New Book Alert

Last call signifies closing time is near, either you place your last order or settle any open tabs. In life, it’s when you’re fed up and a decision must be made … Should I Stay, or Should I Go?

For Lillian Weaver, last call could be a possible end to her seven-year marriage to Blair.

Blair, the owner of a popular bar, B Squared has allowed success to go to his head. Now, his pride and ego are bigger than the promises and plans he once made with his wife. A wife, who no longer recognizes the man Blair has become. He used to be loving and kind, someone she was willing to sacrifice her own dreams for.

Until one day, he changed. His demeaning language and disrespectful actions leaves Lillie confused, hurt and tired. Will Blair’s pride cause Lillie to walk away and him lose it all? You’ll have to find out in this Christian Fiction novella, Last Call.

Available Now — HERE

Excerpt

“Baby, it’s been too long since I’ve danced,” I tell her.

“Me too but hey, it’s great cardio.”

“Let’s get out of here because I’m starving.”

“We can always hit up CK’s like we used to do in college.”

“Yes,” I sing. “I haven’t been there in forever.”

Thirty minutes later, Hazel and I are enjoying our food.

“So, what are you going to do now that you’re divorced and on your own?” she asks me.

“I’m going back to work at the West Clinic. It’s only part time but I’m excited.”

“Really? Why? I know you don’t need the money.”

“I know but I’ve been helping Perry—”

“Wait,” she interrupts. “Perry is the moving company guy whose wife was your patient before?”

I nod. “Her name is Gillian and she’s going through chemo for the second time in 18 months. I’ve been over to their house a few times helping her after the treatments and I miss it. Not the nastiness of it but the part about caring for the patients.”

“You’ve always been great at that. I remember when your grandmother was sick, you took very good care of her.”

“I know, and God knows I miss them. If my grandpa was still living, I probably would have moved back to Mississippi and reopened the diner.”

“Not that dingy ass diner Blair is always bad mouthing?” she laughs.

“Child forget him. That diner saved his tail, plenty of times after his mom ran off with the money he’d saved for college. Anyway, with BJ turning a year old soon, I think it’s time I do something for me.”

“Well, I think it’s a great idea and I’ll help with BJ.”

“Hazel, thank you.” She is trying to swallow her coffee to stop me from saying it. “No, listen. I never got to thank you for that night at the apartment. I had a feeling Blair was lying but, I was mad and hurt. It seemed like everything was hitting me at once. Man, it felt like my heart was in a vice grip,” I say patting my chest. “Yet, you stayed. Not only that, you prayed and held me into the early morning. Thank you for being there because I needed you.”

Her eyes fill with tears as she grabs my hand.

“Lillie, you’re my best friend. If I can’t be there for you while you’re hurting or willing to petition God, while you’re in the middle of a storm, what good is our friendship? God knows, you’ve been there for me. When I wanted to end my life, you were there,” she shakes her head and wipes the falling tears. “I’m just grateful evil didn’t tear us apart because you know I’d never do anything like that to you, right?”

“I know,” I blow out a breath to calm my emotions and use the napkin to wipe my face. “Okay, enough of this mushy stuff. Tell me what’s been going on with you. We’ve only been talking about me the last six months and I need a change.”

Last Call available now — GET IT HERE

Daily Devotional – 4/22/20 “Don’t complain!”

Look, you ought to be at a point in your life where whining and complaining is no longer a choice or at best it should be minimal. Yes, I know things are going to happen but whining tho? When has whining and complaining gotten you anything worthy? When has throwing yourself a pity party ever resulted in something good? When has blaming folk ever paid off for you? When has making God the cause of your problems worked out in your favor? I get it, you see more bills than money, more sickness than healing, more death than deliverance, more killings than kindness, more situations than solutions, more problems than patience and more things than time but complaining won’t solve them.

While you see an issue, God is giving you an instance to actually interpret His involvement as influenced instruction. In First Kings 17, when God sent Elijah to the widow woman, He told him, “She’ll feed you.” Although God knew this woman’s flour and oil was almost empty and her plans to let her and her son die, yet He still sent Elijah. Why? Because God knew if the woman was obedient, her flour and oil wouldn’t run out until the drought in the land was over.

God knows what you’re going through. He knows the predicament you’re in. Yes, God knows you barely got enough food but He’ll send somebody to ask you for some to see if you’ll trust Him. God will let somebody ask you for five of the $10 you got left. Will you give it and trust God to provide or will you complain? Somebody may say, I’m going to do both. Child… listen, God will take care of you, even when things may not work out the way you’d hoped. God may allow you to suffer through the storm, He may allow you to fall, the test will be positive for cancer or the little change you got will run out; but don’t complain. Even in the same passage, First Kings 17, the widow woman’s son dies. Yes, after helping Elijah from her little, her son dies but Elijah takes the boy and cries out to God and God answered him.

