Very recently, I made an addition to my morning routine: exercise.

Whenever I wake up in the mornings, I eat breakfast and I pray. After I pray to the Lord in my prayer closet, I drive my car to the gym closest to me and I exercise. For me, exercise is so important so that I can allow my Maker to make and create my body to be a temple for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen!

~”Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”~1 Corinthians 6:19, ESV~

Before I began to exercise, I had a very painful accident happen to me. As I was taking my morning walk in the neighborhood, I fell on the ground. No. I did not trip. I fell. I fell on the ground pavement and I bruised my left ankle. While no bones in my body were broken (thankfully), this was a rude awakening to me from God.

I thought. And I thought. And I thought about what God could be trying to teach me through this accident that occurred to me about one week ago. So, I went into my prayer closet, and I prayed about this matter.

As I prayed, the Lord spoke to me about my health. He showed me that I would develop health problems if I did not take care of my body through means of physical exercise. Physical exercise is pleasing to God for two reasons: it is self-care for my soul and it is what allows for my Maker and Creator to mold and make my body into the temple that He has called it to become for His glory.

This means that each time that I go to the gym and exercise that I am being a good steward of my body. I am being a good steward to this temple of mine that is called my body. The Lord made me. Therefore, I must give Him all of the glory that He deserves as He molds and makes my body a Living Eden for Him.

Whenever I go to the gym, I get on the elliptical and I exercise. I stay on the elliptical for 45 minutes. I have not added anything new to my exercise routine yet, but I am going to meet with a personal trainer in the next week to speak with him or her about adding additional exercises to my morning routine as well as teach me about healthy foods to eat and not to eat as I make plans to lose weight. My goal is to lose 80 lbs.

~”Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”~James 5:16, ESV~

I will continue to remain faithful in prayer through this process. I encourage you to pray for me too. Amen!

I believe in God.

I’ve written many blog posts stating my belief in God. One of the reasons that I believe in God is because of the good that He has allowed in my life (especially with providing me with the abundant life) that is found in Jesus Christ.

~”Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”~John 6:35, ESV~

I have moments of my life, where I feel very thirsty. This thirst that I feel is not physical, but spiritual. I thirst for God. I thirst for Jehovah. I thirst for the Lord.

I long for the rains of Heaven to pour out upon the earth and upon me from the Holy Spirit of God. I desire for Heaven to rain down on me the fruits of the Holy Spirit of God which I am lacking. I wish for God to let it rain agape love upon the earth.

All that I have to do is believe in God. All that I have to do is to trust in Jesus and believe that only He alone can save me. All that that I have to do is to walk on water and trust in Jesus, the Author of my storybook and the Perfecter of my faith.

As I browse among the flowers in my neighborhood, I think about the goodness of God. I think about His great love for me and for His mercy for me. The mercy of God is like in those moments when He provides the world with rain. The mercy of God is never ending. The mercy of God extends to the world like the rain as it waters the flowers and provides humans with the nourishment that they need to be satisfied in Christ.

~”Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”~John 8:12, ESV~

As I come to the well and drink of the water of Christ, I have the abundant life of Christ pouring on the inside of me. The rain water of this abundant life of Christ begins to pour down on me as I take in this abundant life of Christ that the Lord intended for me to live. It is for this reason that I thirst for the Lord. I thirst for the well that is full of His abundant life that longs to satisfy me. I long for the Lord. I thirst for the Lord.

As I leave the well, I am completely filled and satisfied. I am full of living water and walking on in the abundant life that Christ intended for me to walk. I will continue to stay on this course of the abundant life walk until that day I see Jesus face to face. What a glorious day that will be for me! Amen!

~”But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”~Isaiah 40:31, ESV~

I love sunsets.

One of the reasons that I love sunsets is because they remind me that God is always the End because He is the Ending of every chapter of my life, as my Author.

~”From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!”~Psalm 113:3, ESV~

I praise the Lord for setting the sun on the chapters of my life that needed an ending. I praise the Lord for ending chapters of my life that needed to be ended because they cannot go on forever. God is the Beginning and God is the Ending. Amen!

A couple of years ago, my friends from college decided to end their friendships with me. While I did not understand and felt very hurt about their decisions to end their friendships with me, I still continued to pray to the Lord for why He decided to end these friendships, that were so near and dear to my heart.

Now that I look back on this situation, I thank God for removing these friendships because the people who were in my life at the time did not need to be in my life presently (now). I am not saying that their reason for being in my life was a waste of time nor was it not necessary. In fact, it helped me to get to my destiny and to where God was trying to lead and take me. I am saying that it was God’s judgment call as to whether or not these friends were necessary to be in my life at the time that God decided to remove them from my life. Praise the Lord!!

Was I thankful to God that He removed these friendships from my life in the past? No. Am I thankful to God that He removed these friendships from my life now? Yes.

