Episodes
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On our walk on Saturday, women from across the country who are in committed and supportive relationships sharedtheir advice on love, in the wake of the trauma that many of us are experiencing because we watched Diddyâs violent attack on Cassie.
Take a walk and listen.
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Chelsea Johnson, the CEO of Commonsense Childbirth, is walking and talking with Morgan and Vanessa and women from around the world on a special Mother's Day edition of Sisterhood Saturday. Chelsea is the Founder ofCommonsense Childbirth and she and her community are rallying with GirlTREK this Motherâs Day weekend as we honor Black mothers and Black motherhood by takingwalks dedicated to the women whose footsteps we follow in.
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Episodes manquant?
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The great spiritual leader, Iyanla Vanzant joins the co-founders of GirlTREK in a powerful conversation about generational healing and walking forward in faith. A must listen for anyone looking for inspiration during uncertain times.
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Together we will reflect on our journey together, reinforce and uplift what is important to us, and honor the work of the people who power this movement.
Let this be a personal moment of pause and praise for all that you have have personally mastered, learned, and walked through this year.
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REFLECTION:
Think about control. We control the smells in our homes with incense and plugins. We control bacteria with Lysol. We try to control viruses with vitamin C. We control our babies. We'll burp, we'll reprimand with pinches. When you're at church you get pinched or you get the side-eye from the choir stand. We are good at controlling because we know the past and weâre responsibly fearful of the future. When we thought about self-control and knowing that control has been our superpower, from binding our bellies up to our hair to everything we know, controlling our femininity so that people donât attack us. We know how to control. When we are trying to control the world around us, it's like a mightiness. It is a tightness, and when you do it for long enough, it is exhausting.
Self-control is knowing now that you have everything in your power because you are divinely connected.
Because all you have is right now. It is not the fear of the past. It is not the anticipation or fear of the future, but it is the power of right now that you can choose every moment of your life to get more and more awake or to fall deeper and deeper asleep. We are here. God has not given us the spirit of fear. Self-control is fearlessness. It is knowing that I have a constant choice every morning. Self-control is the mechanism by which we employ all of the other Fruits of the Spirit.
PRAYER:
Eternal, all-wise, all-knowing, loving, matchless, creator, God Lord almighty, you are wonderful. You are loving. You are the beginning, the end, the Alpha, the Omega. You are our everything, Lord God and we love you. We love you Lord, and we lift up our hands to worship you, oh Lord, for our heart longs to be closer and closer to you.
You ask us to bring our prayers and petitions to you so we can tell you right now to give us the power that we need, to give us the love that we need, and to give us the self-control and self-discipline that we need to move and do the work that you have called for us to do.
We ask, oh Lord, that you continue to hide this work within our hearts so that we can continue to be strengthened to move closer to you, so that in those moments where we lack control of our minds, of our bodies, of our thoughts, we can automatically be brought closer to you so that the control we seek you take over for us. Lord God, it's all about your power, your power that gives us courage to do all that you called us to do.
Amen.
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
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You have to know that the calling placed on your life will mean you will have to navigate many rocky terrains, many dark places, facing many attacks, because we wrestle not against flesh and blood. The enemy only targets those who are doing good works. When you face these trials and tribulations, you will feel the urge to quit, to give in, or to act out of your character. That's when faith comes in. Faith is the idea of going beyond your fears and acting on what God has instilled in you. Itâs about taking the first two steps and God taking on the rest. Itâs about continuing to move forward, because you know that victory is on the other side.
Remember, as adversity comes, know that in the end you will be able to tell your testimony and encourage others to stay faithful.
God, we thank you for protecting us, for answering our prayers. God, we thank you for our faithfulness to you because without that, we can't commit to anything. God, we love you, we honor you, we praise you. We are all making sacrifices, God, and we hope that you see that. It can be daunting to think about even getting out of the bed and doing other things, being a mom, a wife, a sister, a friend. We work every day and try to carve time out in our lives to be healthy, God, but we know that everything that is great is because of you, God. We ask you to give us strength and courage.
