I Am Not My Own

"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, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

I love these verses. Not only because they cancel out everything the world says about our body belonging to us so we can do what we want, but they also shows us how sacred our body is. Our body is a temple. The definition of a temple is an edifice or place dedicated to the service or worship of a deity (God, for us Christians). A temple is also a place of  that the Holy Spirit inhabits. My body is a temple....that's a pretty sobering discovery. The Holy Spirit lives in me. In me! So....that means that it must always be kept clean, must always be cleansed, checked for cracks, leaks etc.

I am not my own. Well, that changes everything. If I was my own, I can do whatever, whenever, however with whoever, but since I was bought with a price (Jesus' blood) and now belong to Him; I have to live a life that allows Him to be able to call on me at all times...that being said I move to my next topic.

Lately, I have taken out certain things (coffee...sigh..., excess sugars, salts, etc.) from my eating habits because I have to start beating my body into shape for the dance ministry. And from my daily devotionals, God seems to agree with me. To be honest, it has to be one of the hardest things to do: to remind myself that my body is the Lord's temple and what I do or don't do (insert lack of exercise and sleep) and put into it really matters. So when I went for that run last week and my body was crying out in protest I had to recite Philippians 4:13 to myself (literally, it was that bad) to keep going.

The good thing is I'm noticing the difference already, and I am going to need the extra energy for the 6 hour rehearsals with the dance teams and that doesn't even include the hours for working on the dances and music.....which brings me to the next topic: music. I love good music; get a guitar and drums involved and I am happy, get some soca involved and you have trouble. Lol, what can I say, its the Barbadian in me. My hips just start to move. I have to admit lately I have drifted from my Christian music to secular indie bands and my old poison of choice: Maroon 5. Listening to Maroon 5 and trying to keep pure thoughts is not possible, I mean have heard their lyrics? Their lyrics give me visuals....visuals grow into desires....desires grow into opportunities.....opportunities grow into sin....sin prevents me from ministering in dance....which prevents the message that God has called me to deliver to be aborted....which puts me back at square one....which is me further back than where I need to be....which translated to delete Maroon 5 off of my Pandora.
 So, now that I am aware of what I am putting in my temple, how I am taking care of my temple, the music that I listen to that sets an atmosphere of worship, He will always be able to us me... I can't wait to get there. Be blessed.

2011 Plans

So....I have been thinking about 2011 and what it means for me: Another year to get closer to who I am called to be. So these are the things I am looking forward to:

Designing: So....where do I start? I am planning to enter the Operation Bridal Dress this year for real (lol). The deadline is like next week, so I have to start asap. I am looking forward to purchasing 2 dress forms (1 size 6 or 8, the other size 16). I was blessed with a sewing machine by my founder of my church. I will be practicing with patterns, fabrics, etc. learning how to sew and design old school. By September, I should be ready for the Parsons Fashion Design Certificate Program.

Dance: I can't wait to start dancing again; I miss the freedom and discipline of it. I have events at church that I will have to start working on and now that we have 3 dance groups in the ministry I will have my hands full (but I won't complain; I'm actually looking forward to it). I am looking into Modern Dance, and Jazz now. I will always go back to Ballet but I want to broaden my abilities.

Wedding Planning: I guess this will end up being a part-time job soon, lol. I am in the process of planning my cousins wedding and pretty soon a sister from my church as well. I have the Love Dinner that is coming up in February and I will be in charge of the design and set up. We will be able to have more freedom and funds now that everyone is looking forward to it this year.


Decorating: I was planning on moving out but after some praying I realize I should stay in my current apartment (which is huge) and redecorate. As soon as I told my sister she got excited and nearly passed out. I am looking around for some cool pieces to make the apartment more like us.

Relationships/Friendships: Big problem in this area. I don't trust women enough to want to be around them. I have a couple of girlfriends that I trust and would do anything for but that's it. I have made a new guy friend who loves museums and whatnot so we have been running around everywhere late last year and early this year together but I'm still waiting for God to introduce more God-fearing and trust worthy friends into my circle. Relationship wise: I leave that COMPLETELY in God's hands. Lol.

Volunteer Work: I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in Boxes of Love last year. This year I would love to do more volunteer and community work. My dream goal is to be able to travel and do something amazing like Habitat for Humanity.

Hair: I want to understand my hair and not get frustrated and keep it short. I also would love to see my natural hair colour, so I will try (try being the key word) to not colour my hair as well. I don't consider myself a "natural" or on a discovery. I am just the same ole my (minus my gamine cut).

Health: I want to stay on top of eating healthy. I also want to stay fit (Love my hourglass; so I don't want to lose any weight).

Last but not least Spiritual Walk: Sigh.... where do I begin? I want to grow and have a better understanding of the word. I want to be an example to the younger girls that for some reason always find themselves attached to me. Most importantly I want to love unconditionally; that's a hard thing I'm learning. Loving people has been a hard thing for me; the more I am exposed to human nature the more I want to stay to myself....but apparently that's not God's will for me -_-



So, if it's God's will that I see the end of the year I can't wait to check off everything on this list (even the hair stuff, lol). Be blessed, and have an amazing and powerful New Year!

Bon Appetit!

I am in a serious cooking mood. I am going to cook up a storm this weekend! I just got this recipe from a coworker of mine for salmon and I am so excited its sad, lol. I love to cook, I find it relaxing. I think that the fact I am a wonderful dresser and chef makes me even cooler (not to mention I am a total geek, lol). I have a magazine called Bon Appetit, it has the coolest recipes and now that I am going to start eating healthy (my family is vegetarians) I have to find healthier habits. So now that I will try to eat healthier (try being the key word) I will try to get some exercise in as well. I haven’t gone jogging since last year! I know, its bad. Just keep the prayer there. Lol.