SBG Stories

Spoiled By GOD has everything to do

with recognizing the hand of GOD in every area of your life. 

That means celebrating the small stuff along with the great.

Here are some of our Spoiled By GOD stories. 

Although some may seem silly to you,

it means the world to us that

GOD would give our lives such intricate and

detailed attention.

The Cast { 4/28/2006 -New}

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        So I heard about a movie that they were filming at Georgia Tech in our basketball stadium.  As an aspiring actress with very few leads, you could imagine my frustration for not having heard of this earlier.  How would I get to be a part of this?  Once filming as begun you know that the casting calls and auditions have already taken place, and I missed out.  Then, last week at get phone call while I am in the mall. "Hi, I'm such and such from such and such casting (I can't remember the names). We were wondering if you would be available next week to be an extra for our move." YEA! Where do you think that the movie was being filmed? Right there in the GT basketball stadium. It was the same movie!  How did I end up getting that phone call you ask.  Well last September right before my big fall I went to a casting call to be an extra for the movie ATL.  I got called back for filming however, they were shooting on Thursday. I fell that Wednesday (Read My Personal Testimony by Shanta Smith under Meet the SBG Team).  Needless to say. I wasn't going anywhere. I was afraid that having been a no-show, that I would get the black mark from any of their future productions. But, I am so Spoiled By GOD!  Since I was in their data base I got that call, and now I have a small yet important roll. What is a movie without the extras! So when the movie Step comes out, look for me in the Step Champioship scene (Hopefully you can see me clearly this time), because I can proudly say that I (along with 400 others) am a part of the cast.  

Some Good Camera Time {4/19/2006~New}

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            A very important part of being an extra in a movie is getting the ever coveted camera time.  You want to be recognizable on the big screen. Even if it is just for a moment.  The key is positioning.  If you can get a good spot where the actors are, you stand a good chance of making it on screen.  However, more times than not you really cannot control that. Today I felt at the mercy of the extras director.  I have done extras work twice so far and the second time I was little more clear than the first.  Here lay yet another opportunity to be seen.  But, did GOD care weather of not I made it on screen?  I am sure He does, but I don't quite know what His plan and reasoning would be in this case.  We'll just have to wait and see.  We got the call.  Extras take your positions.  We had to go to where we had been previously instructed along side the stage.  I ended up in the back.  I would never been seen from back here!  So when we were instructed to move, I went with a quickness.  Now I was positioned on the stairs to right of the rail. This was good. I am in an elevated position.  All that need to happen is for the camera man to pan the crowd, spot me and zoom in.  Perfect.  One of the camera men, after posting his lens, instructed all the people to the right of the bar on the rail (My rail) that none of us would be seen.  Great!  So now we could move to where the cameras would be facing.  Where did I end up? Behind the curtain!  Not only would I not be seen I couldn't see the show either!  So I moved.  I figured well if I can't be seen and I have to sit here all day, I may as well get closer to the action.  So I went back to the stage.  I was still at the back but at least there were not so many people.  I'll confess to you all, I was frustrated and I had that invisible feeling. Like I could not be seen, I would not be noticed, my chances of forward movement were impossible, and I waned to really disappear (just leave the set).  I had to fight the urge of feeling sorry for myself.  Eventually, I got on the second row behind a young lady that was not so tall (She is a very sweet Christian and aspiring actor/director/she already wrote a play).  Shout out to her.  We had fun.  At one time, someone approached the guys right by me/in front of me and informed them that they were getting a lot of camera time.  We were all right behind the steppers.  A front shot of them meant a front shot of us.  By the end of the day some people left so I was on the front row.  So was it GOD's will for me to be seen on camera now?  We still have to wait and see.  It all depends on camera angles and what shots are chosen.  But, I was content in the position that I held, and who knows. You just might see me back there waving my hands, screaming and having fun, because I may have gotten some good camera time.   