Most of all, give us courage to know that we were made for this, we are made to be great, we were made to worship you, we were made to be just in the image of you, God.
We are always going to be careful to give you the praise and the glory, and the honor belongs to you, Jesus. In your name we pray, Amen.
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REFLECTION:
You know the saying. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. But what does it mean for us to be good? Is it simply obeying the rules or being nice, or is there something else? We think it means actively choosing the kindest, most loving response in any situation, and doing it without expectation of recognition or praise. We are good, because God is good to us, and God offers goodness through grace and mercy. Think back on the times where it could have been, should have been you, but you were spared.
Right now, in our living and breathing selves, we believe in God's goodness. Goodness that we haven't earnedâgoodness that we cannot earnâbut this goodness, once we receive it, we can, through our actions of love, give away to other people.
Now imagine sparing someone in your life through your own goodness. Our faith walk should bring us in union with God so that we can be living, breathing examples of His goodness on earth.
PRAYER:
God, you are so good. Let that goodness run through me like a river and overflow into every area of my life. Let me actively choose to offer goodness in place of judgment, scorn, or ridicule. Let me be selfless in my offerings, not looking for praise or credit, but knowing that it is pleasing to you when I walk in accordance with your will. May goodness find me and follow me all the days of my life.
Amen.
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REFLECTION:
Kindness begins with having self-compassion. Because you can't extend what you don't give to yourself. Being compassionate to yourself and understanding, I'm not perfect and I have to be able to forgive myself for things so that I can then extend that to other people. This is important, especially as women and Black women, for sure, because we give, give, give, but who gives to us?
Who gives the superhero the voice, and when does the superhero get a chance to recharge?
There's a connection between not being kind when we feel tired and depleted, and being very kind when feeling abundant and taking care of ourselves. The kindest gift we can give to ourselves is to intentionally pull away, take the time to replenish and fuel back up. Whether it is taking a nap on a Sunday afternoon, or forgiving yourself and knowing that it's okay that you don't have it all together. It may not always be the easiest thing to do, but it is always the kindest.
PRAYER:
God, we thank you for today. We thank you for a time of coming together and gathering in your name to intentionally seek you, to know that without you we can do nothing and with you we can do all things, including taking care of ourselves. Right now, God, we commit to renew our devotion to ourselves. We thank you for loving us with the gifts of our bodies. We ask that you would help us to be kinder to ourselves that we might radiate that kindness and love to everyone that we come into contact with.
We thank you, God, for loving us, and for demonstrating kindness to us even in your acts while you're here with us on the earth. We thank you, God, for this opportunity to gather as women, strong women, women committed to do something bigger and better than we already have. We know that you have great purpose for us and that great movements have happened through women simply moving their feet. We love you, God. We magnify your Holy and majestic name, and it's in your name that we pray and ask all of these blessings.
Amen.
Opening Song
Closing Song
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REFLECTION:
Today's topic is about long-suffering and when we tell you that Black women know long-suffering, we ainât lied. We have turned a kind of slow burn of pain into muscle, into magic. Every Black woman we know has made long-suffering and patience an art. The ability to practice patience in the face of hate is a virtue of God. Itâs one of the Fruits of the Spirit. It's hard and it's why Black women are ready to lead. Patience or forbearance or long-suffering is not passive. It is staying the course of your most amazing life every single day, and that requires muscle. It requires discipline for loving yourself.
We know what it's like when you have the kind of fire that threatens to burn you down. You can let it burn you down or you can stoke it and let it live in your belly and let it fire you and propel you through your suffering.
In practice, this means creating a muscle of being mindful and grateful for every single moment and garnering the strength of generations which has brought you here today. We have fire from the long-suffering of our foremothers. It is time for us to stay in lockstep until we are ready to activate. That is what long-suffering is. It is the muscle of magic.
