Ministry Time Again - Tribute to Beignet!

We are preparing for our ministry trips and are scheduled to speak in three different cities at "Youth Rallies" this summer with Maranatha Youth Ministries, our 501(3c) non-profit organization for youth.

We needed an updated picture for advertisements so Roux took this pic of us. It turned out pretty nice..... no need to pay an expensive photographer when we have our very own in house photographer.

Both Roux and Praline take part in our speaking engagements. Roux is in charge of the PowerPoint presentation, set-up, videography and photography. Praline is our "special music," she sings before and after Beignet speaks.

It is so rewarding to minister to young people, they seem to be interested in what Beignet has to say. We've humbly received many letters from youth indicating they were on the verge of suicide before hearing his/our message and afterwards they have a glimpse of hope to carry on past their trials. Some are just thankful to know that blessings come in all forms of hope. How sad to have adult trials during teenage years, these should be the most fun times. I remember being a youth and I have never experienced half of what our youth experience today.

I know the Lord has given Beignet a special gift and testimony to share with many and he is obedient enough to accept the responsibility of Gods mission for his life.

I am so honored to be blessed with such a wonderful husband and there is no other I would rather spend my life with. Let me share a little of what I mean when I say Beignet has been obedient to the Lord of this earth:

• After playing 5 years in the NFL he turned down his 6th year contract with the Washington Redskins because of his spiritual conviction of the Sabbath. Praise God, he played long enough to get his pension and came out of the league healthy. Thus, our ministry was born.
• He went back to school and completed his degree at Southern Methodist University because he was drafted before finishing and did not feel comfortable encouraging youth to go to school without completing his own degree.
• After graduating he received a "very" nice offer from a global beverage leader and worked for them for two years with all the perks, then decided it was not fulfilling his desire to help the youth of our community. So, he decided to resign. (I accepted his vision and encouraged him the whole way...it was tough though cause that $$$ were real good)
• After resigning, he stayed home with the kids for the summer and applied/prayed for a job working with youth. When the kids started school he was offered a job as a Juvenile Probation Officer and when he received the call it was as if he had a offer from a Bill Gates himself. That's when I really realized his heart is in helping youth. (lol, ok, forget the $$$)

Today, he is a administrator in the alternative school system where 10 - 19 year olds are plagued by drugs (Cheese), unstable homes and consistent disruptive behavior. He is not your usual drill Sargent he is humble, kind spirited and a gentle giant. He really seeks to provide guidance so that his students know and understand that they do not have to accept the troubled demons of their current and past situations.

This is just a short synopsis of who my Beignet is, there is so much more but I would have to post everyday to share with you the one I adore so much. God is constantly blessing us and I must uplift Him because he has never allowed us to go without necessities or pleasures of life. Beignet is my friend, the man of my life, second to God of course and I am truly grateful for him.......

There is not much in this post about my locks and I had no intentions on sharing this part of my life but this is where I was lead. Hope you enjoyed reading about my blessing!

Newly Natural

After church on Sabbath a buddy and I stood in the parking lot talking about her new natural experience. She is a Police Officer (don't let her size & looks fool ya, sistah can be brutal) and loves what her beautiful hair is doing. I must take a small amount of credit for her going natural because one day she indicated that she was thinking of going natural.....humph.....ya'll know me.....I zoned right in on the encouragement.

She cut all of her perm off and it's been one year into her natural journey! Who know's, locks could be next but I enjoyed my natural hair for nine years before moving into the lock stage. If she does not go the locking route, I'll just be happy watching her enjoy her God given hair!

Meet My Adventist Sisterlock Sister

I so regret that I wasn't able to get to talk with Dr. Naijean Bernard like I had planned to, as she puts it, "The brunch was like sensory overload, in a good way! So much to see and do. " Naijean drove down from Austin, TX by herself to meet and socialize with the DFW Gals!

Naijean has been locked since January 10, 2004, about 2 years, 10 months. She works as a psychologist for the State of Texas, and in the process of studying for her licensure examination.

