Your Just Reward

Every now and then you see someone reach the top of the mountain who just wasn’t suppose to make it. Based upon society’s unrealistic standards, they’re not pretty enough, not tall enough, not thin enough, not white enough, not black enough. The list goes on and on. That’s what made Chandra Wilson recognition and acceptance speech so beautiful and monumental. Based on society’s standards, she wasn’t suppose to make it big. But there she stands, being recognized by that society. Dreams do come true, and everyone eventually receives their just reward.

http://us.video.aol.com/video.full.adp?mode=0&pmmsid=1828761&referer=http%3A//television.aol.com/franchise/top5.adp

Words of Wisdom #1

I got an email from someone to they, and this quote was in their signature line. I thought it was really powerful and wanted to share. I would elaborate, but I believe the quote itself speaks volumes.

"Never make someone a priority if they've only made you an option."--unknown.

My Investor

I’m really proud of myself. Yesterday, I received some devastating news—at least to me it was. Let’s just imagine, you knew you were going to get a million bucks from an investor. He had given you his word, and he had always been faithful to his word, but you wake up and find out from a secondary sources that he had given $500,000 away. Now you could worry, get concerned, wonder if most of his budget had been spent, and consider what would happen if this investment went bad. Or you could choose to trust the word of your investor.

Well, my Investor gave me a promise years ago. And I know that I know that now is the time for me to actually receive that promise, but yesterday, I found out that my Investor had given part of my promise away. For the record, this isn’t the first time this has happen. In fact, it’s more like the 356,567,492,403th time, LOL. Usually, my reaction is the same. I cry, scream, question whether my Investor ever said and promised what I thought He did, and pray for a quick, clear sign. This time though, I CHOSE to react differently. Instead of crying, screaming, and questioning, I picked up the phone, called my Investor, and thanked Him for what He was about to do in my life. I wrote Him and thank you note, I went to thank Him in person, and even turned on a couple of CDs and began to sing thanks to Him, LOL (He appreciated it even though I can’t sang).

I say “I chose” because it was a decision and a choice to react differently than I usually did. I felt like crying, I wanted to scream, I had million questions to ask and doubt was swimming in my mind. But I made the proactive decision to react differently. I chose to rejoice instead of crying. I chose to praise instead of scream. I chose to trust the last Word my Investor had given me instead of questioning and doubting.

And after I made the decision, before I received the promise, guess what I did? I started planning. I started researching, writing, and organizing what I was going to do with the investment. I set aside time and energy to ensure that the investment would be used properly. That way, when I get my promise, I will be prepared to move on full speed ahead, and my Investor won’t be disappointed in me. He will never regret the fact that He invested in me.

What if you don’t get the investment He promised? What if there’s not enough left? My answer: Impossible. My Investor is faithful and true to His Word. He won’t renege on His promise to me, and His riches won’t ever run out. While Master P may have gold-plated ceilings, my Investors has gold-paved (not plated) streets.

What about what He gave the other person? So…that’s not my business. What my Investor has for me is for me. No one can take that from me, and He definitely wouldn’t give it away. So obviously, that little bit that the other person got wasn’t for me, and I’m to much a queen to fight over chump change and pennies. I want the millions or nothing at all.

Well, why did you have thank Him so much? While most people would have been annoyed by my multiple and excessive thanks, He wasn’t. He was just as proud as I was that I didn’t need physical proof to trust Him and believe what He had said. He was ecstatic that I was so grateful for His gift, His investment, even before I received it. Hey, my many thanks just may have made Him want to invest more in my life or give me my investment even sooner than He originally scheduled.

My Investor is going to invest in me because I am His child and He promised me He would. My only responsibility is to take the investment and invest in others.

Isn't It Ironic...Don't You Think

The ironic thing about really choosing to walk with God is your life doesn’t get trouble-free overnight. In fact, it often gets worst. I was once told, “The devil doesn’t have any reason to bother you when you’re playing on his team.” But when you’re in the midst of going through hell that doesn’t really make you feel better. In fact, it can make you question why you ever left his team. So what do you do? You have a pity party of course.

I used to cry that real ugly and dramatic cry, where mascara’s running everywhere, snot is dripping down your nose, and your eyes swell shut. The key to this cry is to do it in front of the bathroom mirror so you can see how bad you look and feel even sorrier for yourself. And you absolutely have to top the cry off with your pleas to God. “I just don’t understand, God. I try to do everything you say. I go to church. Why won’t you just fix it, God?”

Sidebar (Yes, I stole this from my friend’s Austin’s blog. Glad to see you’re back buddy.): Once, I got soooo mad at God, I threw a phone at Him. You had to be there. It would have been straight Comicview to watch, but I was pissed off at the time. I bet God was laughing hysterically at me.

