Tag: faith

Unlikely places

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

We might not know the circumstances that led to an individual’s behavior or unsound choices, but sometimes, good people do bad things. Trust me, I know. I used to be one of the “bad guys”. Granted no one is perfect, it doesn’t mean that what they’ve done, should be used as a measure as to how they should be treated. I know people make mistakes, so I don’t try to hold them hostage to their past, especially when they are trying to get past it. Love and friendship are two of the best things you can have, and are often found in the most unlikely places. I’m fortunate to have found both! Although it’s unconventional, it’s not understood either. While I understand the reservation, I also understand that people do change, because I have.

Please, don’t be so quick to overlook people, just because you can’t look past their mistakes. When you do, you miss out on knowing some really good people, because you’re too busy remembering the bad things they’ve done!

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

When everybody is moving, but you

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

One of my biggest pet peeves, is being stuck in traffic! Just the mere thought of waiting, let alone for hours, is enough to make my blood boil. As a struggling waiter (not to be confused with stewardess), sitting still drives me insane, because I know what needs to be done, yet I have no control over the situation. You see, I have got to get going, because I have somewhere I need to be, but I can’t regulate traffic. So, I have no choice but to sit in frustration, have patience and wait until the “way is clear”. Inch by inch, I’m progressing, but I’m just not going fast enough. I look to the right of me and see an opening, so I quickly try to jump into that lane. However, the car that sits behind notices it to, and immediately pulls forward, leaving me right where I’m at, stuck. But, the thing about it is, I’m not really stuck; I’m just at a standstill.

The paradigm that I just used, is a true representation of my life, and no doubt some of yours. Although I’m extremely successful and thriving, I’ve got a meeting with my purpose, and I can’t afford to be late or wait. Rather than stay in my lane and sit still until it’s time to move, I try to jump in someone else’s lane, because theirs is moving faster than mine. Damn! When is it going to be my turn, I constantly ask, while sitting in suspense and enduring the delay. However, I have come to the realization that, God is not on a timeline, I am. God is not in a rush, I am. God is not going to give me what I want, when I want it, especially if it’s not intended for me. Just because you see someone else is moving, doesn’t mean you’re not. You’re just not moving the way you want to, because God knows what’s best for you.

I know a lot of us are in situations that we’ve grown beyond tired of. We want out so bad and will stop at nothing, to be let loose. But, God is not going to release you, until it’s time for you to move! It doesn’t matter what you do to expedite the process, it won’t become complete, until He says you’re done!

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

Follow the leader

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

Clinginess is a bad habit! Holding on for dear life, people will keep things that they know aren’t good for them. They’ll come up with a thousand and one reasons as to why they’ve got to have it, when they really don’t need it. I can be stubborn when it comes to releasing things, but even in the midst of my foolishness, I still manage to “dodge a couple of bullets”. Besides, I’m not taking any unnecessary hits, when I don’t have to.

I know you are afraid to “loosen up your grip”, but it’s time to just let it (or them) go! When God removes you from a situation, don’t ask any questions. Just trust His judgement and immediately follow His lead. Not only does He want what’s best for you, He can see what’s ahead of you! Just ask yourself, would you rather walk away in disappointment or filled with regret?

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

Repaired

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

Nothing is more frustrating, than preparing to leave for work in the morning, only to find your car won’t start. To worsen your headache, you’re already late as hell, and the last time you were, your supervisor threatened to fire you. To add to the ever growing list of problems, your supervisor calls and tells you, “It’s okay, you can just stay at home, because you’re fired anyway”. “WTF”, you murmur to yourself. Up to your eyeballs in frustration, you don’t know whether to crawl and hide under a rock, or use it to break the windshield of your car, because you’re angry.

You’re depressed, because your life is in shambles, you’re in financial straits, you’ve just lost your job and now you’re on the brink of a breakdown, all because your car broke down. Although you’d like to blame the car for your misfortunes, you were already broken in the first place. Pacing back and forth, you continuously ask yourself, “What to do”? Hours later, you have no game plan and still no money. Like space on a thumb drive, you’ve “run out” of options, and just don’t know what to do!

