Pieces

Hey old friend. I haven’t been here in quite a while. I wrote a book and dipped on my blog! My bad. I’m back because there was something pressing on my heart and I didn’t want to make a video. I wanted to put my words on a page. I’ve been reading a devotional for spouses and using the daily prayer to pray for my husband and for our marriage. As I type this I am not married but it’s important to pray for your spouse BEFORE they arrive. So yeah, I lay on my face consistently for the spouse and daughter I do not have yet just as I do for the child, the friends, and the family I do have already. With the same strength, power and fervor.

Anywho, what brought me here today was a revelation I received as I was led to listen to one of my favorite worship songs. One of my little sisters tagged me in a “favorite worship song” challenge on Instagram. IG didn’t have the version of the song I prefer so I posted the one they had and then I went to Youtube to listen the one I love. It’s called “Pieces” and I’m obsessed the rendition by Darrel Walls ft. Dayanna Redic. This is the second song of his that the Lord has pulled lyrics out and said ” these are characteristics your husband needs to have.” The other song is “I will exalt you” and the chorus goes: “my hiding place, my safe refuge, my treasure, my friend and King, anointed one, & holy”.

Now, let’s look at “Pieces”. Just listen to the song because I’ll end up typing the entire thing to make a point. But the most important part that was illuminated tonight was “You don’t give your heart in pieces”. Now of course both of these songs are talking about Jesus, and my spouse will in no way be able to be as perfect as our Lord and Savior. BUT, what God is trying to tell me is that my husband needs to be a reflection of Him. He will be my safe place. He will never give himself to me in pieces. His heart will be for me and no one else. There will be no confusion within himself. And like the old adage says, “if you’re trying to choose between me and someone else, don’t choose me”.

There’s a quote thats talks about Black women being worthy of love that doesn’t hurt first. And if we stick to the standard our Daddy has set then we will have the love of a lifetime with someone who is 100% sure about us. Someone who will love us like Christ loves the church. Someone who won’t hurt us and then come dragging back when they’re ready to love us right. Someone who will make a decision & do it right the first time.

Okay, it’s 3am and there’s probably hella typos. I need to take some valerian root so I can go to sleep. Love ya’ll, I’ll be back here more often.

Strippers Know Jesus Too

So I came across a picture on Instagram of strippers praying. I see a lot of people making fun of this pic (and I get it), but when I saw it I was like “well at least they know where their help comes from”. Now I don’t know what they’re praying for, but the mere fact that they are praying shows their reverence for God which is more than I can say for a lot of folk who call themselves Christians today. I know that sounds crazy, but some people get so caught up and so self righteous, that they forget they aren’t perfect. God can do anything and He can change anyone. Prayer changes things and it changes our hearts. It removes anything that does not look like Christ and fills the holes and gaps with His Holy Spirit – all we have to do is ask. Who knows, maybe they’ll keep praying and God will change their prayers from “Lord, let them toss nothing but 50’s and hundreds, and please allow my cheeks to clap with precision, to Lord, please protect me and get me out of this place”.

But for real! Sometimes I feel like the closer we get to God, the more we treat Him like He’s our homey. Yes, He wants to be our friend and the lover of our soul, but He is also Holy and we need to show Him honor! These girls are! Even though it doesn’t look like what we think it should look like, He is there with them and He is keeping them protected! The first time I saw the pic I actually prayed for the women in it. I prayed that His Spirit would really touch them and that they would get a revelation of their worth. They are still daughters of the King and He still loves them. Just like He loves us liars and fornicators. #Bloop

A lot of times we forget how far away from the cross we are, but that it’s because of His blood that we are redeemed. We are not saved because we’re good people or because we do good things. We are saved because He loves us. We didn’t deserve it, but He cared for us so much that He died for our sins. Does He expect us to never mess up, nope. But as Christians we should always strive to look like Him. Will we fail? Yes, but does His blood cover? Oh yes!

