You are NOT right where you're supposed to be there!

Good morning, darlings. Come on in here. Such a beautiful day here in Atlanta. I had to get out, go on my morning walk because I got into my work early and I said, April, you didn't do what you're supposed to do. You didn't keep your commitment to yourself, so get your behind up and go walking. So that's what I'm doing. But I wanted to shout out— not shout out, I wanted to tell you something. I'm going to help you get unstuck because some of y'all, you're stuck. And I understand it because I used to believe this foolishness as well too. So I can't see you because I don't have my good— my prescriptions on. So, but I see you guys are coming in. So pretty here. Let me show you. Let me show you how pretty it is. See how pretty that is? I like to be out with nature. I'm thinking the more that I'm thinking about this empty nester and getting this apartment, I'm really thinking maybe I should do something and go by the lake or out in the woods somewhere versus in the city. So who knows? Okay, isn't it beautiful? Look, look, look at my little friends right here. Hey, little friends. Beautiful. Okay, back to what I wanted to share with you. I saw a post. I logged on this morning and I saw a post, and I love Steve Harvey. Like, when I tell you I love Steve Harvey, I know some of you have your own issues with him, but for me, I can look beyond a person's past and what they've done and pick out— eat the meat and spit out the bones. If I don't care what you've done in your past, if you can show me how to make a billion dollars, guess who I'm gonna listen to? I'm gonna listen to you. You because I could care less about what you've done in your past. I'm not emotional like that, but something that he said actually sparked something, and it reminded me of a conversation that I had with someone not too long ago. And the post says, God didn't make any mistakes. You're right where you're supposed to be. That's a bunch of crap, and I'm gonna tell you why. You're never right where you're supposed to be if you're living in lack, if you are depressed. I'm not talking about clinical depression. I'm talking about if you're thinking up stuff. Like my soon-to-be 19-year-old said when he was 16, he said, Mama, a lot of people are depressed because of what they're thinking about. They bring on depression on them on their own. I said, boy, you definitely my son. Come on now with it, Corey. And so if you are in a place that you don't like, that's not serving you, you're not right where you're supposed to be. You're right where you chose to be. If you are living in lack, if you are— if you want to get married and you want a wife, you want a husband, but you can't, you're not having that, you're choosing that. If you want to start a business and you're afraid, you're choosing that. If you're full of fear, you're choosing that. Don't put it on God. And like I said, I love Steve, but I think we need to see the other side of this. Because what it does when you tell people God didn't make no mistakes, they right where they are, you make them lazy as hell. You make them put everything on God and not do anything on their own. So no, you're not right where you're supposed to be if you don't like where you are. You're choosing to be there. Okay, you're choosing to be there. So I hate that we become such a passive society. You know, we are not go-getters. It's kind of like we let life happen. Well, we react in the wrong way to life happening. We don't sit back and say, oh, hell no, I don't like this. Let me change it. We make the adjustments. We don't make life make the adjustments around us. We make the adjustments to the foolishness that's going on, even though we have the power to choose. So no, you're not where you want, right where you're supposed to be. God didn't make no mistakes when he created you. But guess what God ain't doing? God ain't fixing jack crap for you that he's given you the power and authority to fix. If you look, if you're having money problems, Deuteronomy 8:18 says he's given you the power to get wealth. Fixed. Over in Isaiah, if you wanna— when you— if you talk about wanting to mate, over in Isaiah said, "None shall lack its mate." Go get it. If you want peace, scripture talks about peace. If you want joy, it talks about how to get joy. So you're choosing to be where you are. The resources are already there. The resources are already around you. You're choosing it. So don't be lazy. Don't be passive and say, well, you know what, God knows, he know my heart, you know, God knows where I am, he got me here for a reason. No, you got you there. Here, the sun, let me turn this way, see if we can— okay, here we go. This, uh, the, um, you have yourself there. God don't have you there. That's all you, boo. Everybody want to talk about do you, do you, boo. I'ma do me. We'll do something to change your doggone situation and stop putting it on God. If you, if you're trying to say that you're responsible for your life and you want to be in control when on things that is not— that are not gonna change your life, then man up, woman up, and be in control and make better choices. When I decided to redesign my life, I had to realize it. Y'all, I was so pissed off with me. I said, April, you mean to tell me that you could have done this a long time ago? It wasn't that I was waiting on God. God was waiting on my crazy behind to come