Single Parenting Corner

Hello everyone,

My government name is Kevilyn, but at around the age of 40 I adopted and started going by “Lyn”. I’ve affectionately grown to love having a nickname to be referred to by. So, whichever name you choose to address me by (Lyn, Kevilyn, K-Lyn) is fine with me. I am the mother of Angel, 24, Benjamin, 17, and Aniah 16. I began this journey of sharing my experiences and what I’ve learned coupled biblical perspectives/principles regarding them because I realized something as I walked through my journey of single parenting after my divorce over a decade ago, there weren’t many communities that were very welcoming to single parents like myself. It almost felt like the world wasn’t very accommodating for people like me. I was discouraged on many days when people would treat me like I didn’t have other ‘human beings’ I was solely responsible for, I understand I’m supposed to suck and buttercup and keep it moving, but sometimes it means the world to hear someone say; “You’re doing a good job”, “How can I pray for you in your parenting journey”.

I created this site because I want us to trade our stories of encouragement with each other, to strengthen and build each other up. Stories like the one I have from this one day, I was at the nail shop, and I offered to pay this wonderful ladies tab for her nails. The lady heard me saying I was a single mom to the tech. She turned to me and said, I will not allow you to pay for my nails, but I will pay for yours because real recognizes real, I have been a single mother a long time, and I know the struggle! I was both awed, shocked and floored. It is moments like these I believe that give us grace to continue the journey. May encouraging words strengthen you in your spiritual journey as you raise your little ones.

During the course of this blog you’ll learn a lot about my children and my journey, but one thing I want to be known is that this is a safe place. I want everyone to feel welcomed and accepted, no matter their background, share your stories in the discussions, we all need to hear them. Did you notice on my site, there’s a boxing ring, with “corners”. When do the boxers normally go to corners? That’s right, between rounds, they go there to be strengthened, to be encouraged, to get hope, and to know there are people cheering for them that can speak directly to them. Although you have a crowd filled with people that may or may not be cheering for you. I want you to know that if you come here, whatever you’re facing, you personal inspirational encouragement waiting for you. We’re here for one reason, to sharpen each other and make each other better. We are diverse and teachable here, and I just wanted to take this time to introduce myself, my purpose and announce to you that you are welcomed.. Come on in, enjoy the view, read the articles, leave your prayer request, join the discussion boards, and leave your burdens and cares here to go back into your journey strengthened and recharged for a successful ending!

Sincerely Yours Kevilyn

The Thrill Of Acceptance

Have you ever experienced the “Thrill of acceptance?”
So, there was this guy or gal you really liked, and out of all the other people they could have chosen to be with, they chose you! Wasn’t that neat! An acceptance to a University you really wanted to go to. Wasn’t that thrilling to experience. That job you applied for an did all those interviews finally decided to make you an offer? Accepted, BAM!

These are all examples of areas in our lives where we can either have our hopes crushed or we can experience the exhilaration of victory. In life we accept many challenges, but we don’t always get the exhilaration of victory. Have you ever experienced the flip side of that acceptance.. It’s called rejection. I know I have. When I was in high school, I was just head over heels about this guy named Shawn, and when he chose Shirell over me, it was the most heartbreaking thing I’d ever experienced at the time! The rejection of my peers in high school was especially daunting when I wanted to be accepted, but was constantly made fun of because of things I couldn’t control like the fact that my mouth was crowded and there was one teeth that made it in my teen years and is still misplaced until this day. Yes, the teeth belongs, there was just no space for it when it was ready to come in, therefore, by the other crowd of teeth in my mouth, it appears rejected, and it stands out, therefore I was made fun of. Because we didn’t grow up in a wealthy family, mama and daddy didn’t have money to get my teeth fixed, so I learned to live being unique, but it didn’t mean being made fun of or the rejection I experienced was easy. Last night, I’d made it to the gym late, I had to drop my daughter off at work, and I walked in giving my excuse, I was 8 minutes late, in order to punish me, this time the coach told everyone to pick their own team (usually, the coach picks the team) this was a way to see who’s liked I suppose. There were 7 of us, obviously one of us would be left out, and Ben knew this. Well, I was the “Odd man out” he called it. Well, this wasn’t necessarily the best feeling. But what happened next will astonish you, he asked me to pick a team to be on among people whom had just openly rejected me!

