Yes We Can

Habaragani (''What's the good news?'' in Swahili):

December 26 marks the first day of the African American cultural holiday known as Kwanzaa. I would like to share my thoughts on the first of seven principles, known as the Nguzo Saba. Today’s principle is Umoja, which is the Swahili word for Unity. The principle simply suggests that we “strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race."

We’ve all heard the saying, “there is strength in numbers,” and after the 2008 Presidential Election we saw firsthand what happens when people get on one accord. Most recently, we heard or read about how various entities have come together to improve their conditions. Whether it was the automobile industry executives lobbying Congress for a bailout, or the Chicago factory workers who refused to disband until their former employer honored their contractual obligations, we saw what happens when forces unite. Even workers who never shared a cup of coffee began carpooling as gas prices increased. While many of these relationships may have never existed before, desperate times called for desperate measures. The same can be said for the situations in our families, communities and in the world.

In the next few months, I believe we will begin to see cooperation like never before. This concept was not foreign to our foreparents who raised each other’s children, fed their neighbors, and cared for the orphans and widows of their ilk.

While many black Christians are a tad skeptical about the nonreligious celebration, to me, the principle of Umoja that Kwanzaa creator Dr. Maulana Karenga proposes is similar to the message shared by Pastor Hezekiah Walker when he sings, “I Need You To Survive.”


“I need you, you need me.
We're all a part of God's body.
Stand with me, agree with me.
We're all a part of God's body.
It is his will, that every need be supplied.
You are important to me, I need you to survive”

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and we must begin to consider how we can combine our various resources to make our families, communities and world a better place for our children and our children’s children.


Happy Kwanzaa!!!
Arlecia

Visit http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org for more information about Kwanzaa

Is Jesus on Your Christmas List?

Grace To You and Peace:

Would Jesus have a gift under your tree if He showed up to your door on Christmas Day? He doesn't need our trinkets, but He needs our hands and hearts. This week, we celebrate because He is not in a manger, nor is He in the grave!

He is alive and working in our lives!

Continue to walk in your blessings, remembering that Jesus is the reason for all seasons! Thank you for your love, prayers and support!



Arlecia D. Simmons
Look and Live Ministries, 2008

A Gift That Will Keep Giving

Editor's note: If you have been blessed by this ministry, I ask that you join me in supporting Kendra Bodison with your financial support and prayers. Please read the note below and continue to pray for this family.

Kendra Bodison : Yemassee, SC
Transplant Type: Heart

Kendra, a devoted wife and mother, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure five months after giving birth to her son. Medication did not improve Kendra's condition, and doctors say a heart transplant is her only hope for a second chance at life.

Before her diagnosis, Kendra worked as a social worker and loved the opportunities her profession gave her to serve others. She looks forward to the lifesaving transplant that will let her be the wife, mother and professional she aspires to be.

A heart transplant costs approximately $650,000, and that's only the beginning. Even with health insurance, Kendra will face significant medical expenses. For the rest of her life, she will need follow-up care and daily anti-rejection medications. The cost of post-transplant medications can range from $2,000 to $5,000 per month--and they are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself.

Kendra must raise $30,000 before she can even be added to the transplant waiting list.

You can help! Your gift to the NFT South Carolina Heart Fund will enable NFT to assist with Kendra's transplant expenses. If you prefer to mail your gift, please send it to NFT South Carolina Heart Fund, 5350 Poplar Ave., Suite 430, Memphis, TN 38119. Please be sure to write "in honor of Kendra Bodison" in the memo line.

Visit the following link to make an online donation:
http://www.transplants.org/Patients2.php?state=SC

Thank you for your generosity!

More about Kendra's story: http://m.wltx.com/news.jsp?key=71182&rc=fyi

What Is Your Due Date?

My healthcare provider recently sent me a postcard promoting one of its initiatives for women. The card read:

Starting a family may not be in your plans right now. But if you’re thinking about having a baby someday, it’s important to remember a healthy pregnancy begins long before conception.

