Out Of Darkness

by Smith, Stephanie Jean

  For all of you teachers, mentors, and friends who do things just because it’s the right thing to do in situations where others would walk away, bless you for being who you are! I haven’t thought about that little girl and her sister in many years, but every once in a while God lets us know that our random acts of kindness and charitable works are never in vain.

  His Doorkeeper

  I woke up this morning with my mind intent on serving Jesus from Him I shall not stray

  I try to arrive early because I represent the church in a highly visible way

  I monitor the room’s temperature keeping you comfortable during your short stay

  I hand out programs, newsletters, and envelopes ensuring that you have a pleasant day

  I’m His doorkeeper

  I greet you with a warm smile of welcome as I direct you to a comfortable seat

  I’m glad you came to worship with us, sit back and enjoy the service you’re in for a treat

  I keep sanctuary doors closed during service time to control incoming and outgoing crowds

  I’m a source of comfort; I won’t chastise you for praising the Lord and becoming a little loud

  I’m His doorkeeper

  I stand sure and tall, for others gain strength by watching me

  I’ll be your guide throughout the service showing you the amenities

  If you’re a visiting guest, I’ll ask for your name and make you feel at ease

  I’m glad you came to our service; feel free to come again if you please

  I’m His doorkeeper

  I direct the order of service lest the pastor lose his place

  I’ll guide you to the altar where you can meditate and offer Him praise

  I gather the Lord’s tithes and offerings thanking Him for His blessings and His saving grace

  I’m His doorkeeper

  I’m usually the first to arrive and one of the last ones to leave

  I work throughout the service, and I never complain about my hurting feet

  If you become overheated, I’ll offer you a fan if you have a need

  When the spirit moves through you, I’ll hold your hand and wipe the tears from your cheeks

  I’m His doorkeeper

  For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10) I repeat this verse faithfully it’s an anthem that runs deep in my soul. It speaks of love, devotion, and a ministry that will never grow old. Lord, I thank you for the privilege of being your doorkeeper.

  Let Our Light Shine

  As a child, I watched my mother prepare for readings she would give for various church programs. She would pour over her bible, review stories both old and new and sometimes even write readings of her own. How my mother and I differ, is that she’s always prepared and on time. Unfortunately, I didn’t inherit any of these qualities. I’m usually running late and being a procrastinator of the first order I pray for Jesus to save me and I usually just shoot from the hip, a trait I got from my father.

  I write every day. Sometimes I write chapters, and some days I even finish complete stories. I had a month to prepare a reading for a church program, but I didn’t receive inspiration until 1:39 am the morning of the program. I stood washing dishes in the kitchen deciding if I would bake a treat for Sunday School or if I would grab something from the store. There’s one thing I’ve learned over the years is that you can’t force yourself to be inspired, it will either occur naturally or not at all.

  My family is meat, potatoes, and bread kind of family. This means that all of the above items have to be present during dinner. Some families only make potato salad during the summer months; however, my family considers it a year round staple. Especially my father, as long as he had potato salad and biscuits, the type of meat was inconsequential.

  For those of you who cook or bake you know that there’s nothing more tiresome than making potato salad and biscuits. First, you have to cook your potatoes and eggs, cut them up and dice the pickles before mixing it up. Sometimes I would initiate shortcuts to cut down on the prep time. Instead of cutting and dicing sweet pickles for the potato salad, I would use relish instead or replace homemade biscuits with frozen biscuits.

  I could never pull anything over my father he would eat my hastily thrown together meals, but once he finished eating, he would analyze my cooking. He would adjust his pants over his protruding stomach and praise the pork chops and steak because they were always first rate, but when he got to my potato salad and biscuits he’d shake his head and offer me a bit of advice. My father would say "Sister I didn’t taste any love in the potato salad and biscuits tonight. The pickles in the potato salad weren’t crisp and sweet. Now I have little bits of relish caught between the roof of my mouth and false teeth."

  Then he would move to offer a little advice about my biscuit surprise. "Sister the love was missing from your biscuits too, they weren’t fluffy in the centers and flaky on the top. I didn’t taste that hint of sugar that makes them blend so well." The lecture didn’t stop there he would go on and on about showing people you care by the love in the food in which you prepare.

  "Sister he’d say, money can’t buy you happiness, but love can take you to the mountain top (What does that even mean?). So tomorrow, when you make potato salad and biscuits again I want to taste the love that I didn’t receive tonight." So much for my short cut! If I had taken the time to cut and dice the pickles and just made the biscuit dough from scratch making them a fluffy delight. I could have avoided the 45-minute lecture on tasting love in the food tonight.

  We as Christians are a like love in food except we show our love for Jesus in the praise, worship, and charitable works that we do. Oftentimes instead of showing our love by thought, word, and deeds, we take it upon ourselves to analyze what others do and of course, they come up short. I’ve heard the phrase “I didn’t see Jesus in him” toss around all my life. What exactly does that mean? How do people look like they have Jesus in them? Do they have to walk a certain way, talk a certain way, or dress a certain way? If Jesus showed up right now would we recognize him, or would we dismiss him for not living up to our vision of what Jesus should be? How un-Christian like to demand from others what we cannot provide.

