Black Women Have It Going On

“Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.” — Proverbs 14:13 (ESV)

Good morning from Colorado!

In my home, I carry a tradition I learned from my father: when we wake and move about the house, we acknowledge one another. We say “Good morning” to those who are up. It’s a simple act, but it’s a way of saying, I see you. You matter.

Yesterday, I shared a heavy truth here about a dark corner of my family tree—a story of betrayal, disease, and a son forced to carry his father’s shame. When I recounted this story to my husband, his reaction caught me off guard. He laughed. He belted out a hearty laugh and said, “Only in your family!”

I stood there perplexed. I had to ask him, “Why are you laughing?”

To some, these stories feel like “episodes” of a wild drama. But the truth is, it isn’t “only in my family.” Every family has secrets, and every family has selfish people. The only difference is that some of us are finally willing to document them diplomatically—not to cause a scandal, but to expose the ruthlessness of the “selfish world.”

What that man did—hand-picking his child to be the witness and the “fixer” for his own infidelity—wasn’t a family quirk. It was a tragedy. He forced a young boy into a painful, adult world he was never meant to inhabit.

There is nothing funny about pain—ours or others’.

When we laugh off the “craziness” of selfish behavior, we risk minimizing the damage it did to the people involved. My husband’s laugh reminded me how easily the world tries to deflect the weight of the truth. But if we want to find our own solutions and protect our peace, we have to stop treating “ruthless behavior” as a punchline.

Selfishness is a thief. It steals innocence, it steals truth, and it steals the peace of the generations that follow. Today, I’m choosing to take the “secret” out of the darkness and look at it for what it is: a lesson in what I will no longer allow in my space.

A Prayer for Compassion and Truth

Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the gift of a new day and the grace to see the truth clearly. Lord, help me to have a heart that doesn’t minimize the pain of the past. When others see “drama” or “humor,” help me to see the need for healing. Give me the strength to stand for the truth of my history so that the cycles of selfishness stop with me. May my home be a place of “Good mornings” and genuine honor.
Amen.