In life we will not only have acceptance to celebrate, but rejection to balance it all out!

I remember reading a beautiful story in the bible of a landowner who went out early in the morning, to hire workers. Well, that was at 5a. He chose to go out again at 9a, then at noon, then at 3, but he made a special trip back at 5p. Now whether the people out there just showed up that late to work, or they’d been picked and passed over all day, there were still workers out there waiting to be chosen. The same landowner kept coming back to choose more men, and finally at the end of the day, everyone was paid the same wage. It didn’t matter if they’d just worked one hour or the whole twelve.

What this parable was teaching me was, timing and choosing really makes no difference when we’re considering rewards. The reward depends on the owner of it all! There’s another beautiful text tucked away that’s the reason why I call the bible my crutch. See, in this life, people are so fickle, they like you one minute, and cancel you the next.. One minute they’re saying: “Crown Him King” next minute they’re saying: “Crucify Him”.. Well, I love the fact that God never changes His mind about me. He says I am LOVED, that I am CHOSEN, that I am HIS, that I am BLESSED, and not only that FAVORED. I love that He Prefers me, and no matter what anybody says I’ll always believe I’m one of His Favorites! This matters far more than any other rejection on this earth, for no man, I don’t care what position or title he possess, be it coach/trainer, judge, teacher, parent, boss, not one of them have the ability to put me in heaven or hell, and therefore their opinion about me is completely their business, they will come and go, there’s only one thing that remains.. it’s the love God has for His children throughout all eternity.

Wounds of friends vs Kisses of Enemies

I remember it all too well, many years ago, I used to visit other churches, quite often. Being affectionate about each one of the groups that I’d become endeared to through these connections… and I would post photos of them on social media For Everyone to see!
I knew that my church wasn’t too “fond” of my ‘visits to other churches’ , and I remember mentioning it to a good friend of mine that many times I’d feel I was “cheating” on my church when I visited other churches, just as I did when I went to college, or had to study for some major board exam and it would take time away from studying God’s word which was my prized time. Once when this particular friend saw me mention another church again, I guess she finally hit a space of annoyance and it was time to confront me.

She confronted me saying: “And why do you post pics from other churches if you say you love your church so much, that doesn’t look good, and I think you should stop doing that.” 

At first I thought she was surely a hater. I mean the nerve of her to confront me, not only on that post, but others I’d posted, to put me in check in her own way! Who does she think she is, “I thought” She doesn’t get the right to tell me what to say publicly, I’m not own woman. I reasoned.

Instead of being angry and cutting her off perhaps. I determined to go through and delete the last video and I didn’t post when I visited other churches anymore.

I realized in this life there will be some unspoken rules, and sometimes we may not have read the handbook on “unspoken” rules, and if we are fortunate enough a “true friend” will tell us the right way to go, we can choose to see them as our haters and turn on them, or take the instruction and move on.

however, sometimes there can be “yes man/woman” people all around us who really co-sign our foolishness and act like it’s totally fine. Those are the ones who are not real friends. 
I can be open and candid enough to say, I’m not one to “get in people’s business” If they’re comfortable living with that person outside of marriage, well, I assume they know the right way to go, I don’t need to remind them.
However, if they come to me and tell me, “I’m going to the store and take that pack of gum without paying” well, then they’d invited me into that mess and very  passively I would respond.. “Now that’s probably not the wisest thing you can do… let me pay for that for you!” I have had the hardest time calling people out on their “stuff”, possibly because I’m so aware of my own stuff, and I knew when I was living ‘out there in dem streets’ I was grateful there were those who loved and cared about me enough to be over in the corner praying for me, so that when I came to myself.. they were there to simply applaud and thank God.. yes, there are people who can love you through the mess and pray on the other side of that closet door, and when you come out of it act as though they never noticed.. but there are friends who are willing to risks relationships at some point by calling out sin.

I’m curious, what type of friend do you want to have?

Now, on the other hand, you may have people that will come and blatantly encourage wrongdoing in your life. So, you find yourself tempted to step out of the faith for a moment and do something you know is wrong, and they encourage you, “Well, you know nobody’s perfect” they say. “you gotta do you sometime” they concur with that foolishness in your mind. 

When we hear things like this, are we to assume these people are our friends at all? 

