Your Daily Cup of Inspiration!

Admit it and Start Fresh

When we admit our faults, we clear our conscience and open ourselves up to receive God’s forgiveness and unconditional love. Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Are Your Connections Connected?

It is so important for our connections to be connected to the Lord. Otherwise, we’ll be tied to individuals who are carnally-minded, and hinder us in our spiritual walk. Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Hidden Matters of the Heart

The hidden matters of the heart are the most important matters... Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

A Recipe for Spiritual Health

Our spiritual journey is not a joke. Real threats exist. The warning in 1 Peter 5:8b NIV is serious that says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” That's why we must focus on our spiritual health! Read the rest at www.diannahobbs.com. Read more →

Inspiration for Those in a "Quiet Season"

If you’re restless in your spirit; busy toiling instead of trusting; trying to figure out ways instead of consulting the way-maker; or moving forward when God is saying stand still, then, this cup of inspiration is for you! Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Inspiration for Those Struggling with Impulsiveness

Rushing and jumping full speed ahead into something may seem like a good idea, at first. But impulsiveness can turn a good thing into a destructive thing. Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Get Rid of that Headache!

I have a splitting headache with pain concentrated in my left temple. I felt a dull throbbing in my head in the wee hours of the morning while lying down. I hoped it would go away by the time I awoke, but it has only intensified throughout the day. Usually, at the onset of a headache, my husband Kenya tells me, “Take an ibuprofen babe before it gets too bad.” He knows that once that mild throbbing turns into excruciating pounding, even ibuprofen doesn’t help. I don't know why I never listen. I tend to let the pain build up until I'm miserable, like right now. Sigh. Like my headache, when we allow things to build up, they might start out small. But they somehow morph into a massive, collective pain, literally and figuratively. Don’t they? Although we’d like them... Read more →

Can't Do It

"Can't Do It" should be our response to anything that compromises our integrity, balance, spiritual health, and ability to fulfill God's mandate on our lives! Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

It's Not that Serious

"Mommy, Kee-dow won't yeave me ayone." Translation: Mommy, Kedar won't leave me alone. "OK," I say without looking up. "Tell Kedar mommy said stop it." "Stop it Kee-dow!" 4-year-old Kaleb yells out as he's walking out of my room with a sly, gratified look. "But I didn't do anything mommy!" 6-year-old Kedar presents his counter-claim as he enters my room to plead his case. "OK," I say again, without looking up from what I'm typing. "You two be nice." "Okaaaay," they both whine and walk out. This cycle had been going on all day. The first time, I stopped what I was doing to address the two "feuding" brothers. And I gave them equal attention the third and fourth time too. But after the 5th trip into my bedroom with the same gripes, I realized these two were happy to... Read more →

It's Not that Serious

Sometimes we get all worked up over situations when, in reality, it's just not that serious. Read more →

Panicking Won't Change It!

Remember I shared the news that my baby sister Alesha was getting married this week-end? The ceremony was beautiful! As I told you before, I had to sing a song I'm not familiar with (Golden by Chrisette Michelle). Sooooo, how did it go you ask? Well, pull up a chair. All day Saturday was pretty crazy. I had a million things to do, including my baby sis's make up for the big day. By the time I got to her house, I was already running behind schedule, but still, things went well and she looked even more beautiful than she already does everyday. Okay so, after finishing her face, with only 45 minutes to spare before the wedding, I flew out the door, took a wrong turn, ended up miles away from home, with no gas, and no money to... Read more →

Panicking Won't Change It!

