DELILAH DIOR DOMINICA

Two weeks ago, I witnessed another miracle first-hand. I have had serious back issues since I was 15 years old, and this past weekend I threw my back out and was unable to walk or move properly for the better part of four days. Everyone's first question when I say I threw my back out is "Oooooh, doing what?" (Winking and giggling and raising their eyebrows suggestively...) and they are so disappointed when I tell them the truth: I threw my back out while sleeping. Literally . I had thrown my back out in the past, but this was the worst by far. I was in constant pain, my back and stomach were swollen to the point where my ribs were bruising me with every breath, and for those four days I was petty much useless. (Shout out to the best husband in the world for cooking/preparing my meals, putting me in the ice machine, keeping my Ibuprofen schedule, setting up my styling photo shoot, and walking behind me rather than ahead of me, no matter how much lon...

I have felt a tug on my Spirit to share a story with you for a few months now, but never was quite compelled enough to type it all out. Now I know why. Last Thursday evening the story was finished, and now, throughout the course of this week,I am ready to shout it from the rooftops. I grew up in a Christian household. I have two incredible parents that are God-fearing and honoring in all they do. I have attended Christian schools my entire life. I can recite Bible verse after Bible verse for you, and tell you all the stories of Abraham, Moses, Jonah, David, Solomon, Noah, and all of the fellas Jesus hung out with. These things are all wonderful and important for a believer, but until very recently I was missing a key component to this life: I did not have faith. Now, I know some of you are scratching your head thinking, "how can she say she is a Christian without having faith?! WHAT AM I DOING READING THIS BLOG?!" Hopefully I can help clarify what I mean. I have alwa...

--> We should look different from the world. I’m not saying we should have blue skin or wear aluminum foil on our fingers or anything like that, but people should be able to look at us and notice we are not like this world we live in. I used to have a goal to look just like everyone else. As a nearly six foot tall mixed girl, I have always stood out in my surroundings. I spent elementary and middle school in a pretty much all white community. I so desired to be my friends Monica Lake (Hi if you’re reading!) and Stefany Fischer (Hi to you too!) because they were teeny little things that the boys could pick up and people could play chicken-fight with. For those of you not familiar with Chicken fighting- it is a game where two people sit on the shoulders of two other people and face each other for a scrappy fight in the pool. The first person to be knocked over loses. As you probably guessed, I was always on the bottom-half drowning, half supporting my featherweight best f...

--> Today is the kind of day that dreams are made of. There is still the warmth of summer in the air, but the autumn wind is here. Rain has been beating against our windows since 5am, and the sky is a perfect shade of grey. I was able to get a pool workout out of the way early this morning, and came right home to stay in the bubble bath as long as I pleased. It’s Tuesday. Last year, for every Tuesday in September-December, I spent nine hours in a classroom in San Francisco. I was tapping my pencil, sorting through fabric swatches, and staring halfway at my book and halfway on the clock. Why? Because after class I would rush back to the apartment, pack up what I needed for the rest of the week and fly home to Virginia. Flying is certainly not my specialty and unfortunately, I was dealing with a stomach bacteria and brand spankin’ new corn allergy in those months to go along with it. I knew I wouldn’t be able to take enough classes online to graduate on time, and I kne...

“God doesn’t give us faith so we can avoid troubles, He gave us faith so that we can stay strong and steady when we go through them.” -Joyce Meyer Something I struggle with a great deal is keeping my mind set on the truth of God’s promise when it’s not easy. I can repeat over and over that I know the Lord has a plan for me. I know that wherever He sends my husband and I, it is exactly where we are supposed to be. I know that all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) I know these things with all my heart and believe them with all my soul. But, when a series of hard situations hit, my eyes start to look around a whole lot more than they look up. A week ago today, my husband was released from the Philadelphia Eagles. He has played in the NFL for 7 years-this would be his 8 th . He is absolutely incredible and I get goose bumps every time I see him run out onto that field. I see all the hard w...