Every time life’s situations would start getting a little tight, I would stress to the point that I would become physically sick and unable to function. The crazy part is each and every time, God would always come through for me in the ninth hour, and everything would work out perfectly, even more perfect than I could have ever imagine.

Eventually, I got tired of stressing and making myself ill. I got to the point where I would say, “Alright, God. I’m going to do everything I possible can to make this right, but honestly, I can’t fix it. If you don’t get involved, it won’t work out right.” And then I did everything possible not to stress out about it. And just as before, during the ninth hour, everything would work out.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been stressing out about work. I have to complete a 6-week project in about 3 weeks, and I really don’t have that much cooperation in doing so. Instead of stressing, I decided to give it to God and see what He could do with it. I did what I could, but things just weren’t working out. I didn’t have enough freelance writers to finish the project on time and it looked like the whole project was going to crash and burn. And then at the very last minute, things just started falling into place. Writers from as far as Delaware started contacting me, and today, it finally looks like things are going to work out perfectly.

Lesson Learned: Times will get hard, significantly harder once you start living for God. But He always has your back. He has promised to always bring His kids out on top no matter what situation they find themselves in. His Word says that the righteous are never forsaken and no weapon formed against His kids will prosper (Psalm 37:25 & Isaiah 54:17). So if God has given you His Word believe it. He can’t lie (Numbers 23:19), so don’t stress out. Nothing in life is worth stressing out about. Give it to God and He will work it all out.

Watch This!!!

Television shows with people who look like me are few and far in between. Yes, you can catch New York on VH1 acting a fool, and there are a good number of half-naked women shaking their butts on BET and MTV who my favor me. There are even a couple of comedies that I love with beautiful black women and men. (Sidebar: I absolutely love UPN's The Game, Girlfriends, and All of Us). You will even find some wonderful actors playing great roles on Grey's Anatomy, ER, and other good dramas. But have you noticed that their aren't any good television dramas focused around the African American community. I am so proud to announce that those days are over. And it is one of my Spelman sisters who is responsible for bring this era to an end.

Kathleen McGee-Anderson, Spelman College class of 1972, is no stranger to the film industry. McGee-Anderson worked as a writer and consulting producer for Showtime's Soul Food, the longest running Black dramatic series in television history. She was also an original writer and consulting producer for the Lifetimes series Any Day Now and worked with the series 413 Hope Street and Touched by an Angel.

McGee-Anderson is now the producer of Lincoln Heights, the only black family drama (that I know of) on television today. The show debuts Monday, January 8 on ABC Family at 7pm EST. Please check this show out and support my sister, your sister, our sister.

Why Can't We See Past Entertainmnet

So I'm sitting in Tires Plus trying to get my tire repaired, and I'm watching the news with some people who are significantly older than me. I'm not sure how the conversation got directed to the presidency, but the gentleman next to me stated how he wished Stevie Wonder would run for president.

Stevie Wonder??? What qualifies Stevie Wonder to run for President of the United States. The lady next to him frowned up, and said, "I never thought about him as President."

"Either him or Denzel Washington," said the gentleman.

I was really thrown a back. During a time when a Black man, Barack Obama, really has a chance at taking the White House, this dude is looking to Hollywood to run our nation.

Now, I dropped the ball on ths one. I could have simply said, "I think Barack Obama would be a good choice for president." But I didn't. I chose not to educate my people. If we don't educate each other, who will? No one else is trying to empower people who look like me.

With that said I challenge you to do two things: 1) take the time and energy to share what you know with someone else. It could change their life and the world we live in. 2) Turn off BET, MTV and E! and turn on CNN, Fox, or C-Span and expand your knowledge of the world we live in.

That's just my $0.08.

The Soundtrack to My Life

This is the hottest post to hit in a minute, and It was soooo much fun.

Opening Credits:
“Take Me As I Am” Mary J. Blige

Waking Up:
Coco Brother and The Spirit of Hip Hop on WHTA Atlanta Hot 107.9 or online at www.hot1079atl.com
"Lovely Day”
"Survivor" Destiny’s Child—For those rough days

Getting Dressed:
“Dope Boi Fresh” Attic Crew feat. T.I.
"In The Club (remix)" Beyonce
“Jumpin’, Jumpin’ (remix)” Destiny’s Child
“PYT” Michael Jackson—That was our jam, Dawn.