Remember I told you last week that I had to sing at my baby sister Alesha's wedding? You'll never guess what happened! So read today's blog post at www.DiannaHobbs.com to find out. Read more →

It's a Teachable Moment

I got a phone call the other night from one of my younger sisters, Shante. "Dianna, go listen to the song on YouTube," she said after informing me that I have to learn a new song for my sister Alesha's wedding by this Saturday. Uh oh. Immediately my mind traveled back to 2004. I had to sing a duet called "The Prayer" by Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin at my brother Andre's wedding. I only had a few days to learn it and uh, let's just say, that didn't go well. On the day of the wedding when it was my turn to sing, I opened my mouth, and it was like someone deleted my mental computer. I completely forgot the words! And the poor dancers that worked so hard to sync their choreography with the lyrics, were totally thrown... Read more →

It's a Teachable Moment

No matter what you go through, God, the consummate teacher, can use it to enhance your knowledge going forward. Read more →

Just Let It Go

If you're a Facebook friend of mine, then you know that I had been doing weekly video blogs to try to stay connected on a deeper level. Well, over the past couple of weeks, things have gotten so hectic that my "vlogging" has suffered terribly. The other night, I tried to do a video blog after midnight and it was so incoherent that my husband Kenya laughed at me and said, "Baby, it's OK. Just let it go." When I watched the video back, I seriously looked spaced out. My eyes were barely open and my speech was slurred. We both ended up cracking up as we watched it again. It was bad. Really bad. Anyway, midway through my unsuccessful attempt, I finally heeded Kenya's advice and just let it go. I took my delirious self to sleep! Although I... Read more →

Just Let It Go

If you, like me, have ever made the mistake of running full speed ahead with a bad idea only to end up failing, it's not the end of the world. Just admit you had a lapse in judgment, regroup, and free yourself to start fresh. Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Do You

Pursuers of purpose, we need to talk about a lesson that dropped on me while observing the recent behaviors of my 11 year old daughter, Kyla. Lately, she has taken a special interest in wearing my clothes and shoes around the house. Every time I turn around, I'll look up and notice that she's confiscated another wardrobe item. My shoes flop on and off her feet. My shirts and dresses hang off her small frame. But still, that doesn't stop her from sporting these ill-fitting items. Of course, this is both perfectly healthy and normal for children as they mature and develop. But once we grow up and begin walking in our purpose, we have to grow out of this habit. Otherwise, it can destroy our destiny. You see, the shoes God has called you to fill, don't fit me.... Read more →

Do You

Pursuers of purpose, we need to talk about a lesson that dropped on me while observing the recent behaviors of my 11 year old daughter, Kyla... (Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com) Read more →

Like It or Not

Yesterday, I was having a discussion with the kids about what they want to be when they all grow up. This is a recurring conversation in our house that somehow never gets old. I guess I like to ask a lot of questions just to get a feel for what's going on inside their little minds. Plus, it's fun. As expected, everyone gave their typical answers, adding nothing new or different. That is, until we got to 4-year-old Kaleb, who usually has nothing to contribute other than, "I don't know." For some reason, on yesterday, he had an epiphany out of the blue. Suddenly all his ambiguity about future aspirations was replaced with clarity and certainty. He looked me straight in the eyes and said in a very matter-of-fact tone, "I wanna be the ice cream man." It was the... Read more →

Like It or Not

Sometimes God will call and assign us to do things we don't necessarily like in order to accomplish His will. Going through something like that? Read this post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

It's Not Your Job to Fix It

I got a phone call the other day from someone close to me. "Hey, what's up?" I answered in an upbeat tone. But the next words they uttered really put a damper on my day. "No way! You're kidding me!" I responded, genuinely shocked. Part of me wished they were kidding, but nope. It was real. So, you know I went into fix-it mode, right? But nothing I did worked. Nothing. I couldn't understand why none of my efforts brought about the change I wanted to see for them. And I was completely bummed about it until this morning when the Holy Spirit spoke to me. "It's not your job to fix it," He said. "It's mine." Immediately I understood, although, underneath it all, I still wished I could work it out. But I simply said yes Lord, hung up... Read more →

It's Not Your Job to Fix It

Many times we rush in to fix situations. But sometimes, God wants us to be still and let Him do it. Read the rest at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