Advantages to Contentment. {4/19/2006~New}

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Last summer I was a huddle leader of FCA's Black Mt girls Sports Camp.  For some reason I was under the impression that I was going to be housed in some close-to-posh room with my own bathroom to share with just one other person.  I am not too fussy of a girl, so this worked for me.  Once I got my key I scurried up to my room to check it out.  Most of the girls said that their roommates had not shown up yet, so I looked forward to this time to adjust and unwind from my long trip.  But, unlike the other girls, my roomy was already in: packed away and settled.  That was ok.  I just get first-time-meeting-you jitters and feel like I have to tip toe around because I don't want to be an annoyance.  (I am just letting you in on all my little insecurities. We're family now).  Of course she was a very nice girls, as were all the beautiful and amazing women up on Black Mt.  I put my things down and decided to take my shower.  It only look me three glances around the tiny room to realize that there was no bathroom attached.  Where is our bathroom?  Down the hall to your left.  The ever dreaded COMMUNITY BATHROOMS. Noooooo!  Of course I had to suck it up and take the plunge.  No one else was in there so I was not seen squirming and scorning that bathroom.  There wasn't any shelves or anywhere to rest my stuff. Except for the floor and in the sink, and there were the amazing green bugs who already inhabited the open area bathroom.  I wanted to cry.  But instead, I prayed.  I was here for a purpose and that purpose was not a posh vacation.  Once I got over the mental terror that these green bugs where now biting me, I took a step forward into contentment.  This was going to be my living situation for the next week and I am going to embrace it.  The next morning at our huddle leader meeting we where informed that we had a new huddle leader coming in.  Since she was just out of high school, they preferred that she work with a middle school group.  My middle school group.  What did that mean for me?  Instant upgrade!  I had high schoolers now (quite possible the best group of girls there), another great roommate, but this time in a big spacey room with our OWN BATHROOM! YES!  Weather I had received that room or not, that week would have still been awesome.  But I that GOD so much that sometimes He will go out of His way to make me comfortable.  GOD, You spoil me!  The next week at FCA's St Simon's Leadership camp there was the chance of getting the cabins or staying in the hotel part of the camp.  We all spent the first night in the cabins together (girls in two and boys in another two, of course).  The next day we moved into our designated areas for that week.  I was determined to be fine with wherever I was.  But, my GOD knows the desires of my heart before I even ask.  Yes, that means that there was room at the inn, and me and huddle stayed in the hotel side.  You see.  There are advantages to contentment.

The Case of the Missing Sunglasses {4/19/2006~New}

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If there is one thing that I despise, it is losing my belongings.  I really have to concentrate hard when all this happens and remind myself that they are just material things and they do not matter...that much.  Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal (Mathew 6:19).  I know that, but it is still annoying to be "magically" missing stuff.   That is exactly what happened to me one time.  I was at a track meet selling my Spoiled By GOD items and I had a pair of expensive sunglasses with me.  I really like those glasses because they compliment my face and they were a gift.  I liked them so much that I had my roommate bring them to the meet when I left them at home.  They were not a pair that I could readily go out and buy back at that time.  I remembered packing them in my box when it was time to go home and that was it.  I know that I put them away and the clean up crew, my colleague, a man that he was talking to, and myself where the last to leave.  The guys helped me carry up my last two boxes so I never did one last sweep to see if I had left anything.  It took a minute but eventually I realized that my glasses had not shown up again.  I freaked out.  I know that I had them at the meet.   I admit I can be careless with my things at times and I know that I left them sitting on the table unattended.  Could someone have picked them up - and from the Spoiled By GOD table of all places?  I searched my room: every possible place that it could be, every SBG box, and my car at least three times.  I got anxious.  I asked my roommates.  They hadn't seen them.  Called my colleague; neither had he.  I asked the coaches and the clean up crew.  No sunglasses were turned in to lost and found.  It was over. I bought some other sunglass in different colors to compensate for the glasses that I broke that same week.  That was a total of three pair of sunglasses just gone.  I want to make a habit of giving to people.  In the same way that I received this particular pair of sunglasses, I wan to just give freely to people when I have things that they like.  And this opportunity did present itself with some of my other glasses.  I didn't take them though, and I am without now anyway. I keep telling myself that I will when I'm rich and know that I can afford to replace what I give away.  But my black pair was gone.  And I was accusing everyone, mentally.  I tried hard to let it go and give the other person the enjoyment of my things.  I tried to fight the temptation to pray that whoever stole my sunglasses would break out into a rash when they put them on.  I failed.  I spoke to my friend Camille and she told me that she had been in a similar type of situation.  She gave it to GOD asking the LORD to just restore to her the years that the locust had eaten (Joel 2:25)... restore to her what is hers.  The hole time I was praying: help me find them or help me get over it.  The next day when I was getting out of my car, I decided to do one more sweep.  This time praying "Lord restore to me what is mine".  I was parked next to a pillar, so could not get into the car through the back door behind the drivers seat.  Instead, I went around to the back door behind the passenger seat.  While scanning, I noticed a hump under the mat on the floor.  It was too big to be my sunglasses but perhaps a forgotten buried treasure (This was a pre-owned vehicle).  I leaned in to inspect it, but it was just the design of the car.  While leaning into the car I dropped my slipper and stepped on the muddy floor: eew.  I took some tissue from my car and proceeded to wipe my foot bottom when I noticed something peering at me.  In the pocket of the back right passenger door my glasses sat, staring right up at me.  I am so Spoiled By GOD!  He restored to me what was mine and I have solved the case of the missing sunglasses.

