Tidbits & Titillations aka Dear God, it’s me Jackie…

Dreams do come true...
Dreams do come true…

Hello World!!!

Here are some subjects that I have been thinking and praying about lately:

1. My favorite bishop, the good Bishop Thomas Weeks from right here in the A, is engaged to be married to the Prophetess Christina Glenn…Well Hallelujah and Thank You Reality Shows! Apparently, the happy couple have been engaged for at least a month! How I missed this news I don’t know. If you remember, less than a year ago, he launched the reality show “Who Will Be the Next Mrs. Weeks” on his Web site bishopweeks.com to find a new wife. His second ex-wife Prophetess Juanita Bynum divorced the bishop about two years after he beat her down in the parking lot of an Atlanta hotel. When I wrote my original post about Bishop Weeks, I really didn’t think a woman would really date him after the much publicized incident between Bynum and her ex-husband, but I was wrong. Pastor, now called Prophetess Christina Glenn is excited about her upcoming nuptials to the good bishop!

Dear God, It’s no secret that many of my friends and I want to get married. Please help us to not want to get married so badly that we open our hearts and close our minds…Give us Your wisdom and insight so that we will wait for the ones that you have for us…In Jesus’ name, Amen.

2. Steve McNair & Sahel Kazemi…I’ve heard all about it. I’m sure that you have heard all about it so I won’t rehash the details here… What a tragic story…I’m sure that men (ahem cheaters)  like Kwame Kilpatrick, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and former presidential candidate John Edwards are like it’s getting “hard out here for a pimp” after hearing this story…Is there another clause in the wedding vows of rich and powerful men like “I promise to be faithful unless the right ‘opportunity’ (a)rises” if you know what I mean…

Dear God, Does marrying a man with power, influence and money mean that eventually my man will cheat on me? Do I have to marry a man that is flat broke to guarantee that he will be faithful to me…help me to understand Lord…In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

3. I am an Internet junkie always on the lookout for interesting sites, blogs, etc. Last week, while watching my absolute favorite soap, “The Young and the Restless,” I saw an ad for the Web site, outofyourlife.com.  Through the Web site, women can receive cash for an engagement ring or other jewelry that was given to them during a good relationship that has gone bad…This is how it works: a woman requests a Break-Up Box which she receives in the mail. After receiving the Break-Up Box, the woman places her jewelry in it and mails it back to the Web site. Once receiving the jewelry, it will be appraised and a check will be mailed back to her…I guess with our country’s high divorce rate, there is a sizeable market for such a service…But learning about this Web site has made me a little bitter. I haven’t received very much jewelry from men at all…My father bought me a beautiful diamond and gold nugget cluster ring when I was 16 years old, but he’s my dad so I don’t think that counts…A high school boyfriend found a gold ring on the track during a track meet once and gave it me…A college boyfriend gave me a gold ring with a little itty bitty diamond chiplet…The chiplet was soo small that I’m not even sure if it’s still there…Every once in a while I hold it up to the light, but I still can’t tell if it’s there…after that, zilch…and I’m 35…

Hed betta not...

He'd betta not...

Dear God, help me to not hate on women who have received gargantuan rings from their boyfriends, fiances or husbands…I know that I can buy my own rings if I want to, but I don’t want to..Lord bring a man into my life that will be buy me some jewelry… It doesn’t have to be the biggest diamond in the world Lord, but help me and others see it even if we’re not holding it up to the light…In Jesus’ name, Amen…

4. Are all romantic relationships open unless you are married? We can all agree that if you are married, you are expected to be faithful…But if you are not married, should you be in a “committed” relationship? For example, let’s say that you are in a committed relationship, but you are not engaged…What if you meet a really great person? Are you really supposed to not explore that option? Will one date kill you? And we’ve all heard of stories of people who were engaged and met “The One” before they married the other one?

Dear God, help me to know the One that you have for me…If I happen to be engaged when I meet that One, help me to dump the other one and move on…In Jesus’ Name, Amen…

This is more like it...who is that guy?

This is more like it...who is that guy?

