Friday, February 20, 2015

But I Had A Praying Grandmother

I am a self-proclaimed gospel music bop. I love gospel music in a way that a lot of people love hip-hop or old school r&b. My love for this genre of music began a long time ago. I have been in a church since I can remember. When I was a little girl, I had no idea what the preacher was talking about. Most of the time, I fell asleep during the sermon. One part I always stayed awake for was when the choir would sing. I didn’t understand the words but I understood the rhythm and the melody. As I grew up and life occurred, those same songs whose rhythms I would rock to and hum along with carried me through some of the toughest times in my life.

One song I used crack up laughing at is not actually a song but a recorded testimony.  This gospel artist, Helen Baylor has a profound, devil-don’t-play- with- me kind of voice. Her voice is heavy and husky and commands that you listen to what she is saying. In her recorded testimony, Helen speaks about the triumphs she had to endure and overcome while being in the music industry. One line she repeats is “but I had a praying grandmother.” She says it over and over and over after each challenge she encountered. Her grandmother had instilled in her the most powerful gift, prayer. She gets to one point in her testimony where she is losing it. She is battling drug addiction. She is high and she believes she is dying. At this point she says, “but I had a praying grandmother and I knew enough to call on the name of Jesus.” If you get a chance, please google this testimony. I promise you will laugh at first but what you will do in the end is reflect on your grandmother.

Many of us experienced or are experiencing praying grandmothers. We are getting blessed off of prayers that our grandmothers prayed when we were itty bitty. Of course when that song comes on the radio I think of my Grandma, Marie Dennis. My Grandma is something special. She instilled so many things in my sister and I that we are just now realizing we possess. Every time I raise my hand in church, I think of my grandma. When we would spend time with her in the summers my grandmother would have us in church nearly every day. I can remember when we were about 8 or 9 years old. We were sitting in church while the choir was singing. My grandmother whispered, get up and put your hands up. Worship! We were like, uuh. This lady is a nut. There we were, standing in church getting arrested by the holy spirit. Our hands were in the air. We felt awkward and uncomfortable. We didn’t understand or know that in the years to come, our hands would go up in church without anyone telling us to do so. Our hands would go up because we had been through so much and we were still here. Not only were we here, we were better. God deserved our gratefulness.


Another thing my grandma does is watch Christian television or listen to sermons in the car. She surrounds herself with the word of God. You call Marie Dennis on the phone, instead of your standard hello, you will hear her answer, “praise the Lord.” I chuckle because she stays in a constant state of praise. My sister and I find ourselves listening to sermons more and more in the car and all day at work.  We are turning into our Grandma. What a blessing!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

A Legacy - Leave One

2014 has kicked my ass and it's only May. At the end of 2013 I took a stress leave from work. My brother-in-love, whom I've known since I was sixteen years old was fighting a hellified battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. This disease is a motherfucker, to put it lightly. I could not handle what it was doing to him and my family. I could no longer focus at work so I asked to take a leave. I returned back to work on January 8th only to turn around and be fired on February 4th. Comedy, right? My leave was approved so the shock I experienced the day I got fired was like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

Here's another kicker for you. I wrecked my car the weekend before I got fired. I was unable to rent a car until Monday so I had to call in. I went to work early Tuesday so I could get a jump start on my day since I was absent the day before. I got to work at 6:30am. My boss came in late. 9:30 to be exact. We had a weekly touch base meeting scheduled. During these meetings I generally gave him a rundown of what I was working on. We walked into a conference room and there was this miscellaneous man in there. I didn't think anything of it because conference rooms were always overbooked and sometimes we had to share the rooms. So I walked in ready to rattle off projects I was working on. My boss proceeded to lay down this sheet of paper. He then introduced our special guest. Apparently this guy was from Human Resources. He said, Dee, we have received feedback that you have been distracted. I'm thinking, that's true. So what else? Then he precedes to say, we are letting you go. It is not working out. If y'all could have felt the Samuel L. Jackson cussin'-out rising up through my insides,  you would have feared for your life. He kept talking and all I could feel was flames coming out of my ears. I said, you are heartless. Looking back on it, I think I was having a breakdown. The HR guy went on to say something about if you want to know about your benefits during this time, please contact this number. I looked at him and said FUCK benefits. This was totally out of character for me. I reserve my cuss words for close family and friends. I don't curse, I cuss. There is a difference. Clearly, I had lost my mind.

I walked out of there and headed to my desk to get my belongings. I was so pissed because they were walking with me like I was some kind of criminal. My boss escorted me to the the elevator. He said, Dee do you need anything? It took all the glory of God for me not to slap him. I decided to let the elevator do the talking. I politely shut the doors right in his face. No goodbye, no thank you for this opportunity and no you'll be hearing from my lawyer. As those doors closed, so did that chapter of my professional life.

The blessing in my brother-in-love's illness was that as he faded away, those who loved and cared for him gained the ability to not really give a shit about the little things that went wrong. Losing a job? That's a little thing. Crashing your car? That's a little thing. When someone is fatally-ill and you see them battling for their life, you finally realize that as long as you have your faith, your health and strength you can get through anything.