While having a child is one of my top ten concerns these days (biological clock ticking, providing background music), I believe God used this mailer to send a message to you. Just as a woman can prepare her body to conceive a baby, you can prepare to birth your hopes and dreams. Are you taking your vitamins, or doing what is necessary to enrich your vision?

What do you want to birth in 2009?

Just recently, I talked with a friend about how I go about preparing to achieve future goals and visions. While most people are trying to get through Christmas, I already envision a completed dissertation, a wonderful teaching job, a new location, and a move in June or July. These things will come to pass, but before they do, preparation is necessary.

Things do not always go as planned, but we must write the vision (Habakkuk 2:2). Before I returned to school in August 2005, I began the application process in September 2004. In the fall of 2004, I began assessing my finances to determine how I could resign from my job and move 500 to 1,500 miles away within a year. Prior to moving, I held weekly “porch sales” (I didn’t have a yard but I had a whole lot of porch) to purge items I didn’t need and make money to finance my move. You get the picture.

The postcard I received listed seven suggestions for how to prepare for pregnancy. So often God sends us similar notifications regarding those seeds He has placed within us, but we dismiss them by saying:
“I’m too old.”
“I have these kids.”
“I could never do that.”
“What are people going to say?”
“I can’t afford to do that.”
“I want to go back to school, but (fill in the blank)”
“I would do ‘A’ if ‘B’.”

How long will your wombs (yes, men, consider yourself with a womb this week) remain barren? How long will you ignore the labor pains? When will you give birth?

While preparing this meditation God sent me to this familiar and seasonally appropriate passage:

Matthew 1:18 (Amplified Bible)
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place under these circumstances: When His mother Mary had been promised in marriage to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant [through the power] of the Holy Spirit.

Beloved, consider today that the Holy Spirit is waiting to use you as a vessel in this earth. Has God given you a vision for a day care center that teaches Christian principles and old-fashioned manners? Has He given you the vision of a nursing homes where our elders would be nurtured and cared for with gentleness? Has he given you a testimony that belongs in a book?

I don’t know about you, but I am getting ready to birth some things in 2009? The labor pains have lasted far too long. My water is about to break, and it is time to head to the delivery room. There is more than one birthing suite available, so do not allow your issues to keep you in the waiting room.

A.D. Simmons


P.S. It has been a pleasure sharing with you this past year through Arlecia’s Doses of Inspiration and this new blog. It has been a rough year, but I am still standing. May the joy of the Lord be your strength during these difficult times. Please feel free to send me an e-mail at looknlive@gmail.com if you have enjoyed this blog or would like to offer other comments. Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and Hallelujah for another year!

I am going to begin my breathing techniques….

God is Still Blessing His People

Scriptural meditation: Psalm 34:10
"The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing."

Hello People of God,

I know it has been a few weeks since you have heard from me, but a sister has been “vacationing,” regrouping and just reflecting on the conclusion of this year and the approach of another. Oh, and I have been working on my dissertation, which is a ministry in itself. It has been an interesting year, but my guess is that we have not seen anything yet. President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday on “Meet the Press,” The economy is going to get worse before it gets better." Like a cold, some things get worse before they get better.

While the U.S. government has just acknowledged a recession, many of us have been feeling the effects of a burdened economy for months. Yet, we are still going strong. This week, I would just like to take a minute to remind you,
“God is still blessing His people!”

News outlets spend enough money and time telling us about what is bad in the world, but I just stopped by to remind you that there are some great things taking place in the earth. Even as jobs are being loss and the unemployment rate is at its highest, God is still blessing his people. A few days ago, a friend notified me that he was leaving his current job to begin a new one making more money. God is still blessing His people. Others may have told him he was lucky, but I know that this is a young man who attends to the things of God and His people. We have this inside joke that any additional funds should be tithed and committed to the Graduate Student Ministry in Iowa City. I am still waiting on the check (smile)!