PRAYER:
We thank you, Lord God, that regardless of the situation and circumstance, in trial or tribulation, that you give us the ability to stand. We thank you for this character trait from you, Lord God. We thank you for the ability to dance in the rain and stand in the storm and rejoice in our sufferings. Right now we ask that you equip us with your armor, with the whole armor of God. The armor, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, and the sword of your spirit. We ask that you give us peace that passes all understanding, in the name of Jesus. We ask you right now to come into the mess of every woman and child who is standing at your feet. To the only wise God, our savior and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forevermore.
Amen.
Music Credits:
Opening Song
Walking Meditation Songs:
I'll Keep Running to You
Do Not Pass Me By
Water
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REFLECTION:
Peace is about wholeness. It is about completeness. It is a state of being. Sometimes we think it's affected by what's external and what's happening all around us. The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. Sometimes it can be a state of affairs, sometimes it means being concerned about the well-being of your fellow human, your neighbor. Peace or shalom signifies value. As you look at everything that's happening in our country, it's easy to be distracted and it's easy to lose heart and it's easy to lose joy and love and peace and not focus on the Fruit of the Spirit. It's easy to cry out for peace when there is no peace. There's a disconnect between what we're saying with our lips and what is actually happening internally and around us and in our hearts. One of the ways we can keep peace in the midst of all this chaos is to look to our ancestors through Sister Harriet and Sister Fannie Lou and Sister Parks and all of those who have gone on before us.
Be reminded that wherever we are today, this is not the first time we've been at the crossroads and this time will not kill us. It will not break us. It will not be the end of us.
Encourage yourself that you can continue, you can go on, you can be at peace and we will find rest for our souls that are sometimes weary.
PRAYER:
Lord, I thank you that you are the God of peace. That you've told us that in your Word that you can give us a peace that transcends all understanding even when we don't understand or we don't know. You know all things. You know how to guard our heart. You know how to condition and discipline us so that we can maintain a state of peace. That of wholeness, that of completeness within our own self because we are connected to you who is the source of our peace. We thank you, God, that you are faithful to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think. So I ask, Lord, that you will guard our heart, our minds, our bodies, our actions into the way of peace. Help us to know the ancient path, Lord. Help us to walk in it, for your glory.
Amen.
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REFLECTION:
Joy is like a tickle on the inside. It's not on the outside. Joy doesn't have to be social, because lasting joy is the kind that comes from within. Sometimes you just have to fight for that joy, but know that it is always there. There are seasons when you mourn and when you grieve, but that season does not last forever.
As you reflect on yesterdayâs word of love, remember God loves you.
When Scripture says weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning, sometimes those nights seem like forever. But you have to hold on. Hold on to your faith and know that God loves you. It's your faith that will take you through that. When you're in the midst of grieving, the thought that you'll be laughing and joking again is hard to imagine, but it comes. It's there. That tickle is there.
Take a moment to think. How many times did you feel thankful yesterday? Try to count. Three times? 30 times? 300 times?
Is it possible to worship without ceasingâ-with every breath? Unspeakable joy?
What fills you up?
We are satisfied when we are full. We are full when we are steadfast in the stories we tell ourselves. Do you feast on stories of problems or possibilities? Pain or praise? Brokenness or blessings? Grief or gladness?
Joy is a net asset. It is the conversion of test to testimony.
PRAYER:
Lord God, my heavenly Father, we praise your Holy name. We thank you so much for the gift of laughter. You knew we would need it. Thank you, Lord God, for your 100 scriptures about joy because you knew we would need it. Thank you, Lord God, for just offering your gift of joy, and today, this day, we're going to take it.
We're going to take that joy. Lord, we know weeping may endure for the night, but your joy comes in the morning. So right now, Lord God, as we speak your Word, we pray for any woman who is in a night stage, who's in a season of depression or grief, Lord God, or mourning, Lord God, we pray that your presence shows up in a mighty way to let her know that joy comes in the morning, Lord God, for her to cry out, for her to take off that mask and say, "Lord God, I need your help. Jesus, help me, Lord God."
