Tameeka

Our Blessings Blueprint

Just like building a house or building they require a blueprint so does our blessings. There are steps that we have to follow. A cake can’t be made with just a box of cake mix alone there are steps to follow in order to make it. Number one don’t talk about your blessings while your blessings are in process. Sometimes we can spoil our blessings by talking about them too soon. Or better yet we could give our blessings away by sharing our ideas. Each step works hand and hand to help our blessings to come to pass.

I pray that we all encounter our blessings that God has for us!

Victim or Victor?

First off I would like to share that I have four more courses left and I will receive my Bachelor’s degree. After I receive my Bachelor’s degree I will pursue a Master’s degree. I have to thank God for all that He has done for me!

Now that I have gotten that part out of the way, currently I am taking a course in Victimology. Victimology is the scientific study of physical, emotional, and financial harm people endure because of illegal activities. One of my discussion questions was about victim blaming. Victim blaming is when the victim is made responsible for a wrongdoing that occurred to them. Victim blaming isn’t always fair people who live in poverty are assumed to be lazy or unmotivated which isn’t always the case some things happen that’s beyond one’s control. This course got me to thinking a lot.

I grew up in a Christian home and I am very proud about this. Along the way in my life, I have made mistakes that had nothing to do with God. God gives us free will and I chose to live Not according to His Will so I paid the price. I made my bed so I have to lay in it until I get to where I am meant to be. I am not a person who constantly blame others and never myself. The victim role isn’t my thing I want to be victorious but it can’t happen if I am constantly blaming people and licking my wounds.

People may look at my life from the outside it may look one way but trust me it will turn out another way. People look at being rich in money and things as being successful that is not true being content is being rich. Rich people have more problems than anyone. Like Biggie said “More money more problems”. I would be happy just being able to take great care of my sons, be healthy, physically, mentally, and emotionally as well as number one have a relationship with God. Understand this it’s not about being rich in things I never will be, I am responsible for where I am and not God. I am rich because I have grown from my mistakes and I know better so I am doing better. God has given us so many examples that we can learn from like making mistakes in life is like losing weight change won’t happen overnight but if you stay consistent it will.

So what do I mean by all of this? Are we going to be a victim or victor? Have I made mistakes in the past? Yes, and I have grown from them. I probably will make mistakes in the future. We have to sometimes make wrong turns before making right ones. I choose to evaluate myself before I blame anyone else. I choose to be victorious!

Happy Birthday! Be Lifted!

Yippee! Be Lifted turned two years old!

When I started my blog I wanted to be true to myself as well as inspire others. In two years I have done so many things wrote poems, talked about marriage, music and most importantly God.

Earlier I had one of my facebook friends message me and tell me to not allow anyone to place me in a box. Which is why I started a blog in the first place on social media it’s hard to express yourself without any drama happening. I have total freedom here on my blog and I love it.

I am excited about the future of my blog because there is more to come. Looking forward to many more years here on Be Lifted.

What a Joke

Recently, I lost a Facebook friend of five years over a post that I reposted. In a time where people should be tolerant of other people’s thoughts, many are not. The post was about a testimony of a Facebook friend of mine who says that she was delivered from homosexuality. This lady’s story is amazing her life has completely changed. Anyway, the Facebook friend that I lost doesn’t believe that people can be delivered from homosexuality and that’s her right. After all, she is bisexual which is the reason why she was so hot under the collar about the post.

The person who claims that people should be free to love who they choose apparently doesn’t feel it applies to people’s beliefs. Ahhhh, the hypocrisy!!! I am not bashing this formal facebook friend because there are a lot of people like this person.

This is what I have come to believe about this formal Facebook friend if she accepted that people can be delivered from homosexuality it would mean that she would be admitting that what she is doing is wrong. She would be admitting that God is real and she would have to answer to someone other than herself. Which is why people don’t want to have a belief because they act like a bunch of out of control teenagers. I just turned 18 and ain’t nobody telling me what to do. Not even God! No one wants to believe that they are wrong. It just amazes me that the people who claim that people should be free from the bondage of religion can be the most hypocritical. We really have to watch out for people who are lovers of themselves because they will cross you quickly without a second thought.

I respect what others believe but I do wish that they would respect other’s beliefs. I am open-minded about other people’s thoughts. No one is above learning from someone else as long as they are opened to what others have to say. There are stories in the Bible about non-believers too Not just believers only. Heck, God used a donkey to reach people. Most people who don’t believe in anything are mean and very wicked people. These people are so angry with God and that’s okay…God loves you anyway. Yes, as much as a nonbeliever hates God, He still loves them.

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!

This Time of Year

I always get sad
Around this time of year
It’s when my mother
Left from here
Let me make myself clear
When it comes to
The death of a love one
You never heal
It’s impossible to get over
Losing someone who
You held so near, so dear
To your heart
There are always
Things that remind you
That they are gone
A picture, a memory, a song
Holidays, birthdays
Every time I reached
An important moment in my life
I would whisper
This is for you mom
I often wonder
How things would be like
If she was here
What advice would
She have given me
To help to endure hardships
She was so strong
She was so courageous
She was a leader
She was a blessing
She was my hero
Which is why all
I ever wanted to do
Was to make her happy
And to see her smile
It’s still impossible
For me to talk about her
Without holding back my tears
Bottled up feelings
Resides inside even though
I live my life
As best as I can
Even after twenty-one years this Saturday
It’s still feels as if
She passed yesterday
This is why I say
If you have lost
A special someone
Don’t allow anyone
To make you feel
As if the grief process has a limit
To heck with that
Never feel bad about
Mourning the one you love
Or for missing them
The pain is for life
Death of a love one
Will always hurt

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!!!

Don’t Be Afraid

Over the last couple of days, some black people have been in a rage about what Ciara said about leveling up!!! I have seen women getting into arguments on social media. Ciara has been under attack. Quickly some people reminded her of her past relationship. Newsflash!!! Ciara is not her past. This is the reason why people don’t like to share their testimonies, out of fear that people will attempt to drag them back to where they came from. There is truth in her words.

I keep seeing some black people saying “Okay, We get it” but they haven’t done anything to change a lot of situations. It’s hard to do anything when you are not receptive to it, and you are bashing the messenger. As the old saying goes, don’t shoot the messenger. If Ciara message offends a person, they need to find out why it does. She is not a problem.

Sometimes people can’t win if you advise with no experience; it’s: “What do you know about my situation?” How can you relate? If people know about your past instead of them being inspired, they pick you apart and attempt to shame you into silence. I don’t follow celebrities a lot; I am just speaking on the backlash that she received. She is a celebrity, so she has zero privacy; the public knows her past. However, some women aren’t famous, who have experienced what she has too. I look at Ciara’s life as an inspiration. She overcame and endured, most importantly she’s happy!!! Happiness is the ultimate goal in relationships and marriages.

We can’t allow our past to keep us bondage. We are not our past. Everyone has a history. Everyone has parts of their lives that they don’t want to read aloud. Some people will receive what is said and some won’t. Some people agreed with Ciara, so what she said was not in vain. Even looking at stories from the Bible, Noah tried to warn people they laughed and called him crazy. Jonah did not want to warn the people of Nineveh. Jonah ran probably out of fear of how the people would receive the message. If a message is placed on your heart don’t be afraid, deliver it someone may need to hear it. It could be the message that they need to give them hope.

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!!!