Rolanda Perkins

Y’all, we have ONE more day until the end of 2020. I think that we can all agree that THIS year has been  a most  memorable one for the books!!! We’ve experienced both the good and the bad, with many changes that we’ve had to adapt to. This year has also shown us how resilient we are as a people and how we  can  overcome tough situations. I must say that it’s been a lot to absorb and to endure, but I  Thank God  that we’ve all made it this far.    I want to encourage my friends and family to continue to press forward because I believe that better   days are in our future. And please don’t be ashamed or afraid to reach out for professional help ( should you need it ). Your mental health is just as important as any other aspect of your health. We’ve been through a lot this year and we can’t always deal with these things on our own.  “ Here’s to better days ahead in 2021 ”. And even though we’ve been in this for a while, here are some words...

Who we are matters and we MUST ALWAYS remember that! I now understand & appreciate how IMPORTANT it is for me to LOVE myself & to LOVE ‘on’ myself. I know the importance of loving and embracing who I AM. I didn’t always realize or acknowledge that for myself. However, I could always encourage others and help them realize that about themselves. It took me, having to go through my own life experiences, to fully begin to embrace this truth for myself.  Several years ago, I had a supervisor who used to always tell me that I had to ‘encourage myself’. I would ask her HOW do I do that? What I now understand is that there are many ways in which a person can encourage themselves. Below are two of my favorites: (1) Speaking life affirming words to & over myself to remind me of who God says that I AM & (2) Receiving encouragement through music. I’ve learned that even though we might not always believe the positive words that we speak about ourselves, we must continue repeatin...

I try to surround myself with good people who generally strive to do the right things. However, I am realistic and acknowledge the fact that we're all human, we all have our good and our bad days, & we don't always make the right decisions 100% of the time.  As I've reflected on things that I've seen happening in the world today, I'm reminded that being nice & respectful & cordial & grateful & kind towards others, is definitely a choice, even in the face of opposition. Although, it's sad to say that we've seen a lot of the opposite happening this year.  One thing that I'm always reminded of is that life is about making a bunch of choices. We get to choose how we treat and how we talk to others. It's a choice to be nice just as it's a choice to be nasty. As often as I can, I treat people the way that I want to be treated myself. And YES I do understand that sometimes people seem to just be unloveable & live to cause strife!...

This past Sunday was the first of many birthdays that I no longer get to celebrate with my Dad. Even though we won't get to share any more of his birthdays on this side of Heaven, I'm  so appreciative  of the many times that I did get to spend with him. He was a great Dad in my eyes and I  absolutely adored him . Now, was he perfect? Of course not. None of us are. BUT...  he was the perfect Dad for ME  and I'm extremely  GRATEFUL  that God chose Him for me.  My Dad would give the shirt off his back if he knew that you were in need of it. He was just that kind of guy. I was told by family members how he helped them through hard trials and how he even blessed several of his nieces & nephews to have Christmas presents when times were challenging for their parents.  As I write this, and each time that I leave it and come back to it, I tear up. Not only do I tear up, sometimes I get to the point where I have to stop, dry my eyes, blow my nose ...

We just came out of the season of Thanksgiving and we still have much to be thankful for in spite of everything that we've seen and/or experienced this year. Throughout this time of Covid, I've kept a gratitude journal to remember all the things that I'm grateful for during this season. I knew that I wouldn't remember them all because of the way that time seems to be speeding by. One thing that I've embraced this year, that I might have taken for granted in years past, is just  how fast time does fly and how we cannot get it back once it's gone .  As I reviewed my gratitude list, I was actually amazed at the number of things I had documented and that I considered to be a blessing. Some of them smaller than others, but still blessings none-the-less. So, in spite of this global pandemic that the world is presently experiencing, I'm thankful for those things both big and small, that I might not have ever paid attention to before.  I don't want to ever forge...