What If?

There is an ever popular phrase of encouragement that says, "When life gives you a bowl of lemons, make lemonade". What do you do on those mornings when you wake up and you don't feel like making lemonade out of your lemons? What if you want to tell everybody how you really feel? What if you want to tell that certain someone where to go? What if you just want to say, " the h--- with it"?

Rewrite The Script!

There comes a time when the script that you wrote for your life does not line up with actuality.

• Perhaps, you have waited for your life to come into alignment with the script 
• Perhaps, you have struggled and tried to manipulate your life into
  alignment with the script; and
• Perhaps, you have even believed that your life would come into alignment
  with the script - only to discover that it is not going to happen. (There
  are many reasons why it is not going to happen, but I'll save that for
  another post.)

As a result, you are depressed, discouraged, and disappointed to the point where you feel as if you are not going to make it.  You are convinced that no one understands, and no one cares.  You constantly replay the perfect script that you wrote for your life.  Regardless to how many times you replay the script, it always falls short of reality.  As a matter of fact, reality seems to move farther and farther away from your perfect script.

If you are going to survive and stop the mental torture and bondage that you allow, you must rewrite your script.  You can't move forward with a backwards mentality.  The old script that you replay everyday has gotten you nowhere.  You are still broke, busted, and disgusted.  You are still messed up from the floor up.

Please understand me - you may discover that the new script won't work any better than the old one did. But one thing is for sure, you can't keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.  If you are going to survive, you must play the cards that you have been dealt.  You can't play my hand, and I can't play yours.

I challenge you today, to rewrite your script.  Stop allowing things to happen, and make some things happen.

When the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, the majority of them had a wilderness script.  Their script allowed them to survive only in the wilderness.  They could not survive in the promise land with a wilderness script.  Therefore, they were not allowed to go into Canaan.  Only those who had a promise land script were allowed to go into the promised land.

Which script do you have?  Is it for the wilderness? - the one that has you bound, trapped and preparing you to die before you reach your destination.  Or, is it for the promised land? - the one that declares to the world that

-you will make it,
-you will overcome,
-you will have joy,
-you will have peace, etc.

Be Blessed!

Stay On The Wall!

Some of you started 2011 with precise goals in mind and fervor to accomplish each task; However, as January has come to an end, and February has begun, you find your fervor dwindling with the passing of each day. Perhaps, you have begun to doubt whether you will ever accomplish the things that you planned to do. What you must understand is that most meaningful things take time and that even Rome was not built in a day. Don't lose your focus.

I'm reminded of a story about a man who was doing a great work- rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem that had been destroyed by the enemy (in the book of Nehemiah). When his enemies heard about his work, they tried to distract him and to coerce him into stopping his work. This man, Nehemiah, refused to stop his assignment. As a matter of fact, he told his enemies, " I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave to come down to you? " (Nehemiah 6:3)

If you are at this point, I encourage you to not abandon the good work that you have started. I encourage you to "Stay on the wall"!

Prayer For the Haters

Thank you , Lord, for allowing me to experience your very presence this day. Give me a portion of your enabling ability that will prevent me from being sensitive to the negative influences of other people. Show me how to walk and show me how to talk when I am in the midst of haters. I will not pay attention to their faces , nor will I be moved by their negative comments. I WILL lift up mine eyes unto YOU. I WILL keep my mind stayed on thee. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Psalm 121:1
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
Psalm 121:1-3 (in Context) Psalm 121 (Whole Chapter)

Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Daily Prayer For the New Year

Heavenly Father,

I bless your Holy Name. This is the day that you hath made. I will rejoice and I will be glad in it. Because it is You whom I seek, it is You whom I serve. Therefore, I will not strive to please man and all of his ever changing ways. You, God, never change. Thank You, God, for being the same - yesterday, today, and forevermore. As I begin this day, I will work as if you are my employer. Prosper me in all that I put my hand to do. Order my every step. For the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Thank you for Your Word and for your blessings this day - in Jesus' name, Amen.

Be Not Conformed - To My Sistas

Stop allowing the world to dictate how you should behave. As I was reflecting over the past year, I decided that I would let go of trying to conform to the images and ideas of mainstream America. No matter how hard I try, I will probably never be the super woman- mom - wife that the world portrays. I have spent too much time being frustrated , aggravated, disappointed and depressed all because my life does not measure up to my co-workers life, my classmates life, the life of someone that I read about, the life of someone that I heard about. I realize that I have put too much pressure on me trying to be the perfect this or the perfect that. I have come to realize that it's okay to strive for perfection . As a matter of fact, the bible admonishes us to press toward the mark...
However, we must understand that there is nothing wrong with us if we don't have dinner on the table at six.
There is nothing wrong with us if we don't look like Claire Huxtable or June Cleaver 24 hours a day-7 days a week.
There is nothing wrong with us if little Jessie or little Jenay don't look perfect all of the time.
There is nothing wrong with us if we can't bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. Please understand me - it's okay to bring home the bacon and let somebody else fry it up in a pan. That's why there is a McDonald's. That's why there's KFC. So, sistergirl, free yourself in 2011. Be the unique woman that God created you to be and be not conformed to this world.

Discrimination In Auburn, Alabama

It greatly disturbs me to know that in 2010 that we still live in a society that continues to judge us by the color of our skin and in so many cases the texture of our hair. We, as Black Americans, face prejudices from non-whites as well as from our own kind. Recently, in Auburn, Alabama, a black basketball coach for the predominantly white high school has received much attention because of his stand against "his" players wearing braided or locked hair. The coach argues that his stand against braided or locked hair is about discipline. Please tell me,
"Are all black boys with unbraided or unlocked hair disciplined?"

"Are all black boys with braided hair or locked hair undisciplined?"

How ludicrous does that sound? I have two problems with this rule. My first problem with the argument is that the coach's rule only pertains to black boys - other boys do not typically wear their hair in such styles. Cornrows, braids, plaits, locs are signature styles of many blacks. Therefore, this rule discriminates against black boys. I would have no problem if the rule was against long hair in a boy's face that may prevent his ability to successfully play the game of basketball. However, that is not the rule. Auburn High's coach obviously has no problem with long hair since at least one of his players spends much of his game time fanning his long caucasian hair from his eyes.
My second problem with all of this racial nonsense is that Auburn City Schools clearly state that this is not An Auburn City School policy, but a policy of the coach. In other words, if this racial nonsense becomes national, the school system will leave the black coach "out to dry" and continue to stand on the fact that the policy is not a school system policy but the policy of one of its coaches. Can anybody see that this is a case of the white man using the black man to do his dirty work? Can anybody see that to tell a black student that his hairstyle which is a trademark of his race is considered undisciplined only perpetuates the lie that there is something wrong with all things that are uniquely black? Can anybody see that this attitude only fosters another generation of young people who believe that in order to get ahead you must assimilate into the expectations of white America?