovering” Day for me. I love finding 1 website and then and another and another and another and Today was one of those days.

So, my adventure started on Tia & Tamera’s blog found here. I, due to some horrible technical difficulty, had not been able to view their blog (or Lala Anthony’s) for several weeks. But, gladly that issue was resolved yesterday and I’ve been catching up. Since it was a slow day, I was taking my time to really browse the site. Which, in turn, lead me to my Pinterest page and I had to pin quite a few things onto my growing but still scarce boards. Now, only a few websites are time killers for me and Pinterest is definitely on of them. But, with my job, that has me sitting at a desk doing nothing, literally for hours on end, most days, Pinterest and other site like it come in handy.

Anywho, exploring Pinterest led me to another lovely site called The Every Girl which I am in love with. After browsing it, I immediately followed it’s Twitter page, liked it on Facebook and Followed all of its Pinterest boards.(Stalk much??) WOW! What can I say about the site? It includes all things great to me. They cover Fashion, They have this Handbook that I thought was so helpful and absolutely amazing. There was so much on the site that, I still have not exhausted it completely. In fact my tab is still open and when I am done typing this,I will be perusing their site even more.

Further, I can’t be the only one who likes seeing that they made Forbes’ “Top 100 Websites for Women 2012” as well as their “Top 10 Sites for Millennial Women”

MM-Kay. I love you all. Thanks for reading. I’ll blog ya later. Live. Love. Limitless!

Happy Day after Valentine’s Day

I feel sch-mucky to wrote bout it after the fact, but I was busy yesterday, basking in the glow of a wonderful Valentine’s Day. 

The night before, I was actually working a graveyard shift (7pm-7am) so my morning was filled with ZZZ’s. But after I woke up I was surprised with Chocolate covered strawberry my babes ordered for me. They were amazing. Sweet strawberries dipped in milk-, white- and dark chocolate and drizzled with chocolate, covered in walnuts and mini chocolate chips. They are SOOO yummy I even brought a few with me to enjoy after lunch 🙂

Then after canoodling for most of the day, we enjoyed dinner at Pampas Grille. I actually suggested it because its a new Brazilian Steakhouse at Cityplace in downtown West Palm Beach.  

At a company Christmas party, Jahmel won a $30 gift card and complimentary drink card, for Pampas Grille, so we went to lunch back in December and it was great. They have rodizio service, which features servers who carry large skewers of meat around the restaurant for patrons to eat. They also have a sides buffet and wines, homemade sodas, Caipirinhas and other mixed drinks. Some of the meat selections included a spicy chicken leg, pork leg, lamb, bacon wrapped filet, bacon wrapped chicken, top sirloin, among other items. The optional surf and turf adds butter-basted shrimp, scallops, salmon and shark to your dinner. 

The icing on the cake? Yesterday’s Valentine’s Day Special added a bottle of champagne and a chocolate mousse and chocolate dipped strawberries dessert, all for $79. It was great! After dinner Jahmel and I were trying to decide on what to do next. Bowling? A movie? Mini golf? ut since there was an impending severe thunderstorm watch, we decided cuddling at home was our best option. And cuddle we did. 

 

All in all yesterday was great. Today is great and I feel Blessed, Loved and Hopeful for the future.