Hence the beautiful proverb 27:6

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy”

While a kiss can be a sweet touch of the lips or affectionate words, we must be careful to discern motives for all intense purposes.

Everyone who cuts doesn’t cut to kill, some wounds are created so that they may heal.

I had to have wisdom tooth removed several years ago, and to be quite honest I was afraid, I didn’t want to go to the dentist, not my favorite place, but yet here I was, in a predicament. I didn’t trust that dentist to save my life, but I had to believe that when I awakened he’d have done what he was paid to do which would eventually hurt me just for a little while, but not mortally harm me forever. I have however had some friends who’ve used words that have been meant to mortally wound me and that pain has lasted far longer. Just a heads up… discern motives of those you allow in your circle, everyone walking with isn’t really for you, take the lesson from Jesus and Judas Iscariot!

5 Reasons I parent by the book

One of my lifelong goals in life is to #ParentByTheBook. It is in fact not something anyone can master in one day. As a matter of fact, some people don’t master the art of parenting until their children are adults, and even then, some still struggle. This message is NOT just for people who have given birth to children, it could be for uncles, aunts, god-parents, AWANA teachers, teachers of young students or just generally those who interact with children and have influence over their lives in some way at any given point in time.

While some might say: “I didn’t have the best parents, and they parented me with bible principles” and others may say: “I didn’t turn out the best and my parents taught me the bible”. I will add to all these things, that we are all “works in progress”, and none of us can say we are “well done” until we get to those “12 pearly gates” or “streets of gold like transparent glass”. Until then, we do the best we can with what we have and engage in a process of continual transformation in an effort to look more like Jesus every day!

It is no secret, I’m a believer, and my goal is to Follow Jesus all the days I get to live here on earth. Therefore it is appropriate that I would raise my children in this way. For instance: there are times I don’t want to watch something on television that may be filled with violence, lewdness, or sexual content, and guess what, I’m not going to leave the room so my children can watch it, if I’m not watching it.. we’re finding something else to watch! This is a by-product of living in a Christian home.

There are reasons behind why I aspire to “Parentbythebook” and I will give only 5 of them here in this blog for your consideration;

I aspire to “ParentByTheBook” because the bible taught me to do so. I see many stories where God specifically chooses men to lead their children after them to serve Him, and while we have many examples in the bible in the books of Kings, and Chronicles where there were parents who led by example and their children went completely AWOL, perhaps we saw the results of that example in their grandchild in those situations. It is not to say that our children will turn out “just perfect” if we lead them well. Enoch walked with God 300 years, yet all we hear about his son is Methusaleh lived the longest, living 969 yrs…. but the bible only says: “Then he died” … there was no legacy that he’d followed in the footsteps of his dad. We don’t set out to parent our children according to biblical principles and values because we want them to be perfect, we do it because we want to obey God’s word to us!

The second reason I aspire to “ParentByTheBook” is that this creates their belief systems, thereby determines their decisions. From the time I was pregnant with my children, I spoke the word of God to them, even while they were in my womb. And the first thing I did when I saw them here on earth was to pray over them, I covered their entire life in prayer, and began the journey of planting seeds in their hearts of God’s word that would hopefully take root to produce a harvest. We plant the word of God in the hearts of our children by constantly sitting it before them and allowing them the grace to understand it by explaining it to them daily. From the time my children started school, I would have “#minutesintheword” with them, as we walked to school, or drove, I would talk about the bible. Before then we’d have circle time, where I taught them from biblical viewpoints, and yes, I believe that this was in essence planting seeds in their hearts which would later determine their decisions even if not at that moment.

The third reason I endeavor to “ParentByTheBook” is that I want to take delight in them later. I do not want to be the parent called to come in to the school because my child is the violent one in the class who stole from another child, or physically abused someone. So, I teach them the values and principles of honoring and loving others, and leading others in a way that is honorable and filled with integrity. This is because when they become adults I want to take delight in telling the story that my children who are now adults have come to a position of honor with others because I prayed, and invested the time and energy to get them there.

Fourth reason I desire to “ParentByTheBook” is I realize Satan also is out to “steal, kill and destroy” them. They have a very real enemy out here in the world, and unless they are armed with truth, that is knowledge of the word of God, they have no choice at overcoming him! Satan is a very real and formidable enemy and his goal is for my children just as it was for those 2/3 of angels in heaven he took with him, to get them to turn from God and serve self. The reason I do my best to parent by the book is not only because God said so, but to arm them with truth necessary to overcome the “realest” enemy they have.

