All I know is the way I feel
And if it's real I'm gonna keep it alive
- BeBe and CeCe Winans
The mind is a terrible thing. A beautiful thing, but a terrible thing. Snippets of this song began to plan in my head about a week ago for no reason. I didn't hear it on the radio nor Instagram nor YouTube; it just invaded me. So I said to the blog we'll go! The thing that was so weird and funny for me was my trip down to Google plaza to see what the Lyrics actually are versus the ones that I sing in the shower. I laughed so hard to myself because I totally forgot about the movie An Officer and a Gentleman. I totally forgot about the famous scene with Richard Gere and the folks that first made this song popular. For me it was just BeBe and CeCe. Always.
I love the emotion that's evoked by this song secularly as well as in the gospel vein. Even now I sit in virtual silence as I type this and the hook of "Lord lift us up, Jesus" is on repeat in my head. I know it was love that lifted me more times than I can even count. Not just when I was sick, not just when my marriage looked like it was failing, but even when I was having problems in graduate school or at corporate jobs. God found a way to get the message to me that everything was going to be okay and I could trust Him with my difficulties. Whether it was a friend pulling me away from my desk to go get some lunch or an unexpected phone call to make me laugh and get a sense of ease for the moment. It all came back to love and specifically the love of God. There's simply no other explanation for it.
The Lyrics this week speak to the realness of that feeling of love and not wanting it to go away. It actually reminds me of a line of scripture. The line in particular speaks to the notion that we as believers have to stir up our gifts. We have to stoke the flames of our passion for what God has assigned us. Yours may be youth or seniors, it may be those that are ill or grieving. Mine is for women who have lost a sense of their real selves and who God created them to be in the world today. More and more I find myself on the soapbox speaking to anyone who will listen about the importance of women being well-rounded, fully developed followers of Christ who know their Purpose and walk it out everyday. It's a challenge I set for myself a few years ago and it has become my mission to take as many women as possible along with me.
My aim is to create a culture of spiritually centered independently wealthy women leaders in ministry, community, and industry. I want to empower my sisters to have it all- all that God has assigned them and all that God wishes to reward them. This lights my heart on fire. This gets me out of bed everyday. This is my life's work. And it starts by taking off the costumes, peeling off the masks. It starts by us finding our voices again. It starts by us looking deep as well as being brave. Our homes, communities and society as a whole will be better when women can stand up and be real. Women have to understand that we are worthy of love and we are made to give love. Love will lift us (up where we belong) when nothing else will help. And we have to do whatever it takes to keep that alive because it is the realist thing we will ever know. atb
