Living Waters Ministries Monthly Quote
" If I have done anything in life worth attention I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother"
Booker T Washington
Inspiration
Turning Your Setbacks into Your Greatest Comeback
By: Jennifer L Smalls
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." Isaiah 43:2
The theme and sermon series for April was "Turning Your Setbacks into Your Greatest Comeback." Also in April, we celebrated the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, one of the greatest comeback stories ever told. Not even death could hold him in the ground!
At some point on this journey, we will all face a set back as a matter of fact as we live we will more than likely face more than one setback, this is life. How we handle the setback when it arrives will determine how we recover.
On this journey we are guaranteed to encounter different seasons, some will be glorious and others will be trying. In those glorious seasons appreciate the blessings in that moment and store up some joy so that when you encounter the bitterness in your trying seasons, you'll have the strength and discipline needed for your comeback. For every setback, there is a comeback opportunity.
Four Keys that will help you with your comeback:
Revise Your Strategy - Think about what you did and or where you went wrong. Reflect on your mistake(s) and make a conscious effort not to repeat them. Not repeating your mistakes will put you in a better position to achieve more positive outcomes. Analyze the circumstances and or situation and use a different approach to help you come back from the setback. "As a dog eats its own vomit, so fools recycle silliness." Proverbs 26:11(Msg)
Change Your Attitude - Your attitude about the situation will determine how you handle it. You can allow the setback to diminish you or you can allow it to be a motivating factor in your comeback. "...God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they are." Romans 4:17 In this step you have to trust and believe that God got you and trust Him to set the situation right instead of you trying to fix it and make it right. Lean not on your own understanding but trust God to direct your heart. Proverbs 3:5-6
Organize Your Thoughts - Get your thoughts together, and develop a plan of action for the steps you would take should the situation arise again. Don't be afraid to try again, we all fall down but we get up. Understand that we all experience failures on this journey and it's possible even with failures to be successful. "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but nor destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Relax Your Mind - Setbacks can cause you to panic, become distressed, and or have a mental breakdown. In order to make the necessary changes to deal with the setback relax your mind and focus on the next steps, your plan of action. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
News from Living Waters Ministries
Happenings Around St. Augustine
St. Augustine’s Romanza Festivale of Music and The Arts 2023 — April 28 to May 14! Featuring dozens of concerts, shows, exhibits, and much more at several locations throughout St. Augustine. And… best of all … most events are Free!
The Festivale showcases productions by dozens of talented Arts and Cultural non-profit organizations.
https://www.romanzafestivale.com/
First Friday Art Walk, May 5th downtown St. Augustine 5-9 p.m. First Friday Art Walk takes place on the first Friday of every month, exhibiting creative artworks throughout St. Augustine's fine art galleries.
First Friday Art Walk Concert Series, May 5th. First Friday of each month, 6-8 p.m. This organ recital at the Cathedral Basilica in downtown St. Augustine is free and open to the public on the first Friday of every month.
Lincolnville Live!, May 1st, 6:30 p.m., The Courtyard of St. Cyprian's Church. The Florida School of the Arts in Palatka is Florida's first 2-year program offering instruction in dance, fine arts, theater technology, acting, and musical theater. For this event, students will perform everyone's favorite songs from Broadway's golden age to the present day, including songs from Godspell, Hairspray, The Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and more. Bring your own lawn chairs for this event.
Romanza Festival: Alia Uwanda In Concert May 7th, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Lewis Auditorium, 15 Granada Street. A classically trained multi-talented vocalist from Jacksonville Florida is one of the headline acts for the 2023 Romanza Festival. This is a free event.
Romanza Festival: Mama Blue On The Markland Porch, May 11th, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m., 102 King Street. A Jacksonville native, Mama Blue is a diminutive woman with a big voice and a bigger heart. She sings jazz and blues from classics such as "Georgia" to songs from artists who inspired her, and she sings her own compositions. Her songs can project joy and b pain, she's inspired by Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Nina Simone, Queen, and The Rolling Stones
Romanza Festival: Art Show & Sale St. Paul AME Church, Saturday, May 14th, 12:00 - 5:00 PM at St. Paul AME Church, 85 M L King Ave. Directly following Sunday worship service, the public is invited. This event is hosted both in celebration of the 150th anniversary of St. Paul AME and as a finale of the much-loved Romanza Festival. (Several local artists will be showing pieces of various mediums - from jewelry and wood art to printmaking and photography. ) Featured artists include Lenny Foster, Deborah Lightfield, Laura O'Neil,
Leigh Slydon, Becky DeSantis, Jacquelyn Pfaff, Brandon Santiago, Kerturba Singleton, Amy Dove, Heeyoung Jung, and Terri Thompson. This is a free event.