5. So let’s say that after all of my prayers, I finally meet The One and we get married…and then it becomes dull and uninteresting…what do married people do when that happens? Well, one interesting Web site has the answer. Through ashleymadison.com, married people can date…In fact, their motto is “Life is short. Have an affair.” Maybe the aforementiond cheaters should have used this Web site to have a discreet affair. It’s like E-harmony for married people it seems…you can search the profiles of over 4 million married members…how romantic…

And then You made man...

And then You made man...

Dear God, when I do get married, please help me to have fun all of the time lest I be tempted to spice things up a bit by dating while I’m married…Help my man to be as fine as the day I married him forever and always…I pray that the sight of my man will always make me want to jump on him like Whitney did to Bobby on his now defunct reality show “Being Bobby Brown.” And Lord, if he is Idris Elba…maybe that can happen…in Jesus’ name, Amen…

 

Any thoughts?

 

Someday We’ll All Be Free…

Hello World!!!

It’s been a minute since I hollered at you but my life is a little overwhelming right now so forgive me if I don’t post as reguarly as I want to post…

So as you know, yesterday our country celebrated the anniversary of our freedom…sometimes I take it for granted but freedom is really priceless…Yesterday, as I was running the Peachtree Road Race, a beloved Atlanta tradition, I felt free as my legs sliced through the heat and the crowds as I trekked on the 6.2 mile-course (yes, I am giving myself some dap…)I felt some sadness as I ran up what is known as “Cardiac Hill” on which the Shepherd Spinal Center is located. Many of its inhabitants, in their wheelchairs, lined the streets and watched as the runners and walkers passed by. I wondered, as the some 50,000 passed by them, if they longed for the freedom of those whose legs were able to walk and run. I tried to look into their eyes as I passed them, but I had to focus on making it up the hill. I did manage to cheer as I ran by – the best way I could figure at the time to show them support…

As I get updated every day about every nook and cranny of Michael Jackson’s life and death over the last week or so, I have tried to imagine how the King of Pop felt over the course of his lifetime. It’s no secret that he longed for the freedom of a healthy childhood…And with all of this media coverage, I wonder if he longed to be free of his fame…Don’t get me wrong. Now, I’m sure that MJ enjoyed the lavish lifestyle that his fame provided for him – Neverland Ranch is a prime example – but his sequestering of himself in Dubai demonstrates the underbelly of fame…It’s obvious  now there is almost no where in the world MJ could go to get away from the attention, scrutiny and judgment…

Last month, a friend of mine e-mailed a “Happy Juneteenth” message to a few of my friends and me. Another one of us e-mailed us back stating, “We’s Be Free!”  With a simple and instantaneous click of the word “send, ” we got the message…I laughed but I’m sure that it was no laughing matter at the time…I cannot imagine working under the tyranny that was slavery at all…but when you think that many slaves worked months after they were declared free…I’d like to think that somehow, some way those slaves – particularly those that built the White House – realized that our nation has finally elected a black president…

Jesus Christ invoked the principle of freedom many times throughout the Word…

 

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
   He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see,
   that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Luke 4:18-19

31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…  34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. John 8:31-32, 34-36

1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Today, I’m thankful that God has allowed me the freedom of health…I have the freedom to run road races…

Today, I’m thankful that God enabled me to have a wonderful childhood…my parents, though not perfect, provided me the freedom to evolve at my own pace…

Today, though I hate that my people were ever enslaved and don’t always approve of our domestic or foreign policies, I’m thankful for the freedom that we enjoy as American citizens…I can come and go as I please and I can tell others where to go when they get on my nerves 🙂

But most of all, I am thankful that I experience the freedom of Jesus Christ – although I have never seen Him with my physical eyes, I sense His presence nearly all the time and trust that He is guiding me every moment of every day…

Yes, freedom is so precious that many songs have been written about it…One of my favorite “freedom” songs  is Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free.” I couldn’t find an appropriate video of this Hathaway classic so I decided to post Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” – also a classic “freedom” song. What are you free from today? What do you have the freedom to celebrate today? What does freedom mean to you…

Any thoughts?

P.S. I guess Sarah Palin is free to quit her position as governor of Alaska…I wonder what she feels free to do next…Lord, help us…