BAILOUT.....

“Man God don blessed dem wit a 4-bedroom house and she act like she don’t want nobody staying wit her.” Those were the words of a group of young men on the rail as I rode downtown to attend my department’s working retreat. It shocked me to hear spite in their tone, especially when it became obvious that they were upset about someone else’s “blessing.” Who were they to slam someone for having something that they could have had also. Unfortunately my own personal experience with this type of behavior doesn’t make it too hard to believe that they were mad because she had what one of them needed. She had a house; he needed a place to stay. Bailout…

As I continued to listen to their foolishness I couldn’t help but see that this recession has brought out the laziness in some people. Though times really have become hard people seem to expect someone to help them when they can’t, or worse, won’t help themselves. Don’t get me wrong I believe in helping others and I don’t mind lending a helping hand to those really in need but it bothers me that people are becoming content with being trifling. When I heard the young men discussing this the first thing that popped in my head was, “You just can’t help some people.” A day or two later my brother Terrance confirmed by remarking that he had a conversation with someone and found it strange that for over 6 months this person was taking their time with getting their life together; they were okay living off of someone else. Bailout… Today when I asked my friend Catrell how was life since he moved back to DC he commented that he’d grown tired of going out of his way to help people. It was draining always being on the giving end. Bailout…I meant to remind him of what I told him before he left Atlanta; something that I learned when we moved back home. “Just because they’re family doesn’t mean that you give more than you keep.” Trellie (my name for him) and I would laugh often about our tales of woe when it came to family. I had many horror stories of when we moved home and how it seemed like every week somebody “needed” something. Little did I know then but we were providing a Bailout…With our bailout people borrowed but never paid back. People stole what they thought we wouldn’t miss. People called with sob stories for this and for that. For my husband reality set in when family begged us to help them repair their home; we found out later that they’d also received a loan from someone else for the same repair – we never saw the $700 again. Reality for me was finding out that family had more than enough money in the bank but watched us rob Peter to pay Paul to help my brother with his college tuition after his funding came up short. He's a lot like me, not wanting to bother anyone so he decided that he would sit out a year. I could see his disappointment so I was determined to make it happen. Did the family with the money in the bank offer to repay or even pay half? Did you? “Man, God don blessed dem…” I guess that’s foreign for it’s alright to take advantage of “dem.” Bailout; everybody thinks they deserve a bailout. I had a phone call from someone that called the day before they had to move out; apparently they had no regard for how this would impact my life; in their mind it was no biggie because “God don blessed dem.” Bailout....I took my niece in without any offered assistance from her parents because “God don blessed dem.” They continue to live life as usual while I became “the parent” and paid for dance class, uniforms, cell phone, school fees and all of the other "auntie I have to have." Bailout....

Since hearing the selfish remarks from the young men on the rail I’ve made a decision that the next time somebody “reminds” me that God don blessed me. Maybe I'll remind them that maybe God don blessed me because I'm always on the giving and helping-out end. I'm always the one worried at night about someone else's troubles while they are sound asleep. I’m going to remind them that God is no respecter of person and what He's done for me He will or may already have done for them. I'm going to remind them that as long as they eat out when they want, get their hair done while I touch up my edges, can afford mani-pedis while I paint my own, and have the latest ring tone on their cell while I stick to the standard then apparently God don blessed dem too. Maybe I should ask dem can they help a sistah out; I'd like to get my toes done once in a while. Hey, can I get a Bailout?

~Stay Prayed Up! CLICK ON THE LINK

LEST WE FORGET?