First Day At School:
“Young, Gifted, and Black” Aretha Franklin
"Jump" Kriss Kross
The Kids Incorporated Theme Song

Graduating:“Before I Let Go” Frankie Beverly and Maze

Crushing:
“Sweet Thang” Mary J. Blige
“Upgrade U” Beyonce
“U Got It Bad” Usher
"Goin' Make You Love Me" Murphy Lee

Ghetto Love:
“Danger” Erykah Badu
"Hood Boy" Fantasia
"Roughneck" MC Light
"Soldier" Destiny's Child
"Grills" Nelly--Yes, I think grills can (as in "have the potential" to be sexy)
“Bonnie & Clyde” Tupac
“’03 Bonnie & Clyde” Jay-Z & Beyonce

Not Giving Up the Goodies:“Goodies” Ciara
“Let’s Wait Awhile” Janet Jackson

Falling In Love: “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” Aerosmith
“And I’m Telling You” Jennifer Holiday
"I Love You" Lenny Williams--Classic
"Prototype" Andre 3000
"Dangerously in Love" Beyonce'
“Still In Love” Teena Marie
“Want U” Eryka Badu

Feeling Cocky:
“So Good” Destiny’s Child

Fight Song:
"Hit ‘Em Up” Tupac—The Ulitmate Fight Song
“Woman to Woman”—Say it ain’t a fight song if you want to.
"Knuck if you Buck" Crime Mobb
"I Ain't Never Scared (remix)" Bone Crusher feat. T.I. & Killer Mike
"Head Bussa” Lil Scrappy
"Get on My Level" Trillville
“Ring the Alarm” Beyonce

Breaking Up:
"I Used to Love Him" Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige
"Enough Cryin’” Mary J. Blige
“I’m Not Gonna Cry” Mary J. Blige
"Ex Factor" Lauryn Hill—This had perfect timing in my life.
"Free Yourself" Fantasia
"I'm Going Down" Mary J. Blige
“I Still Luv You” T.I.
"You Don't Have to Call" Usher
"Breakdown"- Mariah Carey & Bone

Getting Back Together:
"Let's Stay Together" Lyfe
"My First Love" Ke Ke Wyatt and Avant
"My Boo" Usher & Alicia Keyes
“We Belong Together” Mariah Carey
“Be Without You” Aaliyah

Getting My Hustle On:
“I Can’t Quit” T.I.
“Motivation” T.I.
“U Don’t Know” Jay-Z
“Survivor” Destiny’s Child
“ReAkshon” Killer Mike feat. T.I. & Bun B

Ballin’:
“What You Know About That” T.I.
“Big Pimpin’” Jay-Z
“Real Big” Big Tymers
“Bling” Lil Wayne
“We Fly High (remix)” Jim Jones featuring T.I., Young Dro, Diddy, Juelz Santana, and Bird Man
“Money Ain’t A Thang” Jay-Z and J.D.

Hard Times:
“Yesterday” Mary, Mary
“Keep Your Head” Kirk Franklin
“I Understand” Smokie Norful
“You Are Not Forgotten” Israel Houghtin & New Breed
“No Weapon” Fred Hammond
“Praise Is What I Do”
“A Brighter Day” George Huff
“Just a Prayer Away”
"Runaway Love" Ludacris feat. Mary J. Blige

Touching Heaven:
“I Love The Lord” Whitney Houston

Driving:
"85" Young Bloodz"
Riding Dirty" Chamillionaire

Flashback:
"Silly of Me" Deniece Williams (had to look her name up) (WAY BACK)

Reflection:
"That’s Life” Killer Mike—YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS!!!
“Peepin’ in My Window” Goodie Mob
"Can't Be Life" Jay Z, Scarface, Beenie Siegel
“Why” Jadakiss feat. Anthony Hamilton
“Brenda’s Got A Baby” Tupac
“Thug Holiday” Trick Daddy—I don’t care what y’all say, Trick Daddy Dollars is deep.
“Doing My Job” T.I.
“Still Ain’t Forgave Myself” T.I.
“Prayin’ For Help” T.I.
“Prayer” Rick Ross
“Soon You’re Understand” Jay-Z

Wedding:
"At Last” Etta James
“My Love” Justin Timberlake & T.I.
"You Put a Move on My Heart" Tamia
"Happily Ever After" Case
“You’re All I Need” Method Man & Mary J. Blige—I told you I was ghetto

Amazing Hot Sex Scene:
“Lost Without You” Robin Thick
“Freak N U” Jodeci
“So Anxious” Ginuwine
“Warmth” Janet Jackson
“Feenin” Jodeci
"I Get So Lonely" Janet Jackson
"Greatest Sex" R.Kelly
"Say Yes” Floetry
“Stingy” Ginuwine

Birth of Child:
"Zion” Lauryn Hill
“Forever My Lady” Jodeci—“So you’re having my baby, and that means so much to me”…I’m kinda ghetto, LOL.