Today, try something. No, don’t try but do it. Don’t complain. When you find yourself wanting too, change your language. When you find your mouth opening wanting to complain, speak a word of prayer over the situation. Learn how to trust God in everything because as long as you go in with God, you’ll come out with God. Stop complaining and whining through the obstacle of life in order to see that’s God’s miracle (which is you) can overcome it all.

Virtual Bible Study

As we make our way through these times of sickness, the study of God’s word must go forth. Why? Because it’s there you find strength to press on, especially when this natural life doesn’t make sense.

Understand something, I don’t know everything. I’m not a bible scholar but I study. I don’t have every answer, God does and I speak by His authority. And I’ll be the first to tell you, don’t trust me but test the God in me. It’s Him whom I serve and rely on.

So, for now, join us on Tuesdays via Facebook Live for Virtual Bible Study. Check out the flier for this weeks topic.

See you there!

Oh, if there’s a topic or question, you’d like to cover or discuss; send it via comment, email or inbox.

Stay safe 💚

Daily Devotional – 4/14/20 “My Passover”

We’re in the Passover season. It officially started April 8th and will end on April 16th. It’s a celebration of God’s people being freed from bondage in Egypt, the time when the Lord passed over the houses of the first born. Bible shares in Numbers nine and two, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time.” As I’ve done before, when writing on the Passover, I will not tell you whether you should or shouldn’t observe it. However, what about celebrating what God has freed you from? Yes, at this very moment we’re dealing with the coronavirus and you might be saying, what’s there to celebrate? But baby, if God has freed you from anything, that’s worthy of a praise.

The cancer gene that kept attacking your family, but it passed you over. The diabetes, heart disease, arthritis that has crippled others, but it passed you over. The addiction that threatened your freedom to live but you’re sober and clean now; celebrate it. The whoremonger spirit that’s cleansed from your life, celebrate it. That abusive relationship you thought would kill you, but you made it out, celebrate it. That divorce you didn’t think you’d recover from, but you did, celebrate it.

When a person dies, don’t we have a home going celebration to celebrate the fact that they’ve been freed to an eternal glory? Then why don’t you celebrate whatever situation you’ve been freed from? Because baby, I don’t know about you but there’s some stuff God freed me from that had He not, I’d probably be out of my mind by now. If I just take a moment and think back on some of the stupid decisions, I made that almost kept me from seeing today, my soul rejoices. When I replay some of the stuff I got myself into, tears fall because I know I should’ve be dead. Yet, I’m alive.

Those things I done, the mistakes I made, the pits I visited, the headstone that almost had my name on it, the straight jacket I should have been in, the bridge I could be sleeping under, the debt I could be in, the jail cell that could have been my house, the disease that could be my story … BUT IT PASSED OVER. Those things passed over and because they did, I’m celebrating and calling it MY PASSOVER. What about you? What will you celebrate today instead of crying over?

Daily Devotional – 4/8/20 “I’m still praying.”

Dear God,

I humbly petition your throne under submission and with your permission, asking that your will be done. God, give us today daily bread that shall fill us. Give us provisions that shall sustain us. Give us power to resist the enemy and he’ll flee. Give us strength to not fall into temptations and deliver us from evil. Give us the words and voice to forgive others so that you forgive us. And God, thank you. Thank you for keeping us, for not taking your hand away, for shielding our mind, for healing what we didn’t even know we were suffering with and for not ignoring our pleas.

Now God, while you’re listening, heal our land. God, go into every city, town and country and heal. Calm anxiety, wipe tears of fear and comfort those who are grieving. God, even during this chaotic time, keep us close to you. While we go through this pandemic of sickness and confusion, God hear and answer prayers. For it’s your word that says in Psalm 91, those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. For we know that even in your shadow, we’re safe.

Because God, you are our refuge and strength and surely, you’ll deliver us from the noose of the hunter and this deadly plague called Covid-19. Surely, you can cover us because your faithfulness is our shield and protection. And we shall not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrows that flies by day, nor the virus that stalks us in darkness and not even the disease that strikes at midday. Though thousands have died, no farther harm shall come near us or our families.

We shall not lack from the limited resources of man because if we stay under your hand, you’ll provide all. God, I pray covering, protection and provision for every first responder and essential employee who must work without the proper safety equipment. God, block every entry point that sickness shall not touch them or their family. I pray, through this pandemic that the world will see your power and believe. I pray we will stop taking your grace for granted.

And I still pray, like before, that no man or woman will succumb to sin, fall into depression, commit suicide, be bound by fear, hunger, thirst, become homeless nor sick. I pray we’ll trust God, seek God, hear God, feel God, taste God, trust God, pray to God, tithe to God and devote ourselves to God. For I declare that when we trust Him with all of us, He’ll be a keeper of His promises. Today God, we submit ourselves to you because we can’t survive this on our own. We’re powerless without you. Have your way, this we pray.

Amen.

This I pray in Jesus name (1)