Romanza Festivale Finale: Community Gospel Concert At St. Paul AME Church, May 14th, 6:00 p.m., 85 Martin Luther King Avenue. The concert features multi-talented performer and composer Emorja Roberson, who specializes in both gospel and classical music. Popular gospel singers will also be participating under the gifted leadership of Rev. Phillip Brown.
Dr. Roberson has a degree in Vocal Performance from UNF and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from Notre Dame University. He is currently the Assistant Professor of Music and African-American Studies at the Oxford College of Emory University.
Click the event website link for all the details and to purchase your tickets for the concert.
https://www.romanzafestivale.com/
Jacksonville Jazz Festival Memorial Day Weekend, May 25th-28th, Jacksonville Florida. Featuring Eric Roberson, Charlie Wilson, Samara Joy, Shemekia Copeland Chaka Khan, Marcus Miller, Pieces of a Dream, Wynton Marsalis, and more.
News For Us By Us
Representative Fentrice Driskell became the first Black women minority leader in the history of the Florida House of Representatives in 2022. Reperensatve Driskell was also recently named the recipient of the 10th annual Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award by EMILYs List, the nation's largest resource for women in politics.
Representative Driskell is a fearless leader, While Florida Republicans have done and continue to do everything in their power to roll back the fundamental freedoms of the people, she has been a staunch defender of civil and reproductive rights. She has also called out Governor Ron DeSantis for what she says is a lack of attention to economic, reproductive, and other issues facing the citizens of Florida. “In Florida, we have a governor who is so obsessed with ‘woke’ that he’s asleep at the wheel and would rather side with extremist MAGA bullies in his own party than address the very real economic issues facing families every day. Every American deserves the freedom to be healthy, prosperous, and safe, and that includes the right to make decisions about our own bodies. I’m proud to have EMILYs List by my side as we fight to move our country towards the vision of a more perfect union promised to each and every one of us,” Driskell says.
Rep Driskell is a native of Polk County Florida, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard, where she was the first Black student elected as student government president, and holds a J.D. from Georgetown University. Leader Driskell is a practicing attorney presently serving her third term in the Florida House of Representatives, advocating for reproductive freedom, public education, and voting rights.
"At only 33 years old, Yasmine-Imani McMorrin became the first Black woman elected to the Culver City Council in November 2020. This year, McMorrin once again made history as the first Black woman selected among the Council to serve as Vice Mayor of Culver City, a predominantly white enclave located just outside of Los Angeles, CA. (Reid, R, Essence 2023)
Mccorrin is a Spelman grad, and a trained attorney, in addition to her duties as the Vice Mayor of Culver City she is also employed with California's Children's Defense Fund as Director of Education and Equity. Her vision as a Council Member is to ensure that as Culver City develops, we prioritize equity, making sure that everyone shares in the progress we create together.
I'm not a big football fan, not even a huge sports fan but an occasional follower. However, the Jalen Hurts' story has to be one the most inspirational "comeback" stories so far this year. In 2019 he was a benched, transferred college football player with an uncertain future. Fast forward to 2023, he's a superstar Super Bowl franchise quarterback and he just became the highest-paid player in the history of the NFL. As of April 17th, Jalen agrees to the terms of a 5-year extension worth $ 255 million with the Philadelphia Eagles. Jalen is a believer, he grew up in church and credits his grandmother with helping him find faith and instilling strong spiritual values within him. He loves his granny, “ 'She’s the staple in my spirituality. She’s always the one like, ‘Ask God for what you want. Ask God for what you need. He knows, but it’s okay to say it in prayer.’ ” ( Smith, D, Essence 2023) His parents, Averion and Pamela Hurts, have been married for 30 years and are also models for the Eagles star quarterback. Jason is a strong supporter of black women, his relationship with black women extends from personal to professional which includes giving Essence magazine the first cover story as a pro athlete, a magazine that has been in service to black women since 1970. His Agent, Nicole Lynn is the first woman of any race to represent a Super Bowl starting quarterback. Nicole Lynn is a black woman operating in a white male-dominated arena, she is in the 1% of all 900 certified agents. Jalen Hurts has an all-women management team. As for his all-female team Jalen says " 'I’m not doing anything to be different, I just think that’s the way it’s been ordained. I have the ultimate amount of respect for anyone who goes out there and grinds for something. Puts the work in, and they go get it done. I don’t put a gender on those things.' ” (Smith, D., Essence 2023)
As for his future, Jalen says "My heart knows what it knows, it knows when it's truly intrigued."