I am now a more joyful, happier, and more sound woman of God than I was when these friends were in my life in the past. God has different times and seasons for us to meet friends. Sometimes, friends are meant to stay in your life for a reason and a season. Other times, friends are meant to be in your life for a life time. It is up to God to set the sun on friendships and up to God to decide whether certain friendships are meant to stay in one’s life for a season or for a lifetime. God is the Ultimate Judge. I am just His servant, who is obeying His will for my life.

~”So that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.”~Psalm 65:8, ESV~

The sunsets shout for joy to the Lord. The sunsets praise Jehovah for His timing. The sunsets magnify the creation of God as He sets the sun on every chapter of my life. Hallelujah and amen!

This Father’s Day, I am not spending it with my earthly father.

I have many issues in my current family that hinder me and my earthly father from having a relationship at the moment. But, I will spend Father’s Day rejoicing because of the love that my Heavenly Father shows me.

~”The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”~Jeremiah 31:3, KJV~

I always knew that God loves me. On certain days, it is hard for me to accept because I do not have a relationship with my earthly father. I will use this Father’s Day 2020 to bless my own earthly father and not curse him so that he can experience the love of Christ in and through me. It is my prayer that he will one day be saved. But, that choice is entirely up to him, as God showed me, and as a result of the work that God is doing to save my earthly father.

I love my earthly father very much. I also care about my earthly father very deeply. At the same time, I have to keep reminding myself that only God can save my earthly father through the power of His agape love. Even if I do not hear from my father this Father’s Day, I am content with it because I know that my Heavenly Father God loves me more than my earthly father loves me.

I make this statement because as fallen humans in a fallen world, we do not love others as we should in the way that Christ first loved us through His death on the cross and His resurrection. My earthly father is not perfect and neither am I and that is why all fathers on this big, green earth need Jesus this Father’s Day.

I hope to reconcile with my earthly father some day. I hope that he will forgive me of my sins just as God forgave him of his sins and I have forgiven my father for his past offenses towards me too. It is my prayer that my earthly father will see that God so loves him and desires a relationship with him. It is my prayer that my earthly father will see how much he needs Jesus because of his sin nature like I need Jesus because of my sin nature. I am in no way bashing my father because I love him very much. I am only praying for him to come to know Jesus as His Lord and Savior.

I believe that if my father chooses to reconcile with God that he will be open to reconcile with me, as his daughter. That is where true love and true forgiveness begins. This is also where the healing starts.

I choose to forgive my father this Father’s Day. I choose to love my father with the love of Christ this Father’s Day, even if it may be at a distance this season. I choose to reconcile with my father when he is ready, even if it is not on Father’s Day 2020. I will be patient and wait on God to work on my father.

I won’t give up on my father. I won’t stop praying for him or loving him. I am always there for him until that day that he is ready to speak to me again, in the Name of Jesus Christ. God bless my father this Father’s Day 2020! Amen!

As I watch the sunrise in the early morning, I think of the new hope that I have in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

This hope that I have is a renewed sense of hope. This hope that I have gives me a renewed sense of boldness and confidence in the King of kings and Lord of lords. This hope that I have gives me a strong sense of peace.

~”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”~2 Corinthians 5:17, English Standard Version~

As I was journaling during my quiet time in my notebook this morning, I kept hearing the Lord give me the words, “Renewed peace.” With everything going on in the world right now, we need a renewed sense of peace among the races. Jesus loves all of the races very much. Of course, all lives matter to Jesus. But, African-American lives and African lives matter to Jesus too.

I have the conviction that as racial communities in this country be the light of Jesus Christ to the African-Americans in this country and to African lives around the world that the light and love of Jesus Christ will shine through in the darkest parts of this age. This means letting go of the things that should not matter. This means letting go of hatred. This means letting go of unrest. This means letting go of name-calling, bickering, and betrayal and learning to embrace each other’s burdens, in the Name of Jesus Christ, as united peoples of this country and the world.

As racial communities learn to love one another, they are bearing each other’s burdens. They are uniting together in love through the unconditional love of Christ, which comes acceptance past the color of their skin. They are forgiving each other for past sins as they learn to see each other through the lens of Christ and not through the lens of the world.

Seeing the world through Heaven’s eyes overcomes the eyes that are of this world. It overcomes hypocrisy and the judgemental mentality that is not of Christ. This is because Christ is love.

~”For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“~Romans 8:38-39, New International Version~

It is my prayer that all races will unite together in this cause for the love of Christ. I pray that all races will see each other past the colors of their skin and see each other as the human beings that God made them. I pray that someday, a renewed sense of peace will touch all of the human races across this country and the world. I pray that human beings will let this renewed sense of peace protrude in their lives as the light of God shines through and overcomes, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

I pray for peace. I pray for a renewed sense of hope and a renewed sense of peace for every human race today. God bless you!

