Month: October 2015

No, you’re not seeing things – I didn’t make a mistake and hit the wrong keys on the keyboard, the title above is what was told to my son just a day ago, It hurt him so bad he broke down and cried – I had never seen my son in the way I seen him the other night, the pain that shot across his face is something that I will never forget and the way he cried – Is something that my heart will never forget either.

My son is a cool kid, very talented, smart and full of happiness – he loves the arts, drama, dancing, plays and he’s a master builder – he has a mind like no other, sometimes I wonder did I really birth him? He has his bad days too, where I have to tell him to do things over and over and over and over again, but what parent doesn’t. A child at my son’s school called him the title above all because he was twirling in the line, (Why were you twirling in the line, was my first response – because as smart as he is he’s known for getting misconduct letters sent home as well) but when he told me what the little boy said to him – MY HEART BROKE INTO MANY TINY PIECES.

What child says that to another child – How do you even know what that word means? It just goes to show that social media and television has taken over our children’s “free time” – because every show that you watch, even down to the cartoons are displaying these actions and carrying out those scenes right before our children’s eyes, It used to be back in the day when something came on the TV that was inappropriate for us kids to watch, our parents would make us turn our heads until the scene was over – even if the couple was kissing – I guess this was there way of making sure that our minds stayed as “pure” and “free” as possible of anything that would spark questions and/or steer us off the path that they had worked so hard to keep us on.

Now-a-days children might as well not watch TV at all – because there is more than just kissing going on, there are so many other things that are either unexplained, inappropriate or just down right not right at all. Times have definitely changed….

As a Christian mom, because my son was hurt – I wanted to put down Christendom and put on my boxing gloves, I seen myself going to the school and boxing every child that got in my way until I found the one that said those mean and cruel things to my son; oh I could see myself having a real showdown with him but because

“Greater is he that’s within me, than he that’s within the world” 1 John 4:4 – after I calmed my insides down (because I did not allow my son to see me break down in front of him, I did that much later – not a pretty sight). I actually see myself hugging the young man and becoming an advocate for other children whom may be experiencing the same thing.

When we send our kids to school, we don’t know the horror or the loneliness they feel due to the fact that they’re different, I now see why so many kids fight to fit in with the “IN CROWD” because they are afraid to be themselves due to the scrutiny that they may receive from fellow students, friends and classmates. What I did tell my son was that it didn’t matter what that young man said about him or even what he thought about him, what matters most is how God see you and how you view yourself.

It’s not easy trying to replace a positive with every negative thing that comes your way (In which is what I told my son to do) but I promise and I’m speaking from experience if you do it long enough it truly does work, I told my son that I can’t explain to him why kids are mean or why they say things to inflict pain and or hurt others, but I told him to keep his head up – continue being the individual that he is and don’t ever, I mean ever let anyone’s negativity trip him up from being the Awe-Some individual that he is.

When our children are hurt, we hurt & when they cry – we cry because they are of our flesh and bones, they are our little replicas of what we expect and wish the world would be like. They are our inspirations for getting up out of the bed every morning by the grace of God, just to provide for them and make sure that they have their needs (clothes, shoes, school supplies and etc.) and their wants (which are things that we try to get them that we feel we were neglected from having as a child) We want to give them the better part of life in general and if we really could do it – They would never suffer, they would never experience disappointment, they would never experience hurt and anxiety…..

They would never experience PAIN.

But in this world as sad as it may be, they will experience all of that. As a parent we have to show them how to fight back with positivity, through it all we have to show them “HOW TO LOVE BACK” on the individuals that hurt them, because if we really want to see true change – It starts with what we are feeding their spirits and what they in turn will turn around and feed to someone else…

My son came home the following day again with his head held high, laughing and dancing around as usual and getting ready for his first play (in which he has a speaking part) & I will be there to cheer him on now and will continue to be that cheerleader for him throughout whatever path he chooses in life; through the good and the bad.

