DEEP WATERS

What makes a Momma? Is it biology? Carrying a child in your womb? Giving birth to a baby boy or girl? Well yes of course. Biology and shared genes definitely make a mom a mom. And having given birth to two precious babies myself, I am grateful that God chose us women to carry and nurture life. But there's so much more that makes a mom a mom.  Let's take a look at the many ways we women become mommas and mommas-at-heart... A mom is the woman who gave birth to her third biological child (just today) while raising her two really young sons alongside two foster babies that joined their family months ago. A mom is the woman who went back and forth to Haiti to fight to bring her daughters home. A mom is the white woman who traveled all the way to Sierra Leone, Africa to adopt her beautiful, brown twin girls. A mom is the black woman who traveled all the way to Moscow, Russia to adopt her beautiful brown baby boy. A mom is the woman who opened her home and heart to...

Hey everybody! Remember me? I haven't been here in over a year. And I won't waste your time with all the reasons why. I will say the underlying reasons are: 1. I am really busy with family and ministry work 2. As much as I love writing, I have spent almost a year and a half telling myself that I'm too busy to get it done (See reason #1) And the thing is this... A quick survey of the current state of my home would reveal a kitchen sink full of dirty dishes, baskets of laundry to put in dresser drawers and floors needing to be cleaned and vacuumed. (I did manage to thoroughly clean my bathroom this weekend, so all hope is not lost...) Anyway, since I don't see life getting any less busy, I've decided to apply my butt to the seat* and commence writing here again. But enough about my blog reunion and on to why I'm here... For about a year now I have had a book idea, and since I haven't begun writing yet, today it remains just that - an idea...

TODAY is MLK Day. The day we honor and remember a great man in our nation's history. A man who lived, fought and died for the freedom of African Americans and all people. TODAY I celebrate this man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And to celebrate Dr. King and his legacy I'd like to share a few more things that have happened TODAY. TODAY I sat on a pew in one of Franklin, Tennessee's historic African American churches and listened to some amazing gospel music and powerful testimonials. TODAY I stood up in that pew and applauded the spoken word shared and raised my hands to some soul-stirring songs like God is  and Every Praise . TODAY I marched with my husband, my children and a large group of people through the streets of Franklin. A mixed group full of black folks, white folks, Latino folks and native American folks. TODAY we dreamed of unity and justice. The same dreams of Dr. King. And I also made a really fun discovery... TODAY I found a school assign...

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But... This holiday season, it seems I just keep hearing about one sad situation after another. Here's a sampling of a few: A teen girl struggling with life-altering anxiety and depression A young mom of two beginning chemotherapy after undergoing a double mastectomy A mom of two adopted kids out of work and facing the threat of homelessness And the very worst of all... The mama whose mental illness and hopelessness led her to take her own life - just weeks before Christmas. The holidays can be a wonderful time filled with faith, family and fun.  The holidays can also be a difficult time, a time when problems magnify, at least in our own minds.   What makes matters worst is that it's also a time we assume we should be happy and joyful. After all, Christmas is a time that we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. We sing... Joy to the World, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! We sing beautifu...

While my heart has been stirred towards community impact and development in recent years, I just read a book that spoke to my heart in a powerful way. Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton is a gamechanger for real. I don't have time to share every single point of this book, and you certainly don't have time to read every single point either, but I just have to share a few highlights. First of all, this book is for anyone who has the desire to effect change in his or her local community. It's for anyone who wants to see people living in poverty empowered, children being taught in substandard schools enfranchised and disintegrated families restored. This is the change I want to see in my local community, in all 50 states of America, and all over the world. This is the change you want to see too, I'm sure. However, there is an enemy that's been working against this kind of family and community empowerment that you might not know about . At the heart of this enem...

Last weekend my family and I watched STEP , a powerful documentary featuring a group of high school seniors from a public charter school for girls in Baltimore City. Directed by Amanda Lipitz, Step follows the real life story of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women's step team and the graduating seniors from the team. The poignant portrayal led to an award at the Sundance Film Festival, and after watching it, I concur. Disclaimer: Of course I'm a little partial to this story since Baltimore (pronounced Bal-de-more by natives - LOL) is my hometown. However, anyone with a heart for young people, for education and for witnessing others receive a "hand-up" in life would be inspired by this story. Now before I list the reasons YOU should find this movie and watch it too**, I'll answer a question some of you might have right now... What is a step team anyway??? I'm so glad you asked! A step team is similar to a dance or jump rope team. Popu...

So... there's no denying one thing about me. I am a huge advocate for vulnerable children. This advocacy has led me to work for schools that serve lower income children, nonprofit ministries and today as coordinator for my church's adoption and foster care ministry. It's led me to lead workshops and panels and write many, many blog posts about adoption and foster care. It's also led me to become an adoptive momma. Okay so... I'm kind of a fanatic about this issue. So you can imagine my surprise and joy last year, when I viewed the first episode of one of my favorite shows and was immediately pulled into an amazing adoption story. For me the storyline of Randall, the adopted son of the leading characters in This Is Us , has brought the issue of adoption to prime time - finally. For a girl that grew up on the '80s sitcom  Different Strokes , that featured two black boys adopted by a wealthy white guy, I think a story like Randall's is overdu...

