Let’s Speed Date!
Hello to my Old and New Faithphilled Friends,
Since so many of you are new here, I want to introduce myself and get to know you all! In lieu of doing so, LET’S SPEED DATE!!! Don’t worry we can use some prompts to bypass that awkward beginning babble. So here are some conversation starters...
1. What is your name? Your nickname?
2. When you think of yourself what's the first thing that comes to mind?
3. What's one thing that when I walk away from you, you want me to know about you?
Ready...Set....Go!
Ugh, okay so you're not that much of a talker, you're more of a reader?? Hmmm thats okay. I'll go first!
My name is Amanda Christine Bazemore. My nickname? I have many....I'm Christine, Manda, Man, Mandie or Geter (my maiden name) to my friends. To my work associates, I'm known as Ms. Amanda. Miss Alanla to my clients and students. Chrissy to my siblings, Aunt Tine to my nieces/nephews and Little Bit to my mother. I’m SweetCheeks to my husbae Tyreef and mamaaaaaaa by my 3 year old son, Jace. I don’t like being called Mandies Candies, with an exception of a few friends from church. To me, there is a weird sexual undertone and...ion like dat. Also, I don't like to be called Mom instead of my name. Yes, I am a mother (a proud one at that) however, I like to be recognized by my name not my role. I mean, I already get ignored when I walk into a room with my son and I don’t think it’s fair to strip me of a greeting AND my name. Is it?!?!
When I think of myself, one of the first words that comes to mind is Faithful. Simply because it defines who I am as a person. I consider myself to be a consistent, trust-worthy, loyal person, who is confident in my differences and unafraid to speak my mind. Sometimes, I speak unapologetically and blunt but, every time I do my best to speak my truth in love. Though faithful is my defining attribute, I can't equate myself to the word faithful without acknowledging the word faith. My faith in God has kept me grounded over the past few years. In Hebrews 11:1, faith is described as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". To me, that means that I must believe in things coming into fruition, even if I don't see the proof of anything happening. Faith can be one of the hardest things to maintain, though I have found it to be the most necessary factor as I follow Christ and trust God with my life.
Lastly, when you walk away from me, I want you to know that I'm not perfect. In fact, I’m very far from it and despite what people think I don't have everything together. As a wife, mom, professional, business owner, writer, student, and servant of God I make LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of mistakes. I'm an imperfect person, doing my best to do what my PERFECT God instructed me by serving His people.
With all that being said, allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is AMANDA... A to the CB! Sike no sike no, I'm Amanda Christine, I am 32 years old Philly native. I'm a wife of 5 years, to a man that I've loved for over 13 years. A mom to Jace Israel, my threenager which means you need to be constantly praying my strength. I enjoy travelling, reading, painting, going on fun-filled adventures, hosting dinner parties, and being silly with my son. I'm a full-time quarantined career woman and back in school to obtain my Masters in order to advance said career. I'm a lover of theatre, so I direct, write, act, manage or assist with theatrical performances in any capacity I can. I love God, love my church (New Life Kingdom Centre...NLKC for short), love my pastors and love to serve by singing on our Praise and Worship team. Bazemore Publishing LLC is my publishing company under which I published my 1st book, Smiling Jace’s Smiling Faces. But more importantly I am the writer behind Faithphilly Yours, leaning on my experiences with God in order to encourage and inspire everyone with my words.
Faithphilly Yours was birthed in 2014 from my walk as a Christian. However, once I got married and had my son, everything got put on pause. I still had the desire to chase my dreams, but it was hard because I could not find balance between my dreams and my priority, my family. As a new mom, I felt like I was in limbo. Bending over backwards, unbalanced, uncomfortable, and played by a child Limbo. I would take 3 steps forward just to get pushed 5 steps back. Living up to the responsibilities of my many roles was hard and trying to do so with the grace, integrity and virtue was nearly impossible. I felt confined to one role and defined by one identity and honestly...that terrified me. I turned to God to help and guide me, and it was through Him that I realized the problem was that I was allowing myself to be defined by my roles and my statuses that were all temporary. When I should have been being defined by Him and my faith within. If one of those things ever changed, I was sure to suffer from misplaced identity. It was then that I decided I needed to be the woman God called me to be, the woman filled with faith. So, I began by being intentional in finding balance, maturing, sacrificing and having a WHOLE LOT OF FAITH!
Faithphilly Yours is meant to inspire you to do the same! My hope is to encourage, empower and enrich women to not be defined by their roles; but instead to find balance, confidence, authenticity, and intentionality in who God is calling them to be. Faithphilly Yours takes you alongside my journey with Christ. With love and humor, I discuss my victories, setbacks, and the knowledge I have gained along the way. While I love God and do my best to live a life that is pleasing to him, I understand that God is not something that can be shoved down anyone’s throat. So, no matter where you are in your walk of life this blog is meant to remind you faith is not a destination but a journey. So, buckle up and enjoy the reads!!!
Faithphilly Yours,
Amanda Christine