into the understanding that I already have the power to do everything that he gave me the power to do. God is not going to do it for you at all. He's already given it to you. So pray, you pray, absolutely. But once, like I always tell you, pray for wisdom. Pray that your behind will wake up and understand that you can do all things. It doesn't matter what you're trying to do. But when you tell people God makes no mistakes, you're right where you're supposed to be, you keep them in lack in every area of their life because they're waiting for the right time. Well, if you don't like If you don't like being fat, do something about it. I didn't like the weight that I gained, so I started doing something about it. I lost like 7 pounds, so I'm feeling myself. I feel myself. But guess what? I wasn't supposed to be overweight. I'm not supposed to be living in lack. I'm not supposed to be loveless. I'm not supposed— you got to make a decision to change that. But the problem comes in is we don't want to take responsibility for our own actions. We want everything to happen all whimsical, kind of like, you know, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, you know, little fairy dust and all of that foolishness. It ain't happening. If you want your life to change, God is not going to change it. I'm going to tell you that right now. If you want your life to change, God is not going to change it because he's already given you the authority and power to do that. So you're asking him to come in and babysit you and do what he's already given you the authority to do. You just want to be in your religious, uh, won't he do it cliché-ish type mindset, and you're waiting to hit the blessing jackpot. It doesn't work that way. And I'm not telling you anything that I had not— that I did not have to learn on my own. I had to learn this stuff too when I started Understanding that, wait a minute, April, all this stuff you've been praying and begging God for, you actually can go out there and do that yourself. No, maybe, just maybe, the reason why God ain't answering you and you— oh, we got to learn to wait on God. No, we ain't waiting on God. We don't have to wait on God for a lot of the things that we're asking for. Now, there may be some things, yes, that are out of your control, but God gave us a whole lot of power, baby, a whole lot of authority. But We've become a passive, punky type society where we just kind of pat people. Okay, baby, it's gonna be alright. No, it ain't gonna be alright. No, it's not going to be alright if you don't make it alright. So like I said, I love me some Steve Harvey. You know, people have things to say. How he used to do this to women, he used to do that. What? Hell, he can't wake up and decide I'm not gonna do that no more? It's always people that have something to say when it comes to your past, and it's kind of like, wait a minute, so isn't the goal to mature and be wiser, make better decisions? So when I decided to make wiser and better decisions, now you want to talk about me and hold me to my past? Honey, whatever. I like Steve Harvey. I do. He makes a lot of sense. However, in this post, when I saw it, I said, "Oh Steve, I get it. I understand what you're saying, but let me come and give a different perspective." Because when we keep telling people that God has you in a position, God don't have you nowhere. You have you there. Everything was already done from the beginning of time. It's us. And the only way to get to where God has for you, you have to work wake up and choose better. You have to stop being a doggone surface thinker. I always tell y'all about being a surface thinker. I can't stand surface thinkers. It just makes me itch. That's probably why my circle is so, so small, because I don't have frivolous conversations. So ask yourself, am I here because God has me here, or have I made myself believe— hold on, I gotta start walking. I walked back this way. Have I made myself believe that God has me here so that it will where it doesn't require much of me. So it's okay, okay, God got me here right now, so it's something I'm trying to learn. And even if God did have you right there, you ain't learning nothing because you're not intentionally seeking wisdom. You're not intentionally picking up a book to say, this is what I'm going to study today. You're not intentionally saying, these are, these are the things that I want in my life. Most people don't get what they want in their life because they have no clue of what it is that they want. So how are you going to throw out into the atmosphere about God I want a husband. Okay, well, I said I sent you several men. Well, I don't like him because you weren't specific. You don't go to a restaurant and sit down and say, bring me some food. They don't know what the crap you want. It's the same thing when you're asking for something. You need to know exactly what it is. If I go sit down at one of my favorite restaurants and I say, you know what, I just want to eat today. Well, what you want to eat? Just bring me some food, please. Okay, they bring me some. I don't like that. Well, what would you like? I'll just bring me some more food, please. I said I'm hungry, don't you understand? I said I'm hungry, I want to eat. Why is this bee— I'm gonna smell real good because this bee trying to get your girl. I want to eat, but they constantly keep bringing me food because you eat food when you're