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7 Negative Things I’m Thankful For…

Hello World,

At this time of the year, it is appropos to compile the obligatory gratitude list…I’m thankful for my health, family, spouse, etc….Yes, all of those are definitely true, but according to God’s word we are to:

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:1

This means that God expects us to be thankful for even the negative things that He has allowed in our lives, but we have hope in all circumstances, negative and positive, because:

We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

So with those two verses in mind, I decided to turn my gratitude list on its head and praise God for what I originally thought was negative, but God it turned into positive…I’m going all the way back to childhood…Come with me 🙂

bible verse1. Not Being a Popular Kid and Bordering on Being Chubby For Most of My Childhood…I guess I’ve always been self-conscious which doesn’t work well on the playground…If someone asks you to play with him or her on the playground, and you rehearse your answer before you reply…You will probably not be the most popular kid…You will be probably be among the weirdo kids…Or if you would rather watch the Brady Bunch [insert whatever show is popular now] with a snack instead of go outside and play kickball, you will probably be among the chubby kids…But not being the most popular, kinda chubby kid made me develop my inner qualities like compassion and kindness because I was sometimes treated without compassion and kindness…AND now that I’m adult, I have no illusion that I can just sit around and preserve my sexy…Good thing to know when you’re over 40…I have to eat right and work out…no excuses…God knows best…

2. Getting Into the Honors Program at Howard University, But Not Receiving Any Scholarship Money…Like many of my friends who spent our high school years watching a “Different World” or attending Atlanta Football Classic games, I just knew I would be attending an HBCU (historically black college or university)! My chosen HBCU was Howard University in our nation’s capital. I had visited Washington D.C. when I was in the seventh grade, and I vowed I would return there as a college student…But it wasn’t meant to be…Although I got into Howard University and the school’s Honors Program, I didn’t receive any scholarship money…It only made sense that at point to go to the school where I had three scholarships…The University of Georgia…a dreaded HWCU…LOL…To my surprise, I had a blast in college, pledged the most wonderful sorority (Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.) in the world and got a great journalism education without worrying about being hampered by the debt I would have surely incurred had I gone to my “dream school.” God knows best…

3. Becoming a Christian, and Then Losing My Friends…When I decided to give my life to Jesus Christ and no longer depend on the fact that my father, my uncles and grandfather were pastors, I expected my life to get better…After all, if I know God, the creator of the universe, how could anything go wrong? We cool like that…I was wrong…so very wrong..Many of my friends didn’t understand why I spent more time than the obligatory Sunday morning in church or chose not to go to certain places…I cried and I cried I felt so alone…But it was during those moments that God got me alone that I got to know Him…Many of those friendships have been restored as time has passed…but I still know how to depend on God alone because of that time…God knows best…

4. Losing My Job Right After I Bought My First Home…I must admit I was frantic when I lost my job at a newspaper months after buying my first home…Up until that time, I had been living with my parents and while I paid for my own bills like for my car, clothes, etc., my parents didn’t force me to pay rent or anything although I was a college graduate…All of a sudden, I had to pay more bills with less money…During that year or so, I was depressed…I ignored some bills…I took some jobs beneath my education just to get by…But I also had time to explore my creativity like taking a class on “The Artist’s Way” and seeing a career counselor…And when it was all over, I learned that God was my resource not that job…I learned that I didn’t even want a traditional newspaper job anymore…God knows best…

5. Wanting to Get Married at 30 Years Old, Only to Get Married a Month Short redof my 40th Birthday…My mom got married when she was 30 years old…Why would my life be any different? Well, chile, what I did I know? As it turns out, nothing at 30 years old…I had to date some good ones, some bad ones, some crazy ones, etc. before I was finally ready for the man God had for me…Those 10 years were heartbreaking, but they were also precious…a gift of human experiences…I wouldn’t want to go through them again, but I learned so many things about myself and other people that only be taught in the classroom of life…Plus, those years fueled my writing life like nothing else…As any writer knows, pain is the best inspiration…God knows best…

6. Taking Seven Years to Get a Book Deal…In 2002, I had an idea to write a memoir about developing a personal relationship with God, and in 2003, I began trying to get a publisher for my book…It wasn’t until 2010 that I got a book deal…Yes, seven years after I started…But it took all of that time to show me the book needed to include other women and not just me…When I became a Christian, I searched bookstores looking for Christian life books written by black women…I found one or two here or there, but I knew there needed to be more…Once I got some Christian living under my belt, I wanted to write one for a black Christian woman who, like me, wanted to know how other black Christian women walked out their faith…What I learned by being rejected over and over again was that I needed more experiences than just mine…My book includes the testimonies of 24 women in ONE book…This is so the book I wanted for myself years ago…God knows best…

7. Taking Seven Years To Get a Book Deal…Yes, I know already wrote that…But I have more to share on this topic…In 2007, my dream publisher (I still walk around with the business card of the acquisitions editor of this company.) at the time was interested in my original memoir, but my book was ultimately rejected because I didn’t have a platform….I.Almost.Died…At least it felt like I was nearing death because I got so close to realizing my dream only to wake up to the cruel reality of life for an unpublished author…But I didn’t let that rejection stop me…I got busy on developing my platform…This blog was birthed as a result of that rejection…This blog has become a way that I connect to others across the nation and the world…a place to dream…a place to vent…an online history…I love it so…And it is one of the reasons that I got a book deal as I met former “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd, one of the women featured in book, because of this blog…

So what “negative” things are you thankful for today? Happy Thanksgiving 🙂

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

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What Would Jesus Do About Bill Cosby?