I could tell by the tone of my daughter Breyona’s voice that it is beginning to bother her more and more that people at her school are comparing her to her sister Shay. “You would never know that they were sisters or they are totally opposite,” they say to or in front of her. Yes they are different, but similar…. Shay is more like me, she WILL be seen and Bree is more reserve, like her dad, often times trying NOT to be seen. The big sister in Bree wants to stand in defense of her little sister yet the child in her wants to respect the adults and her classmates who make these comments that apparently are becoming hurtful. It’s true that Shay has had her share of challenges as it relates to adjusting to her new school; she’s been thrust into a “middle school” environment with an elementary school mentality going from milk to solid foods almost overnight and it’s difficult for her to swallow. On occasion, during my visits to help Shay stay on task I, too, have encountered communication and comparisons between the lion (Shay) and the lamb (Bree). Unfortunately this morning at 1:44 a.m. God thought that He should remind me that they are two yet one. “Don’t you remember all of the times that you’ve had to go to Breyona’s school to put her in check,” He asked? Yeah God, but did we have to go down this road at 2 in the morning? Well I guess it’s true that His ways are not my ways…..As I tossed and turned I began to have flashbacks of, “Ms. Jackson, can I speak to you for a minute” when Bree was in her 3 yr old class. What flooded my mind was that it seemed like every day there was a “report.” As I write this I can’t help but laugh when I remember the look on her teacher’s face one day when I picked her up from school. Apparently during lunch he discovered that while he was away washing his hands Bree swiped his sandwich out of his bag and was eating it when he returned. Kindergarten and a new school were no different; she was into everything. Fortunately this school was closer and my pop up visits to chat with the teacher and snatch her up was easier. By the second round of kindergarten she was in a charter school and things weren’t as bad or maybe my memory is cloudy because it’s the wee morning hours but yonder (as the old folks say) comes 1st and 2nd grade – can somebody say “demon.” I don’t know what jumped into that child but I remember the phone calls and just like now a chill runs up my spine when I notice the familiar number that often comes up on my caller ID. This particular time, in 2nd grade, we’d decided that on Wednesdays when my husband was off he would be charged with running up to the school and handling her should a problem arise. Unfortunately one Wednesday he was nowhere to be found which meant I was the recipient of the dreaded phone call. In order to keep my promise to her meant I had to drive from West End to Union City and yes I was angry by the time I arrived at the school – long story short she was checked out, was back in school for lunch and I was on my way back to work all in a 45 minute time span. Problem solved? Yeah right! Fast forward - Here comes 6th grade and the first year of her “middle school” environment that her sister is now experiencing. Well most of you receiving this know how the story with Breyona ended and with the exception of a few bumps in the road since then she is on target and heading in the right direction. So at 2:04 a.m. God said, “Lest we forget? It’s not that Shay isn’t getting it; it’s just not her time.” Daily He keeps reminding me that Shay, like myself and all of us are STILL a work in progress; He gives us new mercies every day. Perfection? Naw, He walked on water so we wouldn’t have to. As their mommy I see them walking in their dream with nothing holding them back. With Shay when I look at her I see a future surrounded by soooo much great potential; she’s going to surprise a lot of people – that’s my Diddy (Sean Combs), my Oprah, my diamond in the rough. At 2:11 a.m. God said, “Lest we forget? Yes, she and Breyona are more alike than others will ever know.

So to those of you that are dealing with your lion and wondering why they are not like your lamb God says that they are children and “when you are a child you speak, think, and act as a child….” Lest we forget?

Thanks God, I got the message, its 3:01 a.m. can I go to sleep now?

~Stay Prayed Up! CLICK ON THE LINK

REMEMBER.....

What a fabulous Easter Sunday! Church was on fire! Not to be distracted by Easter outfits our church many years ago decided to worship in white shirts and blue jeans – casual - but the sea of white shirts sent a message that I had not received in years past; yesterday the white stood out so much so that even my daughter Breyona commented on how beautiful it was. Our mass choir blessed us and had the congregation on their feet - “Don’t cry, wipe your eyes…He’s not dead…Nooooo. Don’t weep He’s not asleep….” I didn’t realize that this was a Kirk Franklin song. After our second selection the dance ministry brought tears to many eyes with their rendition of the crucifixion and resurrection. What a powerful message for the seasoned and the babes in Christ. And then my pastor….Everything that happened was a resurrection in and of itself. POWERFUL!!

That evening while still on cloud nine I called my friend Nita in Virginia to send Easter wishes. I could tell that something was strange in her voice; she didn’t sound like her usual self. Her conversation was foggy and from what I could gather life had been throwing tumultuous blows the last few months. That explained a lot because I hadn’t heard from my friend in awhile and usually all it takes is just thinking about her and she would call me out of the blue. As we continued to talk the conversation became unbalanced – she was negative and I was still on the high from church. I can’t recall what we were talking about but I said, “Girl, just let go and let God.” What came out of her mouth shocked me – it was something condescending. Was this my friend Anita?

Just a brief history. When I met Anita in Texas she was going to church when I was still being “churched” by my grandmother; she had a strong personal relationship with God and I just knew Him as my grandmother’s Lord. She was in church every Sunday and I, maybe one Sunday a month (thanks to my friend Janice). Nita was on fire for the Lord; she was also a true friend that never put herself above “the sinner.” After we moved home and she moved to the east coast she and her girls visited me; by then I was a babe in Christ. The anointing that surrounded her blew me away – years later I shared with her that her daughter ignited my thirst for the Word during their visit when she casually said to Anita “Oh mom…Count it all joy.” This, from the mouth of an 11 year old when she realized that car troubles would delay their departure. Count it all joy…James 1:2. God kept Anita around for an extra day because while I was at work she went through my house speaking in tongues, blessing, and casting out anything that wasn’t of or from God.

When I hung up the phone Easter Sunday I knew that my friend would be alright. “Time Lord….I’ll just give her a little time,” I thought as I said a prayer for her. “She’ll be alright….She knows how faithful You are….It was HER child that taught me as an adult to count it all joy when you fall into divers temptation for the testing of your faith produces patience.” It was then that I remembered the focus scripture from my pastor’s message on today. Luke 24:8 “And they remembered His words.”

~Stay Prayed Up! CLICK ON THE LINK