Author: Vanessa Moonkie

”Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
‭‭Ruth‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Happy Monday family! Sending love and big hugs. If you’re going through a difficult time, l want to reassure you that He is still God. The winds and the waves will not destroy you. There may be water in the boat, everyone around you is also afraid, you’re terrified of what could happen but Jesus is with you. He is aware of how difficult it’s been my darling. He is aware of the nights you cry yourself to sleep and you wake up feeling helpless, that you get panic attacks and you worry about time not being on your side. Reminds me of Mary and Martha’s message to Jesus. “The one you love is sick.” If I love you l should show up quickly right? But Jesus did not speed to them as if He was as desperate as they were. He showed up on time. Time for a miracle is not 22:10 it is Jesus time. Hang in there darling!💞

I want to briefly share about something I’ve been studying on from the book of Ruth. I know we read it to quote about Boaz and do intense prayers “I will marry! My Boaz is coming this year! Boaz come now! I locate you by fire! If you don’t come I will die!” 😂 but there’s so much more to learn from the story. Naomi is our centre of discussion today. She is an embittered woman who experiences a tragic loss. Her trauma was built overtime. We may relate with this, one problem after the other. The collapse of Naomi’s world did not happen in a day but was spread out over years of heartache and tragedy. Naomi’s grief was a long time coming, the buildup of years of major disappointments, setbacks, and losses. Maybe just like you ?

When it rains, it pours.” The bills are due, the car repossessed , a sick child, a crazy teen, Or maybe a loved one’s death, a cancer diagnosis, and job loss all crash in on you within that span of a few weeks. Many of us can relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed by suffering. You try to move forward, but the blows just keep coming and you feel beaten down and abandoned. You seem to not be getting rest from life’s blows. That’s Naomi. A heart that had endured so much that from trauma came a name – Mara. What name did you come out of trauma with? Don’t call me Vanessa , call me the once rejected one? Or Don’t call me Joseph, call me the hated one? Don’t call me Hannah, call me the barren one! Don’t call me Jesus, call me the betrayed One? What is the name you keep calling yourself because you faced a tough situation?

As we lay the foundation of this topic, ask yourself, are you known as a daughter of God or do you live by another name? The rape doesn’t define you! It’s not your identity! The failed marriage is not your identity!!! You are not the broke one! You are not Mara! You are Naomi! How can we call you Naomi if you see yourself as Mara? How can people keep saying you’re beautiful and your response is “I’m actually very ugly!?” Who are you? Selah ..

Hey family . Today is Reflection Friday. It is important for you to answer the following questions;

1. How are you?
2. What are you most grateful for this week?
3. What did you struggle with? Did you overcome? What is your strategy to make sure that next week is different?

Holy Spirit has been teaching me a lot about my surroundings, particularly the people in my life, who l allow into my space and who I let Into my life. It’s been a hard lesson to learn in as much as I love people and am quite bubbly , I should not trust people that easily. I’m not an uptight person, I may look it though 😂 . As I look into my mirror I realise many times, all these people I seem to go an extra mile for, are not in the mirror with me. I’m there alone having emptied of myself to the masses. What does this mean? I need to sit and throughly work on my inner circle, who knows the most intimate details about me and who should not even have my address. Friendly people will understand where I’m coming from.

The girl in the mirror has been carelessly selecting friends. Opening her heart to almost everything and everyone. You know, you need to be honest with yourself. That’s why we do reflection Friday. Sit and consider your ways. Do I really need to buy this dress? Do I really need to go there? Am I protecting my space by allowing this person in? Can I trust this person ? In what way have they been proven trustworthy? The reflection you see remains the same ,week in week out until you decide to change something. You do not change the mirror, you change the person in the reflection. You change you!