“This is so unfair, you scream”, because no matter how many times you’ve tried to “fix” your situation, like the car, you just couldn’t make things “work”. Scatterbrained, you try to make sense of everything, but you can’t, because you just keep taking blows. Having seen no way out, you contemplate ending things, yet you can’t muster up the strength to do it, because you’re too worn out from the attacks. You’re hanging, and that thread is not giving you much support right now. In fact, you pray that it gives way, because you just can’t take it anymore.

Rather than let go, I encourage you to hang on. Like this individual, many of you are beyond broken. You have no hope, you’ve lost your faith and you feel like giving up. Truth of the matter, I don’t think you realize you already have. However, I know one of the BEST mechanics in this world, and He is able to “repair” you! It doesn’t mater if you have to crawl your way to Him or if you need someone to “tow” you in. His shop never closes and He’s always ready to “fix” you up and get you “running” back again!

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

Little means a lot

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

How do you explain to the person that has it all, but still complains, the importance of being grateful?

How do you tell the person that’s always asking for more, to be more thankful?

What do you say to the person who isn’t satisfied with what they have, that “What they have, can become what they had”?

When you ask the person who has NOTHING, what he/she thinks of those who have SOMETHING, what do you suppose they’ll say? “If I just had a little of what they do, then I’d have a lot“!

Moral of the story: Your complaint, is someone else’s prayer!

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

Backseat riding

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

“I’m sitting in the back”, is the first thing I love to yell when I’m about to go somewhere, specifically on a road trip. I absolutely hate driving, especially if the ride is more than two hours, so I try to limit my time in the driver’s seat as much as possible. Besides, I enjoy site seeing and allow my mind to escape, whereas I’d have to be present, if I were driving. On the contrary, I’ve always been the “take charge” kind of girl, so relinquishing control can be a bit scary, because “I know what to do”, as opposed to wondering if someone else does. Then too, I’m so used to being in control and taking the lead, so it can be hard trusting others, which is another issue in and of itself, that I have to work on.

Nonetheless, this unhealthy behavior has caused me to be overbearing and quite obsessive at times, because I just don’t know when to let someone else “take the wheel”. I’ll be very honest, I love being in control, but I’ve become so tired and drained. I’m beyond overwhelmed and juggling is something I’m no longer good at, or pretend to be, at least. I understand that I can’t do it all, even if I want to (and yes, I really want to). It pains me to say (and type), but I’ve realized it’s time for me to become a passenger, and allow someone else the opportunity to “drive”. It’s not to say that I won’t lead again, but sometimes, it’s good to let someone else do it. I don’t need to always be in control, for things to go right. I’ve just got to trust that they will.

And I TRUST that God will make things right! Do you?

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

Going the extra mile

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

I did it! I finally joined the Youtube world! My channel, Notes by La’Rue, is an extension of this blog, with the same agenda: to motivate, bring hope and inspire. Hopefully, me going the extra mile will encourage you to do the same. I’ll be perfectly honest, I don’t care how courageous I am, I still have moments of fear. However, I’m learning to get over mine, so I can help others overcome theirs! I stopped sabotaging myself, and started pushing myself to do more, because I know there’s so much more to be done. If you know you’ve still got work to do, you won’t offer any more excuses, you’ll stop being lazy and quit second guessing yourself! Whatever you want to do in life, stop questioning it and just DO IT! By the way, don’t forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel: Notes by La’Rue! You’ll be glad that you did, and so will I!