One friend just bought a house, another is planning a wedding, and a few are expecting babies in the spring. Can you see how God is still blessing His people? Yes, it is possible that some of our Christmas trees may cover less presents this year. Yet, if you still have a living room for a tree then you should realize that you are blessed.

I had to say “thank you” the other day as I walked down the street and felt the wind and snow. “Lord, I thank you for these new snow boots and this coat that keeps my body warm.” There are people whose homes are outside in the cold, or they live in dwellings with little or no heat. It was not a mink, but I was thankful for the coat that kept my body warm.

Stay encouraged people of God. Do not faint.

It is an interesting time for me as I look forward to graduation and proceed with a job search. Even as I hear reports about unemployment and the rising costs of tuition at American colleges, I declare today that I will not be discouraged. You see, some of us can look back over our lives and see how we have had good reports even in the midst of bad times. My mind goes back to the spring of 2001 when I was in the process of graduating with my master’s degree and the economy was approaching a slump. I remember buying a fax machine so that I could send out resumes. I faxed and faxed and faxed, and gave that little machine a workout. I found a job announcement where the deadline for applications had passed. Most people would have given up, but I called and encouraged to forward my information. I received no responses from the other employers, but in the 11th hour, God made a way. I had secured a job prior to graduation. I look back now and I can see how God orders our steps. The job that I found at the last minute was the first and only teaching job that I applied for during that season. I wanted to do something else, but for years and years, I was told by teachers that I would one day teach. God’s blessings may not always look the way we want them to, but they are still perfect gifts.

God is still making a way and blessing His people. Things may not be ideal, but they are good. I am already excited about 2009. I know a number of people who are excited about the upcoming presidential inauguration. I am too; however, what I am most excited about is that I serve a God whose mercies are new every morning. I am excited that He is a God with a great imagination. I am encouraged that even in my mess He can use me for His glory. I am energized because He has me on His mind, and I am elated that He is continuing to bless His people.

If you cannot receive this word on today, consider rejoicing with others and standing in faith until your blessings come through!

Continue to walk in your blessings, and if this note has blessed you, please forward the link to a friend or even a foe.

ADS

This week’s photo features my grandmother, Louise R. Simmons, who celebrated her 80th birthday on Nov. 28. She has two older siblings who are still among us. To God be the glory!

In Everything Give Thanks

Scriptural meditation:
1 Thessalonians 5:18

For many of us, 2008 has been a tumultuous year filled with difficulties beyond our scope of understanding. Yet, we have lived to tell the stories and witness the making of history with the presidential election of Sen. Barack Obama. Some of us have lost jobs, friends, significant others and hope, but we have lived to tell the stories. Andre Crouch said it best, “Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus. I’ve learned to trust in God.” The old saints use to say, “If I had 10,000 tongues I couldn't thank Him enough.” Yet, with our one, we often fail to utter the word “Thank You.”

Even in our frustration and pain, we have to declare that the rocks will not cry out for us. The rocks cannot communicate the joy I get just thinking about everything God has done for me. If I had 10,000 tongues, I could not thank him enough.

I am thankful for every valley, as they have taught me to appreciate the mountains.
I am thankful for the summer floods, as they taught me to appreciate God’s earth.
I am thankful for every relationship that dissolved, as they taught me to value the unions that remain.
I am thankful for every ache and pain, as they taught me to appreciate my health and insurance.
I am thankful for every prayer, as I know that angels were dispatched on my behalf.
I am thankful for those who love me, as they teach me how to love.

Whether you spend this thanksgiving feasting on turkey or a can of tuna, give thanks. We can all list what is wrong with our world, but there is so much to note that is right about out temporal home. Each Sunday when I walk into church, I say “thank you.” Not only because I am glad to be in the number just one more time, but because I realize somewhere else in the world there is a Christian praying and worshiping my God in secret. While we are clapping, singing, and running up and down the aisles, others in distant lands pray to a God banned by their governments.

Yes, the economy is unstable and our retirement accounts have taken hits, but we continue to eat each day. Unlike our Haitian brothers, sisters, and others across the world, we do not have to peer into the skies awaiting food drops from United Nations rescue planes. Watch CNN a few hours and you will thank God for the next lunch meat sandwich.

