Speaking of Speaking...

I have actually begun the next section of "Be Fruity", but I thought I would add some video of my recent speaking engagements. On March 23 I was the chapel speaker at my alma mater Judson College in Marion, AL. The night before I was able to speak at the CORE (the weekly student-led worship service) about modern-day slavery. Neither one did I feel I was at my best.

However, before and during chapel, I knew the Holy Spirit was there answering all the prayers I and others have prayed. I know He gave me words to say, and used the ones I chose to speak that probably weren't the best ones to begin with, to His glory. Praise be to Jehovah, the Most High God!!

Then on March 25, I spoke at an event hosted by the Fellowship of Black Seminarians where we watched At The End Of Slavery - a documentary filmed by the International Justice Mission (an evangelical Christian-based political group). We were few in number, but my presentation was 1000x better in many ways than the one at Judson's CORE gathering. There weren't as many questions at the Seminary presentation, but that could be because of the documentary. I do have a more secular version of this presentation in case anybody would like for me to come speak on this topic outside the church setting.

I definitely have a long way to go before becoming a "good" and more spiritually mature speaker, but I am glad to at least get started. I have video from Judson's chapel and the Seminary presentation on my facebook page. If you have time, I would love for you to watch (well, mostly listen) and give me some feedback! God bless, and may the Harvest be plentiful as we serve Him!!

Being Lucy, A Cruise to No-where, Who Dat?!, and A Beautiful Slave

New Orleans is definitely an interesting place to live. Two of our very dear friends were married on Halloween and had the reception later that night at Mardi Gras World. For those of you unfamiliar with New Orleans, we love to leave monuments for anything our city might be known for. In this case, we have a warehouse which used to house Mardi Gras floats still under construction. Now it houses old floats and a museum dedicated to the history of New Orleans Mardi Gras rituals. Of course, with it being Halloween, it was also a costume/masquerade party. Thomas and I went as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo - it was awesome. Thomas's blue eyes are the only things that give him away as not fully Latino. Other than that, he totally pulled it off. I, of course, was a fabulous Lucy. : ) (For those of you that know me, you know how fantastic it was for me to pretend to be the star of I Love Lucy.) In these few weeks after the party, we have been quite busy.

For one thing, we were getting ready for our cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. Unfortunately, we did not know of Hurricane Ida brewing in the Gulf. By the time it neared the coast, New Orleans closed its port. Carnival, being the awesome company it is, offered a total refund for anyone wanting to cancel or 50% refund for a shortened cruise to the Gulf without a stop in Mexico. Hubby and I chose the latter and had a fabulous "cruise to no-where" - the actual quote from the company: ). Probably the coolest thing about going on this cruise were the awesome Saints games that flanked the trip. 'Who Dat Nation' rejoice!!! We are 9 and 0!!! The best we've ever done was 7 and 0 - and that was in this millineaum. In other words, we've never played better. Who Dat indeed???!!?!!??!??!?!!??!!

Now, on to business. I watched the movie Taken for the first time tonight. The ending is awesome, of course, with the father recovering his daughter before she is tortured to the extreme, before she drops off the face of the earth. In reality, very few of these young women are ever rescued or ever get the chance to escape. The movie revealed the actual situations many women, girls, and even young boys face. They are drugged and beaten into submission. As I speak out about this disgusting evil, we need never forget one thing. God loves. God sees. God knows. God controls. Those who are "enemies of God" do not understand this. Even we, His children, sometimes do not understand or grasp why our beautiful, gracious, and loving God allows evil to linger.

The fact is, God is working out everything to His glory and the good of those who call Him Father. Brothers and sisters in Christ, please do not turn your head away and think it is impossible to see an end to this because it is not. We can end it. We can at least put a dent in it. Please, do not forget these victims. Please do not stop praying for their captors. Pray like you have never prayed before.

As I write this I am listening to a song I just discovered by a group called Take No Glory. The song is called A Beautiful Slave. The song begins hard, edgy, forlorn, melancholy, abrasive. It ends in a glorious, beautiful, soft, strong and praise-worthy chorus of Jesus Loves the Little Children and He's got the Whole World in His Hands. These "musicianaries" offer their music free-of-charge on their website www.takenoglory.com.

God hears their cries, and they will not go unanswered. God will have retribution. He will pass out judgement. The world will be redeemed, to the praise of God the Father, Jesus the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

Slavery

Did y'all know that somewhere around 27 million people are enslaved right now? That makes me cringe. Even here in the US people are forced to work and have sex with people who paid as little as $90 for them. The captors threaten the victims' families and everything else the victims hold dear.

How dare we allow that in our country. How dare we allow that in our world. How dare we turn away from them. How dare we rely on others to make this "problem" go away.

I don't have the answers, but I'm ticked. I'm ticked because I want to help but don't really know how. I read a little on the A21 Campaign website about ways we can help. One said to use your talents. If you know me, you know that I have the gift of gab. (No pun on my name intended.) I can speak and speak well when in front of people -- especially when I am passionate about something and folks are willing to listen.

So if any of you out there want to get the word out about modern-day slavery, let me know. I'm ready, willing, and able to come. Let's get the word out, folks. 27 million men, women, and children are waiting.

They need us.