Your Daily Cup of Inspiration!

They Need Your Example!

I received a heartbreaking email from a close longtime family friend named Chantel. Her 20-year-old cousin was gunned down and murdered on the East side of Buffalo, NY yesterday. The family is heartbroken and devastated! I’m praying for them today. When I received the awful news last night, I began to think about how important it is for us to let our light shine in this world. Many young men and women are groping in darkness, trying to find their identity and a true sense of belonging through gangs and other illicit activities. Some don’t even realize they are lost, while others just don’t know any other way to live and can’t imagine being free. Unless they discover a better way which can only be found by hearing and receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they will remain lost. That’s... Read more →

The Storm Will Pass Over

Good morning! I’m so happy to be back from my “blogging vacation”—I missed you guys. I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving last week. Unfortunately, I got sick right on Thanksgiving morning. Can you believe that?! I couldn’t even eat that big delicious meal I worked so hard on the night before. I was in bed in horrible shape. For the first few hours after waking up and feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, I was in denial. I thought, “There is just no way I can be getting sick on Thanksgiving. That would be cruel.” And cruel it was. As the hours rolled by, I felt worse and worse. Finally I had to accept that the holiday I envisioned—full of eating, laughing, and interacting with family—wasn’t going to happen. I was bed-ridden, aching, and drifting in and... Read more →

Thanksgiving Vacation

Hi everybody! Hope you’re well and feeling excited about spending time with your loved ones during the Thanksgiving holiday. I’ve got lots of cooking to do and I feel so giddy about it! Well, today’s blog post is going to be a pretty short one. I just want to let you know I’m going on my very own “Thanksgiving Vacation,” which means I’ll be signing off until Monday. Things have been so busy and hectic lately; I have to take some time out to relax, replenish, and be present in the moment. Look forward to reconnecting on Monday. Make sure you enjoy this special time… With Love, Dianna Hobbs Read more →

Discover YOUR Path

It’s the week of Thanksgiving and I’m already excited about Thursday—can’t wait to cook and spend time with my family. I’m making honey and pineapple glazed ham, greens, cabbage, candied yams, homemade macaroni and cheese, banana pudding (My specialty!), and a few other delicious dishes! No turkey, though. I know, I know. That probably seems odd to most of you reading this. But, I never have really enjoyed the famous bird for some reason. Neither has my husband Kenya. The kids aren’t too crazy about it either. So, we have turkey-less holidays now and no one misses it. You know, it’s actually hardest for others to accept the fact that the Hobbs family doesn’t eat it; it’s always funny to see people’s reactions. We used to eat it out of ritual, but then one day Kenya and I decided it... Read more →

Use It for the Lord

Today I had a a great interview with best-selling Christian rapper, LeCrae, for EEW Magazine. And during our talk we really connected, though I wasn’t really that familiar with his ministry before I began researching him for our chat. The more I learned about LeCrae Moore—a husband, father, and urban evangelist, the more it struck me. We are so similar in our perspectives when it comes to being ministry-focused and reaching souls for Christ. He talked about taking the gifting God gave Him and winning the world with it. And that’s what it’s all about for me—being strategic and deliberate about influencing the world. Everything we do should be to glorify God and build His Kingdom. And any person I see doing that, however God has called them to do it, I celebrate. Perhaps you and I will never understand... Read more →

Thoughtful Thursdays: November 18

Before we get into today’s Thoughtful Thursday’s list, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate all you ministry-minded women and men that take time out to pray for individuals you may never meet in person. That’s so awesome. Your commitment to seeking God on behalf of others is a blessing. Please continue to stand in faith with me each week as we believe God for breakthrough. Today, take a moment to pray for the following individuals on our “Thoughtful Thursdays” list: 1. Chantel Duncan wrote, “Dianna, please pray for me. My lupus has spread all over my body.” (Chantel didn’t offer any other details, but we know that God is able to deliver) 2. A woman who wants to be referred to as “Kay” for the privacy of her family wrote, “My sister has been suffering from... Read more →