Finally, The reason I desire to “ParentByTheBook” that I will list here in this blog, and I grappled with many other things to put here, but I ultimately chose that they would fulfill their God-Given Purpose on earth.
If they have no knowledge of God’s way, or that they should pursue him for the reason he created them, nor understand he’s their created their sunk in the water before they start. The identity must come from the Lord, so purpose can only be found in him. Therefore I endeavor to teach my children that the only way they can have true satisfaction in life is to live a purpose driven life utilizing the gifts and talents God gave them for His glory!

Part of the family

When I was growing up, I was part of a family built on the “foundation of love”.

Each time we saw our relatives it didn’t matter where we were, we’d go up to them always with a smile on our face, and give them a big hug and kiss on the cheek.
We would often time display this affection regardless of how we felt (what was going on in our lives at the time didn’t matter) sometimes we’d share the situation with them, but that was after we honored them and loved on them and it was unheard of that we would share secret things about our loved ones with others (even within the family) as we were taught to practice discretion. So if auntie so and so was helping out uncle so and so, we couldn’t tell cousin so and so about it even if we knew and it had to do with cousin so and so who could have been their child, that was their business, and we weren’t to slander at any time, even if it were truth, or share what was shared with us or we learned about in confidence.

Our family was reared to be founded on and grounded in this unspoken love that covered everything we did from the outside world (those who weren’t part of our family). While sometimes we may have had to correct each other, others were rarely allowed to step in and correct us from the outside without it finding themselves involved in a family fight. The family would turn to attack the one on the outside, and team together at the moment someone who wasn’t part of the family called themselves putting one of us in our place.

Once a boy named Cornell was being unkind to me, and when my brother Dennis heard about it, he came and beat Cornell up really bad, because nobody messed with his sister. It is still that way today and we’re in our 40’s, I’d imagine it will always be that way, even though we don’t live in the same city.
This is just simply an example of how we’re to care about the situations in our family members lives, we go to whatever extent necessary to protect them from harm, and if they’re wrong, we correct them later.

However, when I came to know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, there was a similar dynamic. I learned Jesus was a lot like my big brother Dennis (only by 9 months). I so love my brother Dennis, (as well as my brother Marcel by the same mom) until this day we are extraordinarily close and I can call him whenever I need anything, if I have a problem with my computer, he’s a computer whiz, so he’ll help me no matter the hour. If I have an issue with my car, I can even call him for that.. there are some things he doesn’t know everything about, but even in those moments, he will prove to be a resource to help me think through the process.

When it comes down to being in the Family Of God.
We now have a new Father, God. Who is the best Father anyone can dream of having. He’s not like any earthly Father, He never leaves us nor forsakes us and just to have the privilege to foster any type of relationship with Him is enough to give all we have in gratitude to Him (Our hearts, our minds, our time, our souls). He has placed us in a family of other believers, whom we are to stand and fight for, and sometimes even take with us before Him in His throne room. He doesn’t mind if we come to Him about the things we care about. He cares about everything we care about. If you happen to know someone who is poor and they’re praying for a place to stay, and you happen to be praying for resources to purchase a second home. God still cares about Your need as much as theirs (and he may put it in your heart to give them your current home and then purchase that second home). He loves us All, and He doesn’t show favoritism. Whether one person is going to Him for favor to get a job, or a CEO is going for favor in a big venture decision they have to make for their own company. He cares and is here to help us!
This is the type of Father we have. His love for us endures through generations.

Maybe in the natural, your earthly father wasn’t a very good example of God, maybe he was a “dead-beat” or not present in your life to support you or build you up. Maybe your dad couldn’t afford to give you the best things this life has to offer, ( he didn’t take you on extravagant trips to Disney world and floor you with expensive gifts as you were growing up) and maybe he passed some not so good habits down to you, not to worry, God is able to adopt you and put you into His family and make you Royalty, also known as the common wealth of Israel. God is such a powerful God He has authority to re-build us in places we’ve been broken down and create in us clean hearts where before we had a hard time forgiving. While His anger lasts only a moment His favor lasts a whole lifetime. He calls us His very own beloved and has promised that He will never leave nor forsake us.

