Yeezy or Richy

My fellow ladyloves!

So here I am, staring at a blank screen questioning how in the world to start my first ever blog post. Part of me, as exciting as it is, has been avoiding it. There are so many things I want to share, but have yet to figure out how to put it into words. So here I am, staring at a now not-so-blank screen, writing to the beautiful and worthy babes (and maybe dudes) that are willing to read.

Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Morgan but if you are rad enough, you might get to call me Mango. I like Chick-fil-A sauce, laying down on the beach (because who really enjoys long walks?) and Jesus (but not in that order). I grew up in sunny SoFlo with my one of a kind best friend who worked incredibly hard as a single working momma. I have recently embarked on this amazing journey of living on my own, starting a new job that has lead into furthering my education and building my future career. To say the least, it’s been a learning curve in so many ways. That’s just the skinny, but I’m sure we’ll find ways to divulge more things about me as this blog post goes on :)

Last night, I had dinner with a friend who took her sweet time to pour into me. I wish I could stress to you enough how beautiful it is to have a mentor in your life. She celebrates me in my big moments, encourages me in my down moments and ultimately reminds me of the Lord’s promises. Let me just say, last night’s conversations were not ordinary. We often speak on relationships because that seems to be the center of focus for me at this ripe old age of twenty-two (says Taylor Swift). She shared a quote with me that could not have slapped me harder in the face than a whiff of that freshly opened bottle of jalapeño salsa. Yes we were eating tacos. Are you ready? Here it is...

“You can so easily build a knight in shining armor out of a man made of straw.”

BOOM.

Let that sink in…

I look back on so many “relationships” in my past and think, how many men made of straw did I throw a little spray paint on and hand an armor and a sword and say “Yeah, that’s good enough”? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why don’t we realize that we are SO worthy of the man that God hand selected for us even if it means waiting longer than intended? Why don’t we understand that we are MORE than enough? We are daughters of the HIGHEST King. We deserve it. We are worthy. Many times our past comes back to haunt us whether it is seeing divorce as a child or going through one as an adult. Sometimes it's the lack of a parent while growing up, bullies throughout high school or some rotten boy who said you weren't good enough or said you were less than beautiful. Making poor decisions and allowing the guilt that the enemy throws at us can separate us from God as well. Yes, many of times those things impact us in the moment but God's plan is so much bigger than those past mistakes. 

"Let the ruins come to life
 in the beauty of Your Name
 rising up from the ashes
God forever You reign.
And my soul will find refuge
In the shadow of your wings
I will love you forever
And forever I'll sing."

So my rising-girls let this be a testimony to us. Do not settle for the man of straw especially if that scarecrow does not love you the way Jesus loves His bride. Choosing the scarecrow over the long awaited knight in shining armor is like picking Kanye over Rich Wilkerson Jr. If you don't know who either of them are, skip looking up Yeezy and go straight for Richy, but be prepared to swoon because yes he loves Jesus.
Ladies, hold out for your Wilkerson!!!

Hell NO…                          …Heaven YES


My friend/mentor shared a few titles for me to read as I go through this new stage in life. Now even though I’m not the best reader, I hope you are as encouraged as I am to read these along with me…

§  The New Rules of Sex, Love & Dating by Andy Stanley (Yes, Alyssa I will finish it!)

§  The Sacred Search by Gary Thomas

§  Boundaries in Dating, Safe People, Integrity & Never Go Back all by Henry Cloud

Until next time my ladyloves,

W O R T H Y

Happy Saturday boss-babe-risers!

I have an exciting update for you. . .

We have a gorgeous new co-host coming to this blogosphere!

To me, she is Mango, however she will have a chance to properly introduce herself! Haha.

We are so excited about this blog, this platform to step out of our comfort zones and write about the God-placed things on our hearts. 

Being a voice for young millennial women, being an encouragement for the broken, being more honest than you are used to in this politically correct world, being ready for wherever this adventure takes us,  being a support for those who struggle to love themselves. 

We get it. 

We struggle in our own ways too, society is constantly pushing ideas on us about what we "SHOULD" be/do/idolize, they jabber on about what their narrow minded ideas of beauty, happiness or success looks like.

Screw that.

We are all beautiful, happiness and success will look different to each of us. 

Today I want to talk about a company that I absolutely L.O.V.E.

The Giving Keys

Y'all, I love supporting small businesses, this company is no exception!

They employ people who are transitioning out of homelessness, how great is that?!

Maybe you've seen people wearing keys engraved with words like, "Breathe", "Let Go", "Purpose", "Brave", "Hope", ect.

Have you ever wondered about that?

I did. 

I mean, old keys. . . cool, intentional words. . . cool. . .but why?

When you order a key with whatever word you choose, it can be one of their 12 standard options or a custom word, it comes in a little cloth bag  and a card inscribed with:

"PAY IT FORWARD

Embrace your word. Then

pay it forward to a person you

feel needs the message 

more than 

you."

