Count Your Blessings...

     As we come upon the Thanksgiving holiday, we should take time to thank God for the many blessings that he has bestowed upon us.  It is great that we have family and friends to spend our holidays with, but remember that someone, somewhere has no one to spend their holiday with.  Remember that someone is not going to have a big holiday feast, as we may.  If at all possible, invite someone to dinner who may not have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving or provide them with a gift card to a restaurant that will be open on Thanksgiving Day.  Remember that God is love and that giving is a part of exercising His love...

Enjoy your holiday...

LaTorya L. Nettles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwKlR5vNs6E

LaTorya's Motivational Space: When in Doubt, Praise!

LaTorya's Motivational Space: When in Doubt, Praise!: "As Christians there will be many times when we may doubt the word of the Lord, but always remember that this is what the enemy wants. He wa..."

When in Doubt, Praise!

As Christians there will be many times when we may doubt the word of the Lord, but always remember that this is what the enemy wants.  He wants you to believe that the words of God are just words with no power and that they are not true.  It was His words that were used to create the earth.  Now that's powerful.  He just spoke and things came to be... (see Genesis 1).  Because we are to walk by faith and not by sight, we have to stand  on His word no matter what our circumstances look like in the natural realm.  When those tough times come and it looks like God is not going to do what He said  He would do, this presents an opportunity for you to exercise your faith by praising Him and by continuing to speak His word - His promises to you.  So remember, when in doubt, let out a shout...and everything will be OK.

LaTorya L. Nettles

Forgive & Move On...

I was watching The Color Purple Cast Reunion on Oprah the other day and was reminded of how important forgiveness is.  For years, Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg had no communication after filming the movie.  When they finally sat down on the show to discuss the movie, they both realized that their communication really ceased because Oprah thought that Whoopi was mad at her and Whoopi thought that Oprah was mad at her.  When it came down to it, neither individual was mad at the other.  They both, in essence, kissed and made up.  That's forgiveness!  Jesus says in Matthew 6, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Do you ever think about something that someone did to you years ago?  When you think about it does it continue to bother you?  If you answered yes, then it is time to put forgiveness in motion.  It may be that the person really hurt you, but in order to live a Kingdom life, you have to forgive.  Don't let something like pride keep you from letting go and letting God work a wondrous miracle in your life. 

Forgiveness is so freeing...Why don't you start living life without limits by forgiving those who may have caused you any pain and see how liberating it is...

LaTorya L. Nettles

Older Women Need to Take The Lead...

Many of us have seen an older woman with her wrinkled skin, gray hair, clutching her purse tightly under her arm.  You think, what a sweet little lady, but as soon as you complete that sentence you hear words come out of her mouth that would make a sailor blush.

I have often heard many older women say whatever comes to mind (nothing nice, of course) and think that they are justified by their age to say whatever they wish.  And please don't get me started on the 'mothers' of the church.  Some of them have some of the worse attitudes than anyone you will ever run across.  Many stand with judgmental attitudes, wondering why none of the young ladies will listen to anything they have to say, but as it is often said, we lead by being the example. 

In the second chapter of Titus, older women are instructed to serve as an example to younger women - teaching them what is good.  It seems that in this day and age, many older women are doing the opposite of this and are trying to relive the days of their youth.  We often see older women in super-short dresses, living under the same roof with a man for years to someone who is not her husband, and gossiping about everything that goes on in someone else's household.  And we wonder why the youth of today is in disarray.

We hear so much about the younger generation is doing this, or the younger generation is doing that when many of the older generation are doing the same things in which the younger generation is.  The younger generation is only mimicking what they are seeing the older generation do. 

We need for the older women to step up to the plate and take the lead.  Embrace those that are younger and show them how to talk, walk, and live in excellence....

You Have An Idea...Use It, Before You Lose It!

After undergrad, I moved to St. Louis, Missouri to stay with a close friend who had landed a job in the city a year earlier.  She was gracious enough to let me stay with her until I could find a job and get on my feet.  She and I used to laugh and talk about the things that we wanted to do in the future - business wise.  We always had really creative ideas and we knew that one day those great ideas were going to bring in the bucks.

One day, I had this really great idea.  I had it all worked out in my mind, commercial and all.  I shared this idea with my friend when she returned home from work and I thought that she would be just excited as I was about my idea, but she laughed so hard that I thought she was going to hurt herself.  So that was that.  I never mentioned the idea again and kept other ideas to myself. 

But, guess what happened one day?  We were watching television and on comes this commercial.  What was the commercial about?  The very product that I had once discussed with my friend.  What was my idea? It was an enhancement to an existing product - adding a camera to the cell phone.  OK, laugh if you may, but someone else had this vision too and are laughing all the way to the bank.

Have you ever had an idea that you thought would enhance an existing product or service?  What did you do with that idea?  Did you write it down with hopes to use it one day?  Did you start researching the project but lost the motivation to complete it?  Maybe you ran your idea by a friend and they laughed at you.   Whatever your idea is, rest assured, someone else has probably had the same or similar idea and it truly comes down to who is going to be the one to execute the idea.  You will learn that you can't always share your ideas with everyone.  God gave Y-O-U the idea or vision and they really won't be able to see where you are headed with it. 

Todd Greene is a great example of someone who had their idea laughed at but is now laughing all the way to the bank.  Mr. Greene is the creator of a product called HeadBlade(RT).  Mr. Greene was going bald and was having problems shaving his head with a traditional razor so he created a razor that would allow users to more easily control the razor while shaving (http://www.headblade.com).  Mr. Greene ran his product ideas by some of the major companies that sold razors and related products and was turned down.  He then took matters into his own hand and used funds borrowed from family and friends to create his product.  The same companies that turned him down are now his clients.

Your idea may seem far-fetched and hard to reach, but remember that with God, all things are possible (Philippians 4:13).  Don't let fear set in, take the vision and run with it (Habakkuk 2).  Take those ideas and use them!!!!!!

LaTorya L. Nettles

New Format

I am still working out the format for this blog.  I can't tell you how therapeutic it is to express my self via blogging.  Now, instead of blogging every day, I will blog only three days a week.  Those days will be Mondays, Wednesdays, and on Fridays.  As things progress, there may be a need to blog on other days, but I will be sure to keep you posted. 

Mondays will be dedicated to conversations pertaining to walking in your purpose.  So get ready on Mondays to operate in your purpose and to walk towards entrepreneurship.

I am so looking forward to hearing from you as we continue on this journey...

LaTorya L. Nettles