So yeah, who knows, maybe some of those young ladies will be evangelists one day. Look at some of your favorite leaders, most of them were a hot mess at one point. I use to pose half naked in men’s magazines and now I teach kids church and I am spreading the gospel as far as I can. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with posing for XXL Eye Candy or King, but now the only man who will see my half naked body will be my husband…or if you google, but that’s neither here nor there. (what does that even mean) anyway…

I’ve always had a gift of capturing people’s attention and them listening to what I have to say, but just like I’ve mentioned before, people will listen to Ivonnah from TV and magazines quicker than Ivonnah from The Elm (New Haven is called The Elm City). I use the platform that was built to spread God’s word. Being a Christian isn’t about being perfect, it’s about living our lives for Christ and letting Him change us right? People change, behavior changes, and when someone is submitting themselves to the Lord to be better then why do we kick them when they’re down? We tell them to grow while we have our foot on their neck because we continue to remind them of where they use to be. We don’t even give them a chance to show that their behavior has changed before we go accusing them based on previous actions. We’re supposed to be a support, iron sharpens iron right? Well how about we sharpen each another and not stab one another in the chest. Amen

Get yo life

You guys! I have not written a blog in exactly ONE YEAR (I have a draft from May that I never finished). Geez, I really need to get my life together. I keep making excuses “my desktop is acting up” “the laptop is acting up” “when I get my new MacBook I’ll write everyday” – sike. The truth of the matter is whatever is important to you, you’ll do what it takes to get it done. And what you do before is what you’ll do after “I’m not gone cheat once I get married” yes you will. You have to start the process to do better before you get the blessing.

Anyway, I have a very nifty iPhone that has all the capabilities I need to create (I actually got the 6 today & it’s too big for my lil ole child-like hands). Anywho, my reality is that I’ve just been in my own way; I finished school (kinda) and I’ve just been working a regular job #whomp – it’s the pits. When I graduated I was like uhhh I gots bills! So I started working at a car dealership lol I have no idea how – I know NOTHING about cars…absolutely…nothing. Although it doesn’t have anything to do with why I moved to LA, it’s been cool because I found my purpose in being there & once that happened, I no longer had the urge to stab myself in the eye. But as of late, I’ve been feeling like God’s foot is on my back & He’s pushing me out of that place. There was a purpose for me to be there & now my assignment is done. Hallelujah. But an incident that happened today reminded me of how important it is to listen to God & follow His voice.

A customer’s kids broke my phone about three weeks ago right, I had an upgrade available so I wasn’t trippin’, but I could not decide on what phone I wanted. I’ve been walking around with a busted up phone because I am so dang indecisive (there will be a whole other blog about that). I went all the way to Connecticut for Christmas with my phone JACKED. Before I left, I went to Best Buy mobile in Northridge mall (they have the best staff by the way), and I drove the poor man crazy because I couldn’t make up my mind. So today my coworker was like ummm go handle that before you get glass in your ear & before you’re exposed to radiation. She use to work for a phone company & knows things that we uhhh…don’t. So I went.

My shondo (your spirit or your gut feeling) was telling me to go back to the store that I had originally gone to, but did I? No. First, I went to the Best Buy down the street from my job because it was closer. Distraction. I asked about the $1 per month lease special that had been explained to me before. They knew nothing about that, but I still had my name put on the list to see a rep. A guy I knew from church put it on there, so when I was getting an urge to leave I felt guilty because I didn’t want to knowing that he worked there. But I left. It was pizacked. Then as I was driving I called Sprint because I had a few questions about my bill (they be trying to get you). Anyway, after that was resolved, I asked about the lease special that had been explained to me prior at Best Buy mobile. Eric wasn’t sure about the $1 per month lease either, but he told me about the $5 lease special. So as I’m sitting in my car in the mall parking structure I’m thinking “hmmm maybe I should just go across the street to the Sprint store”. Distraction. But I got out of the car & went into the mall.

