Posts Tagged ‘Lela Jefferson’

His Princess Bride – Love Letters from Your Prince by Sheri Rose Shepherd. I am so loving this book. I purchased it today (8/16/11) at Borders and have not been able to put it down. I highly recommend it!

5/28/11 I became engaged to the man of my tomorrow, today and yesterday. A man that is not only my Boaz, but also my Issac, Joseph, Malachi, Samuel and Paul. A man that has gone through the fire knowing the only reason why he is still standing is because of the God in Him, the Lord he serves and the calling on his life he must willingly and joyously bow down to. He is the man that gives me the desire to develop daily and truly into a Proverbs 31 Woman…

In 2006 there were a few factors that if I did not have a relationship (meaning a prayer life) with God I may have wanted to check out… nothing extreme like taking my own life. However if I could I would have just become invisible and just disappeared from the craziness of what was becoming my everyday routine. I had bouts with depression, my behavior and attitude changed, and not for the better. I was under a lot of pressure and more responsibilities than I would have cared to have. Yet quitting was not an option for me…

See, 2006 was the year my mother went home to be with the Lord. The job and career that I had successfully progressed in I no longer had a passion to do. In some ways my family was on the verge of falling apart and though I was the youngest I had to stand in place as if I was the eldest and make some life changing decisions. I felt as if I was back in time and was experiencing the emotions and happenings that I did when my dad past five years earlier. It was also the year that I was first offered an opportunity to work in fulltime ministry…

The big difference though the morning my mother passed I awoke for the first time with the unction to pray at 4AM first in the spirit for an hour and then in my natural language just to say…”God… no matter what people, places or things you must remove from my life in order for me to walk and be in your prefect will for it..I will not get angry with you, I so swear.”

Little did I know that promise I cried out to God in the wee hours of the morning on March 15, 2006 would be tested time and time again in the years to come…

To be continued… I welcome your comments!

Lela Jefferson – http://www.memoirsofablackgirl.com

So… you missed the mark. You sinned. You were disobedient to God’s will / His word. Now what? FYI Its okay, God already knows what you did. Will there be consequences? Sure there will be. It’s okay to go to him and talk about it and get the instruction on how to get back on track. God is God, he created you and he has given you a purpose to fulfill. But first you need to get over yourself… (YOU-R-SELF)…  relax he is waiting for you; he has made an opening just for you in his busy schedule.

Psalm 32 (The Message)

A David Psalm

¹ Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be— you get a fresh start,
your slate’s wiped clean.

² Count yourself lucky—
God holds nothing against you
and you’re holding nothing back from him.

³ When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.

⁴ The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.

⁵ Then I let it all out;
I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”

Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.

⁶ These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray;
when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts
we’ll be on high ground, untouched.

⁷ God’s my island hideaway,
keeps danger far from the shore,
throws garlands of hosannas around my neck.

⁸ Let me give you some good advice;
I’m looking you in the eye
and giving it to you straight:

⁹ “Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule
that needs bit and bridle
to stay on track.”

¹⁰ God-defiers are always in trouble;
God-affirmers find themselves loved
every time they turn around.

¹¹ Celebrate God.
Sing together—everyone!
All you honest hearts, raise the roof!

© 2011, Lela Jefferson. All rights reserved.

Exodus 34:9 (Amplified Bible)

⁹And he said, If now I have found favor and loving-kindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray You, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance.

Did you know a generational curse can be broken and become a generational lesson…? How? If it is received by a teachable heart, humble spirit, which is also willing to make sacrifices and make, changes by faith for the better.

The other day as I was entering my apartment building I was confronted with something that I had wished I hadn’t. Yet, it brought me to the point where I felt compelled to write this article. What I saw was a young girl, the daughter of one of one of my childhood playmates clearly pregnant. The reason why I wish I had not seen it was because just a generation ago, her mother had been in her shoes; under 18 and pregnant with her. Just like her mother, she was very beautiful, popular and book smart. However, again just like her mother, she had let temptations win the battle to bring her to her present state underage and having a baby out of wedlock. To be very frank, she could have been my own daughter, had I made different decisions.

My mother too had become pregnant before she turned 18 and before she was married. Not with me but with one of my siblings our ages span a difference of almost 30 years. Unlike my friend though my mother who was born in the late 1930s; grew up in foster care because of my grandmother’s early death and my grandfather’s inability to take care of his 5 children on his own. He was an alcoholic, and a World War II veteran that had his own demons. When he married my grandmother her family had disowned her. She had come from a prominent family in Barbados and my grandfather was a half black half Native American service man from Virginia.

Due to my immediate family strong influence and their desire not to see me repeat their own iniquities, instead of condemning her, I felt in my own way I needed to empower her. I find that too many times we look at how we meet a person or see them in their present state and typecast them in a sense cursing them. What I wanted to do was envision her future as bright as it could be.

For it is not my place to judge nor did I want to; in my heart and under my breathe I began to pray. First interceding that the strain of sin that seemed to still be active in her family to stop and also let loose a blessing that her child and her would finally learn the lesson and become the generations to be delivered, healed and restored from iniquity.

It only takes a generation to make a difference, and change the course of a family; you can be that generation.

© 2011, Lela Jefferson. All rights reserved.

Every time I go to Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market (116th and Lenox Avenue, Harlem NY); I have to make sure that I shop with budget and with a time limit.  This past Friday evening, I stopped by my favorite African bag designer Mr. Dam’s booth  and picked up three pieces.  My original goal was to just get one bag… but when I looked around I fell in love with three!

© 2011, Lela Jefferson. All rights reserved.

Just a week ago today was Valentine’s Day and I am still basking in the love and affection shown by my Coach.  There is something to be said about simplicity.  When you practice loving someone everyday it doesn’t take much to impress them.

