Just Saying Thanks

A dear friend of mine who is a sangin diva and travels internationally getting her sang on started a blog to keep in touch with her friends and tell about her lifes work with the who's-who in the music industry and exotic travel destinations. She is the person who got me into making this blog diary. Thanks sangin' diva.

My life by no stretch of the imagination is exotic nor do I hob nob with the who's who but seeing as how I have relocated from Los Angeles to Texas, I decided to start this blog diary as a way to share my thoughts & feelings with family and friends that I am not able to connect with anymore on a daily basis. It is my prayer that this blog will be like a little gift of encouragement to you from me.

Today, I just wanted to take a little time to say thanks to those of you who have called or e-mailed me to express how much you have been enjoying the blog diary so far. I know many of you didn't post comments on the actual blog because your comments were of a more personal nature. Please feel free to continue sharing your thoughts and feelings by posting comments, calling or e-mailing....take your pick. You may also share this blog with friends of yours that may enjoy reading what A HAPPY BLACK WOMAN in CHRIST has to say. I am also taking prayer requests. You may post your prayer requests anonymously if you are someone I don't know personally or you may e-mail me if you are somone I know. If you feel funny about posting your prayer requests, just know that during my daily prayer time, I WILL be praying for each person who reads this blog.

God's blessings to you all

I Love You...You're Soooo Mean!

Today one of my daycare students declared how much she loved me. (Please dont think that I can't spell).... She is 3 going on 33 years old so I will have to decipher her words. She said " I love you teacher....you are soooo sweet all buhcept (except) when you are soooooo mean." "You are sooo mean just like the Green Witch on the Witch of All (Wizard of Oz). I said "Well, what do I do that makes me so mean like the Witch of All". Then she ran off a grocery list. She crossed her arms, knitted her eyebrows together, stomped her little foot and said angrily "You always make me wash my hands after I go potty....You make me take a nap eewyday (everyday)....You make me clean up my toys and do all my coolwuk (schoolwork)" you are sooo mean. After this bold declaration, I really had to compose myself because I definitely wanted to go in another room and laugh my head off. I put my game face on and I gently let her know that all the things I do that she thinks are mean, are things that I am doing because I love her. I talked to her about why her hands need to be cleaned, and how it is healthy for her to have a time to rest each day. I talked to her about how she is becoming a big girl now and that she wasn't able to put her toys away when she was just a baby and how babies can't even do schoolwork....but that doing her schoolwork was helping her to get smarter everyday. "Now see how much I love you" I said. "Yeah" she said, you are that nuther (other) Witch on the Witch of All...that gooder one". So I thanked her for the compliment. "Yeah, she said "I love you teacher, you are sooo sweet". "Well I am so glad you saw the light" I said. "Huh" she said looking puzzled. "Never mind, go and play" I said.

As I sat there in the classroom, I began to ponder how many of us have good friends in our lives. Friends who loves us when we are right and when we are just plain wrong. True friends who can speak into our lives and tell us when our poop stinks and how to wash the poop off of our hands without us thinking they are sooooo mean. How many of us have mentors or pastors that we will ALLOW to tell us when they see us running the red lights in life without thinking that they are soooo mean?

How many of us actually let God take control of our lives and tell us what to do and how to live? He gave us the ten commandments as a starting point. The whole bible is God's how- to manual for happiness in our lives yet when he says not to do such and such or so and so, even though it is for our own good, we get mad and show God through our blantant disobedience that he is sooooo mean, when all he is trying to do is keep us safe, healthy, whole and cause us to grow up. Just like my student, why is it that we sometimes don't recognize true love? Why do we mistake boundaries made out of love to keep us safe, for meaness?

If you are blessed enough to have even just one true friend or a pastor or a mentor who can speak into your life and tell you the truth in love, then realize how rare this is and how blessed you are. But most importantly, if you have made the decision to let God take control of your life without accusing him of being sooo mean, then you have just allowed yourself to be LOVED. You have decided that God is not the Witch of All but he is THE GOD OF ALL!!!!!

A DOGGONE SHAME!

So many times God shows me new things and gives me little lessons in life by the normal everyday things that go on around me. I look for these lessons each day and I believe God speaks to me so often because I am open and ready to hear his voice.

Yesterday I went to the walking trail in my neighborhood. (Pray for me ya'll because I am trying to get more exercise).

