Wisdom & Understanding

“They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing,   To declare that the Lord is upright…”     Psalms 92:14-15 While out shopping the other day I noticed a little girl with what appeared to be her grandmother.   The older woman walked slower pushing the cart while the little girl danced and pranced down the aisles.   At one point they found an item to purchase and the grandmother questioned if it was the correct item. The child emphatically though not disrespectful said, “I KNOW that it’s the right one.”   Then she let out a loud sigh and placed her hand on her hip as if to say “Come on old lady let’s keep it movin’ !”   I had to chuckle to myself, because I remember that as a child I thought life itself was moving too slowly.   Maybe that’s why you hear people constantly telling kids to “Be still! “ Stop moving around so much!” Can’t you sit still for a minute?”     Maybe not, they are so chomp...

“For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers…” I Corinthians 4:15a As the scripture states there are many teachers, but not many that can father.   There are men that have sired children but there are unfortunately not many that know how to be a father…if you have or have had a true father then count your blessings…I had one… My Dad, a gentle man, born May of the year 1919, was a precious, precious father.   If it is true that we get our first impression of what we think God is like by the example our fathers set, then my impression of God from as far as I can remember is that He is loving, kind, protective and yes, gentle. Though my Dad came from a childhood of poverty in the south, back in the days when African Americans were looked upon as not being human beings; where the stereotype had already been cast that blacks, especially black males were lazy; he always found work and was never too proud to take menial...

"Which of you by worrying can add one cubit (inch) to his stature?"  Matthew 6:27 Peace comes with acceptance. After the many years that God has blessed me, I now have learned how to accept who I am.  Now you can look at that in two ways 1)Why the heck did it take so long or 2) Finally! the girl has some sense!.  I choose to believe the latter, though I am no longer a girl... but a 60 year old woman, who by the way has a lot less baggage than I used to have... Along my journey God has helped me to "lose" some of the baggage of my younger years. One very major piece of...er baggage was "What people thought of me".  Ha!  When I think of the years I worried, cried and fretted over what folks thought of me, I could just about upchuck over wasted time. We should live our lives in such a way that people will respect us, but in the major scheme of things "You can't please everyone" SO! you might as well be your respectful self and be thankful fo...

Dear Ma, Well, another Mother’s day has rolled around; this is the 12 th one without you.   But your passing from this life to eternity seems like yesterday sometimes. I miss you so much.   And it seems that the older I get, the more I understand you…does that make sense? I passed by a mirror the other day and wow I could see you in me so much…your mannerisms and movements! If I am becoming even a fraction of the woman of grace that you are I am so thankful.   I know, I know…during my turbulent teenage years I wanted to be anything but my mother. But now Ma, I am so thankful that you hung on to me during those times. Me with my smart mouth and “always having to say the last word” self; you hung on to me, even when I’m sure I broke your heart a few times.   Thanks Ma…only a Mother’s love can do that. I can think of a lot of things I’m sorry for; like the time I missed your 50th wedding Anniversary; and the time after Dad had passed, I should have had more co...

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”. Proverbs 3: 5-6 Reminded once again about “letting go” today. Am I the only one that have a hard time sometimes letting go?   The past, things and people in the now and present and oh yeah! The future too.   I’m a music person from the heart…I LOVE music!   Even as a child I can remember harmonizing with commercial jingles. I could hear harmony notes in every song that I heard at a very early age. So knowing that God has given me this gift, it is no wonder that God speaks to me through music. Listening to the CD “When Women Worship” today, they began to sing “I Surrender All”.   And If I can be perfectly honest with you, it is a song that I have been sort of scared to sing.   Yes Me! Miss “I know the Lord and He knows me”.    It’s like I hold back a part of myself when I sing that song, fearfu...

“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:26 I have a picture hanging in my foyer that says “Faith is…the bird that sings while the dawn is still dark.” Don’t know who said it but it encourages me. I arise very early in the morning in order to take care of my dog, pack my lunch and most importantly spend some time reading and meditating in the Bible. It’s not that I’m so spiritual, it’s because I am a morning person and that is the best time of day for me. And with the exception of the coldest day in winter, for every season I always can hear birds singing as early as 4:00 AM. Pitch black outside and they are just singing away! It never ceases to amaze me! We can learn a lot from nature, in fact I think God must chuckle sometimes when the creatures in nature seem like they have it together more than us humans. Jesus shared about this in the above scrip...

“Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.” Psalms 55:22 Spring cleaning!   That’s what I have been doing this past week. What a blessing it is to have a job that gives you a week off for the Easter break!   I considered traveling, but decided that I needed to take care of some needed things on my “to do” list.   So I have been busy, busy taking care of the things I felt needed to be done around the house.   But noticed this morning that though I had accomplished much, somewhere between taking care of those, what I thought were urgent needs, I had lost my peace. Now if you have ever really had a taste of what REAL peace is, you will know when you’ve lost it.   See I know what it is like to have peace, God’s peace in the midst of a storm. The storms of life that come and almost take your breath away…yep, I know what it feels like to be so shaken   that you can barely stand…but to instantly feel G...