Besides the dream of becoming a future author, I have a dream to become a future counselor.

The dream to become a counselor is a dream that God Almighty planted on the inside of me. This dream to become a counselor is really special to me because it is all a part of the great plans that Jehovah has for me to reach the lost.

~”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“~Jeremiah 29:11, NIV~

A couple of years ago, I met a friend, who I went on a missions trip to the country of Lebanon with my church. She is a counselor and I was very inspired after meeting her to become a counselor because of her character and the way that she asked deep and meaningful questions.

I prayed about this endeavor for me to become a future counselor, but the Lord led me to wait for a few years before beginning my studies with Liberty University’s online program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. This would be my third Master of Arts degree, except that it would not be a seminary-related degree.

After three years of waiting, the Lord led me to obtain a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University in the Fall 2019. The Lord led me to wait for this long because He knew that I was not ready yet to begin this career to become a Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Now that God has allowed for me to go through many things, I am ready to study to become a counselor.

This Summer 2020 is my third semester that I am in this program to become a Clinical Mental Health Counselor. The Lord has proven His faithfulness over time. A couple of months ago, I went to the Liberty University campus for my intensive class. One of the students shared with me that she believed that I would make a great counselor. Praise the Lord for giving me this confirmation through this person!

I have learned many counseling techniques, ranging from paraphrasing to scaling to challenging skills and reflection of feeling. I have also learned about many counseling theories. Out of all of the counseling theories that I have learned, I like Person-Centered Theory and Cognitive Theory the most because they give me a chance to put myself in the shoes of the future client as I work with him or her to identify the automatic thoughts, modes, and schemas of his or thinking and replace them with more rationale thinking.

I am thankful to God for getting me through this far in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Liberty University. I am set to graduate in the Spring 2022.

~”Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”~Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV~

Praise the Lord for getting me through this far in my future career in Clinical Mental Health Counseling! I cannot wait until that day that I become Sarah A Dickens, LPC!

When I wake up in the morning, I have a routine.

This routine that I have established has been a part of my life since quarantine began in March 2020. I wake up, I make breakfast for myself, I read a devotional book, I read a book on Christianity, and I pray. I have not broken this routine since March 2020.

~”Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”~2 Timothy 2:15, ESV~

~”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”~2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV~

One of the reasons that I have not broken this routine is because routines are Godly. Routines are what keep my mind focused and centered on Christ. Routines guard my heart from any form of evil. Routines center my mind on the King of kings and Lord of lords, my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Prayer is one of the most important parts of my routine because it gives me a space to communicate with God. I pray for an hour on most days. Sometimes, I will pray for a shorter time. Other days, I will pray for almost an hour, but not quite an hour.

I like prayer because it gets me ready for the whole day. Prayer prepares me for the whole day because it is what motivates me to do homework for school (I am a Liberty University Online student studying for my Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling), go to work at my job, and succeed in all that I put my heart and my mind into for the day.

I cannot live a day without prayer. I cannot live a day without prayer because it strengthens me to continue to go on as I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father. Prayer is power for me. Prayer is power indeed, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

~”If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”~John 15:7, ESV~

As I abide in the Lord, I believe that God alone will answer my prayers. As I abide in the Lord, I believe that through the power of Jesus Christ that He will answer my prayers. As I abide in the Lord, I believe that my obedience to Him will pay off as I continue to pray without ceasing.

God is faithful. God has always been faithful to me. I cannot wait until that day that I am continually praising the Lord for His goodness and for His faithfulness to me in this dark age. I will praise Him, always and forever! Amen!

~”But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”~Matthew 6:6, ESV~

God will reward me in secret. God will reward me openly for continuing to pray to Him. I praise Him, day and night! Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah!

I love flowers. I love especially the tulips that God Almighty created.

A couple of days ago, I went on another walk. Oh, how I love my morning walks as they give me an opportunity to converse with the Lord!

As I went on my morning walk, I saw with my two eyes yellow tulips. These yellow tulips were very beautiful indeed! I could not help but admire these yellow tulips.

~”The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”~Song of Solomon, 2:12, ESV~

As I stare at these yellow tulips intently, I imagine myself taking a selfie with the Lord and the tulips in the picture. I get my camera from my cellphone and I take a couple of photos. God, myself, and I are in these photos. Even though I cannot see God, I know that He is there because His presence is with me wherever I go and His hand is holding me very tight, not letting go of me.

I admire these yellow tulips that the Lord God took time to create. They are so beautiful! Since they are the color yellow, they make me think of a golden crown. The Lord God has crowned me with a golden crown and I gladly receive it with joy in the Holy Spirit.

