Black City Chick In The Northwoods Of Wisconsin

"Excuse me miss, are you hiring? " That was me over 10 years ago asking a convenience store manager of the North woods of Wisconsin for a job which I was blessed to get on the spot. The scenery was so different from the City of Chicago. No ghettoness except for country ghetto I suppose but no city gangbangers and prostitutes on street corners. And I was happy to see such friendliness in a town that hasnt changed much. There are some in each nationality that are full of hate in the cities at least where I come from, and they all have their groups and their little corners of the world that they dont want to share. I hated it, I didn't want to be apart of such ignorance and discrimination. Everyday there was shooting which I witnessed quite a bit and that grieved me in my soul. 

 

But I made it out by the grace of God because he knew I was not happy and he knew what I needed. When I made it here to this small town of less than 4000 people I was relieved and had no idea God was setting the scene for my life. My husband which was my boyfriend at the time and his brother was recruited for basketball scholarships. I was happy to see him leave the city and get a less distracted education. However, I was sad because the only person really loving me was leaving me. I had my own college to attend but Id rather be with Him. Marlon, My husband is a sweet, gentle Godly man who loved me like no other and I him, and I wasn't about to let him out of my site too long.

After a year of collage, Marlon came back for a couple of weeks and then was headed back to work the basketball camp for kids to make some extra money. I was not happy. " I'm going with you " I demanded " you're not leaving me again " I shouted. And so it was, I packed my things and went to live with the bears, coyotes, skunks, mesquitos, country folks, hillbillies, farmers, Mennonites, Amish, and rednecks, and I loved it! It sort of reminded me of " Little House On The Prairie " I love that show, and my family and I watch it all the time on dvd. I have to tell you though, these are a great bunch of people God put in our path.  

 

1999 is the year I came to Wisconsin, and I was so ecstatic to transfer my college credits and be here full time with the love of my life. In the beginning of the school year We were introduced by another college student to a attend a bible study in the library. Prior to that, Marlon and I had been considering changing our lives spiritually because we were convicted about having sex before marriage and didn't want to go to hell. So now here we are with answered prayers for a change and attending Thursday night bible studies. We also attended Sunday services of an apostolic Pentecostal church that was on fire for God and I loved it. Despite what anybody thinks of this church and my own personal beliefs I love being apart of such a wonderful group of Holy Ghost filled believers.

On October 31,1999 Marlon and I and the basketball coach were all baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins. We received Jesus as our personal savior. On December 12th of the same year We became Husband and Wife. We were one. A year went by and while Marlon was still finishing his last year of school I quit out of boredom to run my own daycare. Later, I became pregnant with our first baby. I was sad to realize that I wasn't going to be 135 lbs anymore but it was worth it. I enjoyed being active and pregnant, riding four wheelers and taking long walks. That's the one thing I couldn't really enjoy in the cities was walking by myself. There is nothing wrong with the city but where I came from there was a lot wrong with it and I wasn't about to raise my baby there. What I love most about the country was being able to see the moon and the stars so clear you can reach out and touch em. No smog, no sky risers... just me, God and the stars. 

 

Marlon and I were convinced after he received his degree, it was our calling to be here. God had a purpose and we were open to it. He has blessed us with two more beautiful babies, friends, church family and a home we can call our own. We are definitely blessed! Marlon drives the church bus on Wednesday nights and he is also the church treasurer and jail chaplain. Together we teach Wednesday night bible study for the 9-12 year old's and I am also the church drummer 8 years running (a gift, never played before, never had lessons). We both work for Wal-mart going on 3 years. We don't need a lot of money to be happy, but you will never be able to tell we are poor because he has blessed us abundantly. We have friends that think we have a lot of money because we are always smiling and kind others. Others wonder how we make it on Wal-mart wages, I just chuckle and give glory to God.


Wisconsin is my home. I love everything about Wisconsin. The fairs, the rodeos, the people, the Mardi Gras, the animals, the country fields, the green bay packer lovers (not me) that looks ridiculously silly in those cheese hats. The country air, and fresh smell of country fried steak, the small businesses, the friendliness, and yes stinky farms. The pumpkin patches,The fresh fruit and veggies from local farmers, the hunters, and snowmobiles. Backyard bomb fires with the guitar playing and friends singing together. The smell of fresh fire wood burning in the fire places of cozy winter homes. This is the Northwoods that I love.

Should Christians Be Baptized In Water or Sprinkled?