what? Hungry. But I was not specific enough about what it is that I want. So you can't be mad and say, oh, where are all the good men at? Where The good women at— well, if you're not specific in what you want, you're going to constantly keep getting women, men. You're going to constantly run into them, but you're not specific when you place your order, baby. You got to be specific when you place your order, okay? But if we continue to think that, oh, God got us right here, God got me dealing with bad men and, you know, to teach me a lesson— to hell with that. Uh-uh. God got me in a broke poverty state living in the hood with rats and roaches, and I don't have enough money to take care of my kids, but I'm learning something from this experience. God got me— God ain't got you there. Your choices is what got you there. Now, are there lessons to be learned inside of the choices that we make that we can share with others? Yes, I do it with you guys every time I come live. Absolutely. But guess what? I even chose a lot of the situations as an adult that I got myself into. Did God have me there for a reason? No, it was just the bad choices. I know God be like, these fools get on my last nerves placing everything on me. And I'm saying, I've given you the ability to have wisdom and have better— make better choices, but it's up to you to be consciously tuned in, okay? I'm just saying, it's up to you. So no, you're not right where you're supposed to be if you're living in lack, if you're broke, if you don't like the job that you have, if you would love to be in a relationship and you're not, if you are overweight, if you are unhappy, if you are depressed. I'm not talking about clinically depressed, but you feel yourself always getting depressed. You're not right where you're supposed to be. God doesn't want us that way. So whoever keep, you know, keep feeding us that— because I heard that growing up, baby, stop trying to move fast because you're right where you're supposed to be. Well, shoot, maybe if I would have paid attention to what God was trying to show me then versus listening to y'all telling me that I'm not— I'm right where I'm supposed to be, I would have been a lot further. I would have been a lot further. So my goal every time I come live is to give you guys a different perspective. Just— there's a yin, there's a yang, there's a good, there's a bad. You know, you— but you got to choose which one, which side you gonna listen to. I know, but I know, but I come— well, my circle— I don't give rats behind about your circumstances. We all got circumstances. We all were brought up in environments that may not have been the best for us. So freaking what? You're not responsible for for how you were raised. You're responsible for how you respond to how you were raised. I understand it because I didn't get— I knew nothing about money. I knew nothing about finances. All I knew was pay part of the bill, you got a little extra, because you can take that over to the next month and take that over to the next month, take that over to the next month. Payment plans. That's what I knew. But guess what? I made a choice to learn something different. And it was hard, it was hard, it was very hard and challenging. But guess what? My daughter, she— one day she's like, Mama, my check didn't deposit and I can't pay my bill. So she, she pays off her bills all at one time, like gas, electric, water. It doesn't matter how much it is, she pays the full balance. And that's because I had to make a choice in order for her to understand the importance of paying off your bills. But that one time she didn't do it, I said, okay, babe, The late fee doesn't kick in until the 10th, so you still got time. Okay, well, I get paid on the 8th, but the bill was due on the 1st. But she just felt some sort of way because she couldn't pay the whole entire bill off. But that's because I trained them like that way, because I made a choice to learn and, you know, learn about financial literacy. So you can change. You can change. And a lot of stuff that y'all praying about, you don't have to pray about. It's like, if I have the power to change your situation, I'm not going to waste my time praying about if I should use the power that I have to change the situation. It's like you're wasting prayer. And I know God is like, man, I'm sick of these fools sending me these doggone prayer requests. And I done told them they don't have to be broke. I done told them they can have joy. I done told them they don't have to live in fear. I told them that, you know, fear is there, but I told them I didn't send it. So the fact that they continue to accept fear, that means they really don't believe in me because I told them that I didn't give them fear. I told them that, but they're choosing to be fearful. So if you believe in God and then you say, I'm fearful, that means you really don't believe in God. Because if you're fearful and you holding on to that and you going to church every single week, you are fake and a fraud. You are not a real believer because fear will come. But God clearly told you, I ain't give you that. I ain't give you the spirit of fear. I didn't give you that. So since I didn't give you that and you claim to be a believer in me, you should reject the fear and keep moving forward because I have something amazing for you on the other side. Now, he didn't say the fear was not gonna come. He just said