  There was a time when Christians would ban together for a common goal: fair housing, civil rights, voting privileges, jobs, and better schools. In my lifetime technology has taken us to the pinnacle of new heights to the point that we can’t live without: computers, cell phones, blackberries, iPads, eBooks, DVRs, game systems, and of course the internet. We have become a society that would rather send a text message to someone than pick up the phone and make a call. We'd rather send an e-mail to co-workers that sit across the aisle from us rather than speak to them face to face.

  Yes, for everything we’ve gained we lose a little of our humanity; the most divisive, destructive phrase ever inducted into the English language is “politically correct”, not only does the phrase monitor our actions it has ravished our nation. It is not politically correct to pledge allegiance to the flag in school, or pray. Christmas programs are no longer allowed; however, hate, cyber bullying, and a 30% increase in teen pregnancy are the new “norms”.

  Parents don’t want to parent anymore because they’re afraid they will alienate their children so instead they try to be their children’s friends. The other day I read a blog on LinkedIn where a mother had difficulty saying no to her children spending the night at a sleepover. Even when she dropped her children off early for the birthday party, she noticed that the adults were drinking heavily in the presence of children. She felt uncomfortable with her children being around the father of the household who appeared to be drunk. After all that evidence in front of her, she still wrestled with whether or not she should allow her two daughters to stay for the slumber party.

  Growing up I thought I had the meanest parents in the world, I was not allowed to play over someone’s hou
se unless my mother knew the family. When my mother told me “NO”, it wasn’t up for discussion or debate, no meant no, and I had to deal with it. I’m here to tell you that I have missed the before mentioned slumber party.

  Christian friends although we don’t prepare potato salad and biscuits the same way, we may have different ideas about how technology has enriched or damage our way of life, and maybe some of us need to pep up our parenting skills. As Christians, we should be able to agree that Jesus is the light of the world and worthy to be praised. Instead of looking for Jesus in others, we should work harder at becoming better Christians so that others may see the light of Jesus in us.

  Standing In Need of a Blessing

  No one can throw a bigger pity party than me. I’ve been thinking for months what did I do to deserve the misfortunes in my life. I’ve been obedient to my parents, didn’t cause any problems at school, worked and paid bills around the house, cooked Sunday dinner, graduated from college, take care of my mother, made numerous sacrifices for my family, etc. So why am I stuck at two dead end jobs suffering from brain atrophy?

  Something compelling happened to me this weekend. My church was celebrating my pastor’s appreciation, and on Saturday night I wasn’t feeling well at all. I had a sore throat, was nauseated, plus I had a headache. I sung a solo, ‘Oh How Precious’, and I didn’t feel anything, the whole time I was singing that song I was praying that I wouldn’t vomit on the choir director.

  I was totally disconnected from the service; I showed up to support my choir, but there was nothing there for me. I stayed to listen to the next choir; I also wanted to hear the message from their pastor. Nothing the choir sang or anything the pastor said touched my heart. I was sitting there daydreaming about whether I was going to bake treats for Sunday School, or buy them.

  I woke up early Sunday morning, not to get up but to lay there and contemplate the day. As I lay in bed watching TV flipping around to the various Sunday morning programs. One particular program caught my ear. The pastor on TV talked about hindering progress with our fears. Instead of putting our troubles in God’s hands we keep them and worry with them until we kill our spirit. This pastor went on to say that the unpleasant feelings we harbor bring nothing but more unpleasant feelings and depression. That if we actually trusted in the Lord, if we trusted in the Lord we wouldn’t have fear of failure, flying, drowning, and disappointing others.

  This gave me food for thought, what fears am I holding onto that are hindering my accomplishments and blocking my blessings in life. To me there’s nothing more eloquent than the written word, no matter who you are you can express yourself, dream, communicate, or be a blessing to someone all through the written word. I’ve lost count of how many books, plays, short stories I have written not so much for my pleasure but for pleasuring others. Why am I wasting that blessing and not pursuing something that would better enable me to do my first love, writing.

  Satan and his minions prey on the faint at heart, and they tear down your spirit when you don’t stand strong in the Lord and let them prey on your fears. I would have to say my biggest fear is failure. If I never submit my short stories, plays, or books I don’t have to worry about being turned down. I prayed that the Lord would remove my infirmities, and give me the strength tackle the day ahead a not be bogged down with self-pity, depression, or the fear of failure.

  I began flipping channels again and came across Bobby Jones’s morning gospel show on BET. I couldn’t believe that Kathy Taylor was on the show singing ‘Oh How Precious’. I sat on my bed and cried because I knew in my heart that song was being sung for me.

  I got up and got ready for church. My head stop hurting, my sore throat went away, and my nauseated stomach was settled. When you trust in the Lord and let him handle your troubles, you can focus on the important things in life. Attending the afternoon service wasn’t such a chore as I thought it would be, and yes I did sing ‘Oh How Precious’ at the afternoon service, but this time I was feeling what I was singing.

  I wonder if anyone could even tell the difference in how I sang that song the night before with faint spirit and that afternoon when I felt the spirit. Cast you fears aside and don’t be afraid to take that leap of faith that may lead to a special blessing in your life.