I've been thinking about one word a lot recently... LEGACY. My thoughts can be traced to a recent event in my life. This past week I spent time in my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. I traveled home for my Uncle Alvis's funeral on this past Monday. His funeral was one of the most precious I've ever attended. The room was filled with people whose lives have been touched one way or another by Uncle Alvis. Family members, colleagues, neighbors, fellow church members -- we all crammed into his A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) church home to reminisce and illuminate a life fully lived. My uncle spent his life serving college students as a professor in the School of Social Work at Howard University in Washington D.C. (my alma mater, by the way - HU!!!). As the president of Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina for a short time. As a member of the peace corps in Liberia, West Africa (which my family and I visited when I was only 4 years old). As a social activis...

DACA... Also known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. There's been a lot of talk on both sides about DACA recently. The loudest voice has been that of President Trump, who this past week rescinded the DACA program, charging Congress with the task of creating policy to fix the program. I could say so much about this. I could list the many scriptures that encourage us to welcome and care for the alien, stranger or immigrant, depending on your favorite translation of the bible. In fact, according World Relief Global ... "The Bible has a lot to say about immigrants and immigration. In fact, the Hebrew word ger , the closest word to our concept of an immigrant, appears 92 times in the Old Testament alone." I could also quote what pastors, leaders, politicians and entertainers are saying about DACA.  Again, there's so much I could say about this issue. But today, I'll keep it short by sharing a poem I saw hanging on the walls of Th...

Hurricane Harvey is a national tragedy.  If you're like me, you've watched the footage through tears - footage of ravaged homes, destroyed landscapes and lost lives. Raising four children of my own, I struggled to watch an interview with the mom who lost four children in Harvey. My heart breaks for her and so many others. Yet I had a thought while watching the many Texans that stepped up to the call to help their fellow Texans during the storm and in its aftermath... Hurricane Harvey might be a wake up call. I believe Hurricane Harvey, and tragedies like it, could be a wake up call for a nation that's becoming more and more polarized. You see this polarization everywhere... CNN, Fox and MSNBC news. Our Twitter feeds. And should I even mention the vicious comments and fights on Facebook these days? Just name the topic, and folks are fighting over it - Black Lives Matter, Civil War monuments, immigration, Alt-right marches and demonstrations, and on and on... G...

There's a movement rising up... A movement that will address a huge issue in the US.  An issue that affects over 400,000 children each year. 400,000 plus children and teens. That's more than the population of New Orleans.  The issue?  Foster care. For many years now, Christians around the world have dedicated one Sunday a year to address the issues of orphans around the world. This Sunday is Orphan Sunday - dedicated to the over 140 million orphans around the world. I've been blessed to participate in Orphan Sunday in my local church for many years now. I love speaking about this issue. I love calling the Church to rise up and "defend the cause of the fatherless". Well this year a new movement has begun.  It's a movement to call the Church to continue to rise up for orphans - the "orphans" in our cities, our communities, our own backyards. The local "orphan". We know them as foster children. I...

In July I shared a post titled "The US Racial Divide - Where Do We Begin?"  that began with these words, "This week was one of the most discouraging in our country in some time." I wrote this post in the aftermath of glaring racial tensions around the country. In the aftermath of several African American men gunned down by police officers. In the aftermath of police officers being murdered in the same city streets they had sworn to protect and serve. Since that posting, there have been more mass shootings, more hatred and more racial tensions in our country. More lives have been lost in senseless violence. We are a long way from solving these issues. Yet today I wanted to share some good news in the midst of all the horrible. Last week I was excited to share a perspective of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games that I'd heard bits and pieces of leading up to the Games. I love a wonderful foster care or adoption story, so in "Foster care and the Olympics...

I LOVE the Olympic Games - both the winter and summer games. Every two years, I'm captivated by the national pride, physical strength, mental endurance and emotional resilience of the athletes from all over the world. Last night I sat captivated while watching the Olympics opening ceremony. Brasilians* are beautiful, spirited and warm people, and I fell in love with Brasil over a decade ago when my son Kalin and I served orphans and vulnerable children on a mission's trip there. Another love of mine - following the lives of former foster children. My heart is always moved to hear the stories of people - young and old - whose lives began with so much stacked against them. Inevitably, while hearing the "how did they get here?" stories shared during the Olympics trials, I've discovered some amazing Olympians whose lives have been touched by foster care and/or adoption in some way.  And you know I had to share...  Simone Biles ~ Gymnastics This 4-...

Yesterday my heart was so grieved over the tumultuous events throughout the week, that I felt I had to share my heart here. So I posted The Racial Divide: Where Do We Begin? yesterday, hoping to encourage us as Brothers and Sisters in Christ to love one another well during these times. Love digs deep. Love is costly. Love calls us to live not only for our own benefit and welfare, but for the benefit and welfare of others. Yesterday I felt called to call us all to LOVE one another during these times. It's what I believe our Father expects of us, now more than ever. Today, I feel called to inspire us to do one more thing. This is perhaps the most important thing we can do right now. This is perhaps the real starting point. I believe I took it for granted that God's people were already doing this. I took for granted that it didn't need to be said. Then I read a Facebook post from a man I call my "Big Bro". His words were poignant and powerful. His words...

This week was one of the most discouraging in our country in some time. Sure we've lived through deadlier weeks - soldiers falling while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, 9/11, the Boston Marathon Massacre... And yet there's something that darkens the heart and minds of Americans when we witness fellow citizens - especially our young African American males - gunned down in the street and during routine traffic stops.  There's something that oppresses the human psyche when w e witness police officers, charged with the oath to protect and serve , gunned down and murdered by a gunman motivated by hatred and racism. (And as a military veteran that served in Afghanistan, possibly out of mental illness and PTSD.) There's something hugely wrong about weeks like this... And yet we are a resilient people. We have persevered through many difficult times. We have stood together and marched together, hand-in-hand, in solidarity of heart and mind. We can ...