I’ll never forget this personal experience I had with God.
I was married and I had a birthday coming up. I really wanted this NISB bible by Kay Arthur, (bibles are my favorite thing on planet earth) Kay Arthur is one of my heroes in the faith. I strongly desired this bible, and I told my husband at the time who’s now my “was-been” that I really wanted the bible, and since I knew he was very wealthy, and generous, he could buy it for me, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to get it.
Well, on that birthday, my “was-been” didn’t get me either the bible I asked for nor anything else I’d asked in faith I would receive from him. But I’m so grateful I had a Father who heard every request. As a stay at home mom at the time, I didn’t really have an income or salary coming in, so I didn’t have the money put away to go buy that bible which was about $80.00 at that time..
So, I happened to be out at Half-Priced books that day, and they happened to have “Several” of those bibles on a massive sale for only $10.00. I rejoiced that I didn’t only get that bible I wanted, (and God didn’t have to see to it they were at that store at that time but He’s good like that to us, His children all the time whether we realize it or not) I also got the other things I asked for, because He provided them for me through other avenues.
We serve a God who is able to do all things, far above and beyond what we ask or think. I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread. God was always there as Father when I needed Him. I trust that He will never fail me, for He can do anything BUT fail. He’s a present help, and He’s perfect. He does all things well. I’m grateful to be part of the family!

The Emergency Broadcast System

This System was created back in 1966 and it ran well through 1996. If you remember the alert that we would get on our television, (This was before Smart TV’s) the announcement would be somewhere along the lines of this:

“This is a test. For the next sixty (or thirty) seconds, this station will conduct a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.“

I used to hate it, they would have the authority to come in and disrupt ‘my scheduled programming’ for their “testing”.

I didn’t think it was fair most the time when it happened for one reason, it would send me into a state of alarm.

Let’s say it caught when I’d just dozed off to sleep and I didn’t get the announcement first, all I heard was that LOUD, OBNOXIOUS, LONG BEEEEEEP after the announcement.

This was the before the days of “remote controls”, this was when we were having to physically get up and go to the television to turn it down by the nob.
At that time I couldn’t understand it, this crazy little concoction of multi-colors would show up on my screen as to mesmerize me, but the alarm from the sound did enough harm all on its own.

They said the reason for these “Test was for the FCC and Broadcaster to verify the Emergency Broadcast System, that the tones and decoding was transmitted properly, so that in the event there ever was a true emergency, access would be given to proper authority to pipe that right into our homes!

Who would have thought, they’d cause it to truly put a person into “Alarm” state. I mean if you were really into a program and that happened, you’re coming from a space of calm to that of chaos in seconds..

But isn’t that how life can hit at times, out of nowhere, you’re going about calmly and smoothly when BAM! Something rear-sides you and you find yourself in a state of utter shock and alarm, when you were pretty much in “sleep mode”

The bible has a little advice for us:
Don’t think these trials to be strange, only know this through this something greater will be produced in you, you never even knew was there, and don’t forget after every test you pass, you can move on to the next grade.. Going to new levels when we can calmly sit and endure test knowing all of them come with purpose!

