At the age of seventeen, Father’s Day became a mockery to me and my faith in my Heavenly Father took a serious beating. Almost twenty-six years later, I’ve learned not to see Him with eyes handicapped with biological and situational limitations, but with the spiritual eyes that reflect the brand/receipt of His DNA.

With them, I can see that He’s all that AND a bag of chips! (Y’all know I love food.. lol). He’s enabled me to understand that He despises my act(ions) that go against His word, not me. He’s taught me that the measure of forgiveness I receive is in direct correlation to the measure I mete out. He’s enlightened me with the knowledge that forgiveness is a gift I give myself.

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Starting on Monday, June 9, 2008 thru Saturday, June 14, 2008… Read Zone Book Reviews will be hosting a Blog Tour for Allison Bottke and her latest book, Setting Boundaries With Your Adult Children!

Travel with us as we find out something new about Allison at each stop:

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The Man On His Way

Emotional
mind all over the map
angry,
affected, rejected, dejected
I almost elected
to withdraw from the fray,
caught up in patterns of yesterday
totally unrelated
nevertheless projected
negativity had its hold
your character tried
and unprotected

Rational
mind fought the good fight
God’s word to me
brought my flaws to light
no assassination
allowed on His watch
He said to me
With a gentle touch

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There is a new trend occurring in the dating world. People are finding that Internet dating is not what it’s cracked up to be. In fact, USA today found that the old-fashioned way just might be the best way. See why matchmaking, set ups and blind dates are being welcomed back as the proven way to find love.

Join the Blog Tour at my “Age is Just a Number” Blog (http://aijan.atwc1.com) on Thursday, February 14, 2008.  Get the scoop on what to do and what not to do.  Make that Valentine date the precursor to the automatic 2nd Date!

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Total Recall 1990,  The movie:

They stole his mind, now he wants it back.

What is reality when you can’t trust your memory? An Earthbound construction worker keeps having dreams about Mars. A trip to a false memory transplant service for an imaginary trip to Mars goes terribly wrong and another personality surfaces. When his old self returns, he finds groups of his friends and several strangers seem to have orders to kill him. He finds records his other self left him that tell him to get to Mars to join up with the underground. The reality of the situation is constantly in question. Who is he? Which personality is correct? Which version of reality is true?

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Reaching back into my archives to bring you a piece I wrote last year on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s Birthday.

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On this day I encourage you to read and reflect on a speech delivered five months before I was born by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a celebration of a milestone in a battle, yet also a signal that the battle is not yet over. We’ve made some progress since then, but when the baton was passed on to our generation … what did we do with it?

Did we run till our feet got blistered or sore? Did we stand up for injustices in our homes, community, churches or jobs? Or did we pass the baton without even trying?

I’ve never been in the army but I have practiced marching for my “house: Melba” while at school in the West Indies. The same synchronicity and precision was needed and the “house” was as strong or as weak as its slowest, uncoordinated or day dreaming (yes me… LOL) member.

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Yesterday I was musing on Fred Hammond’s “You are the Living Word”, “Lord Your Grace”, “No Weapon”… last night (while struggling to come up with a concept to describe an upcoming rally/outreach sponsored by our youth ministry) I heard the first cut on Kirk Franklin’s latest CD, Fight of My Life. If ever there was a title that applied to me… that was it! (no pun intended)

I have listened to it on Youtube at least twelve times already and don’t intend to stop anytime soon. Why? It speaks to me.

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Sunday Morning Reflections of the Not-Quite-So-Sick-and-Shut-in:

I was just having a conversation, in which the other party mentioned that I look better than some 30’s. Cool with me. Who doesn’t want to hear flattering things on a Sunday morning (heck any day of the week) when their sinuses are standing up and claiming new land in the name of infection and all that. But specifically I took/take joy in the irony that is involved with having a relationship with God.

Here it is… I am in the worst shape of my life, physically, (yes, I can admit that… lol. That’s the first step to addressing a problem, or, so I’ve been told) yet everywhere I turn folk are telling me how good I look and really… although I disagree… it’s not an argument I want to win… really… LOL

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With the fast approach of the celebration of Thanksgiving comes the expected question: what are you thankful for?

Each year my answer varies, but adds up to “my family and the fact that I’m still here!” Why so short you ask? Because really, I’m all about keeping it as monosyllabic as possible in order to do my part to keep the clock down and the food warm; cause invariably, there will always be someone who starts back at the year they were born and brings it forward.

This year, prompted by a thread in one of my groups, I’m putting it out there early and taking the time to elaborate a bit.

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Hi Folks,

As you may or may not know I also have my own publishing company.  I’ve been pretty quiet about it up till this point.  Why?  Because I’ve been doing my research and learning the business and deciding whether I wanted to publish the works of others or keep it strictly a family oriented enterprise.

Last fall via my Sunday Bible School class,  I had the fortune to meet a talented poet.  She’s been doing shows and writing since 1999.  I met with her and read some of her poetry and felt moved to help her make her dream come true.  So around Christmas time you will see the birth of Incremental Stages - Karen’s labor of love. 

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