Flowers die, teddy bears gather dust, but words of encouragement, sentiment that feel as real as a longing embrace and as sweet as a butterfly kiss across your cheek… are priceless!

The field is empty.   My love and I walk its length hand and hand. A ritual started during our courtship.  He replays the game to himself, play by play as I listen to the smooth timber of his baritone voice.  Our boys the twins are playing catch on the sidelines.  Both like their father play football, pee wee for now.  The stands hold echoes of the memories of fans and their cheers.  They are empty too but for the rubbish left behind from the throngs of people.  It was just a couple of hours ago when he had been given his 100^th Gatorade bathe adding another win to his impeccable record at State.

Who am I?  I am the head coach’s wife and I have held this title and that of assistant coach’s wife in different cities and at few schools through the years.  It has been eight years in the same city this time.  When my coach and I first met in high school I could have never imagined that we would end up here.  Our weekends from August to December are filled with team chapels, tailgates, pre-game warm ups, get to getters with other coach’s ladies and two hours of nail biting, and eyes closed in deep prayer.  Coordinating trips to away games, and couples’ bible study teleconference calls; other times of the year as a family going to conferences, visiting family and working on projects that could not be completed before the football season started.

Title: The Training Never Ends (Novel – In the Works)

This past Saturday evening my favorite football coach and I decided to take an alternate way back to Brooklyn from church and the City.  He is home for a least a month to spend some quality time with me, his family and friends; since the UFL’s 2010 season is over. The absolute gentleman he is, he normally rides with me via my train route to my stop and walks me to my door.  However this evening I convinced him that I would be fine if we took his train route home, since my stop is right after his.   I knew he was tired and I was attempting to be accommodating and save us some time getting home.

See, this December marks our one year anniversary as a couple officially.  We have been friends since high school and reconnected about two years ago.  December is also my birthday month, so having him so close is a present / blessing all by itself.

Being the typical New Yorker I am before we entered the train, I took a look at the signage at the token booth to see if there were any scheduling changes.  Since none were posted we paid our fares and proceed to go to the platform where our train should arrive to take us home.  However when we got there the signage stated that the express trains were running on the local track where we just had come from!

Not getting upset while he allowed me to decide which direction we were going to take and the fact that we just ran down and up two flights of steps, my love told me once again that I was a trip.  Then he just proceeds to smile, hug me and tell me he was just glad to be spending this time with me.  Talk about cool points!

In the interim of all this we run into one of my new little sisters at church.  She and I end up talking for a second.  After she and I finish our conversation my love and I finally get on a train heading to Brooklyn.  One of his other nicknames for me is social butterfly I wonder why?   In addition to all this, we had learned we would have to transfer to another train in order to arrive to our destination of Brooklyn.  When we arrived at one of the stations on our route he sees an express train and decides we should sprint for it. However, we then hear the overhead announcer telling us that all passengers would have to switch to the train we were just were on to get to the South Ferry, where we would get our free transfer into Brooklyn.  So, what do you think we do? If you guessed that the two of us sprint back to our train, giggling all the way, you would have guessed correctly.  Truly it was just a pleasure to be there and talk with him.

When we arrived at the South Ferry station, we are then told we have to leave the station and walk one block to the Bowling Green stop.  Honestly if I had been by myself walking in that pitch blackness, the outside perimeter of the Bowling Green, I would had been praying for an extra legion of angels to protect me.  The signage was horrible and the walkway not well lit.  When we arrived at what we thought was the entrance of the station, there was no transit personnel in sight.  Some of our fellow passengers used the talk box to get directions to where we had to go to get our free transfer.  It turned out to be another block away and across the street!

At the station, my love jokingly says to the station agent that they were not really trying to give us the free transfer.  Her response back to him was at least we got some free exercise.  At that point I had to remind myself that I was in fact a saved born again Christian.  The Coach however, thought he was going to have to hold me back.  He didn’t have to though I took control of my emotions   After that exchange we proceed to go to our platform and wait for our train to arrive.  At that point I did a quiet prayer for seats.  My love shook his head at me in disbelief and said he should update his Facebook status to read only the message “She prayed for seats!”  He had prayed earlier for our train to arrive in a timely fashion, so my seats prayer was to cover all the bases

Shortly thereafter our train did arrive and it was not but for one stop and I did in fact get my seat    My love on the other hand who at first laughed at me rode all the way home standing.  Who says my Lord does not provide even for the little things like seats! In the end, the train ride was one I will always remember and as you see had to write about.  My love even wants to do it again, get lost in the transit system with me on purpose go figure   Life is truly a journey, however it’s up to us to decide if its going to be a pleasurable one or one of regret.

Totally random… So I have this love, really a lust relationship going on with Reese’s peanut butter cups lately.  Well, today I went to Kmart to pick up a few items and they had jumbo bags of them on sale for $2!  In my weakness I picked up 2 bags and brought them to the office.

However,  me and God are working on something in regards to my weight and making healthier choices when it comes to my eating habits…the gym is for another blog article

Going back to the chocolate, instead of hoarding them in my desk drawer and slowly eating both bags over the course of a week, and feeling guilty for doing so, just because I got them on sale.  I decided to share both bags with my co-workers and in the process made a few new buddies.

My point in sharing this little victory is that if you don’t take the time to calculate the cost of your actions, their price in the long run may inflate to a price beyond what you thought was originally a savings.

I was wrong with my initial intentions of buying the bags of candy.  However in the end I was able to make a U-turn from the detour off the path of gaining more discipline in my life and in the process made more connections at my office vs. gaining extra pounds from a though delicious chocolate binge