Month: June 2013

The Prayers of Black Women: Gathering the Pieces of a Broken Marriage

Artist: Unknown
Artist: Unknown

A week ago I was in a conversation with a friend.  Immediately, I found myself praying silently.  His words were upsetting.  His confidence was frightening.  And most noteworthy was his self-proclaim spiritual position as an ambassador for Christ.  Scary!  His words were without a doubt bloodcurdling.

If he had not came across as an insufferable know-it-all I could have drummed up some sympathy and informed him that his words were discouraging to his listeners, as they stopped him from making a difference.  With retrospect I must write, arrogant know-it-alls most often do more mental damage than the person that is doing the abusing.  There are effective ways to counsel a person in crisis and using tough love must be implemented at the correct time, or else nothing said or being done will help hurting people move forward with living their lives.

My friend was conversing with me loudly.  He spoke fast.  And with the combination of speaking loud and speaking fast he held the floor.  There was no room to exit the conversation, therefore, I found myself being victimized by his bitter words that held no comfort.  Again!

To my dismay I am realizing that my friend set me up.  He knows my present dilemmas.  He knew I could easily discuss them.  Therefore, he asked conversation starter type questions that would lure me in and prompt me to begin discussing my personal life.  Honestly, he was looking for a conversation that made him feel good about himself.  As why the first question out of his deceitful mouth was “Are you at a drive thru?”  When I answered with a hearty “No” then he proceeded with “What’s going on?”  After I began to tell him of my husband’s legal problems he became immediately argumentative.

He said things to this effect:  What good is your husband to you?  Why don’t you just get rid of him?  I thought you were going to get rid of him?  You sound like my momma.  She is forever complaining about daddy.  We the kids have told her to leave him.  I finally told her stop complaining about daddy.  I told her I was sick of hearing it.

Wow!  Right!  After hearing the bitter words he and his siblings have said and are saying to their aged mom, I didn’t feel sad for me any longer.  I came to his mother’s defense with stating “It is not that easy to leave a person when your lives are webbed together.”  He said, “Yes it is!”

Really!  Personally, I feel a marriage should never be easy to end unless a person’s life or mental wellbeing is being threatened.

I feel people with nomadic character traits can easily leave their spouses quickly without just cause.  But a person that has been married for over 50 plus years just can’t jump up and leave a perceivably abusive spouse.  It is not that easy!  So today I would like to pray for couples that are having marital problems and have been married for more years than they can remember.

Lord in your Holy word you say in Genesis 2:18b, “It is not good that the man should be alone:”

Lord there is numerous things that can be considered as marital problems; therefore, today, I would like to pray for those that are unhappily married.  Can you please spend your vacation with these couples for as long as they need you to stay?  Can you please take your Spirit of Comfort to bandage wounds sustained by marital conflict.  Can you collect their many tears and dry their eyes with promises of a brighter tomorrow.  Can you fill their hearts with love, unconditional love for the spouse they find unlovable.  Can you give those they consort with a spirit of understanding?  Can you give each spouse your spirit of truth on love, marriage, commitment, and divorce?  Can you give them joy where there is sorrow?  And most of all Lord, can you give them peace that surpasses all mankind’s understanding where there is conflict?  So all that loves them will not be affected by their marital woes.

Lord your word in John 6:12 say’s, “Gather the pieces that are leftover.  Let nothing be wasted.”  Please allow these couples to gather up their fragmented marital lives and bring the broken pieces to you so nothing from their marriage will be wasted.

Sincerely your faithful daughter,

Annette

Related articles

Inspirational Fridays: Guy In The Glass Poem

Artist: Unknown
Artist: Unknown

Dale Wimbrow

(1895-1954)

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn’t your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He’s the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum,
And think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the guy in the glass.

Related articles

Inspirational Fridays – Unleashing Your Potential

Rock Creek Golf Course
Rock Creek Golf Course

Frank R. Tillapaugh

Unleashing Your Potential

An endless stream of messages, tasks and events will try to lure us from what God has called us to do.

As unique as God’s children are, so will the unique experiences that will aim to distract us from the business at hand.

Only if we have set our priorities and realize the significance of what we are doing for God’s greater glory, can we keep on keeping on.

We can then stay on course.

