Be You BRAVEly

Well its a New Year, Twenty Seventeen and if you are reading this blog post You Made It!!
I am super excited for this year simply because I am here, I am Alive and God has entrusted in me a charge to take the world by storm and do what He has allowed me to do in the earth, can I get an Amen!

Okay– I’m done preaching, but I truly am excited.

Honestly for the first time in a long time I feel like I am truly myself. I am the true Takima I was always meant to be and I am so comfortable and content in my own skin. I have some settling (As my sister – friend Stephanie) to do into myself but overall I am loving me. It took me some time to get to this place but I am oh so glad I am here, FINALLY!

This is my first blog of the year and I want it to encourage you. Two years ago I want to say, God birthed something in me. I didn’t quite know what it would turn into but now 2 years later it’s turned into my brand and represents me to the core. I started a lifestyle brand called, “The BRAVE Life” and it has grown into something that I never even imagined. Being BRAVE is something that most of us want to be, desire to be or just are, right? For some of us we have to grow into our BRAVENESS and that takes time. For me it took 5 years. 5 years ago I had a baby. Each year I learned and grew into a different aspect of being BRAVE:
Year 1 Boldness
Year 2 Resiliency
Year 3 Authenticity
Year 4 Victory
Year 5 Empowerment
With each year God took me through some stuff, I experienced some stuff and I endured some stuff but after it was over, I realized that I became each of the compenents of being BRAVE. What are you doing to be your BRAVE in your life? I ask this question as serious as I can because I want you to really think about it. Being BRAVE is more than taking a courageous plunge into something you were afraid of doing, or standing up to something or something that was intimidating. It’s more than just saying “I’m Brave”, it’s an active element of who you claim you are.

Being BRAVE is boldness to truly believe and stand for what you represent. It’s being resilient in the face of adversity when all hell is breaking loose in your home and life and you have mouths to feed with little money in your bank account. It’s being authentic. Now I know this word is overused right now but hear me out. Being authentic is not just staying true to yourself because if you don’t know who you are, how can you be true? Being authentic is always telling the truth about Where you are, not allowing others to take you off track to where you are headed and to honor your successes and your failures and becoming better because of them both. Being victorious is celebrating every choice, every victory no matter how “tiny” it seems. Little things become larger things so celebrate All things!Lastly being empowered is after having been knocked down , dragged, hurt, in pain, you STILL get up, dust yourself and keep going and bring others along the way.

That is what I want to encourage you with the top of this new year, 2017;

Be You BRAVELY!

Let nothing stop you and watch and see your life change before your very eyes!
I want to share a few things with you before I sign out:

1. My Book “The BRAVE Life: What to do when Life Knocks the Faith out of You” is Available for Pre-Order TODAY!!! It will also be available for purchase on Amazon,Kindle, http://www.b&n.com, GoodReads and Smashwords on January 27, 2017! YES Finally!! I know it’s been a long time coming but I had to stop the process because there is a season for everything! You can Pre-order your copy and have it signed by Me!
2. January 27-29 I will be at The Millions CONFERENCE with Tiphani Montgomery! If you have not gotten tickets please do so, this is something you don’t want to miss!
3. February 11,2017, I will be speaking and teaching at my good sister friend, Nigeria Lockley’s “Passion Party”!!! I will be teaching my new signature BRAVEClass: “BRAVE mind,BRAVE Life”. It’s gonna be Amazing and it’s here in NYC! So Come and fulfill your Passion in a Godly Fashion with Nigeria and Me! Get your Passion Party Tickets Here!
4. March 4&5, 2017,  I will be in Houston Texas with my Spirit Twin Allison Arnett the Creative Bookkeeper. I am so excited to be apart of her event “Brands & Books”. This event is one that will teach your how to build a powerful brand in a BRAVE Way! Get your tickets  if you are going to be in the Houston Texas area
5. My Annual Empowerment Event BRAVE Speaks will be held this July 7&8 in NYC, So SAVE THE DATE!!!  Make sure to follow this blog and subscribe to my newsletter to get all the info of when that will happen! I’m excited about this year’s theme and what God has planned for You!

That’s all I got for you!

Until Nest Time,
Be you, Stay True and Live BRAVE!
TakimaHWrites

I don’t Have to Wait For Boaz & Adam

The past few months of my life has been a whirlwind of just everything imaginable to stir up emotions of every corner of life! Yes it’s been REAL!

First, I had my first successful empowerment event and let me just say the power of GO is what you need to accomplish Anything in life. That and Christ because obviously NOTHiNG is done without Him, whether you agree or not, I’m just saying 🙂
Nonetheless it was a great event and God showed me so much that I am moving full speed ahead in my life because there is SO Much to do.

