Making It Plain

  This blog grew from an idea for a book that was being mulled around after attending a number of Christian Single conventions and seeing the wonderful ideas people had for Christians to meet one another. It was all so exciting and interesting, at first. But then, there I was in the public library because I wasn’t able to afford a computer of my own yet, and a woman saw the title of that book that I was mulling around for Christian singles. She asked if I would have a chapter on cohabitating. I stared at the title because I didn’t know what to say. Why ask something that had nothing to do with the title of the book? Did she not understand? It’s for Christian singles. There is no cohabitating when your focus is on God. There is no shacking up and calling it common law marriage. There is no oops and making your faux pas seem alright because God sees your heart and real intentions. What was she asking of me? Am I supposed to compromise what I believe the book should be about because s...

Who had the idea of dinner and a movie first? Why did men first choose to pay for everything? Who flipped the script and why has it become complicated now? Lastly, when did we leave God out of flipping this script ( Philippians 4:13 AMP )? In growing up, one of the jewels of wisdom my mother said was not to accept gifts from men who are interested in dating you. I call them jewels now because I’m no longer a teenager and can completely understand without the distraction of added questions without much feedback… I was a talker . My mother was not. Nevertheless, we were a “humble” family and if it wasn’t a necessity it wasn’t purchased other than for a birthday or Christmas gift. I recall, from the movies of back in the day, when love interests would go to the girl with flowers and candy in hand. It was the romance of it all, and knew that someday the experience would be mine (cue the swooning here).  The day came and my mother's pearls of wisdom faced me before the bauble. I graci...

What is it about relationships that cause men to stop and think that he knows better than the One who created him? We all come to the point where we have to be independent and deal with matters and problems the best way we know how. Some solutions are better than others but once we have learned the best way we don’t detour from it unless we have learned something better ( Luke 6:40 AMP ). What’s so hard about that? I was recently talking to a middle aged man who looked younger than his years. He has everything going for him but the desire to be out on his own away from his parents. He can’t think of a good excuse other than him being comfortable where he is. There are no challenges, no expectations, he’s not accountable for anything or responsible for no one but himself and whatever he has in his room. I gradually had to tell him what the natural order of things are. In that natural order of things, there are normal expectations. He looked at me odd because I was challenging his comfor...

The title of this entry came when thinking of the failed relationships that claimed heard the Lord’s voice tell him/her that she/ he is the one. It is what we all wish to hear because in our minds we have waited so long and it seems everyone else found their someone while we are still waiting.  How come they got theirs and I’m still waiting for mine. What is taking so long?  There was a woman, Emily who told a younger woman, Ann that if she did not go to her husband and tell him that she is ready to be married, she would have never been married. But Emily failed to tell Ann of all of the hurdles Emily has to jump over and through when she gets home to be her husband's help mete. Yet, Ann pondered what was told to her even when the Word says otherwise for women ( Proverbs 18:22 AMP ). There was a young man, Malachi having a vision and a plan for his life. It included the young lady, Annette whom he has known since he was a child. They were both excited about the future. Having ...

Driving in the February chill of Michigan the roads looked as they always had, as with the trees, the smell of the frost, and the children walking bookbag bound to the destination one presumably believes to be school; but there is no telling these days. It would either seem I had been trapped indoors for so long, I never saw the change happen or could it have been distraction that kept me from seeing what everyone else saw and took for being normal. Am I so far out of the regime that the mere mention of what I know would never have been cause for an uproar? I am believing that I was somehow distracted and never noticed that a woman showing her pregnant stomach would somehow be fashionable. No one asked for the woman to cover herself out of respect of being a mother if nothing else. I sort of wished I did, but I was so surprised at her display,  I wouldn't of had the words.  Then again, they may have not said anything for fear of repercussion of what this woman would have done ...

There is this wonderful, exuberant time in every relationship where the tingles and butterflies pale in comparison with what goes on within you when you see that special person you have agreed to be a major factor in your life.  Don't mistake how great the feeling is when you have a liking for someone and they don't know you even exist - that's cool too especially when you are a child. It's the agreement of two people believing and knowing that the compatibility is everything you could ever think it would be. Having like interests, conversations that aren't difficult, family values are equally treasured, and the roles that each have are obvious and not debatable. Eventually, the conversation changes because you both question where the relationship is going. Is this long term or something to do over the Summer? It's a scary thing to approach if you are immature. Grown folks have had discussions like this before. The sooner you find what the other person is lookin...

 In my profession, I have the responsibility to make sure my clients receive all of the services offered for their optimum physical and emotional well being. In so doing, the services require for the clients to listen to sound advise. Whether they adhere to the advise is their prerogative. The title of this entry came to me after speaking to one of those clients. She had divulged that she was going through a number of procedures that require invasive surgery. I asked if she had exhausted all other possibilities. She responded, "well, it's what the doctor recommended, so..." She had made up her mind. But what was the last pebble on the balance causing her to relinquish the power to seek a second opinion ( Luke 11-21-23 AMP ). What hold did this one doctor have on her? Why couldn't she see that there were simpler ways to resolve the problem, that this was the only body she was going to get, that once her life was gone under the knife, there were not going to be anymore ...