Power to Remain Committed

So, here are some stats I’m sure won’t shock anybody, but the message that follows may be a little more eye opening, so please sit back, relax and enjoy this good read!
A study published in 2021 International Journal of Environment Research & Public Health reported that 64% of the people who make New Year’s Resolutions or set goals for the “coming year” give up by the end of January!
There’s no shock to this news, right? Hadn’t you heard about it, the fitness gym’s love the first of the year, for it’s the time everybody joins the gym. It’s most packed the first 2 months of the year, then suddenly somehow that strong commitment many people started the year with has waned. Oh, just ask most of the pastor’s, there’s always those people that will “start going back to church” the beginning of the year they just don’t “keep going”.
I know the examples could go on ad nauseam, but the truth is there’s an epidemic of quitters, for there are more people that start and stop than people that start anything and finish. Just as the college admissions department. They have almost as many students drop before graduating than they have register. Why is this?
I would disagree with the statement it doesn’t matter how you start but how you finish. I think the idea to have a “goal” to go back to church, a goal to get healthy by changing diet and exercise should not have to be forced by a diagnosis but instead a strong commitment to win, no matter what. I think people are right to set a goal to go back to church and get their hearts right. But there’s only one problem with it. They don’t truly persist in their commitments. Now we can be consistent for a little while, but who truly persist amidst difficulty.
There were 3 “unknown” people in the bible, they were “would be” disciples of Jesus, and they could have been “Known”.. I mean even though all the 12 apostles didn’t go on to have “great” names like Peter, and John, and Matthew, but Nathaniel, Phillip may not have been known for betraying Jesus as Judas was, but we do know who “Judas” was don’t we, because he committed to something, maybe not the right thing, but he had commitment. What do we want to be known for committing to?
There were these “would be’s” One of them walked up to Jesus and said: “I’ll follow You wherever You go?” when he learned the cost of that, he might not have a place to stay for the night, he walked off.. What of the man who had to sell all he had and go to follow Jesus, well, he didn’t do too good on the “give up my possessions to the poor” test did he! I mean there were people Jesus called and said: “Come on and follow me!” And their response was: “Let me go wait for my dad to die, after I bury him and get my inheritance I’m going to be about Your business, but I mean good, you know my heart!” Listen, the commitment of the 12 got them known, from start to end, none of those left, even when others did. Now can this be said about us? I have no doubt they had to persist through some real stuff, and they did, all except Judas of course who was the ONLY one replaced! All that to say this: Whenever anyone is committed to a point of persistence they’ll always be known for that thing no matter what it is. What will we be known for being “committed” to?

So, this year I was one of those people, I started a gym membership last year, and I determined that no matter what 5 days a week I was hitting the gym. I started with such bold, brass determination, but as soon as my daughter’s school changed her track practice schedule I said, well, if I have to work AND support them, then I guess there’s no use in considering myself right now, that’s the time I normally do my class!
While persisting would be to say, even if I have to pick a later class, get home later and change up my schedule, I’m committed to myself just as much as I am to them!
I will end this segment by telling you something I’ve been doing for years now, I love doing it, but only because I first decided to be determined to make a commitment to it. Reading the bible every day and fasting 21 days without food. I know you probably say: “What? did she just say she goes 21 days without food?” YES, and I do it regularly! But it did NOT start by me just hoping, wishing and praying and it certainly didn’t come about without a lot of effort! I had many fails in the process over the many years I’ve worked up to this point. While I can now say I’ve conquered getting up at 5a in the morning, it doesn’t mean every now and then I don’t have to re-commit, or that the whole process came to me easily! I had to put in the work, and I had to remain committed regardless of how I felt, YES, even if I was sick the night before, or had to stay up extra late for something else. Regardless of what happened, I had to meet the commitment I’d made.

Here’s what got me through, and here’s what I think will help you!
Sit down and think about what all could stop you from going to the gym if that’s your commitment. For instance, say to yourself, “If I’m in the hospital, I won’t go to the gym.” or you can say “If I have a pain in my body that causes me to feel I will push myself too hard I will not make it to the gym that day, but instead will plan to reschedule the next day!”
But, say to yourself, what will NOT stop me from going to the gym is “change of schedule”, it doesn’t matter if my car breaks down, (God forbid) or if my children need me to be at a game with them, I’m still going to go to the gym, even if it means I’m “inconvenienced” to go later.
I strongly believe we commit to things as long as they are “convenient”, but we do want the results regardless of if we’ve truly consistently been committed despite “come ups”.

We will have to plan out and even call into account some people who only have one job, to text or call us and ask if we’d gone, some of us may have to start special classes with coaches that hold us accountable to get us there. For me, signing up for a class does it, I know if I say I’m going to be there, then I’m going to push through whatever I need to to get there. The end of the matter is that we don’t keep our commitments and actually walk that stage with that degree, or lose that weight and keep it off, or complete that fast with the church because we’ve never truly decided to, and we’ve not thought through what obstacles WILL come and determined what will and will not stop us, come what may. I believe for the big bulk of people, they don’t keep words to themselves, and this is the major cause of the lack of success in their lives.
Let’s do better this year. Come what may, we’re keeping the word to do better and reach the goals we set!

The 4 attributes!

Have you ever had someone “brag” on you? How did that make you feel?