He Knows When You're Ready

My 9 year old daughter Kaiah flashed a bright smile at me. And from the moment I detected a deep chocolate shiny substance smeared all over her lips and just above her lip line, I knew she had been playing in mommy’s tinted gloss, again. “Wow!” I said smiling approvingly, “You put on some lip gloss, I see. Oooh, pretty.” Nodding and barely able to contain her excitement, Kaiah grinned from ear to ear, pleased as punch that I had taken notice of her glammed up look. To her untrained eye, baby girl was ready for her close-up—smeared gloss and all. So funny. You know, she and her older sister, Kyla, are going through their phase (One I’ve been told will never end!) of regularly playing in my clothes, shoes (My good shoes!), make-up, and jewelry. It’s always hilarious to... Read more →

Honored to be in His Presence

I opened my eyes to complete silence and darkness this morning. The first thought that entered my confused mind was, “Why in the world am I awake at this time of morning?” Yesterday was long—full of mommy duties, business meetings, and a studio session to cap off an overly full day. I should have been deep into an exhausted sleep, at least until my alarm went off. But, for some reason, I didn’t feel a hint of tiredness, though I was a bit disoriented. After a few passing moments, however, the cobwebs cleared from my brain and I sensed that familiar nudging— the one my mother, Annie, first talked to me about as a pre-teen. “When the Lord wakes you up like that you should just pray,” she sweetly instructed. I’ve been heeding her advice ever since. So, even before... Read more →

In the Studio...

Hi Daily Cup family! I just had to drop by quickly to let you know I’m in the studio all day today, again. Please say a prayer for me as I continue to work on completing the album. In the meantime, please check out the current issue of EEW Magazine. There are some really wonderful and encouraging articles there for you. You know I love you guys and I’ll be back to blogging tomorrow. <3 Dianna Read more →

Life Lessons Learned from Pain

That bright smile he had just minutes earlier turned into tears. My four-year-old, Kaleb, came to me crying moments after I had left his room. So, what happened? you ask. Well, he had bumped into a wall and given himself a pretty good jolt. And, although there was no apparent injury, little Kaleb was clearly shaken up by it. Turns out, he had covered his head with a blanket (right after I told him not to do that) to see if he could stroll around without “running into” any problems. It wasn’t until he hit a wall that he realized voluntarily shrouding himself in a cloak of darkness and causing temporary blindness on purpose with his blanket, likely, uh, wasn’t the best idea. As I mentioned, I had just told Kaleb that was dangerous. In fact, we had a nice... Read more →

Thoughtful Thursdays: For Our Veterans & their Families

Today is a special edition of Thoughtful Thursdays, because today is the day to acknowledge the sacrifices brave men and women make every day, send love and prayers to those who are grieving, and pray for the safe return of those currently serving our nation. So, instead of doing what I typically do, which is post a select number of requests sent into the Daily Cup of Inspiration, I want to take time to send out a special prayer on behalf of the brave men and women who have and continue to serve America. Many have sacrificed their lives. But, not only are the veterans sacrificing, but their families are as well. I pray for all the family members—husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, and brothers, whose hearts have broken from the loss of a loved one. Also, for... Read more →

Don't Go Back

I typed in my log-in name and password and it didn’t work. I tried again. Still didn’t work. Hmmm, what ever could be wrong? I wondered. And then it hit me. “Oh!” I said aloud, shaking my head. I had forgotten about the switch to my new blogging platform. I chuckled thinking of how my mental lapse sent me right back over to a technology platform I vacated about a month ago after my tech team made some major changes to the websites for Your Daily Cup of Inspiration and EEW Magazine. You know, it’s funny how much time it takes to adapt to change. And even when we believe we’ve grown accustomed to something new, different, and in some cases, better than what we had before, occasionally we still forget. We have a memory lapse, or a re-lapse in... Read more →