I know it is hard to be thankful when there is trouble on every side, but we must remember that things are not as bad as they could be. As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday and the Christmas season, do not concentrate on what you do not have. Rather, concentrate on WHO you have. If you have children, thank God for them. If you have a spouse, thank God for their love or just their presence if things are a little rocky. If you have siblings, thank God that you are not alone in this world. If you have parents, thank God for their guidance. If you just have Scruffy the dog or Jazzy the cat, thank God for their companionship. If you are awaiting the love of your life, thank God for this time of preparation.
And if you do not have anyone in this world, know today that Jesus loves you and so do I.

I thank God for you, your gifts, talents, and the value you add to our world!
Stay blessed and continue to walk in your blessings!!!

-ADS

Lord, Your will. Amen.

Scriptural Meditation:1 Samuel 16

"Lord, Your will. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. Amen." -- Pastor Jamal Bryant

I was listening to Pastor Jamal Bryant and he uttered the above statement as he prayed with his congregation. "Wow," I thought. "That's one powerful prayer." Actually, it is a prayer we should consider as we approach Tuesday's election.

Yes, we live in the United States and we value our democracy that allows us to choose our leaders. However, as people of faith, we know that when it comes to who will preside/rule over God's people, man's choice has not always corresponded with God's will.

When Samuel came to Jesse's house, Jesse presented his strongest sons. One by one, Samuel examined them but the oil would not flow.

"Neither has the LORD chosen this one," said Samuel as Jesse's seventh son appeared before him. It was David, the "ruddy" one, who was God's choice.

Yes, I want my candidate to win, but most importantly, I want God's will to be done in the earth.

I am a newshound, so in analyzing the news coverage I have heard both candidates and their representatives "misrepresent the truth" from time to time. Yet, when I think about my God, my mind retreats to Numbers 23:19 (NLT): God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?"

Do not consider this a word of discouragement. I encourage you to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 4. (YOU CANNOT VOTE ON NOV. 5) I have already voted and I will be at the precinct at 5:30 a.m. to begin my duties as a precinct official. This week, I write to encourage you. I drafted a number of thoughts to post on my blog, but the thoughts written at 1:46 a.m. (CST) is what thus saith the Lord.

This week, pray with me as our nation prepares to vote and wait for the revelation of God's WILL.

Let us pray for each of the candidates, their families, their campaign staffs, and those who protect them. We pray not only for the presidential candidates but also for those running for state and local offices.

We pray for our neighbors and fellow citizens who are still undecided about how they will vote. Let them hear You through all of the advertisements and the media spin.

We pray for those who will work the polls, peace officers, poll watchers, and anyone directly involved in the election process. Strengthen them during the 15-hour workday, in some cases, and remind them to treat your people with dignity and love. We bind the spirit of mischief and wrongdoing and we loose the spirit of fairness and justice.

Lord, let your people know that they are somebody not because they have the right to vote, but because they belong to you.

Lord, we thank you for those who have gone before us - the martyrs of our time who worked to secure our right to vote. We do not take this opportunity for granted, but we thank you for our due season and for their sacrifices.

Lord, we thank you for protecting our soldiers and those of every nation who are fighting to protect the civil rights of your people. We plead the blood of Jesus over our family members who are fighting a war we do not understand.

Lord, we know that no matter who assumes political office in the earth, You are in control. Proverbs 21:1(KJV) reminds us, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."

We trust that you can also turn our economy and nation around.

We thank you, praise you, lift your name up and know that you are the Ultimate One. We trust you to provide us earthly leaders who are men and women after your heart.

We declare and decree this petition, and commit to accept your will in our lives and in this upcoming election. In Jesus' name we pray, and it is so, AMEN.!

As always, stay encouraged, walk in your blessings, and do not forget to cast your ballot. Whether we celebrate or lament on Tuesday night, know it is "His will. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. Amen!"

A.D. Simmons