Monday, February 24, 2020

Your Apron Ministry

Susanna Wesley, the mother of twelve children, took her relationship with God seriously. Early in her life, she vowed that she would never spend more time on leisure entertainment than she did in prayer and Bible study. Even amid the most complex and busy years of her life as a mother, she still scheduled two hours each day for fellowship with God and time in His Word, and she adhered to that schedule faithfully. The challenge was finding a place of privacy in a house filled to overflowing with children. Mother Wesley's solution to this was to bring her Bible to her favorite chair and throw her long apron up over her head, forming a sort of


Friday, February 14, 2020

Unrealistic Expectations in Marriage

This year will mark 31 years of marriage for my husband and I. Where does the time go? When we said our vows at the altar on that overcast morning all those years ago, we were young, happy and idealistic. We meant every word we said, but we had no clue how those words would play out over the years. We went through premarital counseling and had the necessary conversations. We even spoke to our pastors periodically for additional insight. As we continued to evolve yet stick to each other through thick and thin, it became apparent how the rose-colored glasses of unrealistic expressions could drain a marriage.


Monday, February 10, 2020

Which Ism Weighs You Down?

As I chatted with my brother, once more, the conversation turned to racism. In his case, he lamented the fact that it always seems to rear its ugly head when he least expected it; when he thought he was doing everything right. What makes it difficult is knowing the cause but assigning the blame to other factors. "Let's go back to the drawing board; let's rethink this idea; you seem angry when you're presenting." Frustration builds when you've seen similar tactics work for others and not for you; others don't have to go back to the drawing board or have their speech assessed. Instead, their ideas are accepted while they continue to thrive.

Racism, sexism, feminism, classism, ableism, anti-semitism - common issues today with the common theme of denigrating those they affect. As a black woman, I've dealt with a couple of these in my life. Racism is prevalent and comes up often in many conversations because it affects the professional and the personal. There's no denying racism though