Would you ever expect to see Michael Jordan bragging “Anyone”? From what I hear the guy is the meanest man on planet earth. While we see people like Kobe Bryant bragging on people like Tracey McGrady for his skills and athleticism, Kobe said constantly: he’s 6’9 and tough to figure out, he even called him unbelievable, and said he could do “everything”, and he was a nightmare to guard. Imagine if you will, how that made Tracey McGrady feel. Do you think it made him practice harder or less?

While we see actors bragging on their co-actors and singers “bragging” on other singers, let’s consider parents who brag on their children. When my daughter was going into 6th grade, she had a teacher that I thought was a little “too into it”. It almost felt like she wanted to put me in school too. She sent home all this homework to fill out and return. One of the things she sent home was called a “Brag Letter!” Come on, I know you know where I’m going with this. For some parents it’s very difficult to sit down and tell even 1 good attribute about our children, but she wanted me to go to town on all the “good” about my daughter. Many times we as parents are “better” at keeping the record of their wrongs, this teacher wanted me to flip the script, because I would now be shaping the way she saw and taught my child, and it made me think a little more about the things I should have been more concerned about, and how easily I was able to complete that letter.

Now, just for a moment, let’s imagine God was tasked to give a brag letter on you to “satan” or one of your enemies. What would He say about you? Every good daddy knows all about his kids, both the good and the bad, but do we, the kiddos know the good and bad our parents would say about us? As I read the book of Job today, I wondered if he knew that over in a land far far away called heaven while he was going about his business, God was having a conversation about him with satan and God would repeat these 4 attributes to satan more than once; “Have you considered my servant.. you see he shuns evil, he is upright and blameless and Fears the Lord!” These 4 attributes Job had caused God Himself, the God of all the universe to Brag on him…. to satan! I don’t know about you, but people down here can keep their applause I look for the day when God, my heavenly Father writes a “brag letter” on me!

A Rare breed, A meaningful Specific

I once heard a story I’d like to share with you today. this story will be interesting, and it’s a short read I truly think is worth it.

Mama always said: “life is a classroom, so don’t wake up on any day without arming yourself with your pen and paper being sure to be ready to learn the lesson for the day”.. Truly if you are willing you can even learn from a 2 yr old.

This story is about 3 sons who all worked for the same company, but they all earned different incomes even though they all had the same job title.

The question was raised by their father: “Why do these 3, brothers, all earn vastly different salaries, and they all do exactly the same work. Is their employer somehow showing favoritism? The explanation was given to their father, and it was quite baffling, take a listen and see if you can determine why the brothers were “paid differently”.

The first son was called into the office of the manager where he was given his assignment for the day, (not knowing the father had hidden himself behind the door and was listening in) Here’s the assignment given to him: An airplane from the Far East had just landed at the airport, he was to simply go down to the airport, take an inventory of the plane’s contents, determine if there would be any items worth purchasing, and report back the findings as soon as possible. This First son accepted and in 15 minutes reporting, “I’ve made the phone call to the airport and determined the plane was loaded with some relatively worthless merchandise, it had about 1100 toy dolls, about 12,000 pencils and Some rolls of fabric. He was dismissed and the Second son was called in, he was given the exact same assignment. He accepted and returned to report in an hour and a half. He had gone down to the airport, and he asked to see the cargo manifest, there were 1620 toy Taiwanize toy dolls, average quality, 2,000 boxes of inexpensive colored pencils, and 500 rolls of fine silk fabric from Hong Kong. He was thanked then dismissed. That’s when the Third son was given the same assignment, but he returned with his report at the end of the day after everything was closed, here was his report, he went down to the airport too, but he asked a member of the crew to “help him inspect the contents of the plain” there were 1620 Taiwanize toy dolls, price and quality were adequate but didn’t warrant spending a lot of our time marketing them, so the distributor was called in New York, and made a quick deal for him to buy the entire shipment, the profit to us will be about $2,000, there were also 2,000 boxes of colored pencils in poor quality, They wouldn’t even be worth our consideration, so I passed on those. I inspected the 500 rolls of supposedly fine silk fabric, only 200 were of exceptional quality, I sold that for $4,000 as well, I also checked deeper and discovered items that didn’t appear on the inventory list, fine carvings and antique statutes of extremely rare quality, this was the jewel of it all, the prices were below value, so I contacted an expert in this area who confirmed this appraisal, I took position of it and we could get 100,000 profit on this, but I’ll give you the finals on that tomorrow.
The father was called from the hiding spot, and it was explained why his sons were all paid different.
The first son doesn’t even DO what he’s told, so he’s paid the least, The second son ONLY does what he’s told, that’s why he’s paid a little more, but that third son of yours, he does far more than what’s asked or expected from a mere employee, the first 2 aren’t must different, their adequate but dispensable, but the 3rd, he is NOT dispensable!