It Can Wait

I kissed the kids, got them settled, and fell into my bed last night feeling just delirious. It had been a really long day. My eyes felt like someone had poured sand in them and set them ablaze. So, with burning eyes and a tired body, I stretched out, determined to let all the unfinished work competing for my attention wait until the next day. There have been so many things going on lately, particularly with the addition of the music obligations that come along with completing a CD. A lot of days and nights have been running together with little to no time to decompress in between. That's why I made an "executive decision" last night and said, "Everything else has gotta wait. It'll be there tomorrow!" It's so easy to try to do everything before lying down to... Read more →

It Can Wait

As I fell into bed last night exhausted, I had plenty of work left undone. But my body had taken all it could take, so I made a decision... "It can wait..." If you're feeling a bit frenzied about getting everything done RIGHT NOW, this blog post is for you. Read it at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Let God Show You the Way

Yesterday I was reading over some old articles I had written several years back. Although my views and life philosophy are fundamentally the same even today, the manner in which I express my ideas nowadays, has greatly changed. Looking retrospectively, I see many things I wrote that could have been communicated much better or differently. Hindsight is 20/20, right? Especially when you're viewing things through more mature and experienced lenses. While I was in the moment, however, I didn't see any other way, nor did I even stop to think that, perhaps I could have used a little refinement. I'm sure you can relate to this, because we all make choices according to the level of understanding we're operating in at that time. We are sometimes guilty of not trusting God enough and trusting in ourselves too much. But the... Read more →

Let God Show You the Way

If you and I can learn to totally depend on God to be our guide and show us the way, instead of trying to piece things together on our own, we'll be much better off in the long run. Read the rest at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

It's an Exciting Day!

Today is a very exciting day for me because I have done what God said do and released my first single from my upcoming album. It's entitled Do What He Said and I pray that it will be a great blessing and inspiration to you the way it has been in my life. Please take a moment to download the single from Amazon.com. I sincerely hope it will uplift you as you listen. Before I conclude today's brief post (Lots to do!), please pray my strength as I enter into this next chapter and phase. As I always say, prayer is so important! If you join your faith with mine, I ought be just fine. In the meantime, let me know you're listening to the music by connecting with me on Facebook and sharing your thoughts about it. I appreciate... Read more →

It's an Exciting Day!

Today is a very exciting day for me...! Read the rest at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Resistance Builds Strength

My husband Kenya came home from Walmart smiling the other night. "Look what I got for us babe," he said grinning widely while pulling two boxes out of the white and blue plastic bag. Resistance bands. For working out. Yay. :-/ *Birds chirping* Can you sense my excitement? I hate resistance bands. Those little flat strips of rubber that provide increased resistance to build strength, hurt. Badly. Initially, I tried to feign excitement, until I could no longer hide my intimidation. "Those are so hard to use honey," I told him, hoping not to sound too ungrateful for my, uh, "gift" he had excitedly purchased. Kenya was still cheesing while testing out the rubbery torture tubes. "You can do it. It'll be fun," he said lifting them up and down like 3 pound dumbbells. Yay. :-/ Ever felt like that... Read more →

Resistance Builds Strength

Resistance, opposition and challenges, though difficult, build strength and character within us. So today, if you're going through some tough "character building," this blog post is for you. Read the rest at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Hands Off

Yesterday, a situation arose with someone close to me and it wasn't good at all. When I heard about it, I grew deeply concerned and everything in me wanted to handle it on their behalf. I prayed and talked to my husband Kenya about how upset I was over the whole thing. I even spoke to that individual and expressed my perspective on the situation. But my advice pretty much fell on deaf ears. *Shrugging* Nothing was changing. Then, the Holy Spirit spoke to me ever so calmly. "Leave it alone. You can't change it." But everything in me was crying out, "I have to do or say something!" But God had a different idea about the whole thing. You see, He wanted me to understand that every battle is not mine to fight. Even though things may bother me... Read more →