Okay, y'all. (I have been on a serious y'all kick lately. I would never say it out loud- I would be humiliated. I have never lived in Texas, but I have enough Texas family -Hi Singletary's, Lakes, Beckhams, Foxworths, and Dorans! - to hear it all the time. And so, I've decided I can type it. Another reason I have adopted y'all is because people always call me Hillary.... a la Fresh Prince...when I say 'Okay, guys...') The Spirit has been moving like crazy in me lately as it relates to guarding my heart . I think every believer out there learns in the wee steps of this faith that guarding our heart is crucial. Why? Because 'from it flows the wellsprings of life.' Cool. It sounds really important in  scripture but doesn't feel quite as important as, say, loving our neighbor, repentance, forgiveness, purity, honesty, patience, prayer...and so on. Honestly, it's way at the back of the back of the list for most of us. But Jesus ...

This summer has been a whirlwind and an absolute joy. We traveled to Paris and the South of France, said goodbye to our San Francisco family for good, moved the last of our things from SF back to Virginia, and became Philadelphia Eagles.With a few more trips to Atlanta, Canada, Ft. Lauderdale, New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Virginia...it is safe to say we are proud of our frequent flyer mile progress. This amount of travel certainly left us exhausted, but we had the time of our lives being able to spend every day together.              Two days ago, at five in the morning, armed with a fresh batch of cookies and three suitcases-my husband drove off to training camp. This is different than every other training camp we've experienced. Yes the NFL makes sure these men are 100% focused on football and the upcoming season by plucking them from their households and having them stay on-site for three or more weeks; that hasn'...

The Holy Spirit is pulling major heart strings at the moment. I have been in a bit of a spiritual rut as of late. Despite the amount of journal pages I filled, worship songs I listened to and Joyce Meyer messages I downloaded, I just could not connect on a spirit level.  Something I have learned from experience and can confidently approve as a true statement: When the Lord isn't the center of everything, everything will be off.  Despite the enormous blessing my marriage is, Satan cannot stand two of God's children living a life of joy and peace together as one. So what does he do? He attacks people at their weaknesses.  Lately-he has been hard hitting my comparative nature. I constantly felt as if I wasn't doing enough. Adjusting to being a God-fearing wife at 22 has been a challenge. A typical day in my life at this point two years ago looked like this: Wake up with enough time to brush my teeth and eat a bowl of cereal. Walk to class. Come home-to lay on th...

Hello, Delilah Readers! Please excuse this post as it is a post for my Fashion Forecasting class. I will remove it and replace it with Nigeria Part 2 at the end of the week! Gladys Perint Palmer hosted a fantastic Q & A session last week. In fact, it is the best Symphosium I have ever seen. The enthusiasm she provoked in the guests of honor- Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen and the famous milliner Phillip Treacy- was what made the hour so special. Although I found Simon to be completely removed from (and a little bored with, for that matter) the situation- Gladys, Sarah and Phillip contributed happily and heavily throughout the session. I decided the best way to summarize the event was to share my favorite compilation of quotes I jotted down in the audience. ''Fashion is an illusion.  It is based on craft and you must use that to  create dreams  for people." PT               ...

At the end of March, I took a step outside my comfort-zone.  A 7,849 mile step, to be exact. I, friends, spent fifteen days in Abuja, Nigeria I absolutely love to travel, and traveling to a brand new place to experience something I have never encountered before is always the most exhilarating. Something, however, that trumps my adoration of travel is my exclusive and all consuming love of comfort. I have known about this trip to Nigeria for a year now, and since meeting my husbands parents three years ago I have heard countless stories of their home in the village. I had so much time to prepare myself for the trip, but chose to keep it very vague and hypothetical until February rolled around. Although my husband hadn't visited his family there in 14 years, I asked question after question hoping it would provide a perfect visual of this coming vacation. I checked the weather and found out it would be a lovely 106 degree average during our stay. I couldn't wrap my head aroun...

 A few months ago, my husband and I took a quick trip to Cabo. The football season began in July last year due to an interesting lock out that most of you remember well. Despite missing mini camps due to this lockout, this season seemed l-o-n-g. Longer than ever, in fact. Although I was traveling all over the place, my hubs was in what we call 'robot mode.' Every day is the same as the one before, and by the end of the season you are just about sick of it. With the holidays, especially, days are filled with cold weather in the outdoor practice field, muggy weather inside the Lifetime Fitness gym (yes, an NFL team has to have a rainy day backup with no indoor facility...) many long drives to DC for charity events preparing for Christmas, and an unfortunate stack up of losses. By the end of it, we decided there was only one way to end the frenzy of the 2011-2012 football season: Mexico.    The mini-trip was just what we needed- four days in paradise.  We spent morning...