Over the weekend, one of my dear sisters planned a bash for her 35th bday. I had anticipated this weekend for almost 2 months at this point. The anticipation of seeing some familiar faces that I had only heard over the phone via a daily prayer call since the Lenten season started. I just couldn’t wait to see my girls, the Divas as we call ourselves – FIESTY! In particular, five women embarked on a journey at the beginning of March to ADD something to our lives that would not only change us but transform us during this season. Most subtract things from their lives during Lent but we decided to do things a little different. It would be a sacrifice, especially for me because I am NOT a morning person but I knew that I needed some discipline in my spiritual life. We begin with a daily Zoom call at 6 am for 40 days. In hindsight, I believe we all thought that it would be your typical prayer call but it turned out that it wasn’t. There was much more in store than I or we could even imagine. God was up to something. We all met in the church setting, at various church events, conferences, etc. or more specifically while we were forming a group called R.A.G.E. (Revealing A Generation of Excellence). This was a charge given to us by the Rev. Dr. Cecelia Williams Bryant, a visionary who believed in our potential as young women. R.A.G.E. was an out of the box ministry for young women that we formed and cultivated with the guidance of Rev. C as we affectionately called her. R.A.G.E. catapulted our lives into a friendship bond that we would never lose. We were pushed to know our worth and our value more than ever. And just thinking about it, it was pretty awesome although we felt like it hurt so good. Rev. C didn’t give up on us. She didn’t let go of our hands. And she didn’t let us QUIT when the going got tough. There were people who were against us on every side. There were sisters our age, who felt some kinda way about the movement. But nonetheless we pressed on. We pressed on so much so that we begin to believe in ourselves and our power. Rev. C had “VolunTold” us to be the core team and we became just that. So much so that we became more than capable of running this ship ourselves.
Long story short, the bond between us young women was created and we have kept up with each other since. So this Lenten 2017 season was a special one for us, almost meant to be. As we journeyed each day, the prayers got deeper and our lives begin to change just by sharing a little bit of ourselves each day. Peeling back the layers and taking the mask off. All of us didn’t have to share any personal STUFF for us all to feel the need of the other sister – carrying each other’s burdens if you can imagine. We prayer our way through some tough situations: heartbreaks, parenting issues, job situations, emotional stress, disappointments, and even deep-seated hidden emotions. Letting go of some of these things allowed us to see the beauty within all of our ashes that were thrown together by this group. Each day the ash pile got bigger and God provided us with new prospective and new mercy daily. Our souls were edified by the testimonies of one another to one another all the while talking to God. There were some strongholds lifted as I can remember releasing my own SIGH on a call about a personal situation I was dealing with thinking that no one could help me with it. The great thing about my “unbelief” was that God stepped in and the Black Girl Magic begin to happen. My sisters just as they had done with each other, lifted me up in prayer while being honest with me about the situation, what had occurred, and suggestions of how to handle it. The prayers were always genuine, always real talk, and never canned. My soul cried out for this #BlackGirlMagic that occurred that day and almost everyday for each of us as we all begin to cocoon ourselves away from the negative connotations of being a black woman. And after 40 days of being tucked away, the butterfly in us was released. All of our black girl God-given purpose begin to show up even more and show out. Even though Lent was over, this feeling was so good to our minds, bodies, and souls that we elected to continue on after Lent. So when the Bday bash invite came from one of our sisters, we all took this as a sign that we would connect in person face to face and celebrate our own #blackgirlmagic together all inspired by ONE beautiful lady that we call @revglamourgirl. Her plans were stellar for that weekend and we all were excited about it. What should we wear? Where would we stay? Who would be traveling? What colors for each day? What’s the theme for the weekend? You see we all live in various areas in and outside of Chicago. Shoot out to Detroit and Anderson. So many questions were looming in our minds as we anticipated this reunion to celebrate one but really three birthdays in the group all two to three days before or behind each other. This weekend would be epic in the spirit of black women empowerment, black women motivation, and of course, you guessed it, #blackgirlmagic. How much magic could be in the same place with us five? But wait, there would be others with the same motivation, drive, strength, and inspiration as us. This can’t help but be good. This weekend would definitely be a mythbuster about black women being together and not getting along. This weekend would be a testimony to our own faith and unbelief. This weekend would be the spot light in all of our lives. What would happen when we all met? We’ll see. Part 2 to come.
Comments