he didn't give it to you. So if you are a true believer like you claim, all of this stuff you talk about, I'm afraid of failure, well, you're not a real believer. I'm afraid of success, then you're really not a believer because the very thing that you say, person you say you believe in, tells you I didn't give you this. That should boost your confidence. That should make you say, oh well, shoot, if God didn't give me this and I say I'm a believer in God, well shoot, whatever. God didn't give me this, I'm gonna keep it moving. But most people who say they believe, they don't. So then they turn around and use the excuse, God don't make no mistake, he got me where I am, where I want to be. That's a bunch of crap, and it will always be a bunch of crap, and it will always keep people dying with dreams on the inside, dying with ideas. That fear, but you're still waiting because God got me right here, so good. You're— this very God that you say you, you, uh, serve tells you he didn't give you fear, but then you're in a fearful— but yet you're in a fearful position at this moment. Hold on, what's going on? Oh, it's a test. I was like, what's going on? So anywho, like I said, the very God that you say you believe in, you turn around and still be fearful even though your God says, "I didn't give you the spirit of fear." What you gonna do? That means you need to check your God-o-meter. You need to check, do I really believe like I say I believe, or am I a traditional churchgoer, or am I believing God out of what I was taught, or do I actually build a relationship? If you didn't build a relationship with God, you should be scared. But you just— my thing is, just don't say you're a believer in God, because you can't say that but then your God tells you, I ain't give you that, girl, quit playing. Well, I'm still scared, but I'm telling you, I did not give you that. I didn't give it to you. So if I didn't give it to you and you putting all your energy and your time into going to a building to worship what they say is me, what you tripping on? I'm just saying. So I hope somebody got something out of this this morning. I was like, God, I'm trying my best to show the people what you've given, what you've shown me. And I know I can, I can be, um, as they say, straight to the point. Just keep it raw and real because I want you to get it. Because we've been living so much in a passive society that Everybody's so sensitive about everything. Everybody is so, you know, tippy-toe, you know, just, you know, just take, take baby steps. No, it's time for your grown behind to take some doggone leaps. Thank you guys so much for sharing this. It's time to take some leaps. Praying for direction. You already got direction. That's what I'm saying. You already know the direction is already there. So many people been praying for direct— for directions for so long. Just get out and do. You already know what God dropped in your spirit. If you get on the wrong track, guess what? If you're a real believer, he'll— baby girl, I'm gonna need you, okay? I know that that was on your mind and you wanted to do that, but that's not the direction. But you got to start by just doing. You want God to give you direction and you ain't even on the freaking road. But most of us, if we're honest, we already have the direction, and it might be something that we don't want to do. Perfect example of that is when I started my gift basket business. I was praying I was praying, y'all, asking God for a sign. And Lord, what should I do? He gave me a dream. I'm a dreamer. If I ever tell y'all I had a dream about you, as my uncle would say, act like I said the moon was cheese, so go get your crackers. But I had a dream about a gift basket business, and I didn't want to accept that. That was in December of that year. I was like, I ain't doing that, y'all. I keep my— y'all know I keep my nails and stuff done, honey. I wasn't trying to get no glue and hot glue messing up my little fingers, burning nothing. And that wasn't what I was trying to do. But remember, I had prayed and asked for direction, and God gave it to me real subtle, but he gave it to me. Well, 3 months later, I still hadn't done anything with it because I'm still waiting on direction in a way that I want to receive it. That's what I'm waiting for, and that's what most people are waiting for. They're waiting for it to come in a way that they want to receive it that makes them comfortable. That's my grandbaby say, "Bukas." I say, "Yep, they comfortable." You want it to be comfortable. So the signs and direction has always been in your life. You're just not paying attention, or you won't get your behind on the doggone road. That's more of the problem. So 3 months down the line, Easter comes, and I make Easter baskets like I normally do for my kids. And the neighbors start asking me, "Oh my God, I would love for you to make me some baskets." I'm like, "Oh, this ain't nothing," you know. Not realizing I was already operating in the very direction that God had already given me. I was just wanting it my way. I thought it was Burger King and I could have it my way, but you know McDonald's, they don't make no adjustments for you, okay? They'll send you to Burger King to get it your way. What? Your way? So long story short, I would go to the library every single day because I didn't have any internet, and I would go to go get on Black Planet and go get on Black Voices back in the day. And I was still praying for direction even though God had already given it to me. But at that time, I was— I didn't want that. I ain't want to make no gift baskets. I'm not no, you know, crafty— so I thought— crafty DIY project in it kind of woman. Uh-uh, no ma'am. And so I didn't do anything. So those 90 days went by and I made the gift baskets, and then I finally said, you know what, these people asking me to buy them. Let me— alright, let me focus on that. At that point, I got intentional. I got intentional about what I— what it was that I wanted. Or even though I wasn't 100% of what I wanted, I was going to get intentional because I saw— I was wise enough, just a little bit, had a little bit of wisdom enough to say, okay, well, had a dream about getting basket business. 