Jesus…

Hello World,

Today, I just want to focus on Jesus…I love Him….He’s my Savior….He’s My Healer…He’s My Friend…

One of my favorite ways to bask in His Presence is to listen to songs that simply lift His name up…

If you’re looking for the ultimate lover of your soul, try Jesus….If you need to be saved from the cruelty of this world, try Jesus…If you need a healing, there is no other but Jesus…If you need someone who will always be a friend, it’s still Jesus…

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2: 10-11

The Vision I Had in My Head aka Debuting My New Book Cover Woo Hoo!!!

Hello World!

It’s official. I have gingerly stepped my big toe in the rapids that are the marketing and promotion of a book, and I’m hoping that I have enough stamina and skill to swim to the other side. There are so many ways that you can market and promote a book it’s easy to get overwhelmed with it all. But I believe I’m off to a very good start!  I have an awesome book cover that totally captures what I had in my head…

This is what I had in my head….This photo was taken circa 2000 on a trip with friends to the Bahamas. When I encountered this lovely one-room stone church, I knew I had to take a picture in front of it….I never knew that years later this would be the image that conveys why I wrote After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God. It’s amazing how God works because He is truly working all things together for our good —  even before we know it! When you become a Christian, it seems that the scariest part of the task is walking down that long, sometimes lonely aisle to the front of the church to meet the pastor at the altar (where you publicly confess your faith in Jesus Christ.) But once you’ve done that, you realize that it’s much more scary to try to live as a Christian in a world that is hell-bent on squelching all faith in our Creator…That’s why I love that I’m sitting at the doorway of the church, away from the altar although it is still in sight…

I submitted this photo to my publishing company, Nevaeh Publishing, when I was asked for cover art ideas, and I hoped that this image could translate into an appropriate book cover…Months later, I am elated at the result! Kudos to the graphic artist 🙂

What do you think? And if this is your first time encountering my blog, let me tell you about my book in case you want to buy it when it becomes available in February 2012!!! (I have my marketing and promotion hat on now…)

After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God is a fresh, real and relevant how-to manual for black women who desire to move past the “church speak” and into an intimate relationship with their Creator. What makes this book unique from other “relationship with God” books is that this book is written from a black perspective and spans a variety of issues typically not included in one book – from being thrice-married to leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

 As a seasoned journalist, I have interviewed black women from diverse backgrounds to discover what having a personal relationship with God is truly about – beyond the initial “come to Jesus” moment typically associated with the altar call experience. I give readers a rare, personal look into the lives of these women, identify the precepts these women used to develop a personal relationship with God given their life experiences, and create a plan for readers to craft their own relationship with the Father.

 The book includes interviews with 24 remarkable women with compelling stories such the “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd,  Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the 117th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the first woman elected to Episcopal office in over 200 years of A.M.E. history; and Valorie Burton, life coach, author and co-host on the Emmy award- winning show “Aspiring Women” and the former co-host of the national daily television program “The Potter’s Touch” with Bishop T.D. Jakes.

Any thoughts?

P.S. Again, if you have any creative marketing and promotion ideas, let me know in your comments. I’m pretty much open to anything short of skywriting the name of my book on the actual release date…but then again…lol…

P.P.S. If you happen to know the name of this little church in the Bahamas, let me know. I would love to send a letter or something to the people of this church…

Random Ramblings # 3

Hey World,

Whenever I don’t have a specific topic that I want to blog about, I opt to collect my thoughts on various issues that have captured my attention in the last few days or so…hopefully, my randon ramblings are enough to capture your attention…

1. First of all, as the world now knows, Harold Camping was wrong….the world did not end yesterday as he predicted…My question is: So are his followers going to church today? And I guess therein lies the problem, Camping should not have followers unless he is on Twitter. As his followers claim Christianity, the word of God should be their ultimate authority…as I said in my post last week about this topic, the Lord has not given us a specific date of the Rapture…That being said, a lot of people were hosting so-called Rapture parties this weekend and joked about looting the homes of people that would be raptured…I get the joke…but on the other hand, I have a feeling that many (not all) of these people make fun of regular Christians anyway, and Camping’s misguided prediction gave them a justifiable reason to unleash their latent and not-so-latent feelings about Christianity…

2. If you are a black woman in the United States, you have probably heard about the controversial posting that was quickly removed from Psychology Today’s website. The title of the posting was, “Why Are Black Women Rated Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women but Black Men Are Rated Better Looking Than Other Men?” Satoshi Kanazawa, the author of this study, attempted to his explain his findings by stating, “The only thing I can think of that might potentially explain the lower average level of physical attractiveness among black women is testosterone.  Africans on average have higher levels of testosterone than other races.” If you want more info, please go to The Root…I mean his statement brings back lonely memories of being the only black girl in my elementary school class…I felt sooo different and somehow “unpretty” as a result…Yesterday, I happened to be the only black woman running with my training group. There are other black women in the group, but they were absent for whatever reason yesterday…Anyway, as we were running in Sandy Springs, a group of white cyclists whizzed by us…Without warning, one of them said to another one, “Baby got back.” Now, if I had been in a black neighborhood, I would have taken it as a compliment. But it didn’t feel like one yesterday…R told me I should I have kicked his bike spokes…I mean what is Kanazawa thinking…Let me back on that…He could not have been thinking about how mean-spirited his words are…Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…everyone knows that…I did not like my shape as a child, but God gave me what many people try to get through surgery…

3. My line sister never let go of her dream of going to medical school although she has had some obstacles and challenges along the way. And today, she is graduating from medical school!!! I’m so proud of her, and later today, my line sisters and I will be there to cheer her on! Go Desert Rain (her line name)!!! You did that!!!

4. After having a conversation with a friend yesterday, I realized that I have taken the strength of single women for granted. And at the same time, I never realized about how good it can feel it to have that mate in your corner to support you…Without mates, my friends and I have managed to accomplish many things including: buying a home, climbing the corporate ladder, starting a business, etc….But I’m starting to take notice of how nice it is to have someone other than your parents to get feedback from about how your life can unfold as you pursue your purpose and dreams…With all that said, my main supporter and cheerleader is the Lord God Almighty! God is my source, and I thank Him for putting certain people in my life as resources…

5. I’m gonna miss Oprah…And I cannot believe I’ve never been to the show…I should have tried harder…Her show has been a true blessings to countless people…And her life has been a testimony to the strength, brilliance, power and beauty of black women…A true Shero among us…(Aside: It would have been nice to have been featured in her book club…)

6. I’ve always joked on St. Patty’s Day saying, “kiss me I’m black Irish!” … When I visited Stratford-upon-Avon (the birthplace of Shakespeare) years ago, I discovered that my last name is actually Scottish. There was a place there where you could look up your roots and what not…So anyway, since  Scottland and Ireland are so close together, I could have distant Irish cousins as well…I know, I know – it’s a long shot…But as it turns out, President Obama is actually “black Irish” as it has been proven that his mother’s side of the family are from there…He will actually be visiting his ancestral home on Monday, according to the BBC News…

7. The world may not have ended yesterday, but if our weird weather is any indication of when the Lord will return, it may not be that much longer…First of all, several months ago, the A was blanketed in snow, and then last week, we had three back-to-back cold days…So glad it’s going to be hot day…

So that’s all….

Any thoughts?