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

Every step counts

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

There’s nothing more aggravating than trying to assemble something, that’s come with a thousand and one pieces. We all dread reading the ever confusing thick “white booklet”, also known as the instructions. Before we even allow ourselves the chance to fully read it, let alone follow it, we quickly try to do it on our own. “I got this”, we say. Well, a migraine and a few hours later, we’re elated and proud of ourselves for completing the assembly. As we try to put it to use, we realize it’s not working. We’re dumbfounded, because we know for a fact we did everything right, so we’re not sure where we went wrong. Although we’d like to think we dotted every “i” and crossed all t’s, we forgot one very important thing…. to follow all the steps. Because of our impatience and urgency for wanting things now (and I’m talking right now), we’ll skip steps 2-5 to get to 6, when 2-5 are most critical to us. It’s during these steps that we learn what we need to complete the process.

Do you often find yourself hurrying to the next phase, by jumping over steps, because you simply can’t wait? Don’t worry, we’re in this thing together! Take a marriage for example. Typically, before you marry, you go through the dating phase. Here, you learn each other, and share your likes, dislikes, etc. Next, (if all goes well) you meet what could possibly be your best friend or your worst enemy, “the family”. At this point, you’re about to determine if you’re going to run to the altar or for your life. LOL! All jokes aside, this step is important, because if you’re planning a future with someone, you want to know what you’re getting yourself into. Once you pass this step, it’s smooth sailing…until you encounter a riptide: living together. This is important for a lot of people, because they want to know if they are able to co-live with their partner, if they’re clean, leave the seat up, and so forth. In other words, do I really want to get married to you!

Lastly, you’ve made it to the homestretch, the final step, marriage. Do understand that although a lot of people will make it here, they won’t stay. When they skipped steps 2-5, they failed to get what’s required to not only help them reach step 6, but to stay there. In most cases, this doesn’t apply to everybody, because I’m sure there are plenty of couples who went straight from the first date to the courthouse. Although this is particularly not about marriage, and is probably not a good analogy, I can only hope you see what I’m trying to convey: have patience! It’s so easy to become antsy and want to rush to see what’s next. So much so, you end up skipping the line, when you needed to wait your turn. Remember, every step counts, so please take your time and wait!  

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

When the chips are down

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

Been in a funky mood lately? Tired of being tired? Do you want to give up, because you don’t see things getting any better? You are not alone! So many people all over the world are experiencing the same feelings as you, and are unsure what to do. A part of them want to believe things are going to change for the better, but they’re not so hopeful. In fact, not only have they lost hope, they’ve become faithless, because everything seems to keep going from bad to worse.

COVID has taken over. The death toll keeps rising. People have lost their jobs. The economy is in shambles, and so are you. Matthew 26:6 tells us that, “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end”. This pandemic has launched a full on war against the world, but it is not the end of it! I know you want a more concrete answer, but it’s the best one I’ve got. I too, don’t understand why things are happening as they are, but according to His word, they have too.

“What’s next”? The question that seems to be on everyone’s mind, and honestly speaking, its to pray! Simple as that, yet so hard for many people to do. Why? Because, they don’t have the faith to stand on and the hope to believe that what they ask for, will come to pass. After all, why should they, when nothing’s happening? Oh, but there is! Just because you can’t see God working, doesn’t mean that He’s not.

Listen, I feel where you’re coming from. There are days that I get down and ask God “Why”? Or, “When will this end”? I’ve got questions just like you, but I’ve got faith in Him as well. At this moment, you’re going through it, but eventually you’ll come out. The chips are down now, but I pray they won’t be much longer.

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue

Forever and always

Posted on by Deetra La'Rue

I never thought I’d see the day my dreams would become a reality, but I made it happen, all because I didn’t give up. I knew what I wanted and I knew it’d take me some time to get there, but I didn’t let the length of the journey to deter me from reaching my destiny. Sometimes, we can be so overwhelmed by the “what ifs”, that we often toss around the idea of “what if” I never achieve my goals. But,“what if” you do? Don’t stop now, you’re too close to finishing! It’s been said that nothing lasts forever, and things don’t always happen, but understand this. It may take you forever to reach your goals, but it doesn’t matter, as long as you always try!

Until next time my NOTE takers!

Writefully yours,

Deetra La’Rue