WELLNESS
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
This month is Mental Health awareness month. Take the time this month to check yourself and those around you. It is reported, the historical Black and African American in America has been and continues to be characterized by trauma and violence more often than their White counterparts, and this impacts the emotional and mental health of both youth and adults. We continue to be traumatized by scenes of police brutality, disparities in health care, and inequalities in education, housing, and the workforce.
Historical dehumanization, oppression, and violence against Black and African American people have evolved into present-day racism - structural, institutional, and individual – and cultivate a uniquely mistrustful and less affluent community experience, characterized by a myriad of disparities including inadequate access to and delivery of care in the health system. Processing and dealing with layers of individual trauma on top of new mass traumas from COVID-19 (uncertainty, isolation, grief from financial or human losses), police brutality and its fetishization in news media, and divisive political rhetoric adds compounding layers of complexity for individuals to responsibly manage.
Help-seeking behavior is affected by mistrust of the medical system and often begins with faith-based outreach. However, MHA screening data shows that Black and African American people who screen positive for depression self-identify as planning to seek help at higher rates than the general population say they will seek help. Unfortunately, Black and African American providers, who are known to give more appropriate and effective care to Black and African American help-seekers, make up a very small portion of the behavioral health provider workforce (see treatment statistics below). Because of these factors and more, Black and African American people are more likely to experience chronic and persistent, rather than episodic, mental health conditions. Yet, hope for recovery should remain, as light is shed on these issues - and the general public holds accountable policymakers and health systems to evolve better systems that eliminate inequities in mental health services.
This information is taken from: Mental Health America (MHA)
Reflections
And just like that April came and went. As we celebrated the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our theme for the month was "Turning Your Setbacks into Your Greatest Comeback" Sisters Rachelle Hamiton and Cheree King gave awesome testimonies on their greatest comebacks as we enjoyed another great Fifth Sunday Fellowship at Living Waters Ministries.
A Poem for Mother: A Mother is Special
By: Valerie D. Staton
A mother is a special gift
From our Father in heaven above.
She holds, consoles; spirits she lifts,
She gives to her children enduring love.
She teaches them right from wrong.
Mends broken hearts with a kiss, a hug,
A happy ending story, a lively song,
A barrage of encouraging words...
Extraordinary is a mother's touch,
Empowered by God I surmise,
For a single embrace invigorates much
And eradicates tears from saturated eyes.
Love for her children exists outside of time.
She is able to anticipate every need.
For wherever they are, she is not far behind,
Guiding and inspiring them to succeed.
Almighty God, I can't thank you enough
For the wonderful gift you've given us.
A gift so amazing and divine...
That fascinating mother of mine!
Published by Family Friend Poems June 15, 2022, with permission of the author.
May Birthday Shout Outs
Living Water Ministries Upcoming Events
May 7: Communion Sunday
May 7: Baby Shower for the Browns; Katrell and Taylor after Divine worship, 12:30 P.M. South Hampton Community Center
May 14: Happy Mother's Day! Men will feed the women after Divine Worship
May 20: Pride in the Westside
Hurricane Season is Approaching
National Hurricane Preparedness Week is April 30-May 6, Floridians are encouraged to make plans for the storms before they hit as we are just one month away from Hurricane Season. The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs June 1 through November 30, 2023. It can be nerve-racking and scary especially if you're not prepared. Here are a few tips:
Be familiar with your surroundings and any hazards that may show up during a tropical event.
Assemble your supply kit. Food, water, batteries, chargers, radios, prescription drugs, and cash on hand.
Consider reviewing your home insurance plan, is it adequate? (check for both flood and hurricane insurance) Also, document your possessions and valuables.
Create a communication plan and a written list of contacts.
Lastly, the time is right to fortify your home. Address roof issues, and make sure windows and doors are properly sealed. A quick trip to a home improvement store can accomplish these tasks all while sticking to a reasonable budget.
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