I walked out to the parking garage and immediately called my sister. Me: Sis, guess what? Her: What? Me: I just got fired. Her: YOU LYING! Me: I promise to God. Her: Sis! What the fuck?! All I could say was, "right." She said, well you sound calm. What could I do? I knew when I got in that car that I was going to spend as much time helping my sister and brother-in-love as I could. Maybe God freed me up for that. All things work together for good, that's what my bible says.

My sister said she needed a huge favor. She needed me to start planning my brother-in-love's funeral.  Plan funeral - got it. That next day my best friend and I visited our first funeral home. I couldn't believe this was happening. All I knew is that this had to be the best funeral ever, if there was such a thing. I sat and talked to the funeral director and just the mundaneness of the process wore me out. When people experience a lot of death they become either extremely impersonal or gracioulsy empathetic. I wish there were more empathetic people in the world but for someone reason, I was dealing with all the emotionless ones. I went to the first funeral home with my best friend. I visited the second funeral home by myself. I am not sure who I thought I was that day. I woke up and thought I was superwoman. I thought I could go in that funeral home by myself and discuss arrangements like an adult. I cried the entire process. Imagine picking out a casket for your 37 year-old brother. My sister and I had played a twin-trick on his parents once, I was with him when he picked out her engagement ring, I was with him when he asked my dad for my her hand in marriage - we were just doing 'da butt' together at my 30th birthday 5 years ago! I introduced them for God's sake - so many great memories. I have all these memories replaying in my mind and this funeral director is talking to me like I'm picking out an expensive handbag. Sir, this is my brother! Nevertheless, my tears and I got through that process. 3 weeks later, my brother-in-love passed away.

We laid him to rest on February 28th. Life after has been an adjustment. The services were beautiful just like he deserved. I walked away from his services thinking "When I die, what will the say about me? Will the work I've done, be enough to help someone?" I have been spending my life since then trying to figure out what is next for me. These series of events have changed the trajectory of my life. Where am I headed? Am I headed towards wife and mommy road? Will I fall into another corporate job? Will I pursue that dream of becoming an author? What will my legacy be? My hope for everyone reading this is that you won't have to experience all of this to evaluate the importance of your life. What will you leave your children and all those who love you? Being a positive and uplifting influence costs you nothing. Build your legacy now.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Black Folks Need Help Too

So I finally got inspired. Unfortunately, I am inspired by the recent suicides that have a occurred. First Don Cornelius and then that pretty little girl that went to Bellaire High School. It really breaks my heart that even in this day and age we don't see the signs. Remember the ignorance of our people? We used to say things like, "black folks don't commit suicide or black folks don't go to therapy, we go to church." Just like you, I've heard this ignorant shit for years. If you take anything from this blog, take the fact that we are not exempt!

I especially hate the black folks don't go to therapy, we go to church thing. I believe in the healing of God as much if not more than anyone but I also believe God put people on this earth to help us. I don't know if we realize it but we are human just like any other race. It does not go against God or his word if you go and talk your feelings out with a trained professional. These people were given the skill and spiritual gift to ask you questions and probe you to talk about the weight of the wait...waiting to feel happy, waiting for love, waiting for healing, waiting for a financial breakthrough or waiting for a miracle. How many of you understand that everyone is not equipped to carry the weight alone? A therapist can help you identify the God-given tools you already have to help you deal with whatever situation you are going through.

I look at the little girl from Bellaire and I feel like I knew where she was mentally. Some people say she had so much going for herself. She was popular, she was beautiful....I don't get it. Realize that some people create a beautiful mask so you can't see the ugly sadness that is inside of them. Some of the most beautiful people are depressed and sad beyond belief. Please learn to notice the signs.
  • If you hear a person constantly saying they are tired, not necessarily physically tired but mentally-this is a sign. What they are saying is they are tired and feel like giving up forever. If you notice a constant state of hopelessness, pay attention and take action.
  • If you see someone that experiences extreme highs of happiness and extreme lows of sadness, this is a sign. They need your help.
  • If you see someone isolating themselves and not enjoying the activities they used to, pay attention - this is a sign.
  • If you see someone abusing substances such as alcohol, weed or/and prescription drugs, this is a sign. This person is attempting to numb themselves. Some people rather die than feel the impact or enormity of their feelings. Please know that overindulgence with these substances can be a sign of depression.
I am in no way a trained professional but I am a person who has struggled from depression in the past. I fortunately sought help on my own but some others may need a little encouragement. Recognize the signs and love and have the courage enough to help and save your loved ones. Remember no one is exempt.

Miracles and Blessings

Saturday, January 14, 2012

I'm living the single-single-single...LIFE!

So I decided this year that I would take control of my 'single' life and enjoy the Heaven out of it. I'm changing the way I'm think about it all. It is no longer a curse but a blessing.

Here are the top 5 reasons I love being single:

1.I can get on a plane and fly anywhere I want anytime of the week without consulting a single soul.(I'm headed to San Francisco right now.)

2.I have my entire bed to myself. I can sleep as wild as I want and hog the covers without worrying if someone else is cold.

3.I get to spend all my money on what I want. No shared accounts no shared anything, everything is all mine.  