Self-reflection enables you to move from just experiencing, into understanding. It Encourages a level of self-awareness and consciousness about feelings and experiences . It also enables you to identify areas for improvement and also areas where you are strong.Your self concept includes your thoughts about your traits, abilities, beliefs, values, roles, and relationships. It plays an influential role in your mood, judgment, and behavioural patterns.

”and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.“
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬


Always do your self introspection through the lenses of the word of God. Be a doer. Be teachable. Be correctable. Part of what I will do is presenting to God the people I think could be in my inner circle and have Him remove whoever He wants to remove . I want to be very intentional about this because as l look into the mirror I must not forget the picture I see. Yours could be about how you spend? Which is something I need to work on as well. It can even be how you use your time. Look in the mirror today, clean it by the word of God and take a closer look, what are the flaws and how can Holy Spirit help you today for the sake of your future?

”But Lot’s wife turned and gazed longingly on the city and turned into a pillar of salt.“
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭26‬ ‭TPT‬‬

I love you………We are continuing with the study on Lot and his family. Imagine being in danger and you’re given a chance of salvation but you choose to die instead. Foolishness right? That is Lot’s wife. That is the world today. Being given a chance to live again but we keep running back to the place of danger thinking that because grace abounds we will still make it to heaven. The foolish virgins thought they could borrow oil at the last minute. What they didn’t realise , like Lot’s wife is that disobedience to instructions has consequences. God is a loving Father but He is not our puppet. Do not by any chance think that God jokes with His word.

Lot’s wife packed her bags, said goodbye to her friends (if she had the time) , left the city physically but because the heart was still glued to the past, she couldn’t silence the noise of the inner man. Baptised only for lust to scream and say feed me. Physically going to church but the mind is stuck on the life of the world. Leaving a place physically is not as effective as detaching from it emotionally. Ever heard of the saying “You can take me out of the ghetto but you cannot take the ghetto out of me?” Did we just physically leave the old place? Have we detached from it?

The bible says she longed to see what was happening behind. That we can be so curious only to find out things that put us in harms way. If you’re a virgin , don’t be curious about sex. Keep yourself. If you’ve never drank alcohol, don’t be curious about the taste, I can tell you for free it’s a waste of money! Curious about how it feels to take drugs? All the things we are to know are in the Bible, curiosity if usually fed by demonic spirits that want to lock you up in a cycle.

This woman was told one thing: “Don’t look back,” and the one thing she was told not to do is the one thing she did. Furthermore, I found that understanding how she looked back quite possibly held a clue as to why she looked back: “But Lot’s wife, from behind him, [foolishly, longingly] looked [back toward Sodom in an act of disobedience], and she became a pillar of salt. What is it about the past that has kept you lingering in that place? Is it a relationship? A job? Money that you lost? We may not have turned to a pillar of salt but we could be stuck on

Our emotions, 
our thoughts, 
our attitudes, 
our opinions, 
our possessions, 
our plans, 
our desires, 
our habits, 
our comfort, 
our pain, 
our wounds, 
our relationships, 
our past, 
our present, 
or even our future hopes.

Equally, it is often difficult to move on when we have experienced deep trauma, pain, or suffering, and feel utterly hopeless and helpless. Moving on is something we know we should do, what we often want to do, and at times what we actually refuse to do, but it remains something God eagerly wants for us. I pray that you identify places that have kept you stuck and make every effort to move on. Don’t look back! Don’t entertain the questions that dig up the scar! Allow yourself to detach. You don’t need to hold onto what was. My pastor, Ps KG taught me this , “Another way of deliverance is simply walking out of the trauma!” Darling get your bags and get out! Pace up and go! You have a family that needs you! You have a promise from God! You have angels around you, LEAVE THE CITY QUICKLY AND DO NOT LOOK BACK ! Why? Because the Lord has destroyed it for a reason! It is no more! The glories are gone! The future awaits you!

”Don’t always be asking, “Where are the good old days?” Wise folks don’t ask questions like that.“
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭7‬:‭10‬ ‭MSG‬‬