Hands Off

You and I are not called to fix every problem that arises. Sometimes, we simply have to take our hands off and give it over to God. Read the rest at www.diannahobbs.com. Read more →

Your Foundation Determines your Elevation

I was in the kitchen yesterday preparing dinner and I needed an ingredient which was stored on the third shelf. Since I'm only 5'1" tall, there was no way I could reach that top shelf without standing on top of a stepping stool. Earlier in the day, however, I had taken the stool upstairs for something and forgot to bring it back down. So, instead of traipsing back up the stairs to get it (What I should have done), I decided to use something a bit less reliable to help hold me up. Before I even mounted the flimsy wooden stump, I knew there was a good chance it wasn't strong enough. But hey, I was hoping. Well, hope didn't stop it from collapsing under me. And hope certainly didn't prevent me from banging my knee as I came tumbling... Read more →

Your Foundation Determines your Elevation

"The strength of the foundation upon which we stand determines the heights we'll attain in life."-Dianna Hobbs (Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com) Read more →

It Will Come Around Again

On Saturday, the kids came running upstairs. "Mommy! Mommy! Do you hear it?" I had no idea what they were talking about, because whatever they heard was imperceptible to my ears at the moment. "It's the ice cream truck!" they all shouted in unison with wide eyes. Suddenly, my ears perked up and I could faintly hear the music. I remember how much that very same melody used to excite me when I was a kid. So I rushed to get some money and slip on my shoes. By the time I made it outside, however, the truck was turning the corner and leaving our street. The kids were so disappointed and I felt sorry for them, especially when my six year old son, Kedar, asked me, "Mom, can't you call the ice cream man and ask him to come... Read more →

It Will Come Around Again

All of us have have missed an opportunity in our lives at least once, but the good news is, God is merciful enough to give us a second chance to begin again! Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Let God take His Time

The day before yesterday, my mom suddenly got really ill. My dad took her to the hospital and they diagnosed her with gall stones. We discovered that she needed surgery to have her diseased gall bladder removed--the same procedure I went through about 10 years ago. Well, the surgery typically takes anywhere from a half hour to a full hour and a half, depending upon how things go. I remembered my surgery had taken just under an hour, so I figured my mom's process would go the same way mine did. Boy, how wrong I was. In my mom's case, things dragged on for nearly four hours, what felt like an eternity to our concerned family! During the process, once the "deadline" for the time it "should" have taken, passed, we all grew a bit anxious. "Is everything OK?" we... Read more →

Let God take His Time

In life, we have to learn to allow God to take His time when operating on our behalf. I know it can be tough to be patient when you want things to happen in a certain time frame, but if it isn't happening faster, that means it doesn't need to... Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Release the Hindrances

Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I went power walking while listening to some of my favorite inspirational songs. I noticed that the slower songs slowed my pace and the more upbeat tunes, pushed me to go faster. So, I began skipping the slow melodies in my playlist and allowing only those tracks that got my juices flowing to play in my ears. I had a goal in mind and I only wanted to hear things that pushed me to reach it. Well, before I realized it, I had walked a much longer distance than I intended to. And I managed to do it without increasing the amount of time spent exercising. I couldn't believe how much ground I actually covered without feeling tired. That music had me going. When I had the right songs playing, they really got my adrenaline... Read more →

Release the Hindrances

In life, we have to be careful about the people and things we embrace, because they impact us... for better or worse. Embracing the healthy motivators and releasing toxic hindrances, is critical to the fulfillment of our destiny. Read the rest at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

You are a Cycle Breaker

Yesterday, my youngest daughter, Kaiah, was lying across the bed reading a book. Then, as a little time passed, she was happily reciting one of those popular childhood rhymes to herself. Although I can't remember exactly which one it was, it put me in the mind of the "Miss Mary Mack" rhyme. Remember that one? "She asked her mother, mother, mother, for fifteen cents, cents, cents, to see the elephants, elephants, elephants..." Well, when I overheard her, I was pretty intrigued, because it immediately carried me back to my younger days at home as a kid. I thought to myself, "Wow, things really do get passed down from generation to generation." In this case, what was "passed down" was completely innocent and harmless. But, there are some other generational patterns and behaviors that can be detrimental to us. Those, by... Read more →

