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The Lamp
Newsletter (Psalm 119:105 KJV).
You Are Destined for GREAT SUCCESS! Dear Readers, Look at YOU! Did you take a good look at yourself in the mirror this morning? I don’t mean looking in the medicine cabinet mirror in your bathroom while you were brushing your teeth. I am not talking about looking into the tiny compact mirror that holds your face powder. I truly don’t mean the mirrors in your car either. You know, the ones you peek in to put on your lipstick and check your teeth for food partials stuck in them. I mean, did you take a good look at yourself in that long, full-length mirror in your hallway or behind your bedroom door? What do you see when you look into the mirror? How do you look to you? How do you feel about yourself? Do you like what you see? Do you like you? Most of the time, when we take a good long look into the full mirror, we kinda don’t like everything we see. Maybe we see too many flaws from our head to our toes. We find those bike handles around our waist, full hips, a big behind, a tummy that needs a tuck, or hairy legs that need a good shave. Some of us might see a fragile body that looks boney and weak. You find that your skin looks flabby, shapeless. You look flat chested and flabby behind. There is loose skin hanging on you. Then among us, there are those who look into the mirror and blow kisses at themselves and do a little dance. This is because they lost weight, they had their tummy tuck or a good breast implant, along with a tight lift on their derriere. They happily fling their full head of hair around and around! Yet, there are many of us who see wrinkles, scars, cuts, bruises, skin discolorations, old marks of wounds from urgent surgery or serious operations. They see a stomach that have lines of stretch marks that won’t fade away after having babies or drastic weight lost. Some see a head of gray hair or thinning hair that once was a glowing crown of glory. Some faces bare the years of worry, stress and fear. There are crows’ feet around their eyes, unwanted wrinkles on their forehead, and laugh lines that are really frown lines around their mouth. Sadly, some see all the hidden scars and bruises from the horrible acts of domestic violence from a husband or boyfriend who promised to love them with all of their hearts. In the mirror, some find the evidence of the painful memory of accidents that they narrowly escaped. There is so much to see when we look closely into a mirror. Daily, we are daily confronted with who we are and what we must face. Just to move forward, can be so challenging when we don’t like what we see. We sometimes just want to get back in the bed and pull the covers over our heads! We don’t feel like trying to deal with anything. We can’t be like a turtle and go inside a shell. See, we don’t have one. Yet, we do draw inside ourselves and try to stay away from others. We feel inadequate to face ourselves and others. We feel like we can’t deal with situations in life. We become fearful that we won’t measure up to excel at anything. We feel like a loser. However, God did not create us to be losers, failures, unsuccessful or inadequate! The Bible says, “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...”(Psalm 139:14 KJV). God made you to be WONDERFUL! YOU ARE WONDERFUL! I AM WONDERFUL!God wants to lead us into the place where we will excel and shine. He wants us to have all of the blessings that He has prepared for us to receive. He will use all of our hurtful situations, challenges, problems, disappointments, and ugly flaws to bring about what is best for us. He has a plan set for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 KJV says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This all means that we were so carefully created by a loving God who wants the best for us. His plans for us were before our lives began. Before we were born, God made a perfect and glorious plan for each one of us. It is a unique plan. It is an original plan for us individually. No one is like us or will have what God especially has for us. See, we are destined for great success! Our physical appearances only enhances who we are. Yes, it brings out an uniqueness about us that makes us qualified for whatever we are to do. This makes us relative to our assignment or task. We can soar beyond limitations! We can obtain whatever we must conquer or face. WE ARE UNIQUE! God doesn’t want you limited. Don’t allow anything or anyone to block you from obtaining EVERYTHING that God has for your life. You must see yourself beyond that vision in your mirror. Low self-esteem hinders God’s plans for you. Feeling inferior