It took me a few months to choose the right word for me. 

I decided on a word that I struggle with, a word that makes me both blush and feel disconnected to. 

I chose:

w o r t h y

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't cringing right flippin now while writing this out, 

but feeling worthy is something that I struggle with. 

Especially in the department of love.

This is not a sob story, but it is an honest one.

I grew up without a dad. 

For all intents and purposes he might have been there, 

at least until I was 14 and then he wasn't, but he was never there. 

I hardened my heart to the idea of a dad, 

I told myself that dads weren't really important and I didn't need him anyway. 

Fast forward 10 years and the very broken little girl inside my 24 year old heart was wondering how in the H E double hockey sticks I had ended up in such an awful, loveless and abusive relationship. 

I'm not mad at my dad, sometimes people can't handle what life hands them, 

but I see now, all that I missed in not having a dad. 

Dad's are supposed to teach their daughters about their worth.

They are supposed to show them how a man should treat them, what they should look for in a spouse, show them that they are a daughter of the most high king and as such should be treated with love and respect.

Not having that as a kid, left me grasping for whatever love I could find and not knowing my worth meant that with my ex-husband, I settled for the mood swings, the name calling, the degrading insults, the fighting, the abuse and just accepted that as being what I deserved. 

- Perks of Being a Wallflower

Flash forward another there years, E V E R Y T H I N G  in my life is different which is both good & bad.

Good because, duh I'm not with someone who makes me wish I wasn't alive.

Bad because, where the heck do I go from here? 

Dating has been an interesting and mostly horrible adventure. 

So horrible in fact that I put myself on a dating fast. 

Most of that was because once again, even though I had risen to the challenge and taken myself out of a horrible marriage, I still had no idea what I was worth. 

I fell into some of the same patterns, I attracted some similar guys. 

Not in an abusive sense just in a sense that they didn't honor my worth any more than I did, maybe they didn't see their own worth either. I don't know, but it wasn't what I was looking for. I didn't want more messes to contend with, but that what I got.

I think part of the problem is that, so often, people confuse LOVE with CO-DEPENDENCE.

That's a whole other post, but I know for me I fed off of the affection and affirmation, 

however it was very difficult to go any deeper then that. 

I couldn't bare my soul, I couldn't fully be myself.

It's been so weird and so great getting know myself during the dating fast.

I am a very introspective person, when I finally put down all the social masks and knocked down most of the protective barriers, I kind of liked what was left.

So i'm learning, I deserve more.

I am worth more, 

I am worthy of healthy, soul baring, life doing, butterfly inducing, God-created, forever love.

I am worth higher standards. 

After all, I am royalty. . . and so are you.

So this word "worthy", i'm still working on it.

Theres head knowledge and theres heart knowledge, 

it hasn't made its way to my heart yet.

For now, I wear the key as a reminder.

SIDE NOTE: I started a new job two weeks ago, yesterday I wore the key necklace for the first time. Two of my co-workers asked me about it. One of them said that the whole thing sounded amazing and the other one looked at me and said "Alyssa, you're worthy" without even knowing my story! Which reminded me, it's just a story.

It's what happened to me, it is not who I am.

Okay ladies, I hope you have an amazing weekend! 

What word would you choose if you ordered a key?

You Are Not Alone

My life, sigh, my life.

Today a slate was wiped clean, a blog I had kept for 6 years disappeared with one accidental click. 

Every funny antidote, memory that i'd rather soon forget, every meme and gif, every well thought out and even a few of those 'fly by the seat of your pants' posts is g o n e.

Nobody, including myself, can ever read about my terrible journey through divorce and the many heart breaks that followed, or copy that one recipe that I really should have written down. 

This might actually be the best thing that could have happened. 

They say the only way to heal a wound is to stop touching it. 

Poof, Bandaid gone.

Though I hadn't posted on that blog in awhile because of the heavy weight it kept me under,

I still have a story pulsing through my veins and a heart to share.

Girl : Rising, represents me coming back from all that tried to burn me to ash. 

I am the phoenix, I am rising. 

I'm fighting for me, this will be a place of honesty, a place of hope. 

A place to come for those whose hearts are heavy, to know that you are not alone and you will make it through whatever life has handed you. I promise.

I don't intend to dwell in sadness anymore, I strive to continue rising and continue bettering myself.

This blog will touch on every aspect of health:

> Physical

> Mental

> Spiritual

> Financial

> Romantical (shhh, it's a word)

> Social

 The plans that I had for me are coming undone, and I couldn't be more excited for where God will lead me, for where I am headed. 

Lets be encouraging, 

lets be life giving, 

lets be adventurers as we head down this path less traveled of self love so contagious that it will overflow into the community of hurting and lost women around us.