Amen.
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REFLECTION:
When we think of love, and especially love as it relates to the Fruit of the Spirit in the Bible, we always think that we ourselves are taught how to love others. We're taught how to be nice to other people. We are taught how to be compassionate, to be compassionate friends, to be dedicated partners, to be great sisters and mothers. We're taught to respect other people, to be great stewards of our land and our world, but nowhere are we taught on a daily basis the practical ways in which we can love ourselves. That must be the foundation for all the love that we give to other people. It reminds us of this quote:
"If I asked you to name all the things that you love, how long would it take for you to name yourself?"
Because you cannot say I love you without the implied foundation of, "But I love myself first." If you don't love yourself first, every time you have ever said I love you, part of that love was a lie.
If our soul is fully aware that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in God's image, that He did not make a mistake, that every single thing about us is divinely ordered, then we can have love for ourselves. If we don't have love for ourselves, that means we are doubting the scripture, that we are doubting God's love for us, that we are doubting the way that He made us. Our hope is that every single woman reading this today is aware of this Truth and never doubts it.
PRAYER:
Today is a renewal or new beginning. Lord, you are a God of comfort, and we send comfort right now in the name of Jesus. God, we send peace and we send hope. We pray right now especially for our mothers that are raising daughters. We pray that you will bless them to teach their daughters to have self-worth, God. You would teach them, Lord God, to have self-esteem. We would teach our daughters to know that they are beautiful and they don't have to look for validation from anyone. We want to raise strong, powerful daughters, in the name of Jesus. We pray for those of us who came from a background where we weren't loved and we weren't nurtured. Lord, we pray today a healing would go forth. We pray that women would no longer suffer in silence. God, we pray that you will go down and heal the hurt, God. Bind up the wounds. But we must uncover our wounds and we must uncover our hurt in order to be healed. As we pray today we say:
âToday, I will change. Today, I will start. Today, I will begin. Today, I'm walking in a new season. It's a new me."
Amen.
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Our Sisterhood Saturday calls are a time for all of us to celebrate and support one another. Listen in as we open up the lines to hear what's on the hearts and minds of Black women nationwide.
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Our Sisterhood Saturday calls are a time for all of us to celebrate and support one another. Listen in as we open up the lines to hear what's on the hearts and minds of Black women nationwide.
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âEverybody say Blessed."
We did it yâall!
We walked for 21 days, journeying through 21 Pleasure Principles. We pray that over the past 21 episodes, you have learned the liberation stories of our people and that you have been transformed in ways that make you feel more alive.
Now itâs time to Claim the Victory. What better way to do that than to hear from you, our GirlTrek sisterhood, on the first day of Sisterhood Saturday this summer. Hear from women across the country sharing brave testimonies, powerful shifts, and healing moments that have occurred on this season of Black History Bootcamp. This is not the end. Itâs just the beginning. Keep walking, sister.
Didnât catch the live recording of todayâs episode? We donât want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening and closing songs below.
Opening â Songâ
Closing â Song
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Pleasure Muse: Zilpha Elaw
Tantalizing Trivia
One of 22 children, she was born in 1790 in Pennsylvania to free Black parents. Her mother passed away when Zilpha was just 12 years old. Her father passed away two years later. She was sent to live in the home of a Quaker family. Soon after she would attend a camp meeting held by the Methodist society. She embraced the teachings and became an active member of the Methodist church. On her sister's deathbed, she had a prophecy that Zilpha would be a preacher. She rejected this message, until years later, when she fell deathly ill and in her sickness had her own prophecy of the same vision. She was 29 years old when she preached her first sermon. At the age of 56 she published âMemoirs of the Life, Religious Experience, Ministerial Travels and Labours of Mrs. Elaw.â The book documented her personal travels from around the world preaching. In Britain, where she lived for more than a decade, she entered into one of the first interracial marriages with a her second husband, a white man. While living in England she had a chapel built in London to further her ministry. She was considered to be one of the most âoutspokenâ women of her time.Mirror Work:
Assume a posture of prayer. Whatever feels most natural to you. You can kneel, lay, or fold yourself over in a child pose and let all of the weight you are carrying drip down onto the floor. Take three deep breaths from this place, with each exhale, repeat quietly to yourself, âI am listening.â Now take three more deep breaths. What do you hear? Take a few minutes to write. Donât overthink or censure yourself. Just write.