to others will imprison your life. It is bondage. Stay away from those who are critical of you! Their bitter words are POISON! It will KILL YOU! Don’t allow them to speak negatively into your life. Refuse to accept what they say. Those who are abusive, critical, and inconsiderate are deadly to your identity and self-worth! Anyone who tears down your self-esteem are like the school and playground BULLIES who poke fun at someone. THEY ARE DANGEROUS! People who violate someone with horrible domestic violence acts are verbally out of control. They shout, “If you weren’t so old!” “Your nose is bent out of shape!” “You will never go anywhere ‘cause you’re ugly!” “You are stupid and fat!” “You are a skinny bag of bones!” It is true that “hurt people hurt people.” STAY AWAY FROM THEM! Don’t permit them to come into your life to belittle you. They are all about humiliating you, embarrassing you, and bringing you down to feeling like nothing. God warned us that human beings “look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (I Samuel 16:7b KJV). Remember this! It will do you good. In Genesis, chapter one, in the Bible, God saw that all of His creation “was good.” He saw the beauty, worth and value of it all. It was all tremendous and glorious in His eyes. Consider the potential of some of His creations. There is a lesson in it for us. The tall fruit trees live through years of cycles changing from season to season. It grows to produce and flourish with a specific fruit like apples, oranges, pears or bananas. Little eaglets in their nest hatch out of their shells featherless and helpless. But, they will grow to become mighty eagles to fly with enormous wings to soar high above the mountains! The lowly fuzzy caterpillars creep along on teeny feet. They change from one stage to another until they victoriously emerge free from its cocoon to fly away as a beautiful butterfly. God created you and me to produce great things in our lives like the fruit trees. Like the eaglets, we are destined to be mighty and soar high! Just like the lowly caterpillar, we will go through one thing than another in life. But, we will emerge victoriously and fly away to new heights! YOU ARE DESTINED FOR GREAT SUCCESS! Trust in God. Declare: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13 KJV). Yes, you can! Yes you will... in the Name of Jesus! THE EASTER, RESURRECTION EDITION “Begin the morning with a song and a prayer, and the rest of the day will take care of itself.” Author unknown. Golden Wisdom: Timeless Inspirations c2001. CONTACT INFORMATION: MRS. WANDA J. BURNSIDE, PUBLISHER, THE LAMP NEWSLETTER , P. O. Box125, Dearborn, MI 48121-0125. Phone: 313-491-3504, Email: wtvision@hotmail.com, Website: www.thecalledandreadywriters.org , FACEBOOK and TWITTER.
The Lamp
Newsletter
IMMANUEL, Dear Readers, This year, 2010, has been a very heartbreaking, sorrowful and crushing year for us. Just a few days ago, my husband’s dear mom, Mother Christine Burnside, died on December 7, 2010. Her Homegoing Service was on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at Grace Temple Church of God in Christ in Detroit, MI. My dad, Elder Minor Palm, Jr. died this year on April 28, 2010. My last living uncle, Minister Isaac Holloway, died during the summer of this year. Many precious friends have died too. I have received emails, phone calls, letters, and other contacts from many friends who have experienced the death of their loved ones, too. Many people have painful situations in their lives such as critical health problems, no job, out of control children, a spouse found unfaithful, marital struggles, scandals in their church, rampant domestic violence acts, family crisis, business problems, caught up in tangled legal actions, little income, and so much more. I received a letter which contained line after line of problems, troubles and hurt. It was a lengthy and long list from the top of the page to the bottom of it, with one horrible things happening after another in their life. Some might wonder what did they do to get into such hardship. To all of the judges and finger-pointers, are you like Job’s friends? I hope not. Don’t be critical and judgmental. Have a heart of understanding. Open up your arms to comfort the hurting. Give your time to help. BEYOND CHRISTMASMy friend, who sent me this letter of great agony, had drawn smiley faces on their letter. The friend had hope. As terrible as life is for this friend, still there were words of thanksgiving to the Lord for His comfort. If your “goodwill toward men” is only for this holiday season, that’s ashame! If you are giving because you agree with the world that “‘tis the season to be jolly,” wake