There are many things she likes about her Sisterlocks. The main thing is the freedom. When she had a relaxer, she says, "going to the salon was enjoyable due to the social atmosphere, but it was not time effective or a wise way to spend money." When she last had a relaxer, the charge was about $60 for a touch-up, every 6 weeks. Now, she can retighten my own hair, at her own leisure, for free! Viewing everyone's blogs makes her want to start styling her hair more often. I usually just wear it straight and still loves the style. (Keep up the good blog work my blog buddies!)

We also share a common faith as a Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA), Naijean grew up a SDA in the Washington DC area and went to SDA schools up until college. She also attended a HBCU (Howard) and then a public university (So. IL Univ) for graduate school. It really wasn't until graduate school that she developed a personal relationship with God for herself. "I guess being away from everything familiar on the East Coast and my support system made me rely on God more. " She recently moved to Texas from Maryland and looking for her niche in terms of church ministry.

Hope to see more of you Naijean!

Sabbath Worship in Harlem

Many of you know that I am a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, my buddies and I took time to attend service on Sabbath morning at Ephesus. This visit meant a lot to us because of its rich history.

The Gothic-inspired Reformed Low Dutch Church of Harlem (later, Second Reform Church of Harlem) was designed in 1885-87 by architect John Rochester Thomas and built of Ohio sandstone. Careful inspection of the facade's lower level reveals carved corbel details a mysterious man with a mustache between the doors. The truncated chimney-like steeple, a victim of a fire that destroyed the church's original interior, makes the it visible for blocks up and down the Boulevard. Booker T. Washington gave a sermon at Ephesus and the famous Boys Choir of Harlem was founded here in 1968.

One of our personal convictions is that we do not buy or sell on Sabbath so we had a wonderful time at church service and then did some site seeing....

Natural Adventist Church Family

I attend the a Seventh Day Adventis Church and it's so uplifting to be part of such a wonderful group of people who promote accepting the design the Lord has made each of us. We have many natural people that are members of my church family and I wanted to highlight several but couldn't get to as many as I wanted because the holidays have rolled around it's difficult to get everyone together. I'll try later next year but for now here are a couple of my brothers. (I forced them to take this picture) They love their locks and are always encouraging others to go natural and/or lock. Both have lovely locks and I can't wait to get where they are.

In case some of you are wondering, Seventh-day Adventists are a group of people that believe Jesus is the Son of God, trust in the Holy Bible, worship on God's original Seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), and believe in God's health laws so that we do not defile our temples of the Holy Spirit. Our church is made up of individuals and each has different ideas, different ways of doing things and different ways of saying things. But even within such diversity, strong common threads of belief run through every Seventh-day Adventist heart. It's what makes the church unique and Seventh-day Adventists happily share the princples of His kingdom with others. We desire to live our own lives as a demonstration of Christs character. People from any race, creed, ethnic orgin, background or religion are invited into the fellowship of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. And seeing people accept Jesus Christ and His Word is what helps to keep the mission alive! Ok, sometimes I get a little excited talking about my church family, I digress..back to natural hair.

Ironically, we all wore lots of black last Sabbath, we are a little washed out but I really wanted to highlight my natural sisters and I used this pic anyway. This is only a small number of us natural gals and here we range from ages 9 - 58. Yes, one of the ladies in the picture is actually 58! We have such a wonderful time worshipping together and often times we get too carried away talking about our natural hair, styles, products, new ideas, challenges, well you get the point.

I often think back, hummmm now that I'm thinking; wow it has actually been 10 years instead of eight that I have been natural. Time really passes when you are having fun. So, what I was thinking was, who would I be if I had not gone natural? I don't really want to know because this journey has been so gratifying and self defining that it's made me accept the true LaChanda. And for that, I am eternially thankful to thank God for being my shepherd, for leading me beside the still waters and restoring my soul!

Peace to ya!