Happy 4th!

232 years ago today the Declaration of Independence was adopted -- declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. We have come a long way and while we still have a long way to go -- it still feels good to be an American!

Happy Independence Day!

Poor Little Isabella

I've been really busy with work without much time to write -- or read. I did, however, read an interesting article today and wanted to share it.

Click here to read the first article.


And here's the Washington Post's take on it.
Click here to read.

We know that things will get a lot worse before they get better.

Forgiveness

I had a "falling out" with the woman who redesigned the website for my business. She is the same person who designed the website for my church and she was referred to me by my Pastor.

In addition to redesigning the website, she became the new host for our site. We had multiple problems with the service and those problems came to a head last week with a flurry of emails. It ended with her shutting my site and email down and me scrambling to find someone to quickly redesign my site and set up new email accounts.

I won’t provide all the details but I was so upset with the woman that I put a big red X over her in my mind. I never wanted to see or speak to her again and I had every intention of filing a lawsuit against her.

We had a women’s conference at my church on Saturday and unbeknownst to me, she was invited. When she arrived, we both looked surprised, offered nervous smiles and proceeded to avoid further eye or physical contact. I determined in my mind that I would just pretend that she did not exist.

The conference program started with praise and worship. I stood in the back of the room enjoying the opportunity to praise God. Hands lifted, I joined in the singing when the overwhelming sense of conviction began to set in. It was as if God was saying, “Stop it right now. I’m not even trying to hear you until you reconcile with your sister.” I tried to ignore God for a minute but God can be very persistent. He simply would not allow it and I knew that all the singing in the world would not give me any peace.

I went over to her, whispered in her ear and asked her if she would come outside with me. She gave me the "look of death" and said, “No”. I asked her again and asked that she trust me. She relented.

We went outside and I just gave her a hug and she started to cry. We started to cry. I apologized and it was if a giant weight lifted. God was pleased. Honestly, I don’t remember if she apologized to me too. It didn’t even matter at that point. I just knew that I needed to apologize. That’s all it took – all was well.

God has been dealing with me on the issue of forgiveness since my divorce in 2002. My ex-husband has never apologized to me for anything he did during our marriage. He has never acknowledged any wrongdoing. As much as I have tried to forgive this man – I know in my heart that I haven’t. I can’t seem to forgive him because he has never apologized. Instead all I want is to be able to witness it when God “gets him” for all he did to me and my children.

I know that Scripture tells us to forgive – period. We are not to forgive only if someone asks for forgiveness. We are simply to forgive, just as God forgives us. (Thank you Lord.)

What happened on Saturday shows me that it is in me to forgive. I just need to figure out how to use Saturday’s experience as a precursor to offering unconditional forgiveness to anyone and everyone – even my ex.

Pray for me. . .

AFL-CIO

The following headline caught my eye on CNN’s website today, “AFL-CIO supports Obama”.

What a surprise!

The BET Awards

I watched the BET Awards with my daughter last night. It contained the predictable mix.

1. Sagging pants rap performances – I just wanted to reach into the television and pull those pants up. That urge was especially strong when Nelly performed. I actually like him (in general) but his pants just drove me crazy.
2. Comedy -- D.L. Hughley was the host and I have to say – he was not very funny but hosting an awards show has to be a difficult job.
3. Dancers – Chris Brown and Ciara were really good but there was a really awkward ending to their dance routine. I couldn’t figure it out and I sensed that they couldn’t either because they just walked off the stage without punctuation.
4. Arrogance – Kanye West. Need I say more?
5. Awards to music legends -- This year those awards went to Quincy Jones and Al Green – neither of whom seemed prepared with a speech. It was kind of sad listening to them ramble.
6. Gratuitous Political Pitches – "Vote for Obama" was repeated ad nauseam.

In spite of it all, for the most part the show was entertaining.

Of course a Black awards show would be incomplete without a Gospel performance. Marvin Sapp was the performer of the hour (actually the show was 3 hours). He sang his song “Never Would Have Made It”.

While I was watching the show, I was also working on my laptop. So, while Marvin Sapp was singing I had my head down and away from the television. All of a sudden I heard my daughter say, “Are you serious? For real? You’ve got to be kidding me. What? Subliminal messages now?”

I looked up and while Marvin Sapp was singing, a large photo of Barack and Michelle Obama was projected behind him. The words to his song are about only having “made it” because of Christ (I always assumed he was speaking of Christ anyway). So was the message that we never could have made it without Barack Obama? Or was the message that Barack Obama never could have made it without Christ? Or was the message that “we” have a chance to “make it” because of Barack Obama? Or was it simply vote for Obama?

What could have been a meaningful time of praise and worship to Christ was turned into a political message. I was confused and offended.

So now you may wonder how or why I found the show entertaining with everything else I’ve said about it. Hmmm, good question.

Call to Renewal

Barack Obama’s comparing of James Dobson with Al Sharpton is all over the news today. It was two years ago but I was still curious enough to read the entire text of his “Call to Renewal” speech. It was about 13 pages long but I thought it was important to read it all so I would not be guilty of clinging to a simple sound- bite.

Obama said, “And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson’s or Al Sharpton's? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let's read our bibles. Folks haven't been reading their bibles.”

I’m not quite sure how James Dobson got into the mix where teaching Christianity is concerned, but I could let that silly comparison go. What was even more ridiculous was Obama's quoting of laws from the Old Testament.

So my question is, who exactly is your Jesus Barack Obama? And what exactly did he die for?

Romans 7:6 says, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter”.

Galatians 2:16 says, “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

Barack Obama, it appears that it is you who hasn't been reading the Bible.

Games of the XXIX Olympiad

The Lakers lost the championship and Tiger is out for the rest of the year so my sports focus has turned to the Olympics. August 8th is the date and Beijing is the place. The slogan for the 2008 Olympics is "One World, One Dream". I suppose we do all have that same dream of winning.

I remember when the Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles in 1984. It was truly a magical and exciting time for Angelinos. The city was all “dressed up”, “decked out” and eagerly anticipating the world’s arrival. I remember feeling an overwhelming since of pride. It was just a great time for the city and I was proud to say that L.A. was my home. It was then that my interest in the Olympics began. Now I watch the games and simply enjoy feeling proud to be an American.

Although the NBA season is over, we will get to watch Kobe and other NBA players representing on the Olympic team. And it will be fun watching track & field, gymnastics, swimming and all the other games. The U.S. team is expected to have over 600 competitors – our largest group ever. I can’t wait.

45 days and counting. . .