Back to Basics

It is always a pleasure when the youth and young adult are doing good things. Today (Sunday), I went to Wilson Park Christian Community Church on York Road to see my friend Elder Shawn Pendergrass preach. Shawn started out as my supervisor five years ago and soon became my office mom (strange since she's only a few years older than me!) and now just a good ole friend!!! I love Shawn. She's a woman of God. She's a special young lady and the youth of her church know it too and asked her to give them a word.

Today's blog is not about Shawn though. As I sat there at her church I noticed there were more youth present than the last time I was there. But the young lady acting as the worship leader for the day and Pastor Ushry said some things that brought back warm memories for me. They spoke on how we need to direct our children and guide our children and teach our children. These are big words DIRECT, GUIDE, TEACH. They're really lost words in today's world. But the young worship leader said it was because of her mother and maybe somebody else's mother that brought her to where she was today. In addition to God, I'm sure. But the humans in your life really do impact who you become.

Yes, there are some traits I have that I can blame on my mother. Things she did to enable bad habits in me. But it was all the other good things that I thought about while sitting in church today. I remember my dad not having but a seventh grade education but that didn't stop him from asking me everyday "you got your lesson done". EVERYDAY. Telling me to stop wanting to be a part of "foolishness" as he called it....never quite understood why "foolishness" was his way to describe everything. But my sister and I knew what he meant !!! When I got my first job, it was understood that to keep it I had to keep my grades up.

When I played outside, I may have been down the street or even around the corner, if I dared to try my luck that day !!! But there was always someone outside watching....Ms. Loretta that lived across the hall, Ms. Margarite that lived on the first floor, Big Sport, Little Sport, Ms. Margie....somebody was always watching out for the children....all the children, everybody's children. And they had no problems correcting you and then taking you to your own apartment and standing there while YOU told your parents what they just caught you doing. At church when I was young it was any of the four generations of Andersons, Rev and Mrs Wilson, Mrs Ferguson, Ms Boyd and a whole lot more. These ladies and gentleman watched the children in the church. You 'bet not' let them see you cutting up in the House of the Lord.

I say all this to say it was those village people that helped shape the adult I am today. Each one of those people in some way MOLDED me, TAUGHT me, GUIDED me. We're missing that today. We live on the same street for 5, 10, maybe even 20 years and don't even know our neighbors, their names, their children. Nothing. The police can come and you don't have a clue who's house they're speaking of. People can be dressed in black, in mourning, having a repass at their house and you don't even know who to say you're sorry they lost. And that's if you say anything at all. You're probably fussing about your parking spot being taken.

But today, I was truly encouraged. Not just by my friend's preaching but seeing the children singing their hearts out and giving praise through dance. I could tell that somebody was working early to mold those children. We don't have the same schools we had when I was their age. I didn't go to a rec center after school and now our children are losing that option due to budget cuts. We need to get back to being a village and taking care of each other's own. It's not your child or my child but OUR child. As long as your values and expectations are in line with mine, then we can raise my child together. We can raise your child together. We need to get back to being neighborly and stop being strangers. We need to get back to PARENTING our children and not being their friend. My mother and father were never my friends. Even at 34, my mom is still my MOTHER and not my friend. Things I do and say in the presence of my friends are not done and said in the presence of my mother. My friends respect my mom like she were their own and I the same.

Our children are our future. They will be the ones writing these blogs when I have graduated. Yes I'm claiming it cause the topic of Shawn's sermon said THERE ARE NO LIMITS !!! There are no limits because someone taught me and guided me long time ago and we need to do the same for our own children, our neighbors children, our nieces and nephews and grandchildren. Show them the same love that one person showed you that changed you. You have the power to change someone. We need to teach this to our children like we used, like our parents used to.

Remember there are NO LIMITS !!

Until next MONDAY, stay blessed.