When I walked in, I didn’t look at the directory, I made a wrong turn & started in the opposite direction of BB Mobile. (That’ll preach). When I realized I was going the wrong way I turned back & began to head towards the store. As I walked back, I saw a Sprint kiosk & a sign that said “cut your bill in half” so that immediately caught my eye. Distraction. The sign was for Verizon & AT&T customers so that was of no use to me. But then I thought “hmmm I can ask them about the lease special”. Distraction. Yessie didn’t know about $1 situation either & tried to sell me on the $5 one and showed me the different color options. Sidebar: Apple, can you make a gold one with the black face please!? Gee whiz. She was so sweet & helpful, but something in my shondo said GO TO BEST BUY MOBILE. I excused myself & I told her that I wanted to go ask about the $1 lease & if it wasn’t still happening that I would come back to her. She understood.

I moseyed on down to the store & immediately the gentleman who helped me before said “welcome back” lol I guess I made an impression…or maybe it’s the braids. Anywho, he came over & I asked him if the lease program was still going on & he said yes! So long story short, I got my iPhone 6 for $1 per month. After going from store to store, calling Sprint, almost leaving the parking structure & going to the store… After aaaallll of that I got what I wanted. But if I had just stayed on the path I would have gotten it much sooner & would have been less confused.

We do that to God all the time. We pray “Lord, just lead me in the right direction, I will follow your word & listen to your voice”. Sike. We pray, we listen, we hear His instruction, and we pick the parts that sound good, seem easy, or won’t make us look crazy. We know that God will never steer us in the wrong direction, but yet & still, we question what we know He has already promised us! We know what’s at the end, but we get off course along the way. Whether it be a job, your kids, a boo, whatever. We see shiny things on the sidelines & it gets us distracted from the end goal. We get so caught up on the things in between that we take our eye off the finish line. When runners are racing, they do not look at the audience or the runners beside them & they DEFINITELY don’t look at the runners behind them. Their eye is on the prize. Their eye is on the goal. Their eye is on the finish line. It keeps them focused. It keeps them in line & it keeps them on their path.

Our eyes need to stay fixed on Jesus. His word needs to stay buried in our hearts. If our eyes continually stay on Him, then when distractions come our way, we can curve them like no other. I knew where the blessing was! But I kept asking around! I almost missed the Best Buy blessing! If I had done the $5 instead of the $1 I would be paying $120 as opposed to the $48 I’ll be paying. Another sidebar: People, the $ goes BEFORE the number, $120 = one hundred & twenty dollars. When did 120$ become a thing & who started that!? I digress…

Because I listened to my shondo, I’m saving money, and I have a brand new phone. Sometimes we’re so afraid to do what God said because we’re afraid of how our peers will react. But when the store was packed I left! I did what was better for me. Yessie was so nice & I wanted to give her the sale so bad, but that wouldn’t be beneficial to my pockets. I put people first all the time & sometimes you just have to think of yourself. AND, bonus! I met a couple who is starting a company for natural healing. They cured her MS naturally through diet & exercise. God didn’t give us these plants for show. I’ve been trying to stick to a plant-based food diet for my blood pressure (that’s what she’s doing also) & her husband was telling me about how essential oils helped her too. What you put into your body is so important; you’re either feeding disease or preventing it based on your food choices. Plants give your body life. Dead meat flesh, well… You get my point. Now I’m not saying I’m a vegetarian, not into all those labels, because if I feel like having an In & Out burger… I’m gonna. See how I get off track. Anyway. Back to the subject, I listened to my gut (aka The Holy Spirit) & that always leads us in the right direction. And don’t say if I was there earlier I wouldn’t have met them. It took poor Zach 85 hours to download my 3000 pictures 😂. I woulda still been there when they got there.

The Bible is our directory. It guides us on every step we need to take. And when we make a wrong turn its okay, just turn around & head back to the path. Get back on course.