Hello World,

If anyone has ever doubted the power of Google, just say three words. “Bill Cosby Rape.” In just over a month, just these three words have been able to tear down a career that took decades for the noted actor, comedian, philanthropist, author and more to build. Since fellow comedian Hannibal Buress first delivered these words as a part of a show in Cosby’s hometown Philadelphia on October 16, video of the show went viral, heightening interest in what Buress claimed…

I admit that I first came across an article in which the author alleged that Cosby had coerced several women to have sexual contact with him about three weeks ago. I quickly scanned the article but dismissed it an Internet hoax and or outright hogwash because Bill Cosby is Dr. Heathcliff “Cliff” Huxtable to me. And everyone in my generation knows that Dr. Huxtable is a noted obstetrician,  husband to wife, attorney Clair Huxtable née Hanks and father to their five children. Although Cliff and Clair were busy working parents, they took time to have fun together as a family. Remember when the family memorized a dance routine to Ray Charles’ “Night Time is the Right Time” to entertain Cliff’s parents as they celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary? And has having five children would suggest, Cliff and Claire took time for romance too, emanating unadulterated adoration as they gazed at each other listening to jazz greats like Betty Carter when she sang “Look What I Got.”

Dr. Huxtable is a proud graduate of the highly esteemed HBCU Hillman College and sent his daughter Denise, the original boho-chic fashionista, there. When she left the Huxtable nest, her college days were chronicled in “A Different World.” While at Hillman, Denise was schooled in the honor and high jinks characteristic of attending HBCUs although she didn’t graduate from the school. However, her friends Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert were able to carry on without her. In fact, they later married and moved to Japan when Dwayne got a job offer from Konichiwa.

Yes, these fictional characters became a part of my family. But now as these 16 women have recounted stories of starstruck naïveté, pills and forcible sexual encounters, I have been forced to extricate Bill Cosby from Healthcliff Huxtable. They are not one in the same. And I suppose that is one of the fallacies of fame – confusing an image with a person. Since the allegations have spread throughout the Internet, spawning by the day, FB friends have declared that they will no longer watch reruns of “The Cosby Show” and “A Different World,” networks have dropped the shows from their programming and while other people and entities have taken a more centric approach. I am a part of the latter group.

The journalist in me knows that 16 accounts of anything should be considered, particularly since the accounts seem to be similar. Many of the women themselves seem to similar (at least at the time they allege these encounters occurred) as they all paint a picture of Cosby as a powerful Hollywood player while they were young wannabe starlets eager to ascend with his influence. The home training advocate in me wonders just what did they think would be the end result of carousing alone with this married comedian. The realist in me wonders if the truth is also somewhere in the middle. Maybe Bill Cosby used his fame to attract the attention of these then young women under the guise of innocent fun. And maybe what happened between them was consensual until it wasn’t…

The fact of the matter is no matter what is proven in court or has not been proven in court or what Bill Cosby and his accusers have said or haven’t said, only Jesus is the ultimate and final arbiter of truth…

There are many Bible verses that I can list to support my point, but this verse comes to mind today…

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.  Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

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Church of England’s First Female Bishop May Be Black & Jamaican…

Hello World, rev rose

Yesterday, all 50 states (yes, including the Aloha State) experienced freezing temperatures, and this morning, I’m still cold…not good for a girl with Jamaican blood…I was too cold 20 degrees ago…but then again, it is November…anywho, on to today’s post…

Big things are happening across the pond…On Monday, according to The New York Times, the Church of England solidified its decision to appoint female bishops with a final vote after initially agreeing to this change in July. This decision marks the first time that female bishops will be appointed!!! And the first female bishop may be appointed by Christmas!!! There are seven women that are being considered for the first appointment, according to itv.com.

One of those women is the Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who is already the first black female chaplain to the House of Commons and was the first black female chaplain to the Queen! She was born and raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica before coming to the UK in 1985.

Below is a video of Rev. Hudson-Wilkin speaking with The Telegraph about the miracle of the appointments of female bishops in the Church of England…

Below is her bio from the Church of England website:

The Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin was appointed to the role of Speaker’s Chaplain in June 2010 by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP. She is the Vicar of the United Benefice of Holy Trinity with St Philip, Dalston, and All Saints, Haggerston, in the London diocese. Rose combines this parish role with the position of Speaker’s Chaplain and as Priest Vicar at Westminster Abbey.

Rose was born and grew up in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Commissioned as a Church Army Officer in 1982, her theological training took place at the West Midlands Ministerial Training Course at Queens Theological College.

She was ordained Deacon in 1991, and Priest in 1994. In 2007 she was appointed a chaplain to the Queen, making her one of only a few who are occasionally invited to officiate and preach at the 400-year-old Queen’s Chapel beside St. James’ Palace.

She is a member of the General Synod of the Church of England and has served as one of the Panel of chairs. During her time on the Synod she was one of the CofE’s delegates to the World Council of Churches meeting in Zimbabwe & Porto Allegre.

She has served as Chair of the National Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) and of the Worldwide Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). She has also been a member of the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC).

According to Wikipedia, she is married Ken Wilkin, a chaplain to Holloway Prison, and they have two daughters and a son.

Any thoughts?