With that being said, I just had a truly spark of inspiration and need to talk about the subject of “waiting”. Like I said, the past two months have been a mirage of emotions , too plentiful to contain and I am now at the brink of explosion. Not in a chaotic I’m angry way but of Epiphanies, lessons learned and enlightenment I feel led to share, are you ready?

So, as I stated before, my empowerment event “BRAVE Speaks” was nothing short of amazing and God allowed me to have 5 wonderful women speak into the lives of the attendees. After my event, it began. I was in a relationship and leading up to my event, I felt my then boyfriend was not supporting me the way I felt he should have. Nonetheless, after my event things took a turn for the worse. We argued ALOT, we came for each other and I started to feel as though the more work I started to do, the more fighting we did. Building a brand and business takes a lot of time and effort. Most people doing so either aren’t in a relationship or both people are working on something and have created a system to nurture the relationship. In my case, I was at the time the only one working on something of this magnitude. About two weeks after I realized something. If God wants me to do more and I stayed in this relationship, would things escalate? Would it always be an issue? I resolved that if we are not both on the same page in all areas it’s simply not going to work out. Well, that and God clearly said, “he’s not it”. As crushed as I was I had concluded a while back I would no longer let a man hold me back from my destiny and call in Christ.

I expressed this revelation when prompted and needless to say, it didn’t go so well. I prayed for God to help me rid myself of the soul-ties that had formed and although I’m still in the process I have been caught with certain revelations…

Since I am back on the “single scene” a few things rushed into mind. Something I see often especially in the Christian world; “Wait on your Boaz, You Adam is sleeping”… Now me and my sometime cynical and sarcastic self will say something snarky but I honestly feel like “who is Boaz and why must I wait for him” and “let Adam sleep, he’s tired!” I am not a subscriber to this and most Christians might get me for this but honestly, why are you waiting for a man who isn’t yours? Furthermore, why are you waiting in the first place and What are you waiting for? This is something God actually spoke/asked me a few weeks ago. I was a little shocked to hear that but as I began to unpack the question I thought, “what am I waiting for”?

I believe we as single women, single Christian women get so caught up in the “language” of the church that we start to put our lives in these boxes God never intended. I am going to be BRAVE and say, God didn’t and doesn’t ask you to Wait for a Man! (And his name will NOT be Boaz, Adam, or whatever else) He actually says wait On Him! Some of you may ask, “well what does waiting look like”? I’m so glad you asked… The word “Wait” means to : “1. remain in readiness for some purpose, 2. stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens. 3. used to indicate that one is eagerly impatient to do something or for something to happen.”

So now we have 3 definitions to unpack:
I’m going to start with the 3rd one first:

Most of us are in this “Wait” period. We are impatient, not practical and end up settling because we think we know more than God, “I my name is Takima Howze and I am a #3 waiter”! This is not the wait God has In mind nor is this the waiting you should be doing in hopes of having a mate. Your wait should not be impatient. I mean let’s face it, whenever we are this “Wait Woman” what usually happens? We end up with Ishmael’s, just ask Sarai… (Genesis 18)

The 2nd wait is getting closer to the wait God asked of us but not quite. This particular wait stalls you from getting to the third wait. It literally stops you in your tracks before you go head and make a rash decisions based on emotion and that will be steeped in regret later. We must have the spirit of Self Control in order for this Wait to be played out in our life, for some it will be more difficult than others. We can look at Joseph on this one. He was ready to put Mary away and then he realized he needed to wait before he did something he would have regretted. Usually God is stepping in and holding us by the neck collar… believe me I Know!

The 1st one is being talked about last because this Wait is the one God I believe talks about in “Wait on the Lord” and it is HOW we should “wait” on our mates. This can also apply to a position or something we want to get into. This Wait is about Preparing for what’s next. The Bible talks about who runs a race and doesn’t train for it? That would be silly right? So it’s just as silly for you to sit around and “wait” for a mate and you are Not prepared to meet him. You don’t have certain things together in your life, you cannot take care of a home, bills, your prayer life isn’t built, your foundation is shaky. Your ministry isn’t a thought out plan or has even been executed, Girl you got WORK to do! My mama used to tell me “Don’t No man want a Lazy woman”! And trust me if you want a Godly man he is NOT going to Breath in the direction of an UnGodly woman…

So my reason for not “waiting ” for Boaz and why My “Adam isn’t Sleeping”:

1. Boaz was for Ruth and she didn’t wait for him. She was on assignment with her mother in law and he Found her working. He covered her and when it was time he Married her. So why wait for another woman’s man?