Granny Panties Don’t Work

A while ago in one of my blogs I mentioned soul ties & I said I’d get back at a later date, well, here’s the later date. Back in the old biblical days folks didn’t have the ceremonies we have today. To be considered married, the two became one when they had sex & their souls were tied together under God, & now they are husband & wife…end of blog lol I kid I kid, but do you see where I’m going with this? Their SOULS were TIED & the two became ONE. Do you understand that we are nothing but souls that were given flesh & bones to walk this earth to glorify God’s kingdom? That’s all we are!! But that’s a big deal! So our souls being connected & intertwined with people before it’s time, before they are our husband or wife only brings about heartache, pain & unnecessary stuff you’ll have to deal with when you do become married. It not only binds you to that person, but to all of the people that they have been with. I have my own crazy and I don’t need your crazy ex girlfriend hopping into my spirit too. No thanks.

People always say that waiting until marriage is old fashioned, that the Ten Commandments do not apply anymore, but read what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians “For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.” It says to control your body!! No excuses. You cannot say that you know God & do the opposite of what He says to do. It is not old fashioned – Thessalonians…that’s New Testament, post Jesus aka how we should be living.

Now a few years ago God tackled me to the ground & put me in a headlock, just kidding – God told me that I needed to stop having sex until I was married. This was not news to my ears, and I will not lie to you all & act like I just said “okie dokie Lord”, I didn’t. I think men are the most beautiful creation, especially a big ole Black one with a beard. Do I miss sex, YES, but do I want my marriage & the plans that the Lord has set for my life to be blessed & given to me HECK YES. It’s so much more important to be on God’s plan than to be on your own. It was a tough pill to swallow, but the Lord was very specific, & I am very thankful for it now. It has saved me from being bound to men that I would have had no business being bound to. Simply, it’s a relief! I know Aunt Flo is coming to town & on every physical I know my HIV test will be negative. *ye shrug*

Sooo, dating, I really hate when people say “we’re not supposed to date because there is no dating in the bible” yeah & your daddy isn’t trading you for a flock of cattle either, wait, that would be a herd huh? Anywho, marriages aren’t arranged like they were back then – we need to date, get to know people, see how they are, check their integrity, things like that. But dating in the church does not look like dating in the world – well it’s not supposed to.

I’m saying all this to say pull your panties back up ladies and gentlemen be the leader & make her purity (and yours) a priority whether you’re a virgin or rededicated your body to Christ. The intimacy that we long for should be the intimacy we are having with the Lord, get to know Him while we’re getting to know the person we’re dating. He will show you things you need to know about that person, He will warn you or give you the go ahead if you are sensitive to His Spirit – but that only comes from spending time.

Lastly, we can’t put ourselves in compromising positions & think that we’re so strong that we can resist the temptation…we cannot. Well we can, but only for so long. Paul also says in 1 Corinthians (Paul stayed warning the church about sex) “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” It is the only one that CLEARY AFFECTS, the affects are evident & like one of my girlfriends pointed out, it’s the only sin that becomes not a sin. It’s the trickiest one so you know it has to be important. The Holy Spirit is in you. That means we’re dragging the Holy Spirit into our mess!! Runnnnnn!!!! Run! Run! Run! I’ve been talking to a guy & I’ve had to run …cause he’s fine, & young & athletic &…yeah you get it. It’s just not safe lol. We can try little tricks like wearing granny panties or not waxing, it doesn’t work, trust me. So ladies put your pretty panties back on & keep your appointments just do not go to his house at all times of night & by no means spend the night! Or just don’t go to his house at all!

I digress, I am not here to repremand or talk down, I’m talking to myself too, hello…young fineian. But there’s a reason why we are supposed to be hidden in Christ. He needs to get through Christ & pass His inspection in order to get to us. Trust Me, God will not let a janky dude through if we are truly hidden in Him, only we can. Now can we be sexy & appealing, of course men are visual creatures, but we need to know how to catch without throwing too much. I heard on TV last night “if things were easy to find, then they wouldn’t be worth finding”.

