BeLifted

Jimi Hendrix

Good Morning Everyone!!! As we all know, this month is black history month so I want to take the time to talk about Jimi Hendrix. If you talk to any huge guitarist they will tell you that Jimi Hendrix inspired them. Jimi Hendrix was a left handed guitarist, who played his guitar behind his head, and with his teeth.

Often times, I wonder what it was like for Jimi Hendrix coming up during the time that he did? One concert where he played the song “Hey Joe” some gave him a bland applause. People who was able to see him in person were blessed. They was in the presence of greatness and did not realize it.

Jimi Hendrix was only 28 years old when he passed away, the man was way ahead of his time. I have not seen any guitarist who can do what he did!!! I give credit where it’s due and Hendrix was the man!

When is Enough, Enough?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “there comes a time when silence is a betrayal.” When is enough, enough? When is it best to be silent? When is it time to speak up? I started my blog to talk about the things that people think about but choose not to talk about for whatever reason.

Let me start by saying this; it doesn’t matter if you are a Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic or Whatever a person believes in!!! It’s a person’s right to believe what they choose!!! My point is that Everyone has been tested about when to speak and when to be silent.

God asked Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let His People go. God had given Pharaoh many chances before sending many plagues and even the death of his son. However, Pharaoh was still stubborn. God asked Moses to speak. Guess who was attempting to stop Moses from speaking? It was Moses. Moses was afraid of speaking up. There have been many stories in the Bible, where God asked people to speak up.

If God calls on a Christian to speak, they had better do it; unless that Christian wants to end up in the belly of a whale. So no, God does not expect a Christian to be quiet all the time and to turn the other cheek. God has asked people to act, and that included speaking up.

There have been times when I was going to tell people my story, but God told me not to say anything and that my time for sharing my story is coming. How do I know that God told me not to say anything? He gave me confirmation. One of my Facebook friends tagged me in a post the following day of me contemplating on sharing my story. The post said, “Life is meant to be Lived. Fear is not an option when you know you were sent to Fly. Understand your Power; know that you are Greatness.” This lady is on fire for God and did not know what was on my mind. God had her relay a message. God told her to reach out to me. God told her to speak. So you see God has proven His existence to me time and time again.

Earth is not Heaven, so everyone isn’t going to be good, but Earth isn’t hell either we still experience the beauty of flowers, butterflies, blue skies and cool breezes. I understand that there are some people here on Earth who has made our lives to be almost unbearable. But God will have our backs, and He does have us speak. Yes, we are living in a society regardless of who they choose to follow for guidance, who are treacherous. Understand these jealous people who are our enemies study us more than they did for a test in school. Why? Because they see things that we don’t positive things that may threaten them. So they want to attack our character or try to attempt to have others question things. Some of our enemies pretend to know so much about us and know nothing at all. This can and has happened to anyone.

If we encounter or are in the company of people who try to silence us, we have to let them go. I refuse to need deep in scalding hot water and claim that I am shivering to make others happy. No, I am not making people comfortable, so they don’t have to deal with my pain. People who genuinely care won’t expect us to suffer in silence. Life is too short not to speak up to avoid confrontation. Because guess what? At times confrontation is necessary. Escapism is a temptation because it’s an easy fix.

I have had some Christians come after me and judge especially about the kinds of music that I listen to. I have had non-Christians judge me too claiming to be all open-minded and their minds be more narrow than the side of a ruler. Encouraging people to speak but doubt everything they shared with them (behind their backs of course). People don’t feel safe enough to share their stories, especially with people who will claim it isn’t true, which makes them seems like nosy people. Nosy people pretend to care to gain information. So we all have to be careful about sharing our life journey.

Bottom line confrontation is always going to feel uncomfortable. Sometimes we will have people tell us to be quiet even when the writing is on the wall. If it doesn’t feel right, then we have to speak up. Sometimes being silent is Not the answer, especially in the face of adversary. Confrontation is necessary.

Can’t Nobody Tell It Better Than Me

Diversity of thought allows a person to accept and respect what another person believes as long as it isn’t hurting anyone. I am a Christian, and I am proud of that. When I had no one, I had God. I can give testimony after testimony about what God did to save my children and I. Again; it was not a human. I understand that some people have had situations that occurred in their lives, where they question God. Some people are so angry at God that it has them blind. There are about 7.3 billion people in the world, and 2.3 billion are Christians. So 2.3 billion people are lost? This isn’t slavery time no one is getting beat over the head and forced to believe in Christ. People of different races are Christians. So, all of these people are just blind, and they believe in Christ for no reason? I don’t think so.

I have had things that have occurred in my life, and recently I found something else out. And I am not angry at God about it. God gave us all free will. He doesn’t force us to believe in Him or follow Him. Kind like us wanting people to love us for who we are and not for what we can do. Think about it like this some people don’t believe in God, but they all aren’t going to behave the same. Some will think of others, but a lot won’t even more so. Why? They lack structure, and that’s why they do whatever they want without a care in the world. They lack having a conscience. We can’t blame God for everything and especially not for the people who choose Not to follow Him. Of course, they will do evil things their flesh controls them Not God.

In my opinion, a person can’t allow God if they are full of themselves. The consequence of not following God is an angry person who has an appetite for destruction, which is why I am careful of what I allow into my spirit. Evil is Not Good. Evil likes to hide in the dark. Bad things happen in the dark. We can’t walk in the dark, which is why we turn on a light. But once the light is on, there is no place for evil or darkness to hide. Evil is Not of light. The saying goes, “what’s done in the dark comes out in the light” because bad things can hide in darkness — something to think about.