Dramatic Climax Scene/Dénouement:
"Coming of Age" Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek

Death Scene:
"Vice Versa" Pastor Troy

Funeral Song:
“I Want to Live in the Sky” T.I.
"Black Butterfly" Deniece Williams
"Total Praise"

End Credits:“I Believe” Fantasia

2006 in Review

There’s this minister from the Bahamas who comes to our church every now and then, Bishop Neil C. Ellis. Let’s just say, he’s not your average preacher man. He has this unusual boldness about him. He also has a great sense of humor, which is ten times funnier because he delivers it with a straight and serious face. Through all this you can see his devoted love for God. He’s one of those ministers who carries God on him so much that you’re afraid to get too close to him because you just know he’ll tell all your business.

Whenever Bishop Ellis comes to our church everyone gets very excited. Not only because he’s a fun and amusing minister, but, most importantly, he always has an “I’m all up in your business” word from God. So early last year, he came to our church and said, “2006 will be a year of reference for you. Years from now you will look back and say, ‘I remember what God did in 2006.’”

Now in 2004, I was at a point of desperation. Everything I touched was going wrong, and I was at my whit’s end. It was during that time I stopped questioning God and His workmen. Not to say I believe everything a preacher says just because he’s a “man of God” because all of them are not. But I took the effort to read Bible, learn what it said, and then and only then was I able to recognize which ministers truly spoke His Word. Because of this, I was able to trust and believe what Bishop Ellis was saying, and I went with it.

Everything I did during that year I would say, “It’s the year of reference. God’s going to do something big. He’s going to do something He’s never done before.” And things just began to happen. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a cake walk. In fact, 2006 was probably the hardest year of my life. Everything that I truly loved and cared about was tested. Every time I looked around something bad was happening in my life. I cried more in 2006 than I did in my entire life. But I came through every situation ON TOP. Situations that would’ve killed me the year before, dreams I would have given up on because of the trouble that accompanied them…I was able to walk away from everything in victory because I believed what some crazy preacher from the Bahamas said about me.

In the end, 2006 turned out to be the greatest year of my life…despite the troubles, heartache, and heartbreak. It was truly a year of reference in my life, and I will definitely be telling my great-grandkids about how God showed me His face in 2006.

Kia’s 2006 Year in Review

 My business signed its first major contract that brought in the big bucks
 Got my first passport and left the country for the first time
 Lived completely alone in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language and survived
 Worked an internship oversees
 Met and interviewed an U.S. Ambassador
 Built a personal relationship with an Embassy consulate
 Got a free trip to Paris, France
 Brought my son to live with me full-time
 Got a promising position with a growing magazine
 Bought a house
 Paid off 1/3 of my credit card debit (Y’all who truly know me, know that that’s a miracle in itself, LOL)
 Doubled my yearly income
 Had a huge “growth” (for lack of a better word) removed from my body only to have pathologist say they couldn’t even begin to fathom what it was or why it was there. And then survived losing way too much blood after the surgical procedure.
 Got offered another free trip to Africa
 Helped someone else cancel their debt (What you make happen for others God will make happen for you.)
 Made all A’s in my grad school courses
 Gave blood for the first time (Another minor miracle. I don’t do needles, and they use a BIG needle to take that blood.)
 Won a free cruise to the Bahamas and Grand Cayman Island from Coco Brother, The Spirit of Hip Hop, and Hot 107.9 (Some of y’all may remember Coco from 6-10pm on 107.9. He now hosts The Spirit of Hip Hop weekdays from 5-6 am and Sunday from 6am-noon. It’s an awesome show that just got syndicated nationwide last Sunday, so if you get it in your area, please check it out. I know it’s in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Houston, and Dallas. You can also listen on the web (www.hot1079atl.com). It’s not your grandma’s Gospel. Well, it is. It’s just wrapped in a package you can dig. I mean everything you can think of, from Rick Ross to Kirk Franklin, you can catch it on his show.
 Started writing my first book
 Got a 2-pack. (Only four more to go, LOL.)
 And became a person I like, love, and am proud of.

Now, I don’t say all this to brag because not one of these things could I have done on my own. (Not even got all A’s. Yes, I’m smart, but everyone who knows me knows I’m not a good student.). To me, this is just proof of what will happen when you believe what God says. And since God only exceeds Himself, I’m super excited about 2007. Happy New Year, everyone. I’m sure your year will be blessed, prosperous, and everything you believe and imagine it will be.