Closet Gems - Anchored: From Frenzy to Focus

It’s March 3rd and somehow this year already feels like it drank three espressos and took off running. I did not sign up for 2026 to be the year of “Frenzied Kiya.” I have plans. Calm plans. Intentional plans. Word-before-world plans.

And yet… here we are.

My days still begin in the Word. Today I finished the book of Isaiah. Whew. Talk about drama, judgment, warning signs, and then — boom — mercy on the way. Over and over again you see God saying, “Correction is coming… but so is redemption.”

And I couldn’t help but laugh.

Because if we’re honest? I’ve seen some very large, flashing, neon-red STOP SIGNS in my life.

And I ran straight through them.

Anyone else? 😅

💎 GEM: Slow Down Before You Speed Past the Warning

Sometimes we miss God’s warning signs not because He wasn’t speaking — but because we were focused on the wrong things.

Chasing success.

Chasing validation.

Chasing what we thought we missed.

Chasing what the world said mattered.

Tunnel vision will have you running red lights in your spirit.

📖 “Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Stillness protects you from unnecessary detours.

Why do we ignore warning signs?

For me? Tunnel vision.

You can get real caught up trying to win at a game that doesn’t even matter in eternity.

Work is work.

Success is not your job title.

Eternity is the real goal.

This life? Blink.

Eternity? Forever.

That’ll reset your priorities real fast.

The Mind Drift Is Real

Can we talk about “mind drift”?

You sit down to focus and suddenly:

• You’re thinking about something random from 2009.

• Then you’re mentally rearranging furniture.

• Then you’re replaying a conversation that didn’t even happen.

• And 20 minutes are gone.

The battlefield is the mind. Scripture tells us that plainly. Sometimes I catch myself drifting and I can almost feel the enemy trying to pull me off course. And then — the Holy Spirit whispers.

“Get your mind back on the game, Kiya.”

And I’ll just start praising God out of nowhere. Right there. Brain fog meets worship. And clarity follows.

Holy Spirit really is my cheerleader. 🙌🏾

💎 GEM: Your Mind Is a Battlefield — Guard It

The enemy loves unmanaged thoughts.

📖 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh… casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” — 2 Corinthians 10:3–5

You don’t fight thoughts by panicking. You fight thoughts by replacing them.

Praise breaks brain fog. Every time!

People ask me, since I'm from St. Louis what brought me here to Atlanta?

Answer: God.

2008–2010: The Real Frenzy - When Everything Fell Apart

Let’s talk about the hard years.

The worldwide banking catastrophe and economic downturn. Losing the job I had excelled at for nearly 20 years. I mean just be honest and say we are letting you go because of the economic downturn instead of gaslighting me into thinking I was the problem. Then interview after interview; Rejection after rejection. And the wild part? Being told I didn’t have qualifications for jobs I had previously been overqualified for???

Make it make sense.

I remember collapsing on my kitchen floor, wondering how I was going to pay bills, feed my kids, keep going.

There were days I didn’t eat so my children could.

I tied my worth to worldly success. When that disappeared, I thought I disappeared.

I stopped answering phone calls. I made a residence on my couch. Depression moved in. Self-destruction. The enemy thought he had me.

But God.

I cried out. And He answered.

Not in a cute Instagram way. In a “fall on your face and can barely move” kind of deliverance. Talk about a force, God sent my Mom. And my Mom, whew child she is a force to be reconned with, she don't play about her kids. And suddenly she held a yard sale and sold ALL my earthly possessions I had tied to my success, moved all my remaining items into her house and I started over. I was caught in a whirlwind of my Mom and the Lord and by 2010, I was in Atlanta. New job, New church, New focus.

Sometimes God doesn’t just rescue you — He replants you.

“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish…” — Psalm 92:13

Replanted.

Reset.

Restored.

💎 GEM: When God Replants You, It’s Not Punishment — It’s Preparation

I admit 2008–2010 was not cute, But God didn’t abandon me.

I was open to the uprooting.

I accepted the pruning.

What would have happened if I wasn't open to what God wanted?

Where would I be if I had not been obedient to the Holy Spirit's direction to move to Atlanta?

Changing My Posture Changed My Perspective

Here’s what I know now:

When I start my day in the Word instead of the world, everything shifts.

My posture changes. And when your posture changes, your perspective follows.

All things truly do work together for good for those who love Him.

💎 GEM: Posture Determines Perspective

I start each month with a week in prayer on a 5AM prayer call organized by my sister in Christ, Minister Bridgette Floyd. This month's call is about having a prayer posture.

I didn’t deserve rescue.

I didn’t deserve mercy.

But grace isn’t earned — it’s given.

That season wasn’t just for me.

📖 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — Romans 12:2

Renewed mind = regulated emotions.

Renewed mind = anchored identity.

Renewed mind = peace in chaos.

It is ALL for His glory.

It’s never about me. It’s always about Him.

Separation Is Suffocation

When I was being self-destructive and wallowing in self-pity and depression and living in sin, I was separated from God, I felt it. Deeply. It was the worst feeling I’ve ever known.

We cannot thrive disconnected from the One who created us.

We were made for connection:

• Connection to God.

• Connection to each other.

And the beautiful truth?

Nothing can separate us from His love.

Not failure.

Not job loss.

Not depression.

Not your worst year.

He sent His Son while we were still in sin.

💎 GEM: Nothing Can Separate You — Even When You Feel Far

There will always be sin, we are human. There will always be seasons of feeling separated from God.

But feelings are not facts.

📖 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life… nor things present nor things to come… shall be able to separate us from the love of God.” — Romans 8:38–39

Sis,

Even when you ran the stop sign.

Even when you ignored the warning.

Even when you tied your worth to the wrong things.

He stayed.

That’s grace.

That’s mercy.

That’s love.

So Sis…

What in your life do you now look back on and say, “Only God did that”?

Where did He replant you?

Where did He rescue you?

Where did He carry you when you thought you were done?

If your year feels rushed right now, anchor yourself.

Slow your mind.

Renew it daily.

Fix your eyes on eternity.

Fire insurance is real — and His name is Jesus.

And if you’ve drifted?

Run back.

He’s still there.

He still loves you.

He still wants you flourishing.

💎 GEM: This Life Is a Blink — Eternity Is the Goal

Work is work.

Success is not your title.

Work hard, be successful but remember this life is temporary.

📖 “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” — James 4:14

Sis… get yourself some fire insurance.

If your year feels rushed, don’t match its speed — anchor yourself.

If your mind drifts, bring it back with worship.

If you’re in a replanting season, trust the soil.

And if you’ve ever been rescued, remember: It wasn’t just for you.

It was for His glory.

His name is Jesus.

Stay anchored in Him. 💎

Stay anchored, Sis. 💎