I am not telling all of my life’s story because it’s Not time yet. I will say this much my “father” hated me, he abused my mother, my sister and I, both of my sons (one is autistic) are by the same man who I was married to, we don’t get along, and I am a single mother. This is just the tip of the iceberg about my life. Some of the things that have happened in my life were bad choices that I made and Not God’s fault. Some of the worst chapters in my life happened when I wasn’t walking right with God. Every life has a story, and so does mine. All I know is that there has to be a God with all I have been through and continue to go through. I have overcome and endured!!! That’s how I know that God is real. Believe what you will, after all, we have free will. I choose to believe what the harm is in believing and having hope? Besides, I will not stop having faith, it’s the one thing that keeps me going When I Am About To Run Out Of Steam!!!

Forgive My Grammar

They’re or their. You’re or your. Prescriptive grammar, misplaced modifier, faulty pronoun reference, and many others, it can sometimes make people question your intellect. However, we all have been guilty of making grammar errors. I write on my blog alone without help, unlike other bloggers. Sometimes I will have a thought and blog about it. A lot of times, I will reread my posts later to check for things that I may have missed.

I’m not above making mistakes in my writing. Heck, I have found errors in newspapers and textbooks, which is why I don’t get pressed about the grammar police.

Steve Vai said something really cool. He said, don’t worry about what other people think about what you do as long as you love it. He further went on to say that if he had listened to people the song “For the Love of God” would not have been. A friend of his told him that it terrible but it turned out to be one of his biggest hits. To all of the grammar police out there, please excuse my errors. You know what I mean!!!
Grammar-Police

Love International

Bravo has a new show that I am interested in called To Rome for Love. The show is about African American women who travel to another country to find love. I find this so refreshing because we get to see how different cultures interact in the dating world. The show will be exciting but I hope that it won’t contain too many stereotypes or too much drama. Praying that the show uses this opportunity to show African American women in a positive light. We can do without the unnecessary drama in order to grab ratings. It needs to be understood that many people don’t look at television shows as being fake some believe that there is a little truth in everything. I’m excited to see what happens with the show positive things; here’s hoping!!!

Steve Vai

You Guys!!! I love Steve Vai. My goal is to learn how to play his song For the Love of God. His songs need no words because his guitar does all the talking. I was listening to his music on repeat of course and my oldest loves it too. Steve Vai is absolutely incredible. Just had to make a quick post about what I am listening to. If you get the chance, please check out Steve Vai’s music. You will not be disappointed.

The Blame Game

I see and hear a lot of black men tell black women to choose better, and it’s comical. What if choosing better means being with a man who may not be the same race as me? Everyone who reads my blog knows that I talk about responsibility and accountability. I have held myself accountable for the things that have occurred in my life. I take a daily evaluation of who I am because I know that I am not above of offending anyone. However, I will not be shamed by men who most times aren’t married, have children all over the place, and down other black women who think differently from them. No, I don’t know every black man, just like how all black men don’t know all black women, but they still judge us anyway. The very people who feel that my advice isn’t good enough track record isn’t so squeaky clean either.

I’m getting so tired of a lot of black men telling black women to choose better when at least 72% of black children are born out of wedlock, that’s 8% away from being above average at failing to build a solid family structure. It’s harder to walk away when people are married, and it shows that a man is planning to stick around. A lot of these black men spread their seed everywhere and are nowhere to be found in their children’s lives. Be a father who is in their children’s lives beyond baby and toddler stages but middle school, puberty stage, awkward stage, high school, college, and beyond. Don’t let this be you; Casper the friendly ghost!!!
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Single parents like myself understand the consequences of our decisions; we see it every day. We don’t need people like you reminding us about our story when you don’t have a clue about the details of our story. Don’t judge just by what you see alone, even silent movies/films have subtitles. I refuse to have men who don’t pay my bills tell me about my life the only person’s opinion that I care about is the Lord Jesus Christ; He’s the one who brought my two children and me through every hardship.

Both black men and black women need to get it right; please stop trying to make it seem like it’s all our fault. Because guess what? It’s not; the numbers don’t lie. I’m so tired, and no, I am not bitter, I am smarter I have learned from my mistakes. Regardless of what some of you men think learning from mistakes means not choosing from the same group of men again. The probability of getting a good quality black man is a numbers thing, not a color thing, not a hurt thing, and not a bitter thing; it’s a reality. Check the statistics. If 72% of black children are born out of wedlock there is only 28% who are doing right so some of you black men who tell us to choose better are part of the problem too. It’s hard to choose better when there isn’t much to choose from. A lot more black men are marrying out, and black couples have a low marriage rate and high divorce rate. Let that sink in really deep before you judge and give mediocre advice. It’s time for an epiphany my brothers, I had mine a long time ago. MY EYES ARE WIDE OPEN!!!

Jack White Baby!!!

Maannn!!!The new year just got better. Jack White has just released a song called Connected by Love. Jack White is absolutely brilliant. I am huge fan of all of Jack White’s music. I love the White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and his solo projects. When I saw a post yesterday that was about his new song being released today, I got hyped. I have already added Connected by Love to my playlist on Spotify. The only thing for me to do now is see him play live!!! Let’s Go!!!