Affirmation:
My words have power. I use them to speak life. I am walking into the greatest vision I have for myself. I see a future that is expansive and bright.Prophesy Over Your Life: A Playlist
Alchemy Assignment:
Create or update your vision board with 2-3 images that speak to you about the life that you dream of living.
Didnât catch the live recording of todayâs episode? We donât want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening and closing songs below.
Opening â Songâ
Closing â Song
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Pleasure Muse: Gloria Richardson
Tantalizing Trivia
She was a Civil Rights activist who led The Cambridge Movement in the 1960s. Honored for her leadership, she sat on stage at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. She grew up in Baltimore but was from a prominent family - of landowners, lawyers, and politicians - from the eastern shore of Maryland, who were free before the Civil War. Gloria's father, John Hayes, died of a heart attack due to segregation which required him to drive further for medical attention - this was a turning point in her life.She attended Howard University and started social activism against segregation. During her early activism, Richardson was arrested three times.
In 1961, SNCC and The Freedom Rides came to her hometown of Cambridge, Maryland. She and her two daughters got involved in the movement. In 1962, Richardson was asked to help organize the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee (CNAC), the first adult-led affiliate of SNCC. She was a passionate and fiery spokesperson who never minced words and always spoke truth to power as one of the only female leaders of a civil rights organization. She was brave: rather than asking for civil rights, she asked for economic rights, and she publicly questioned nonviolence as a tactic. The students â including her daughter â were committed to nonviolence and were attacked by mobs of armed white people. Subsequent freedom walks and sit-ins included armed black men who surrounded the students for protection; clashes escalated. During protests in 1963, Richardson was photographed pushing aside the bayonet and rifle of a National Guardsman; the picture went viral in the media, and she became an icon of the movement She signed a peace treaty with Robert F. Kennedy and local officials after an uprising in Maryland for civil rights.Mirror Work:
Look at yourself and repeat 2 Timothy 1:7: âGod hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.â
Affirmations:
I have the power to change my life. This will pass. It wonât last. Iâm worthy of love and happiness.Fear Not: A Playlist
Self-Care Shopping List:
Sign up for a self-defense class; if you have a daughter, sign her up too.
Didnât catch the live recording of todayâs episode? We donât want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening andclosing songs below.
Opening â Songâ
Closing â Song
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Pleasure Muse: Rosa Parks
Tantalizing Trivia
Her future husband took her on a first date to a rally for the âScottsboro Boysâ, nine Black men who were wrongly accused of rape. From that rally she became compelled to activism. She was educated on civil disobedience during her days at the famed Highlander School in Tennessee under the guidance of the legendary Septima Clark. Later she attended a leadership training run by the famed Ella Baker. She was a staunch supporter of the labor movement and managed the office of E. D. Nixon the director of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and President of the NAACP. Rosa Parks became the secretary of the NAACP in Alabama in 1948. She functioned as an investigator for the NAACP and helped for the Committee for Equal Justice. She was also the youth advisor. She learned âdaily stretchingâ from her mother as a child and would later in her 50âs develop a daily yoga practice that she shared with her nieces and nephews. In the mid 90âs she was attacked by an assailant in her home. When the media began reporting this as a failing of the Black community, she pushed back hard by offering that the attack was endemic of the systematic problems she spent her life working on and not that of Black people. She lived to be 92 years old. Flags across the country flew at half-staff on the day of Parkâs funeral.Mirror Work:
Find a quiet place to sit. Get comfortable. Let the chair do the work of holding you. Plan to be here for 10 minutes. In that time observe your breath without judgment. Is it shallow? Is it deep? What areas of your body does it flow too? Where could you use more breath? Breathe deeply into those spaces. Luxuriate in the fact that you do not have to stand, do not have to move. You have been given this moment to sit still and just be. Thank God for that.