The Lord Is My Strength…No Forreals…

Hey ya’ll!! I know, a few of you have been at my neck because I haven’t written a blog since October I believe. Ay yi yi! All bad. But I had an experience yesterday that was so awesomely out of this world that I had to share.

I sent the longest tweet telling this story earlier, but I wanted folks on Facebook or who missed the tweet to be able to know what happened…

Yesterday I wasn’t feeling so well, yup, my blood pressure again. I go to the doc and as the receptionist is checking me out, there were a few of her co-workers behind her who were talking about Jesus, and about the word. So ole girl was typing and looking out the side of her eye to get a feel for what I was thinking, mind you, my blood pressure came down so fast that I was dizzy and no one could properly get a read on ANYTHING that I was thinking. She goes “you guys are loud” and looks at me again, they keep going, she says “shhhh you guys are loud!” again. LOL! I’m like, it’s cool I love Jesus, they can talk about Him all they want. Oh, she’s Catholic by the way, so she’s a believer but…

So another girl, pretty young, probably early 20’s says “i tell him that he should be a missionary all the time” about another fellow in the office. Trying to stand up to walk out I get dizzy again, as I hold on the the chair I told them that I went on a missions trip to Mexico last summer. She’s intrigued by this and starts asking me a gang of questions about homosexuality, levels of sin, sex before marriage… “but if you love someone it’s ok right?” No my sista, not until he’s your husband.

The more I tell her about what the word says about being gay, and sex before marriage, and how no sin is bigger than any other (people try to put being gay at a 10 and fornication at a 7, when really there’s no difference. You want to throw shade, but you having sex with your boyfriend/girlfriend last night isn’t any different than him having sex with his boyfriend last night or her…yeah you get my drift).

Back to what I was saying – the more I told her what the word says and how God is love and He wants us to love our brothers and sisters and not ostracize them, and how dangerous soul ties are when they’re not made with your husband or wife the more I felt better! The more upright I stood! The dizziness just COMPLETELY went away!! The more I proclaimed the word of Jesus more strength I had! It was amazing! Absolutely amazing! He gave me the strength I needed in that moment. She was taking it all in, I mean really taking it in, gasping at the points I was making, eyes wide open. She reminded me of my little sisters in Sister2Sister when we tell them something and it clicks in their heads.

Ahhhh! I just love God! He’s so tight! He uses every situation to help others, I felt awful yesterday, but if that means I helped one more girl cherish her virtue, and another one who believes but is afraid to talk about it because someone might get offended become unafraid, then I’m happy I was ill and that the Lord was able to use me in that moment. I just wanna run around the block when I think about it! But unfortunately I can’t because I still don’t feel so hot. As a matter of fact when I went to go drop my prescriptions off I felt dizzy again and had to sit down. That’s how I KNOW it was God at the doc.

People will get offended, I saw it first hand when a kid sang a praise & worship song in Spanish class. Mind you, he went way over his time limit and it was in English. BUT this one kid was literally shaking he was so mad!! Then says “he was totally praising dude” Dude? did you just call my Jesus dude? The one who died for you too, even when He knew you were going to make that comment right there? I wanted to punch him in his face, but that’s not WJWD. What if Jesus was afraid of sticking up for you? AH! Think about it! Think of all you’ve done and He tells His friends “Yes, I’ve chosen her to lead the dance ministry” I’ve chosen him to be a children’s church teacher” “Her, yeah her right there, I want her to be a missionary, the recovering crack addict yes, that’s who I want” “That one right there who use to sell drugs and run the street, yep I want him to be a pastor”. Do you KNOW how many side eye’s I’m sure He gets, BUT STILL He chooses us and stands by us no matter what!! So how can we deny Him and keep Him hush hush in public!!

Sigh, I digress, if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour I beg of you to PLEASE get to know Him! He’s the only way! The Way, the Truth and the Light!