90 days later, I make baskets. My neighbors want to buy some. Well, let me kind of try it out. Now, this is— this is direction. See, I'm giving you how I got direction, and you're probably getting the same kind of signs in your life. So I'll tell you no lie, the very next day when I went to the library, the same library that I have been going to every single day for almost a year, I walked in and I looked to the side and I saw a row of VHS tapes, How to Start a Gift Basket Business from Beginning to advance and everything in between. How to, how to make them, where to get your products, where to get, you know, supplies, how to sell to higher-end clients. Everything I needed was there. Had it always been there? Yes. Had I always been tuned in? No. Did I, did I accept The answer that I got? No. Was I still complaining about not having no money and being broke and being on welfare? Yes. Get away from here, little bee. So is it God's fault or is it my fault? Mm. So for those of you praying for direction, you probably already have it. You're just not sure which— what to launch out on. And I'm saying just launch, just go. Whatever is— whatever you're not supposed to be doing, baby girl, sir, sir, shorty, look, fool, I'm trying— hey, I'm showing you the signs. That ain't it, but that's it over there. That's how God speaks to us most of the time. A lot of y'all waiting for some prophet to give you a word and all of that kind of stuff, and you don't make no moves. You give other people control of your life, and I'm saying You have the control of your life. When you pray and ask God for direction and you start seeing signs, or you've already prayed and asked for directions and you keep seeing signs of the same, some of the same things, go with it. That's your sign. You might see something on a billboard, you might see something on a bumper sticker, you might see something on a street sign. I've seen sometimes I've been praying, asking God for, oh my God, I don't know which one it should be, and I'll be driving, I'll look up and the street sign will say exactly— it will be one of the couple of choices because every time God deals with me, he deals with me in twos. So it forces me to make a decision. That's why I come to you guys so much about making better choices is because when God wants me to do something, what'll happen is I'll get two opportunities. I have to be wise and think deeper to choose the right one. Like how I came to Georgia, I got a house from someone I met on BlackPlanet. We never dated or anything like that. No friends with benefits. And I had just lost my job and we had met on BlackPlanet but we had never dated or talked about dating. We would talk about other people we dated but we were just friends. So one day after I lost my job, he just happened to call after I hadn't talked to him in 6 months. He said, "What's going on?" I said, "I lost my job. I don't know what's going on." Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He called me back the very next morning and said, I got an empty house out there in Georgia. You and the kids can go live there rent-free until you find a job. And I was like, what I gotta do, be your girl? I gotta give you some booty? What? I mean, what? He's like, you fine, but you ain't that fine. I'm just trying to help a sister out. Right after that, I got an opportunity to apply for the job that would have been perfect for me in Solano County in California. And I, back then, I was in commercial finance, so it would have been the perfect job for me. I was like, oh my God, I got a house out here here in Georgia in a place that I've never been before. Before I came to Georgia, I didn't know anybody here. I drove by myself, 3 kids, $300, 1990 Chrysler LeBaron, no license, suspended license, and no insurance. So I had to make a choice. I can say, April, you got the opportunity to apply for your dream job. This is the job that you— that would do well for you, but You'll still be living at your mama house, because I had moved from LA, you know, to help my mom. And so you can still live at your mama house. California is actually really more expensive than what, you know, than what you're— it's not going to equal your pay, but you'll be able to make it. And there were some other things I had to weigh. Or you could take a chance and go to Georgia. And I said, God, okay, I— all right, I don't know anybody there. I met friends on the internet, but we still friends to this day. But I don't— I've never done this before. This is out of my comfort zone. It's easy for me to go apply for this job and go in there and kill it and go get this