Affirmation:
I can sit and rest. No need to rush. I am where God wants to be. I am open to where God wants to take me. I give grace freely. I receive grace daily.Give Grace: A Playlist
In Her Own Words:
âYou must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.â âEach person must live their life as a model for others.â âI would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be freeâŠso other people would also be free.â âI knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.âDidnât catch the live recording of todayâs episode? We donâtwant you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening andclosing songs below.
Opening â Songâ
Closing â Song
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Pleasure Muse: Myrlie Evers-Williams
Tantalizing Trivia
Raised by her grandmother, and an aunt, two respected school teachers in Vicksburg, MS. They encouraged education so in 1950 she attended Alcorn A&M where she pledged Delta Sigma Theta sorority and on her first day of school met and fell in love with Medgar Evers - they got married a year later on Christmas Eve. The young couple became prominent leaders in the civil rights movement in Mississippi, Medgar, serving as the NAACPâs first Field Secretary in Mississippi; together they fought for voting rights, equal justice and the end of segregation. The Evers Family became a target of the Ku Klux Klan and White Citizens Council. She said âMedgar was the love of my life.â and âthe fear of losing one another was real.â In 1962, their home in Jackson, Mississippi, was firebombed; in 1963 her husband was brutally murdered in their driveway; and the murderer was exonerated and walked free, because of an all white jury in Mississippi; Protests, vigils and calls for freedom were widespread. The world mourned with Myrlie Evers and her three beautiful children; The world watched her lay to rest an American hero, martyr and civil rights activists - who also served as a sergeant in World War II - in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. A photo of her and her son grieving became the cover of Life Magazine; millions watched her tears flow; the image was later distributed by the NAACP to provoke the moral consciousness of a nation. As a widow, she moved her children to Claremont, California, went back to college, she made two bids for U.S. Congress and wrote a book called For Us, the Living, telling her familyâs story in Mississippi and wrote an autobiography called Watch Me Fly. She became chairperson of the NAACPâs board of directors, was named Woman of the Year by Ms Magazine, The National Freedom Award and in 2013 delivered the invocation at the inauguration of the first Black president of the US, Barack Obama. She went on to marry Walter Williams, a union organizer and moved to Oregon and committed herself to living a good life. She never gave up the fight for justice for her family, and 30 years later in 1993, under a new judge, she pressed for conviction of the murderer - requiring her to exhume Medgarâs body for new evidence - and won the case, sending the murderer to jail for the last 8 years of his life. Her legendary life was played by Whoopi Goldberg in the movie Ghosts of Mississippi and was featured in several other films, including the 2022 film Till. She said sheâs never lived a day of her 90 years without love, and has bravely battled hate.Mirror Work:
Say goodbye to someone you lost.
Affirmations:
I feel my feelings. I am grateful for true love. Grief is a part of healing. I turn my grief into goodwill I rest when I am hurting. I seek help. I'm grateful for each day. I honor the fallen with daily fulfillment and joy.Grieve as Gratitude : A Playlist
Self-Care Shopping List:
Buy and deliver flowers for someone alive for you. Love very much.
âI come to you tonight with a broken heart. I am left without my husband, and my children without a father, but I am left with the strong determination to try to take up where he left off.â - Myrlie Evers-Williams, 24 hours after the murder of her husband.
Didnât catch the live recording of todayâs episode? We donât want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening andclosing songs below.
Opening â Songâ
Closing â Song
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