time – Danita Ogandaga, MSW

What an awesome night of remembrance, healing, and shared stories of loved ones that has passed recently. It was an honor to be in the presence of family members who were taking the necessary time out to permit themselves to grieve and understand the stages and tasks associated with the grieving process. The grief process is unique and just because we love God, we MUST take the time to go through the process of grief.

Last night, I taught on the Price of Unresolved Grief and why we need to acknowledge grief. People are still walking around attached to pain that happened to them years ago and are unsure how to go about releasing the pain; wondering what their quality of life will be without it; the pain that is. Many of the people there were newly grieved and I was honored to share in their process.

There were people there last night that were facing:

The 2 month loss of their wife following 64 years
The 2-year loss of their husband following 65 years of certainty of who they were in the marriage and not as a single person
The 2-month loss of a daughter

We took the time to do a Seasons of Grief Exercise to remember the loved ones. Thanks to

,we took the concept of the Memory Jar with Stones and adapted it to the season and used green and red sticks to allow the participants to write the names of their loved ones one them. Walking through the crowd, we took the time to allow moments for them to share stories of their loved ones and how they are coping. The stories of unconditional love and devotion were amazing.

Despite the layers of loss, the atmosphere of peace was thick and it was apparent that the people in attendance felt the need to share and begin the process of healing.

Thank you to all who came out!

We look forward to being with everyone again in Fayetteville, GA on Thursday, December 5 at 7:00pm for Part II of the Grief Seminar: The Art of Grief. Come and bring a friend. We’re gonna laugh, cry, and paint our expression on paper.

Interested in hosting Seasons of Grief in your City? Send inquiries to danitaogandagaventures@gmail.com.

Individual Grief Recovery Programs and Sessions will begin January 2014! Stay tuned.

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Go Get It: Getting Your Passion

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“God allowed us to reach this point in order to take us to the next level.”. These were the words of Erica speaking of the relationship with her sister and the eminent sabbatical of the group Mary Mary. I’ve enjoyed watching their show for the past two seasons on WE and have appreciated the position they have taken as a gospel group going mainstream with their edgy yet anointed songs that transform our thinking and motivate us to go for everything God has for us.

Yet in the midst of watching their show tonight titled, “Fight of a Lifetime”. I am sure that it indeed has been a fight of a lifetime for many people. I sense that there are many people in a stage of life where they want to break out from the normalcy that they have been engaged in and return to their happy place. In 2012 Forbes Magazine reported that only nineteen percent (19%) of people were satisfied on their jobs. Many of them often worked from their cubicle fantasizing of the clock striking five o’clock so like Clark Kent, they could turn into their Superman “type” in the studio, at the sewing machine, or in the kitchen.

Whether that happy place is a six figure corporate executive leaving his position to save children on the streets of Cambodia or a medical doctor who decides to become an entrepreneur, or like Mary Mary, it may be that you suddenly realize that your passion for touring and making records has blessed you to arrive to a wonderful place in your life filled with fortune and fame; yet the passion of changing diapers and being a housewife is the calling that you wish to walk in. Whatever your expression, the chains of obligation are slowly falling off many and they are becoming impressed with conviction to follow the road less traveled and get to the essence of getting to their own happy.

From the time we start school, we are taught to get a good education and play sports so we can get a scholarship. Our expression in school may have been art class or baking cookies or for others designing software. Technology and passion have cleared the way for many to develop their successful vocations without stepping foot into the walls of a university. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg, to name a few are successful innovators who traveled the road less traveled and the against the opinions of man to follow their dreams.

Mary Mary have experienced an awesome career that has spanned many years and have opened the door to other gospel artists breaking into the mainstream. Despite what they may choose in their path, the decision to follow their peace will be their ultimate success.

P.S. Thanks for reading this post. I hope that you will comment and share your experience. For additional information on developing the power to express yourself, stop by my store for my audio teaching I delivered in Kinston, North Carolina called “The Power of Expression and Knowing God for Yourself.

Love you and God loves you double!

Danita Ogandaga

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Welcome to 2013!

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For all the waiting, watching, wondering, wailing, whispering, and willfull thinking that you have done know that all that you do to make peace with yourself, others, and God is not going unnoticed. This is a simple reminder to you to endure. Welcome to your year!

God loves you strong,

Danita*