4.I get to be in a bad mood without someone constantly nagging me and asking me what's wrong. I have unlimited peace and quiet.

5.Lastly, I get to do what I want 200% of the time. If I wanna lay on the couch in my undies all day, I can do that. If I wanna go out to eat everyday of the week, I can. I can do all things through Christ without the help, influence or naysaying of anyone on earth. 

So the next time you are feeling lonely or depressed, pack your bags and leave and go anywhere because guess what? You can!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

love should be the burger

Nothing was greater than a happy meal when we were kids. Those yummy fries, cheeseburger and toy were the highlight of many days. I was talking to my friend today about relationships and marriage and he stated that a lot of marriages these days are businesses transactions. It's all about what makes the most financial sense. He said, if you get love that's great but there are other elements that complete a marriage and love isn't the most important.

I TOTALLY disagree. Is this where life has brought us? Are we now getting married because the other person looks good on paper? If that's the case, I'm never getting married. If I do get married I promise you that love will be the main reason. I want to enhance someones life and be the main person in their life they need the most. I want to be the burger. lol Yes, finances are great but what about the other stuff? I want to fulfill the desires my significant other. I want someone to be full off the love that I've given them over the years. I don't want them to focus on my financial and professional accomplishments.

We all should vow that marriage will not be a like a job. We will not clock in ever morning and clock out at night when we go to sleep. Let's plan to eat, breathe and sleep love. If you aren't ready for a woman like that, please don't waste your time talking to me.

Nowadays a happy meal comes with a lot more options and so does life and potential significant others. Be sure to choose the one that not only adds to you but fulfills what you've dreamt about all your life. In your relationship, love should be the main driver. For God so LOVED the world that he GAVE...if you aren't giving all of yourself to better your mate, you don't love them. Don't just settle for being the option, make your love the main course.


Miracles and Blessings!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

let me see if you can run it, run it!

We experienced some real fun when we were kids. I feel terrible that today's kids don't play outside as much as we used to. Going outside was like going to the club. You wanted to play outside all day and night until the sun came up. 1-2-3 red light, Ms. Mary Mack, mother may I, hop-scotch, double-dutch, jax, hide and seek, hide and go get (for you fast folks ;-) racing down the street or in the yard and my favorite, tag.

Tag was exciting because you knew what your goal was and you were the only person in charge of attaining it. All you had to do was run after the next person and touch them. That was it. Your winning or losing depending on no one but yourself. It wasn't a team sport but an individual quest.

Winning a game of tag is very much like life. You have to have your goal etched in your brain. You have to be able to see your goal and visualize yourself reaching it. You then have to chase after it like someone is running after you because in essence, if you don't catch your dream, someone else will. Run with purpose and the belief that you will indeed reach what you set out to achieve. Reach for your goal with all your might and just when you feel like you are too tired and can no longer run, reach up to God and out to his vision for your life. I guarantee you'll catch what is meant for you.

If you follow me on FB, you know that I run at Rice every Saturday. Some people really enjoy running. I am not one of those people. lol Running is a necessary evil for me. Even though the physical activity wears me down, it is the spiritual and mental exercise that keeps me going. I will tell you a little story about my run. I run the same dreadful path every Saturday. One Saturday I decided to run in the opposite direction.  I ran the same distance but the run was all together different because I changed the way I looked at it. Not only did I finish, but I finished strong and ready to cheer on the next person. Your run in life can be the same way.

Take control of your goals. Chase with purpose and reach what is meant to be yours.

Miracles and Blessings!

scatter-brain at it's finest

Todays' Blog will be a mindless brain dump. I am going to type everything that is going on in my head.
  1. I wonder what I will look like when I get old? I hope I don't wear wigs. Wigs can be so soulful at times. I take that back, my Grandma's wig is super cute!
  2. I have got to get my beach body back. I need a trip to Miami pronto-stat! Me and Nikki will kick it so hard out there.
  3. My Grandpa is 84 years old! That is such a blessing. He has lived to see a lot of things and still talks a gang of shit. I love that dude.
  4. My dog's haircut is so atrocious. I wonder if this is how people with ugly kids feel? :-/ He looks like he has been hitting crack rocks. Why did they have to shave his hair so short??? I cant wait until it grows back.
  5. I am doing a good amount of traveling this month. I am so proud of myself. I am really sticking to these New Year's resolutions.
  6. I need to go workout after this and I really don't feel like it. I wish I could take a pill like they did on the Jetsons and be fine all my life with no effort.
  7. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
  8. Humming The Jets song, Crush on You. Old skool!
  9. Go after your dreams and chase with a vengeance!
  10. Remember making up dance routines? I will never forget me, my sister and Shonda doing a dance routine to Salt and Pepa's Push It. Why did my mama let us dance to that? lol It was completely inappropriatee. We danced around in our slips like we were Vanity 6. lmao Crazy kids.
  11. I sure hope I can keep up writing this blog everyday. Sometimes I am at a lost for words but this is the most therapeutic thing I've done in my life.
  12. I need to get off this blog site and do some work.
  13. I miss my daddy. I need to call and check on him.