Related articles

The Prayers of Black Women: “The Serenity Prayer”

Sometimes in life we are overcome with stresses.  Some situations are good stresses but stresses nonetheless.  Other times we have negative stresses, and it is usually those situations that make us feel helpless and hopeless.  It is then when I am gently reminded of  the ” Serenity Prayer.”  Therefore, I am sharing the prayer with hope that it will find a way into stressful lives to make a difference.

Photographer: Artis Harrison
Photographer: Artis Harrison

The Serenity Prayer

by Reinhold Niebuhr
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
Related articles

 

Are Women Human? by Sarah Ban Breathnach

Photographer: Artis Harrison
Photographer: Artis Harrison

We are not human beings trying to be spiritual.  We are spiritual beings trying to be human. ~ Jacquelyn Small

Whether women were human fascinated the English writer D. H. Lawrence, who often explored this conundrum in his work.  “Man is willing to accept women as an equal, as a man in skirts, as an angel, a devil, a baby face, a machine, an instrument, a bosom, a womb, a pair of legs, a servant, and encyclopedia, and ideal or an obscenity; the one thing he won’t accept her as is a human being, a real human being of the feminine sex.”

Perhaps the reason men find it so difficult to accept women as human beings is because we’re not, and deep down everyone knows it.  But often women forget their Divinity as they go about their daily round.  How often do we excuse ourselves with the expression, “well, I’m only human.”

No, you’re not, and neither am I.  We forget we’re spiritual beings appearing for a brief span on this planet as humans.  I certainly forgot that this morning when my daughter stayed home from school because she’s sick.  Again.  In a little while, I’ll have to take her to the doctor for a strep test and my entire work day will have been disrupted.  I’m frustrated and angry; not at Katie—at real life, at deadlines.  But did she realize that, when I rolled my eyes at the thought of another day gone awry?  I don’t think so.

Spiritual beings do not sweat real life’s small stuff.  They also know that most of what drives us crazy in real life is small stuff.  The only thing that isn’t small stuff is the reason you’re on earth in the first place:  to find that portion of the world’s lost heart that only you can ransom with your love and authentic gifts and then return it, so that all of us can experience Wholeness.

A spiritual being knows that the work will be waiting for her when she gets back from the doctor’s office.  A spiritual being knows that there is no such thing as a deadline.  Deadlines are chronos, the world’s time; Divinity knows only kairos, Eternity.  The being knows that the only thing that’s not small stuff today is caring fro and comforting a sick child.

This spiritual being might have also known that this morning if she’d taken five minutes to center herself.

Scripture tells us that men were created a little above the angels.  But don’t ever forget that women were the climax of the Spirit’s creativity cycle.  After woman was created, Wisdom realized there was no need to proceed further:  this superior being would save the world.

Big things are expected of us.

As for me, there’s a lost heart that needs to be ransomed by a spiritual being trying to be human.

Related articles

 

The Prayers of Black Women: “Yield Not To Temptation”

Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown

“Just ask the Savior to help you, to comfort, strengthen and keep you. He is willing to aid you, and He will carry you through.”

Are you having a hard time with life these days?  Do you feel like you are traveling your journey alone?  If you answered “Yes” to both questions then the response is ‘Just ask the Savior to help you.’

Every life has ups and downs.  Realize you are just having a down moment.  And understand downtime is base upon a person’s ability or inability to find solutions to change the course of their lives.  But one thing is for sure and note worthy:  When a person has lost hope they are easily tempted, and normally the temptation in hopeless moments takes a person further from the life desired.

Prayer for today:  Lord help those that are having a hard time with life.  Show them your grace is more than enough during this moment of hopelessness.  Lord, prayer is being offered for those that don’t have the spirit to continue on.  Life has beaten them.  So they think and feel.  But, Lord, please make note that a request in being made on their behalf that you give them peace that surpasses all humankind understanding.  Fill in the gaps of their self-proclaimed empty lives with love, peace and most of all understanding.  Help them to see Lord that everyone is tempted in believing they are not the “Bell of the ball.”  Show them Lord how to roll on their backs so they can see the beauty of the blue sky, and show them Lord if they can look up they can get up.  And if they can get up they can enter into the party of life once again and realize they only had a bad dance partner.  Teach them Lord that sometimes in life we must learn how to first dance alone even on a crowed dance floor with couples.

Your Loving Daughter,

Annette