Orchids On a Vine

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During my second year of college I got metal frame shelf for my TV.  A friend of mine, at the time, suggested that I get something to decorate the outer leg of shelf so that it wouldn’t look like quite the eye soar.  I told GOD that I wanted to use orchids to decorate this shelf.  Now how would I get orchids to decorate this peace?  “Man!” I thought, “Only If I could buy fake orchids on a vine!”  But orchids don’t grow on vines so I would not be able to buy that anywhere.  Then it came to me.  I could go to an arts and crafts store and see what I could come up with.  There, I found plastic orchids on stems and also plastic leafy vines.  When I got home, I prayed hard that this would work.  I popped the flower heads off of the plastic orchids and attached them to the vines.  It was a perfect fit.  And there you have it...orchids on a vine.

The Perfect Lunch Box 

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Every so often my church give the college students a lunch box to go home with. The box usually consists of a turkey sandwich (unless you are a vegetarian, then you get a veggie sandwich), a cookie and a bag of chips.  Now I love oatmeal cookies.  I am not too fond of the others that they offer and I prefer sun chips to any other.  One Sunday, I get a box with a chocolate chip cookie and baked potato chips.  I was quite disappointed. Usually I would trade, but at that time GOD had been dealing with me on contentment.  So I gave the items a try and I hated them (usually, I love chocolate chip cookies, but I am selective with the type, and they have to be soft).  But, I didn’t complain (Mostly because there was no one there that I was close enough with to complain to).  On the bus, I was given another box off the top of the pile.  Inside were my turkey sandwich, a bag of sun chips and an oatmeal cookie.  Thanks be to GOD, it was the perfect lunch box. 

All Things Work Together for My Good 

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In the summer of 2004, it was discovered that I had stress fracture in my right foot.  I was running track in college at the time so stress fractures are just one of those thing that come with territory.  They really cannot be prevented.  Of all the places that could get one of these injuries, I got it on my navicular bone right on top of my foot.  And had the fracture not been right on the bridge of this bone, I would not have had to have surgery (twice, because the first pin that the doctor put in was just a little too long), spend the second half of my summer and the first half of the first semester my senior year in college in a pink cast and on crutches.  My comeback was extremely slow so I was blessed with the opportunity to red-shirt that track season.  As I mentioned before, this was my senior year.  I graduated from college and decided to go to grad school there so that I could finish my collegiate track career.  I spent all summer getting back in shape, and in the second week of school on my second day practicing hurdles, I fell and tore my ACL.  That was the one injury that could keep me out for yet another season.  The MRI that came back showed that not only had a significantly damaged my left knee, there was also a cancerous mass that was hidden back there as well.  I had no prior illness.  I never felt sick or had to go to the hospital for any other reason, and there is no trace of it in my family.  There was no other way for me to detect it this early.  I had to undergo knee replacement surgery and chemotherapy, and the school and insurance paid for everything.  Had I not incurred that first injury and decide to come back to run even after graduation, I would not have gotten hurt again.  Because of that injury they discovered that cancer on time, and the whole time I was in the position where my entire medical expenses where taken care of.  I cannot deny GOD’s existence in my situation.  He is so awesome in the way that He cares for me and lets all things work together for my good. {You can read the full detailed story in My Personal Testimony.}