Have you ever denied Christ? Peter one of Jesus’s disciples did, Jesus’s death was upon him and he told Peter before the cock crows, he would deny him that night three times – Peter was like, Oh no Lord; I would never deny you, but when the soldiers came to apprehend Jesus – a fight broke out and the disciples ran, including Peter – at this point the local villages were in an uproar about Jesus’s capture and were looking for “his disciples” when some people noticed Peter and began to question his identity and claim that he was one of the disciples, Peter whom hours before claimed to love Jesus with all his heart – denied him profusely, so much so that he began to curse and shout “I don’t know the man” when he heard the cock crow, his memory was jogged to the earlier conversation he had with Jesus and began to weep bitterly. The man he walked with, watched do many miracles, befriended and loved was now an unknown to him.

Judas Iscariot’s name also rings very loud in the bible for befriending Christ and later betraying him for 30 pieces of silver, in which he felt so bad about doing it that he ended his own life.

I have denied Christ on many occasions, and sad to say; most of them were in my Christian walk –

When I went around people, depending on their affiliation – It’s easy to become friends and get along with people of the same like mind and spirit – If they were Christian and talked about God freely, so was I but when I surrounded myself by people whom were not of the same like spirit and mind; I found myself conforming to their ways, now they were free to talk about whatever they wanted – but I felt like talking about Christ would pose an issue or an uncomfortable feeling to others, so I would sit and entertain with them.It was even the case with relationships, I felt as though

I couldn’t get a stable relationship if the guy knew and/or thought I was a “JESUS FREAK” so I found myself battling with being totally saved or half and half, but we all know that God doesn’t go for that – as he says in his word; I will not have you lukewarm, but either HOT or COLD (Rev 3:16) – So you’re either all the way in or all the way out…

If someone would have outwardly told me that by doing this, I was actually denying Christ – I would have denied it and made up some lame excuse as to the real reasoning of my actions, “I wasn’t denying Christ?” because in my mind denying Christ would actually mean me saying “I deny him” but we not only can deny him in words, but deeds as well. About 3 months ago, I was exchanging emails with an employee, she was providing some valuable information to me concerning the setting up of an account; I make it a habit of telling everyone I meet “I appreciate you” because I want them to know how much I value their service, expertise, help and any other task they seem kind in helping me with, So I began to tell them I appreciate them and Thanks for their help.

In return they emailed me back and began to tell me how sweet it was of me to tell them that and how they appreciate me for taking on extra duties and that they thought I was doing a good job. Well when someone says that, I know immediately that I am not my own and that it takes the help of God to lead, guide and direct me in my duties at work, so when I emailed her back I said “To God be the Glory” it’s a challenge but I know I’m here for Purpose – I went on to tell her that I hope she didn’t mind me saying that “the mentioning of God’s name” because I wanted to respect her values, but I didn’t want to not acknowledge mine. The message I got after that stunned me –

She went on to say how she didn’t mind the statement at all and that how we don’t give God the credit often enough, she stated that we need to stand up for ourselves as Christians and take a stand for God, she said that she had gotten to the point where she says “thank you Lord” and etc. “So far people have been receptive” she said and began to say that she thinks there are more Christians on campus than we realize and that folks just don’t say anything. Wow I thought, I didn’t know announcing Christ was something that anyone needed to think about or that it was something that everyone avoided like the plague. It’s amazing how other people can talk all day long about their own personal beliefs, likes, dislikes and find a great interest in their own personal world but “US” Christian’s compromise whom we are willing to share Christ with because it’s unpopular and/or we’re afraid of how we’re going to be viewed.

Is the Christ you serve, living under a Rock? – in which you bring out on special occasions or the result of someone else talking about him? True Christians are not afraid to announce Christ “no matter” where they are or “what clique” they are surrounded by. The bible says “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (Matt 10:33)

Just think of it this way, the very people we hide Christ from are the very people that are longing to meet him – It may not look like it outwardly, but inwardly they are crying for help and you just may be the person to make the proper introduction, even if they are resistant – when we take on the “blood” stain banner of Christ, we take on everything that comes with it – just as we do in any relationship (If you take on a man or woman in marriage) you are taking on everything that is involved with them, some good, some bad – but it’s the choice you made.