You are a Cycle Breaker

There are some generational ideals, patterns and behaviors that can be detrimental to us along our path toward destiny. These cycles are hindrances, but you, by God's power, are a cycle breaker! Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Let Him Hold You

My mom gives the absolute best hugs! I posted a picture of her here (even though it's a litttle fuzzy), so you can see that bright smile she always has waiting for me every single time I see her. It doesn't matter what time of day or night it is, she's always sweet, consistent, and warm. Well, the other day, I had so much running to do and lots of things piling up on my plate. I was so tired... not just physically, but mentally also. Ever had one of those times when your mind was just working overtime and you needed a mental break? That was me. In the middle of running errands, I decided to make a quick stop by my mom's house. When I saw her, I told her, "Mom, I just need a hug." With no... Read more →

Let Him Hold You

My mother, whom I love dearly, gives the warmest embraces. But still, nobody can hold me like Jesus can. And if you find that you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by life, all you need to do is let Him hold you and He'll make everything alright. Read more at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Pick Up Where You Left Off

My husband Kenya used to run cross country back in High School, where he was one of the fastest. When we began dating 15 years ago, in 1995, I noticed that his mother had collected all--and I do mean all--his trophies, medals and other awards and designated a special place in the house for them. It was like a "shrine" to Kenya, celebrating his notable achievements in track and field. She kept them all until she recently passed away. Well, after he graduated, Kenya didn't pursue running any further... just an occasional sprint here and there. Then, once we were married and the kids came along, our schedules got busier, and he pretty much quit that activity altogether. But, the other day, he said he wanted to start up again and recondition his body. He meant it too, because that... Read more →

Pick Up Where You Left Off

The other day, my husband did something that inspired this blog post and reminded me that, whether it's been days, weeks, months, or years since you've revisited that thing you believe God has chosen you to do; it's never too late to start fresh. Read the rest at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

"Get a Grip on It"

Yesterday I got a knife jammed inside the garbage disposal in the kitchen sink. I tried and tried, but couldn't get it out. After yanking and tugging at it for what felt like forever, I was convinced it wasn't gonna dislodge. But then, I got a wrench and tightened it around the knife. With a firm grasp and a steady hand, I went back at it again. The wrench gripped that piece of silverware much more tightly than I was able to with my bare hand. So, I concentrated and took my time wriggling the stuck knife around. To my relief, out popped that silver butter knife just minutes after I got a grip on it with the wrench. All I needed was a little reinforcement and something stronger than me to get a handle on that thing. Ever been... Read more →

"Get a Grip on It"

Some stuff is too tough to try to fix on your own. And if you've ever been stuck in a real serious jam and couldn't break free, you already know that it takes God to help you get a grip on things... Read the full post at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →

Is it Worth the Collateral Damage?

My four-year-old, Kaleb, was happily playing and having himself a grand old time. But playtime was cut a little short when he said, "Look! There's a bug on the ceiling," pointing out a tiny mosquito circling one of the light fixtures in my bedroom. Next thing I knew, Kaleb had gotten one of my flats and bent his knees while looking upward. He was positioning himself and angling his little body, so he could throw my shoe at the light to try to kill the bug. In his four-year-old mind, that was a good idea. When I noticed what he was doing, I quickly said, "Oh no, no baby. You can't throw the shoe! You'll break the light." I could tell by his dazed look that Kaleb didn't quite see my point. All he paid attention to was the fact... Read more →

Is it Worth the Collateral Damage?

I had another "teachable moment" with my four year old son, Kaleb and I think the lesson is one that we each should embrace and apply. Read about it on my blog at www.diannahobbs.com Read more →