Thank Him for What You Have

I enjoy inspiring speakers, trainers, and leaders that have wisdom to share. And recently, I was listening to a motivational business speaker talk about the top 10 mistakes entrepreneurs make. Now, I know this is not a business blog, but there is a very valuable point he made that I think can apply to how we conduct our lives in general. “Entrepreneurs work so hard to convert new clients instead of investing in the ones they already have and developing long-term relationships with them,” the speaker said. “They think about the quantity of customers, rather than the quality of relationships.” He made the point that, folks with this type mentality don’t nurture relationships or invest in what they have. Instead, they undervalue the relationships they do have, while spending time and money chasing after what they do not. I wholeheartedly... Read more →

Don't Leave Home Without It

I look happy in this photo, don’t I? I was so excited to be hugged up with Chip-Chip, my mom and dad’s dog, in this picture! I love him so much. And whenever I drop by to visit my parents, he always jumps all over me and rolls over on his back so I can tickle him. So sweet. Now, that wouldn’t ordinarily be a problem, except for one thing. Um, I am allergic to dogs. And cats. And anything with fur, with more than two legs. And you can also add a long list of other non-animal related allergens that break me out in hives. So then, why am I all lovey-dovey with the ‘Chipster’ in this photo? Well, allergy medicine makes it possible for me to function pretty normally. But on this particular night, I forgot to take... Read more →

Our Lives are Not Our Own...

Hi guys! Just a quick post today… Over the past few months there have been many things that have occurred in my life which have seriously altered my schedule. For a while, I had the order and structure of my days/weeks pretty much down to a science. I felt fairly comfortable—at least, as comfortable as I can be in my field. A profession centered around speaking, publishing, writing, and operating several businesses can be unpredictable and chaotic to say the least. But this has been such a whirlwind year, adding a new list of “To Do’s” with the pursuit of music. Things are changing so rapidly. So last evening I had a meeting with my management team to begin reworking my schedule. We had to make sure everything fit together perfectly. As we combed over every detail of my days,... Read more →

Thoughtful Thursdays: November 4

When I was a teenager, my family lived in the church parsonage. And sometimes I would walk over to the big empty sanctuary and cry out to God. I loved my alone time with Him. I felt so close to the Lord during those intimate moments with no distractions. These days, even though the physical sanctuary isn’t just a few steps away, I still love having time alone with God to go before His throne in prayer. And today, wherever you are, I want you to join me in talking to the Lord on behalf of the women on our Thoughtful Thursdays list. 1. Danielle writes: Hi Dianna. First let me say thank you for your Daily Cup and how you inspire women like me everyday. I trust your advice and your wisdom. I know it is from the Lord.... Read more →

The Key to being Content

I know some people who go all out for their birthdays. They buy beautifully decorated custom made cakes; throw elaborate birthday bashes; and celebrate with expensive gifts. But me? I’m a simple kind of gal. When it comes to celebrating the anniversary of my birth date, I never ask for anything specific. *Shrugging* It doesn’t take much more than a yellow cake with chocolate icing, my husband Kenya and the kids, and good health to make me happy on my special day. You know, one of my favorite treats is leftover birthday cake… Mmm. I had a fantastic birthday yesterday and was able to enjoy a nice slice of cake this morning for breakfast. Stop judging me. A girl is entitled to have cake the morning after. ;-) So good. Every year, I eat the kind—right out of the box—... Read more →

Thank God I Was Rejected

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while now, you have probably read previous posts about how I wasn’t at all popular in High School. Coming from a large family, we didn’t have much. So my clothes were hand-me-downs. We couldn’t afford the latest trends. And I was rocking “buddies”—which was the special title given to “no name” sneakers. I remember being laughed at, mocked, and teased relentlessly by my peers. I just didn’t fit in. One year, probably around my junior year of High School, when the yearbook titles were given out, I wanted so much to be recognized. Being labeled “Most Likely” to do something… anything… would have made my entire year. But nope. Didn’t happen. I felt so invisible, like an outsider. I was silently disappointed and wondered what I lacked that others who received all... Read more →