2. God understands and knows everything about me. My mate isn’t going to look like what another man because he is specifically designed for me. I’m not going to focus on the perimeters of how Boaz was because my mate may not be that way in character. Trust God with your Own process your Own Mate!

3. My Adam isn’t Sleeping because he is busy Working! I’m just saying, if I’m working, building and planning my mate is on the same page as me, who can sleep and work? No One!

I recognize that this blog may not be favorable to some but I felt a burning desire to share this with my sisters. I really want to see them claim what is Theirs and Not someone else’s. It’s great to take the lessons learned from others and apply it to your life, that is what the Bible is used for. Just don’t take it on so much to the point that you are calling something that isn’t meant for you.

My main message is, don’t just “wait for your mate”, Wait On God and His Timing. Let Him prepare you to be a wife, His vessel for Great Use and as a minister to bring others to Him!

Love you Lots!

Be you, stay true, Live BRAVE!

ENOUGH?

Its been a while since I’ve written. So much has been going on in my life that I am incredibly proud of. My first Live event will be held in NYC this Saturday. The #BRAVESpeaks Conference! (You can purchase Tickets Here)  I am super blessed and honored that God would choose me for such a time as this to speak into the lives of the people that will attend.

With all the excitement of the reality of this taking place, I am far from excited. I feel the need to make a statement in relation to my event and the current events that have taken place. #BRAVESpeaks is an outlet in more cases than one. It will be an opportunity for 5 women to speak their truth,share their stories to inspire and encourage others.

 B.R.A.V.E. stands for Bold Resilient Authentic Victorious Empowered. That is the essence of who my people are. We are people that have endured and REFUSE to give up No Matter What! In the past two days the most horrific crime has occurred and I am beside myself in horror of the reality and state of this country. I am also torn because I have family and dear friends in the police force who I KNOW value human life. With that truth that I hold and feel a loyalty to I cannot help but wonder where is the value of human life for those people (because they cannot be officers) who Decide that it’s okay to: Manhandle, aggressively Slam on concrete,put their body parts on, and SHOOT to kill another human just like them?! I am befuddled at this reality.

Furthermore I am honestly concerned for our community, the BLACK community that has neglected the very thing that holds us together because they have accepted the ideal of being “Woke”. Yes I said it! Whether you subscribe to the notion that Christianity, God is a white man that can’t be trusted, I Need you to TRULY Wake Up! The truth is this is why we are in the state we are in today, we have FAILED to trust God! When we did,  Our community Thrived, Evolved and was able to fight injustices because we Called on The LORD! We came together to Pray, To Fast, To Seek God’s face and the enemies of those that were killing us had NO Choice but to Cease! They DID NOT Stand a chance.

I remember a moment when Bernice King (Dr. King’s ) daughter came to Christian Cultural Center and she preached. At the end she told us a story that I will Never forget. She said their was a moment when the police force werr killing black men so much that the community was fed up. They protested and they came in the middle of the street , the whole squad guns drawn,  dogs and all. The community stood together side by side and made a wall. The police drew their guns ready to shoot and the community dropped to their knees, right there in the STREET and began to pray. The police were furious and as they began to pull the triggers NOTHING CAME OUT! The Prayers of Our People STOPPED THEM! They Prayed to a God that is Real, Alive and WILL Fight on OUR Behalf if we trust Him. People ask what is missing from our society, our community, our people ? I will tell you, we wanna be “Woke” instead of WAKE UP to the Truth that We Need God, We NEED Prayer to return to our communities, our schools, we need meetings in our homes, shut-ins in our churches, revivals! This matter is our SIGN , telling us God is Missing!!!

People talk about retaliation but how can you retaliate without a plan? A strategy? God is the plan and He will and can give us that IF we Humble ourselves and recognize, We Need Him! Without Him we will continue to fight aimlessly, beating our chest and throwing fire in the air with no direction.

“If my people who are called by my name shall HUMBLE themselves and PRAY, Seek My Face, Turn from their Wicked Ways, THEN will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin and Heal Their Land”
2 Chronicles 7:14

“For the Kingdom suffers violent but the violent take it by force” Matthew 11:12

 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.” Matthew 13:8

” Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”Matt 13:30-31

We Need God to Help Us, To Deal with This, To Stop This! He Hates Injustice and Values Human Life!

Or will you continue to desire to be “Woke” and let the enemy of this world distract you with rhetoric and things that “sound” good to keep you from recognizing The One who can step in and declare “Peace Be Still”?

Or haven’t you Enough Yet…

Eric Garner Alton Sterling Sandra Bland Tamir Rice Trayvon Martin (There’s So Many More! #AlwaysSayTheirNames)

#TheBRAVELife™
#BlackLivesMatter #WeAREHUMAN