The Lord is my strength and my strong helper, he has become my salvation: he is my God and I will give him praise; my father’s God and I will give him glory. ~Exodus 15:2~

Jesus, Church and The NBA

me and ivonnah had a bet during the NBA Finals game. she was rootin’ for the celtics and i was rootin’ for the lakers. whoever won the bet would be able to write a guest blog post on the “loser’s” blog. we ALL know what happened last week.
so here i am.

hello. i am patricia. and i am a laker fan. i love food. coffee. people. prayer. i’m a single mother. i love Jesus. and i am determined to change the world. that about sums me up. if you wanna know more you can read about my wonderful life at my blog www.ricianne.com or follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/pa3cia

anywhoo, i decided that it would be apropos to write something about basketball since this was what the bet was all about. so here is my take on “life lessons from the NBA: what the church can learn from the lakers/celtics finals.”

1. HISTORY CAN BE CHANGED. [isaiah 66:8]
these 2 teams have met 12 times in the NBA finals and the celtics have won 9 times against the lakers. history and stats showed favor towards the Celtics winning this series. after the embarrassing loss in 08… the lakers were called “weak and soft”. it took this team being humiliated for them to work hard & grow in their “weakness”, as well as grow in their strength. and with determination, they were able to change stats and history.

the church has been called “useless” in this day and age. in fact, christians are mostly humiliated in media coverages, calling our stand for purity and life “weak and soft.” our teachings have been irrelevant and our lifestyles are a joke because, instead of being an example, we have become hypocritical, hypercritical, and judgmental. we need to study how and where and what we’ve been doing wrong and right as a body of Christ and see to it that we implement the changes that are needed to be made in order for us to win our family/friends/school/workplace/city/nation back for God.

2. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A ONE MAN SHOW. [proverbs 11:2]

game 2 – ray allen shot eight 3 pointers in one night and set a new NBA record… but during game 4 he couldn’t even make a shot. game 5 – kobe shot 19 points in one quarter and stole the show. and yet even the MVP could not win the game all by himself. don’t rely on your “own” talent and strength to win. you can’t be a one man show. which goes hand in hand with my next point….

3. BUILD A GREAT TEAM AROUND YOU. [ecclesiastes 4:12, mark 6:7; acts 2:1]
because you weren’t made to shine alone. you need a coach to help you become a better you. you need a gasol and a fast rondo. you need vets like garnet and fish who’s been there longer than you have and know how the game is played. you need a drooling big baby, a little nate and a flying shannon. and ofcourse do not discount the “weird” people in your life – ones like ron artest, the ones who we love to hate but grow to love.

to make it in this world, we need to build a team of christians around us who can help us live out this life victoriously. even Jesus invested His time and His life to His 12 big men and a few crazy women and with that team… they were able to change the world.

5. FOCUS AND BE DETERMINED. [hebrews 12:1b; james 1:4]
this video says it all http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2B-NSNn3IY&feature=fvst. you can have haters hate and talkers talk. but if you keep your head in the game (or in the destiny that God has called you to do) and stay on your mission, nothing will be able to stop you.

6. SUPPORT OTHERS AND STAY LOYAL. [ephesians 4:16, hebrews 12:1a]
jack nicholson. an award winning actor. he doesn’t really need to be on the court side cheering young kids on. but he does, and he has been for the past 20 years. he is NO bandwagon fan. his presence is so felt during the games that he’s even quicker to defend the players than the coach does. his loyalty to this team has paid off as he has become a laker/forum/staples icon that his nickname is “coach nicholson”. (it’s been said that he donates his own money for parades to happen.)

are you that loyal to your church family, friends, and the team that God has given you? do you stick with them through good times and bad? and if you’re one to have “arrived”…. do you stay complacent or do you still get involved and cheer the next generation on? this is a challenge to become like jack. make a mark in history by staying loyal to God and your team. do what needs to be done by sowing your life [money, resources, time, encouragement] to help the next generation reach their fullest potential so that they can be winners as well.

that my friends, is the top 6 lessons i learned from watching the NBA finals.

my finals thoughts on this: they need to bring the NBA short shorts back to make basketball more entertaining 😉

have a great week!