This question might pull a tooth with some Lutherans and Catholics and others who follow the sprinkling trend, but it is a question we should come to terms with when it comes to our salvation. We ought to take the whole counsel of God not just hand pick what fits our lives. God also says that no scripture is of no private interpretation. Now the bible says in Mark 16:16 that "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." and Acts 8:36-37 says "Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." In Acts 2:38 Peter commands us to be repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. There are so many scriptures that points out the obvious fact that baptisms must take place, but are the scriptures referring to the gentiles as well as the Jews? Let's examine this.
The bible states in Matthew 28:19 that the disciples must "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost". Is this scripture only talking about the "nations" of Israel or the Nations of the entire world? Lets take another look... Since it was Jesus in the flesh that brought the command to their attention, and it is Jesus that took on the sacrifice for the sins of the world not just the sins of the Jews, then it is this same Jesus that spoke of the world, and to the world. The Jews were no longer the focal point of grace, it is the world that is at the point of grace and salvation is for all who want it. So now we established who Jesus was referring to now lets try to examine if this baptism is really an important factor in the plan of salvation. In John chapter 3, a pharisee named Nicodemus spoke to Jesus bout the miraculous things he had been performing and thought that he might be more that what meets the eye. But Jesus replied to him saying "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." So what is "born again"? Jesus goes on to say that you must be born of the water and of the Spirit. Nicodemus ask about being born again in the mothers womb because it didn't quite make since to him at that point. Jesus explains by saying "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." So being born again is very important because it puts you were you are safe from the hell and torment and most importantly you get to be with Jesus. If being born again is vital than baptism is vital because it is half of what is takes to be born again. Now obviously it takes some more than that to get into heaven but being but being born of the water and of the Spirit is very essential to kick things off. It marks obedience of God word. Now back to the question at hand.... Are we to be baptized in (immersed) water or sprinkled upon? We all know John the baptist baptized Jesus right? So how did John do it? The bible says "and Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water : and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him." So now, we have discovered a truth in the scriptures and there is no denying the fact about how we are to be baptized. Baptism also signifies being buried with Christ, in Romans 6:4 it states... "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." So in conclusion from Jesus himself.... "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." So follow in the steps of Jesus because everything he did was an example of how man should live then and now. "God bless!

Prophetic Dreams 2

Had another dream. This time it was a black man walking through a crowd a angry Christians in an attempt to get away. This man had a white turban on his head. The angry Christians noticed him seconds later and began to chase him to kill him. It seemed as though they had caught him and killed him but it wasn't him it was a look alike. The black man with the turban got away.

This man was suppose to be the cousin of a Christian woman looking on at what was happening. After that, the dream jumped to another scene where the man who I'm assuming was a Muslim had a brother who was trying in entice the woman to go through this tunnel that was really small and looked like it would suffocate her. She immediately said no! she saw a better way to go. The reason for this is because the same angry "Christian" mob who chased the black man with the turban on his head started to chase her. I remember wondering why they were chasing her and the thought came to me in the dream that they were not real Christians. She still ran the other way at the risk of being chased by the angry mob until the brother of the man with the turban on his head pssst her and said "come this way".

Then she was in sort of an apartment with him. she looked out of the window and saw an angry leopard pacing back and forth ready get her when she came out. The man said to her if you want to get pass the leopard you have to look like them first. She was wondering how in the world would she look like them. Then there was a voice talking to her which I'm not sure if it was the man talking her or not, but the voice said you don't have to change, don't be afraid because this world would be destroyed by fire. The dream was over after that. I assuming the leopard was the angry "Christian" mob that wasn't really Christians. 

Please don't criticize this dream or me for having it. Everyone has dreams, but a lot of the times mine has some kind meaning to it. I thought that instead of keeping it to myself I would share, thanks for reading, God bless!

Prophetic Dreams 1

Today I had a dream that I was in Chicago in someone's house, not sure who's house but the the owners were not there. They had a pet, an exotic black and white striped young male tiger! It scared the heck out of me and I didn't trust it at all. It tried to bite me so I chased it out of the house. My uncle caught it and gave it to my grandmother for a pet and said it was harmless. 

Before the tiger tried to bite me, it appeared to be charming and harmless but in the dream I knew better, because I seriously don't like tiger or lions because I dream about them a lot. This tiger was cunning and wasn't what it appeared to be and that's why I chased it out.

After my uncle gave my grandmother the tiger I screamed at him and said no why did you do that? it's going to eat her! Then I saw that while she was sleeping the tiger was creeping up to her bed, then the dream was over.