Like these tulips, I am dainty. Like these yellow tulips, I am delicate. Like these yellow tulips, I am unique, set apart from every other flower, and beautiful. I call myself a Lily of the Valley that is set apart, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

~”I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.~Song of Solomon 2:1, ESV~

I call myself a Lily of the Valley because the Lord has set me apart with His two hands. I call myself a Lily of the Valley because the Lord has called me for a purpose and a destiny that is unique from everyone else’s purpose and destiny. I call myself a Lily of the Valley because the Lord loves me with an everlasting love and it is with that He makes a covenant with me for me to love Him beyond my understanding. Oh, how deeply I love God! But, oh how intimately the Lord loves me more than I could ever imagine!

I will never forget the Lord’s great love for me. I will never forget the Lord’s majestic hands that He fashioned me with in order to create me. I will never forget the Lord’s goodness and mercy that He has shown me, time and time again. How majestic is the Name of Jesus!

And it is with that I am calm in the presence of the Lord as I pick up a tulip, close my eyes, and imagine myself in His presence. What a great and beautiful moment that this is to my memory! Amen!

I pray to God that He will never forget me and always remember me by name. He is a God of promises and my WayMaker. Amen!

~”Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.~”Isaiah 49:16, KJV~

As I was walking the other day, I saw a swing on a tree.

This swing that was on the tree was just hanging there, static and not moving. It seemed very stable and yet so calm. It was as if the Holy Spirit of God wanted to push the swing as if I were on it.

~”And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”~Mark 11:22-24, ESV~

I wanted so badly to get on the swing, but I knew that it would break if I were to sit down on it and try to give myself a push. Perhaps sometime I could get on the swing and expect God to push me. Only faith can cause mountains to move. Only faith can cause this swing to move.

Faith. Even just a little faith can cause a mountain that is so big to move out of the way so that God can take me where He wants to take me. God has a purpose and a plan for my life. I cannot just remain static, like this swing.

I walked past the swing as I listened to my Christian music playlist on my phone. I continued to think about the swing. This swing did not move, yet I wanted it to move.

On another day that I walked past the swing, I noticed a father and his little girl were near the swing. The father put his little girl on the swing and he pushed her on the swing. Oh, how marvelous this sight was to me!

This sight made me think about how good my Heavenly Father is and how much like this Father that He is like in this moment that I saw with my eyes. God could push me on the swing. God can use His two hands, through the power of His Holy Spirit, and push me up, up, and up towards Heaven. I may not be a little girl anymore, but I am His princess and daughter of the King of kings and Lord of lords. I have faith that if He can move this swing, then He can move me to my next level: to my destiny.

~”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”~Jeremiah 29:11, NIV~

I have faith. I have confidence in my Lord and Savior that Jesus can move me up. I have faith the size of a mustard seed that God can move me upward to my destiny. All things are possible, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

And during that moment, I walked away from the swing, feeling deeply inspired and deeply impacted to move on: upward bound and to my destiny, as God has called me to walk on.

The sky looks bright and beautiful.

These were the words that I spoke to myself as I looked up into the sky to take a picture of the clouds and the sun surrounding the sky. The sky looked bright and beautiful as the hands of God made it look like a painting with the stroke of a paintbrush.

~”Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”~1 Thessalonians 4:17, ESV~

Looking at these clouds in the sky made me think of the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus is coming soon. Yes. The sky looks bright and beautiful. And yes. Jesus Christ is coming back soon.

There will be a day in an unknown season to mankind when the hands of God will take away those who are born again in Christ Jesus into Heaven. Those who know Jesus will reign with Christ in Heaven someday. They will reign in Heaven, in the Name of Jesus Christ!

Jesus is my Lord. Yes, I believe that Jesus is my Lord. Jesus is my Savior. Yes, I believe that Jesus is my Savior. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I believe that Jesus is my King.

As long as I live on the face of the earth, I will bow to Jesus. Even during the coming of Jesus Christ, I will bow to Jesus. I will take a bow to Jesus Christ.

I take a bow to Jesus Christ because He has saved me. Jesus has saved me from the power of sin and death. Jesus has brought me into my destiny and causes for my dreams to come to pass. My dreams will come to pass in this life. Thank You Jesus!

Jesus makes the impossible possible for me because He works all things out for my good. Even as He has written my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, Jesus makes all things possible. He makes all things new.

Jesus is the Giver of my life. Jesus is the Sustainer of my life. Jesus makes all things new for me. Even during the second coming of my King, Jesus reigns and He is the Ruler of my life.

Jesus established Heaven and Earth above me. Jesus established my feet to make footprints of greatness in Heaven’s heights. Heaven is my portion. Do you receive Heaven as your portion? Do you believe that Jesus is coming back soon?

~”Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.~Matthew 26:64, ESV~

~”I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”~Isaiah 14:14, ESV~