job, but it ain't easy with this other option over here. But guess what? I prayed and said, God, I want a house. I want to raise my children in a home. I don't want to live in the city. Well, guess what? He blessed me with a house that was only 2 years old. I didn't say where I wanted the house to be. I just said I wanted a house. I hope I'm blessing you this morning. I really hope I'm— you getting— you getting what I'm saying this morning. So I made the choice, but this is how it all happened. And if y'all haven't read my book Broken But Not Bound: The Making of Me, go download it on my website. I get more in detail about the story of how I got to Georgia. But I was still teetering. Okay, I saw I had two decisions, right? So I finally settled on the one. Okay, I'm going to Georgia. I was hyped. I was like, oh yeah, oh, kill them. That's— let's— we about to do this. I'm like, oh my God, I was so excited, but I was nervous because I'd never been there. Well, So I found out that my license was suspended and I had no insurance. I'm like, God, see, I'm trying to make the right decision, but just because you make the right decision and use wisdom and make the best choices, it doesn't mean that it's going to be without challenge. So I said, alright God, I don't know if I— I see this is— I looked at it as this is a sign. Me not— see, nope, I was trying to go and not— no. Well, right after that, the guy that I got the house from, he said, April, what's taking you so long to leave? I gave you the keys, I mailed you the keys a month ago. I said, well, I don't have any money. How much money do you need? I said, modest me, I need $300. He said, go to the Western Union. He wired me the $300. Now mind you, to this day, that's been over 10 years ago, me and this man has only met maybe twice and no longer than 10 to 20 minutes. That's it. He's never even come in the house since I lived there. Well, I got discouraged when I found out my license was suspended, but he sent me the money. And so the very next day, the battery in my 1990 convertible, maroon with the white rag top, Chrysler LeBaron, the battery went out. So my neighbor, Mr. Miss Blackwell next door, she says, baby, what are you doing? What's happening? What's going on, darling? She's one of those world-traveled women and told me all the men in Atlanta were beautiful. She was from Barbados. And I said, Miss Blackwell, I don't know, I'm talking to her. She calls AAA. But at that moment, even though I made the decision, intentional decision, to say I'm going to Georgia and I'm going to drive to Georgia with my 3 babies, challenge came up and it made me question After the challenge came up, we called AAA, a guy that looks just like Santa Claus, white guy, just so jolly with the red, with the rosy cheeks, and just look like Santa Claus. So he says, hey little lady. I said, hey sir, how are you doing? He said, um, I'm wonderful, how are you? And I said, well, my, my car. He said, well, I'm gonna, don't worry about it, I'm gonna jump it. So he's jumping it. I turn around and talk to Miss Blackwell, turn back around and talk to him to see how everything was going. He says, He says, "Pick a card, any card." And I was raised in church, honey. We don't play no cards. Oh, that's not of God. Playing cards is not of God. He said, "Just pick a card, any card." I picked the card and the card says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." That was God's way of saying, "April, I got you. Go." That very next day, I got up October November 17th, 2003, with my 3 kids, $300, my computer is the only thing of value that I had, our clothes, packed them up in a, um, in the back of the car, no money for hotels, no money for, um, you know, other than the necessities, gas, and you know, we slept at the rest stop. My son who will be 19 this month, he was 5 at the time, his behind slept on the dashboard. And I said, okay, and I had a bald tire, not realizing it, and when I got to Arizona, my tire was getting ready to pop, and their grandparents in Florida— I didn't tell nobody what I was doing— they paid for my tires over the phone. And so I made the decision. October 17th, I got to Georgia. October 21st, by myself, 3 kids, what, 4th grade? Wait, no, 5, uh, 5, 6, 7, and 9. I gave you that story so that you can understand that once you get on the road and you start making better decisions for yourself, even though challenges may arise, happiness, success, joy, the joy that you want, it's happening outside of your comfort zone. You have to get outside of your comfort zone. Everything that I prayed and asked for, and when I tell y'all, when I got to the house, vaulted ceilings, backyard, it was beautiful. Beautiful, but it happened outside of my comfort zone. That's why I'm so— I come so hard with you guys, to you guys, about redesigning your life. I had to do that, and you can do the same thing. You can redesign your life too. You. So don't think that God has you in a holding pattern. He just— oh, I got something I want her to learn. Oh, I got something I want him to learn. So I'm gonna keep him right here. I'm gonna keep foot on their neck. I'mma keep them impoverished. I'mma keep them unhappy. I'm going to keep them not getting— being able to get the promotion. I'm gonna keep them just, just in a state of disarray. That ain't God. I'mma tell you that right now. That is not God. I don't care what you've been taught in church