Disconnection Detection

Hello!.....hello!!.....hello!!!....I can't hear you!!!! Sounds familiar? You're talking on the phone outside and without realizing it you begin to walk or drive away from the source of reception or things like trees on building get in your way and causes you to loose reception momentarily. Ever felt that way about your relationship with God? I certainly have. One day our communication with God could be going very well and the next thing you know we let things get in our way and disconnect us from God. For most it's temporary and unfortunately for some it is permanent. We tend to walk away from him without realizing the danger of it. We can not allow ourselves to be pulled away from Him and loose our life line, our reception to Christ. God said he will receive us unto himself, his arms are open wide, His ears are on call to hear our prayers. If we walk too far away and get crowded with the cares of this world we will soon be loosed from the reality that we are lost and separated from God. And until we get back to the source of reception we will not hear Him. We cannot afford to loose the call from God. We all have a call from Jesus and we will never know what it is unless we listen.

One other example of being disconnected from God is when we are not charged. When a phone is constantly on but never charged it will soon loose power until recharged again. If it is never charged again the battery will go dead.  Nowadays we don't have to throw away dead batteries, we can recycle them. Even ink cartridges can be recycled so that it is refilled with ink. This is the good news! There are a lot of us that can be recycled. Holy ghost filled Christians can get drained and should to be refilled to be able to fight against the wiles of the devil. But Why wait to be drained, we should be charged and filled with his spirit everyday. Don't let the devil, that old life sucker drain you, keep yourself armed at all times. Church, bible study groups, reading our bibles daily, prayer, fasting are all examples of being recharged, so surround yourself with people who love God.
We should be charged to be able to win souls for Christ and keep our connection with one who created us.

God bless you,
Shonell

Total Recall

I can't tell you how many times I have failed and life seemed to stop me in my tracks. Depressed, unable to function and wanting to hide my head in a hole in the ground. I needed a total recall in my life, a moment where God takes me back and transforms me, fixes me, perfects me. I had too many defects in my life, things that caused me pain and trouble. There was nothing and no one that could have fixed it but Christ alone. It's not that He created me imperfect but I have made a path for myself at times that disconnected me from him. I was putting my self on auto pilot and there was no control. We are like automobiles, when something goes wrong with us we need a fix, we need help. Auto owners call on the auto repairman to fix the problems but we pay a price for it and often times we pay more than we should. Everyday automobile companies recall cars to be fixed for free. When we are sick in anyway we go seek professional help, and whether it be a Medical Doctor, a Psychiatrist, or a Psychologist we pay for it. When Jesus recalls us, he calls us to help for free because the price has already been paid. Did you notice that when we go to so these called professionals we sometimes end up with either the same issue or with more problems than what we had before.  And we pay for it. God has an endless supply of solutions to our problems, answers to our questions, and restoration for our souls to make us new again. So let God put you on recall and come back to the great physician, the great creator of us all.

Object of your transformation

God often uses peoples ugly ways to transform us into what he wants us to be in him, whether it be patience or love or even humbleness. Until God is satisfied with the results, meaning we finally get what he's asking of us, the things that bug us the most will continue to be victorious over us. Becoming like Jesus in attitude and love no matter how hard it is to be humble to an "ugly" person or how hard it would be to love the way Jesus wants us to, to a person who is hard to love. Unconditional Godliness!

Sinful "ugly" people are not ugly because of the one's they are ugly against, but they will continue to strike a certain behavior or attitude in us that God wants us not to become anymore until we change.  Change in the people he calls will help the change in the people who does not know God like they should, if they know him at all. This happens to people he calls and chooses for his purposes we sometimes don't understand and it is all for his glory.

Sometimes folks can't even see the things they could be doing wrong or like my husband, who innocently does things that isn't wrong but irritates me anyway. That can strike an attitude in me which is not necessary. Like blowing up because the dishes aren't washed when I get home from work. Impatience is my downfall!
God is looking for me to be patient because if I can master that than he will open up a world of blessings he's waiting to give.

The devil came to kill, steal and destroy what God wants to build up in us, things like family, love, patience, wisdom and so forth. Don't let him. The devil can use your adversary to destroy any possibility of them being saved through your love for them. Don't let him! They could still continue to be "Ugly"  even if you don't let them get to you, but you can be sure that treating them the way Jesus would, would show you did every possible thing you could to win them to Jesus. This is not the love you think you may have for them but the love you should have for them. Keep in mind that everything we do or don't do according to God, we still have to answer to when we meet Jesus.

You have a personality that God wants to use for his glory and he will use it to change your enemy if you let him. I know this because it happened to me.

God bless you!