The Graduate School Decision

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In the summer of 2005 after I graduated from college, I made a rush decision that I wanted to attend grad school for international affairs.  I have not had any prior interest in politics; I barely knew what was going on the word.  I just saw this as an opportunity to become a more informed citizen and to eventually travel.  It was a very practical decision.  I would be here anyway for running so I may as well peruse a degree that is beneficial.  It was a fairly easy program to get into and the staff was so kind to work with me so that I could start taking classes even before I got accepted.  I love to travel and I love to speak, so this would be good for me.  But this would be a distraction because it had nothing to do with what I really wanted to do in life.  But I perused it anyway so that I could have something practical to tell people that I was doing with my life.  It only took attending a couple classes to realize that I would not be able to take such demanding courses and run track.  That same Wednesday evening I fell over a hurdle at practice and sustained the one injury that would end my season.  However, it did not lighten the load that the professors placed on me.  I was expected to keep up with the class reading while I was recovering form my total knee replacement surgery. Right.  So I prayed, and I asked GOD to guide me in this decision. This was not something that I was interested in but I felt like I needed something to fall back on.  The next day I had a follow up appointment with the Dr. who did my surgery.  He told me that the tumor that they removed from knee was a high grade tumor and that I would have to undergo six rounds of chemotherapy in the even that any particles may have gotten into my blood stream.  He informed me that the medical treatments would take a toll on me physically.  He recommended that I not involve my self in too many activities because more times then not, I wouldn’t be feeling up to doing anything.  He suggested that I drop my current classes and not bother looking for a job.  However disturbing, the news was a clear answer to my graduate school decision.

Why He Came Back

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When it was made public that I had cancer, a certain young man came waltzing back into my life.  He convinced me that he was not here out of guilt or pity. I wanted to be sure of that.  One night we had a serious heart to heart conversation.  In that moment I felt like GOD had finally answered my prayers.  This is what I had been asking GOD for, crying to GOD about, stressing and dwelling on for years.  And as if nothing ever happened, he was here in the flesh again.  I felt like I was given a second chance.  This was why even after all of this time of praying and fasting for deliverance GOD refused to take away the love and feelings that I had for this boy.  This was whom I was supposed to be with.  This was the man that I was supposed to marry and he felt the same way.  He was just what I had been praying to GOD for.  The boy even liked camping!  I was hooked. My family and closest friends were quite skeptical at first.  But, I was convinced that GOD had spoken and was going full steam ahead.  It didn’t even matter so much to me that I had cancer.  I was so happy.  GOD was spoiling me again.  After maybe three weeks of sweet bliss he started to back away for various reasons and we “broke up”.  We kept pretty close with me still convinced that this is whom I am supposed to be with. GOD had spoken. By the end of the semester he did what he does best.  He left.  He went back home with not so much as phone call to me to see how I was doing, nor to tell me what was going on with him.  He left me again feeling both hurt and confused.  Now I questioned GOD.  Why did you have to bring him back in my life if you knew that he was not to stay.  Why bring him back to hurt me and especially at a time like this.  I was used to GOD protecting me, and now I felt like He had betrayed me.  And then He showed me.  As much as I enjoyed being with this boy, he was only a vessel.  The whole time I was finding my happiness in him when it was always GOD using him to make me happy.  I have learned so much through my experiences with this one person and GOD brought him back for me to learn one more.  And, everything that I was going through with him was the perfect distraction from all that was going through with the chemo.  There were many occasions where I fought the discomfort and sickness that I was feeling, just so that I could spend time with him.  And had he not been there during that time, I would have been hurting at his absence because I did still love him.  Then, with the ending of my treatments came the end of my relationship.  Now, My GOD, I see why he came back.

Just the Right Job, at Just the Right Time

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The semester after I had gone through chemotherapy, I came back to school to finish taking  some classes that I had taken incompletes for.  Due to my registration status, I was informed that the school could no longer pay for my food and housing. The worst that could happen is that I would have to leave and just explain the drop in my GPA to any potential employers.  I had SBG and my music that I really wanted to be able to concentrate on, and this would be the time to do it.  I wanted to stay in school. There was even an entrepreneurship class that I was willing to take so that I could apply the knowledge to SBG.  I also would need to find a job. I was concerning myself with what future steps to take for when it was time for me to move on. I talked with our career specialist, but I was a bit nervous about committing to anything.  It would have to be a part time job with flexible hours.  It would also have to be accessible because I did not have a car at the time.  My wheels were tuning trying to figure something out.  While I was scheming, GOD had been working.  The next day I went to see my academic advisor and she informed me that they had worked out a plan.  They gave me job as a mentor and academic coach for select student athletes.  I enjoy helping people and sharing my knowledge, so this was perfect.  I was on campus so I didn’t need a car.  I’d make my own hours, and they where flexible so I could still work on my other projects.  I even had my own office.  With this job, the school could cover my room and board again, and I received monetary compensation so I could put it towards my future.  It was my first real job. I would have done it just for the room and board, but GOD worked it all out perfectly for me.  I could not ask for anything more.  It was just the right job at just the right time. 

We hope that you have enjoyed our stories.

Now, tell us some of your Spoiled By GOD stories,

and don't forget to stop by the SBG Collections store on your way out.

Make a statement. I am so Spoiled By GOD!!