I was going around the trail for the fifth time so I was totally pooped out (stop laughing) when I heard this horrible growling and panting coming from behind me. The paw steps were getting closer and closer. I was getting a little nervous because I've seen several people in the neighborhood who are supposed to be walking their Pit Bulls but in reality their Pit Bulls are walking them....pulling them.....YANKING THEM and are about ready to let loose. I know animals can usually sense when you are nervous and afraid so I tried to take a few deep breaths and remain calm. Then I started praying in the spirit as I walked as far over to the side of the trail as I could go so that this ferocious animal and it's owner could go past me. This was about all I could do. There was no way that I could run to get away even if I wanted to after doing 5 times around the trail. I was thinking to myself that I should have taken a stick or baton or something with me. There have been so many cases in the news lately with Pit Bulls chewing people up. One woman who was killed here in Houston was a nurse waiting on her bus to pick her up for work. Anyway, as the dog and it's owner passed me, I about nearly fell out. I was laughing sooooo hard that the laughing could have very well been all the exercise I needed for the day. I COULD NOT BELIEVE the ferocious sounding animal I heard was a Chihuahua. Now let me tell you the lesson God showed me. There are some things that I have been standing in faith about. It seems as though the enemy (Satan) has been ferociously on my trail. I could make the choice to either faint with fear or remain calm and stand in faith knowing that God has my back. God can see what is stalking, growling and panting....but I can't. If I choose to continue to walk by faith i will eventually see that all of that growling is just a scare tactic by a little tiny enemy trying to sound like he is BIG STUFF.

Now let me tell you why the Chihuahua sounded that way. The owner of the CHI was running the heck out of that dog. His poor little legs were like tiny Vienna Sausages and he was making all of those crazy noises trying to keep up the pace. I felt sorry for the little CHI so I tried to slow the owner's pace down by making a comment. I blurted out "Whoo that is a mighty BIG DOG...what is his name? The man replied "Husband". That name just tickled me of course. It was his wife's dog and he was none to happy about walking it. I think he was jealous of it. The man enjoyed doing all of his manly man things instead of spending time with his wife so she bought herself a little "HUSBAND". She completely spoiled Husband, doted on Husband, snuggled with Husband and gave Husband special treats. As I heard it, Husband was number 1 and the true love of her life. I told that man that he could be the number 1 true love of her life if he would sow more seeds into his marriage than into what he wanted to do. I told him that what she really wanted was the husband she married but since he was unavailable, she had to settle for a furry Husband. This conversation took not more than 2 minutes but I believe that this man REALLY HEARD what I was trying to say. It was only by the grace of God that I said it at all because I was out of breath and had to press my way to my car to drive home. I may never see this man or HUSBAND again but I am praying that those few short minutes will make a lifetime of change in his household. God knows the plans he has for us and I believe that I was in the right place at the right time to give a word that would bring about change. The man learned a lesson but then again so did I. Let's not take the people in our lives that we love for granted. Let's not take God for granted by ignoring him or spending little time with him either....because if we do IT'S A DOGGONE SHAME!

IT'S SUNDAY

It's Sunday ya'll. It's time to get to the house of the Lord and get your PRAISE ON! As for me, I love to spend time communicating with God each day. I love to be in his presence and give him praise and worship. Each morning I wake up to say "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it". But Sundays are the Super Bowl of rejoicing in the Lord. It's that special time to gather with others who are ready to get their PRAISE ON too. So why are you reading this right now? Get your rusty dusty up out of the bed and get to

CHURCH!

A Happy Black Woman On The Outside

A Happy Pink Woman On The Inside

We all came to this earth with the beautiful skin we are in. God made us each to be unique. We had no choice about what color we would be on the outside because color on the outside is really of no consequence other than God's expression of his artistic excellence. It is the color that is inside of you that counts. You have a choice about your inside color. You can look at the glass half empty or half full. You can enjoy life or not, it is entirely up to YOU! Choose your colors for today. Choose wisely!

• Do you have a heart of pure gold?
• Or are you a gold digger?
• Are you a true blue friend?
• Or are you singing the blues?
• Are you tickled pink?
• Or are you Upset Tummy Pepto-Bismol pink?
• Are you red with love and passion?
• Or are you seeing red with anger?
• Are you refreshing to be around like dew on green grass?
• Or are you green with envy?
• Are you as calm as the black midnight sky?
• Or is your heart black with hatred, bitterness or unforgiveness?

Take responsibility for your day. Don't allow anyone to PRESS YOUR BUTTONS!!! Who cares what anyone else thinks about you. It's what you think about yourself that is important so give yourself a hug and tell yourself "you are all that". Say it until YOU believe it and soon everyone else will too. Give something away today! Yes, it can be something free. Give away a smile and I bet you will get one back. As for me, I am tickled pink to start my new blog today. My color for today is pink. What is yours? Choose wisely!!! (Smile)