Can you see yourself as any one of these sons in your current role in the position you hold at your job?
Can you see yourself in any of these positions as a Daughter/Son of God? Are you just barely doing what you know is required of a child of Most High God… or are you really living out what has been asked of you? Are you able to tell God, I’ll obey, plus I’ll offer more than what You’ve asked?

There’s a story in the bible of a father who calls in his sons and he sends them out to “work in the vineyard”, both of them accept the assignment given by their father, however, only one of them carries out the assignment, the other only gives lip service, almost like the first son, and which one do you think was rewarded, the one that did the work or the one that did not.
The truth is, the ones we think might be “less worthy” of the reward of heaven, may be the very one to make it in, for they’re more willing to go out and do the work than the spoiled ones in the house.

Can you give “that” up?

Shall I begin with a story? Go with me if you will, to the movie theater of your mind, and let’s create a scenario, I hope you will remember all your life.

Let us say you knew a girl who was born blind. Never having had the privilege of seeing the light of day, she grew up learning how to live with her “disability”. She had to listen to those around her talk about how beautiful the blue sky was some days. She could only hear and feel the rain on other days, never having seen snow, she always heard people talk about “White Christmas,'”. One of her aunts visited and had just given birth to a new baby and explained how beautiful it was the first time she “laid eyes on him”. After a while, she became bitter, she wondered why everyone else had this “gift” she didn’t have? Why were they taking for granted that they had what she didn’t and complaining about things she’d be thankful to have? She met a young man when she was older, and even though she could not see him, she could feel his love for her, and she knew that it was more real than she’d ever experienced it before. She didn’t have to see him, it was in the way he touched her, the way he guided her across the street when he took her places, and the patience he had with her when she messed up sometimes because she didn’t feel like she was adequate enough. That young man one day asked her to marry him. She was overjoyed, but overwhelmed at the idea of being a wife, and having some of the joys she’d only heard others experienced. She told him that she would love to marry him, but she could not, because she didn’t feel she was enough, she thought she’d be a liability, a disadvantage. While he tried to explain that he loved her just as she was and she didn’t need to change anything, she insisted that if only she could see she would marry him. He remained with her and one day told her; “Guess what they’ve found a donor, and now you’ll be able to have the transplant and get new eyes, so we can be married, and I will love you forever.”

The lady was overjoyed, and they went to the hospital, and she was prepped for surgery and once she’d come out, after all the swelling went down and the bandages were removed, she was able to open her eyes and see.
She looked at all the lights in the room and the beautiful colors around her and for the first time she could see the ceiling and the floor and all that was in between. She was excited and in a position of wonder. She looked over at the young man however, and she noted that he was blind. She was appalled at the sight. He said: “I’m so happy that now you can see and you’re so excited, now we can finally be married!” But when she knew that he was blind, she said to him: “Oh No! I cannot marry you, for you are a blind man, that wouldn’t be right~”

As the man was put out of the room, he pushed his cane to the door and said turned to say to her: “I sure hope you enjoy my gift!”

He’d given up his sight for her because of his great love for her. He didn’t want her to feel inferior, or inadequate another day, so he decided to take her life onto himself, by acquiring her disability so that she could have the freedoms that is experienced when you have “no disability”. But she would not receive him, even though he’d given all for her!

Friends, God didn’t spare his own Son, He loved us so much that when he saw that we were lacking in a serious manner what was needed to live life “truly”. Life more abundantly. We weren’t really living; we were dying in our sins. But he became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become his righteousness. He humbled Himself and He carried a cross, this was an amazing love none of us could ever fathom! Yet, many of us would say to Him, Nawl, I can’t marry you like this? To this he walks away and says to us: “I hope you enjoy my gift!”

What is that thing, we’re holding on to, we just refuse to acknowledge that God Gave ALL and held nothing back from us, yet to give ALL would just be too much to ask us for Him.
I think we should strongly reconsider on today our yes to God, and consider how that might look if we gave HIM even… “that”