That’s how it rolls with Christ, we take on his death, burial and resurrection – We take on his last name (ex. Joshua Christ) – so therefore we are responsible for letting our light shine, no matter where we are so that others may follow that light to Christ, we are responsible for uplifting his name – the drawing is then left up to him.

Jesus loves you, if he wouldn’t deny us or put us under a rock and take us out on special occasions or only when our name is mentioned – then why do him that way. Christ came so that he may be shared with ALL people and not just the FEW that know him too.

So, What’s your name…

When the road we take is longer than the road God planned..

Some months ago me and my son were riding in the car, while driving he began to ask me “Mama, are we going to Greenville?” I told him No, because we were going in the opposite direction – he then asked “Can we get to Greenville from here” – I told him we could, but then that means that we would have to make a couple of turns off the road we were on and get on another road. He said Ok, but I began to think (as always. Lol!) about the many directions that I have taken in my own life that have either lead me to the place that I needed to go or where I had to take several other turns to get to another destination because I was going the wrong way.

There have been many countless times in my life where the road God planned was not the road I initially had taken; when it came to money, when God was taking me down a road that would lead me to the knowledge of investing and saving – I took the “MY WAY” high road of spending until I had nothing left (because if I seen something I wanted, I bought it – Bill could be due, but if I saw it – it was in my closet, on my feet or in my ears…okay??) When it came to selecting an economical car on “God’s road”, that would be low in payments and that could have easily allowed me to save more money, I took my own road of I want a car that looks nice and that would make me look good, it didn’t matter about the sales price – at the dealership it’s easy to figure out what you would move around in order to obtain an expense and the sales people don’t care as they are just trying to make a sale and get commission; so they’re not interested in your bills, they are just concerned with the money that will be going in their pockets. The car “I” got on “MY WAY” ended up leaving me up late at night wondering how I was going to make the payments the next month and when it came to relationships (which were my pitfall) – Instead of seeking “Gods Way” about it, I ended up taking “MY WAY” – which started out good; but ended in disaster, the things I went through in those relationships on “MY WAY BLVD” would have to be one of the craziest rides that I ever allowed myself to go on….I will share those experiences one day…

But how many of us have taken MY WAY BLVD instead of GODS WAY – I’m sure a lot of us if we truly admit it. God’s way is not destined to be full of sunshine, flowers and good smelling perfumes – NO! But what it does is get you in line toward the goal and/or purpose that he has called you to do. It’s so easy to take our own way because we feel like we know what’s best but it all goes back to letting go of your WHEEL and picking up HIS WILL! For your life – You see when we take God’s path; there are no uncertainties there, you don’t have to worry about a missed direction, a wrong turn or a TOM TOM telling you where you should go, in which can still get you lost. The only sure way of UP! Is in Christ…

When you allow God to take your WHEEL and turn it into HIS WILL you will see a major difference in the road you are traveling on as God promises to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). I have made many pit stops in my life due to the road that I followed, thinking that I knew what was best – it wasn’t that I didn’t seek God for direction, it was just that I felt like he was taking too long and while he was stagnated in giving me “a right now” answer, I immediately took MY WAY BLVD just to test the road with my own directions. I can tell you that my way lead to stress, anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies, greed, brokenness, jealousy, pride and so much more. I had tangled my own web and didn’t know how to get out of it, In which if I had just waited on GODS WAY – not to say that it would have been easy but his road would have brought me farther than where I feel like I am today. You see when we venture off into our own paths, we cause delays in our own processes – something that might have taken us two months to accomplish will now take 6 months to see any results – this is because when we took our own way, we caused our purpose, goals and/or destiny to come to a complete stop. I still struggle from time to time about “MY WAY” VS. “GODS WAY” but trust me, it’s a thought that leaves as easily as it comes, I have become determined not to let anything keep me from fulfilling the path and destiny that God has laid out for me; while MY WAY BLVD may seem like the right way to go – I know that GODS WAY is the best route to take without a delay to my journey.

Which road are you taking today?

Are you on GODS WAY or YOUR WAY BLVD…