Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Let Us Pray

Hi Friends,


There is so much taking place in our world these days. Although the present events from the news headlines may be alarming and/or frightening to some,  nothing happening today is new to our world.  War is not new; poverty is not new; nuclear concerns is not new; race relations is not new, Women's rights issues not new; humanitarian crisis not new; War on drugs not new; catastrophic weather, also not new.


I enjoy listening to Public Radio and Public TV news/documentaries because you get to hear and see things on a personal everyday life level that are not covered by mainstream media.  One such coverage that I watched recently is about women and little girls in Syria during this war that witness their fathers, brothers, uncles being murdered and then they are taken away as sex slaves.  The one that is so disturbing is an 11 year old girl that was rescued however she is SOOOO traumatized that she refuses to speak or even eat..... Lord Have Mercy.


My heart is just so overwhelmed right now, because We are I am so spoiled with the comforts of life. If we just take the time to listen and watch what people are existing through, we have no problems really.....


Can we take the focus from ourselves today and pray for our world and our fellow human beings that are really suffering today?  I just feel that there are a few people crying out to the true and living God for help, desperate for relief, in some way or the other. Can we pray for those who have sacrificed the comforts of life to seek out and help our fellow humans suffering in one way or the other?  Can we also make the sacrifice at this time to support financially an organization or two that is helping meet the desperate needs of our fellow humans around the world?

Let us Pray....


Our loving Father, we know that you see and hear the desperate cry of your people. We know you care, and we know you love.  We know that because you have given us the freedom of choice and some will chose evil rather than good; and we know and believe that you will fulfill your promise to destroy all wicked, evil, and sin once and for all, and that we will inherit a new life with no more suffering, sin, evil and the desire for disobedience. Thank you for dying for us so that when you come back, those of us who believe and accept will have the rights to your promise and enter in the eternal rest and place that you have prepared for us. 

Have mercy on our world Lord, we pray that more will believe in you and learn to know and trust you, The true and Living God, even during these uncertain, difficult and trying times.  We pray that our lives will be of influence  for your Kingdom wherever we find ourselves.  We pray that we will find ways to help those in need around us whenever we see a need and even seek out ways in which to help. We pray that you will equip us and prepare us to be your helpers in the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray....Amen.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Continued....

I could not make up my mind with what to title the continuation of this update.  So I kept it simple as "Continued". Perhaps you can help me after reading to come up with a suitable title. 


So during the course of our initial conversations and subsequent ones after returning home there were some very direct questions that I asked Pastor. 


I'll share just a few selected ones.  I asked Pastor, who is African by the way, on his views on Domestic Violence.  He gave me a very way out response along the lines of he would never use a gun to kill/harm a woman.  I told him that was a bit extreme and I was more asking along the lines of beating a woman etc.  He did not answer my question directly, but only stated that women do the same thing with their mouth.  ðŸš© Red Flag #1

I asked Pastor, what attributes is most important to him in a wife.  His response was Respect and Loyalty.  He decided to explain that by loyalty, he needs someone that no matter what happens between them, and the example he chose to use was, even if the husband beats his wife, this should not be reported to any family member. 🚩 Red Flag #2 
He then went on to "explain" that in his culture, you don't discuss disputes with your husband to your own family because they will never forgive, instead you should discuss your unresolvable disputes/issues with your spouses family because they would have more influence.
I quickly told him that I'm Jamaican, I'm not African and my family and I would kill harm him.


After a while I decided to stop answering his calls because after a while he wasn't talking about anything just childish chit chat and he was always so busy on his way somewhere or just distracted.  I finally decided to respond to a message he sent asking why I was not answering or returning his calls etc.  I responded and told him that this is not leading anywhere and I don't want to waste my time.


 He told me when we met to talk initially while I was in Canada that there was something he wanted to tell me but he was too emotional to talk about it at the time.  I already knew that it was. He was married previously because our "arranges" told me that he confided this information to them.  I patiently waited for him to bring it up but it never happened. So, when he called to talk through why I wasn't responding to him, one of the things I reminded him that there was something that he mentioned he needed to talk to me about.  Then the excuses came, oh I would need to talk to you in person.....I reminded him he had the opportunity to talk to me while I was there.  Oh, I just met you at the time.....I told him that we have been talking for a while now.....Oh, I cant talk about these things over the phone......one excuse after the other.   ðŸš© Red Flag #3

During the course of this conversation I asked him what are we doing, what is the purpose, where are we heading? I'm not interested in entertaining anything that has do direction/purpose.  (I could sense that this situation was fastly becoming a "situationship").   He reminded me that I didn't want to move to Canada and that he is not going to leave his job and then started asking me questions about marriage arrangements as if he made a proposal.   After that conversation, I knew I was done with him and I blocked his number. I refuse to emotionally entertain nothingness. 


I am disappointed but not disappointed if you know what I mean.  But I keep faith that my journey to marriage is still in the making and to be continued.


This is a short condensed synopsis of this encounter.  What are your thoughts? Do you think I made the right decision?  What would you title this post?