and you got to suffer for a little while. Who said suffering has to mean turmoil? Who said suffering have to mean lack? Who said suffering had to mean any of the things that we came up with. Because if it says that my thoughts aren't your thoughts, my ways aren't your ways, maybe God's way ain't got nothing to do with I need to teach you a lesson so I need to keep you broke. That may not be the way you need to learn the lesson. Oh, I need him to turn— I need, I need to teach him a lesson, so I'm gonna need them— I'm gonna need her to constantly get cheated on and beat on and punched in the face. Who says that? Oh, I need him to not trust women, so I need him to teach him something. So I'm gonna go ahead and constantly, you know, keep women disrespecting him and treating him like a child and not being loyal and using him for his money and his resources and not knowing how to take care of him. Yep, I'mma hold him right there. As church people would say, the devil is a lie. You keep— you're keeping yourself right there. There. Nothing to do with God. So let me get back on my walk, y'all. I had to change my shoes. I had on my little— I forgot I was going walking, walking. I was still trying to be cute, so I had on my leather Chucks, y'all. Um, my kids like, Mom, it'd be funny seeing you in tennis shoes because you're such a girly girl. And so yeah, I got my little— uh, I told my son, he said, Mama, what kind of shoes you got? I said, babe, I got me some Huaraches. He's like, what, Mama, you got you some of them? Yes, and some Foamposites or something. It was like, you coming up. I said, honey, I ain't gonna buy no more. me. It's alright with me. So I hope you were blessed. I hope you got some answers, and I hope I see you at the Redesign Your Life Tour so I can impart some more of this on an even deeper level. We starting— I think today makes 2 weeks before I head out to Houston, and I'm excited because I really want you to get this. I really want you to understand that everything you're dealing with right now, for the most part, you're choosing. I'm not talking about and chronic illness or chronic, you know, depression. But I will say this, some of the ailments, ailments that we have comes from what we're thinking. And I'll tell you the story, my story on how I ended up— why I had to end up having back surgery. Actually, this year makes 10 years ago. I'm gonna share with you why. And once I try— once I changed my behavior, my thought process, because what you think, you feel. If you want to feel happy, change your thoughts. Put on some happy music. Because you think about this, when you want to have sex, you put on some of the Mowgli Brothers, some of them OJs, it changes the mood. So if you can use it in an intimate setting, intimate way like that, what makes you think you can't use changing the music and what you're listening to to change other areas and shift the atmosphere and mood in your life. I love me some— always have my Pandora on, love me some India Arie and certain people that I listen to. Like this morning, I woke up hyped. So this morning, it was all about that hype music. Who I put on? Eminem's Lose Yourself, because you only get one shot. And I had to remind myself of that this morning. Alright, baby, You about to do this. So I need my hype music. So today, my rest of my day will probably be, um, be all hype because I changed the way that I was thinking. When I woke up this morning, I was like, um, I was feeling some sort of way. I was like, nah, God, nah, uh-uh, you ain't give me this. And I put on some Eminem to get me, to get my hype, my hype on. So I love you guys. Get out if you need to get out the house and just say, you know what, I need to clear my mind. God, I need to, I really need direction. Or I need you to bring back what you've already given me, because you've already given me direct— if you prayed for direction, you already got it. You— I promise you, if you've prayed for direction, it's already there. You just haven't realized it. So get out, go to your local park. I'm actually planning a retreat in the woods. I'm actually— we have to go Saturday. I have part of my team coming in from Florida on Saturday. And we're going to the mountains so that we can check out some of the resorts this weekend because I'm going to take a group of 35— well, 35 women or less to the mountains, and we're gonna get this thing right. Because when you're out and you're on a hustle and bustle all the time, you don't have an opportunity to really sit down and be, be still so you can hear. So you can know that what God is giving you, that what your voice that you're hearing is what God is giving you. Okay, so love you guys. I can't— I don't know if you could tell that I'm excited today. I mean, I'm excited today. And you ladies, we— you know how we get when we, when we lose a few pounds, we be in the mirror like this, like, mm-hmm. All that— I've been doing all of that this morning too, cuz I'm like, I can almost get back in my size 8 jeans. Jeans. No more having to go to, uh, what's the name of that place? Well, look, when I gain weight, I don't buy expensive jeans, y'all. I go to, uh, the outlet, the Old Navy outlet, and get them $19.95 jeans. I'm just saying. Love y'all. Have a wonderful day. Go to redesignyourlifetour.com. Houston, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Atlanta, Memphis, DC, and LA. I'm coming starting March 23rd. Bye!