up and see those suffering around you! Jesus Christ came to give us life, hope, healing, peace, joy, love, deliverance, and all that we need! GOD WITH US There are great problems, tests, trials, and trouble. Life is full of disappointments and discouragement. You feel like you just can’t make it. You feel like you won’t survive. You wonder if things will ever change. Will things get any better? Precious ones, there is hope in the Lord! We will make it! The Lord has come. He won’t leave us nor forsake us in our time of trouble. God is with us! God is with us! Glory to God! Christmas reminds us that Jesus is here with us in every situation and circumstance. The Bible said, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”) (Matthews 1:23 KJV) REJOICE! Praise the Lord! “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1 NIV). Immanuel, God with us.YOU WERE THERE Lord, You were there You were there In bitter defeat. You were there You were there You were there When death took my loved ones away, And when I felt like I couldn’t go on another day. You were there When the doctor’s report was bad, And when my heart was Fearful, heavy, and sad. You were there Lord, You were there Copyright 2002 Merry Christmas! May God bless you and yours
BANG! . . . Until death do we part . . . Dear Readers, Have you seen it? Have you heard it? Did you know that it is living with us? It is all around us. You can’t help but see it on the news, in the newspapers, on the cover of magazines, and everywhere! It is in many homes, neighborhoods, churches of every denomination, and it is amazing! It can be unemployed, homeless or employed. It can have the best job with top pay and the best of everything. It can be the boss, co-worker or the janitor. It can work everywhere! But, it can be a beggar on the streets too. The strangest thing about it, is that it can have several college degrees or become a dropout. It can be a teenager or an adult. It looks good most of the time. You really can’t tell it when you look right at it. It is every race, creed, male, and female. It tries to keep secrets. It doesn’t like for people to know that it is full of rage, anger, bitterness, harsh words, hatred, lies, and dangerous! It will punish you, kick you, knock you down with its fist, an iron pipe, baseball bat, a skillet or a chair. It will take its hands and slap your face so that it can break every bone in your jaw. It will give you a black eye, bleeding lip, knock a few teeth out of your mouth, and push you to the ground. Watch out for it! It will hurt you so badly to stop you from getting away from it. It will control you. It will threaten you. It will make you feel like a nobody. It doesn’t care. It wants to hurt you, harm you, and kill you. But, it says that it doesn’t mean to hurt. It always apologizes for the evil things it says. It promises that it won’t happen again. But, it has a temper that it has been trying so hard to control. Please understand . . . it did not mean to lose control. It never would have happened, if someone didn’t make it mad. It never would have hurt anyone, if others had just stopped pushing the wrong buttons and backed off! It wants you to keep your mouth shut. It WILL hurt, harm and kill. It is a horrible monster. It is . . .
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE! RECOGNIZING THE VIOLENT PERSON We, everyone of us, need to recognize the signs of domestic violence. We must see it for what it is. Most of the time, it comes in hidden and secret forms. Domestic violence never is displayed in the open until it strikes out to harm, hurt or kill someone. It is subtle and quiet. You never hear it coming. You’ll never see the full signs of domestic violence until it explodes. It sneaks upon it victims. The victims are loved ones: wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, parents, children, and relatives. These people are the ones who are in direct line of the attacks of someone who will strike out at them with anger, rage, bitterness, and uncontrolled behavior. Why? Most often, those who have been hurt will hurt others. People who are hurting will hurt others because they have been deeply hurt, extremely criticized, emotionally crushed by hateful words, abandoned by loved ones, and the list goes on. We must recognize that when we hurt someone, we leave an open, bleeding and hurting wound in their spirits. When we are sharp with our tongues, we spear the hearts of others. When we strike out with criticism, we cut into the mind and the brain of the one we are saying hurtful things about. We are leaving an open sore that will leak out hurt, hurt, hurt. We must learn that when we hurt someone so deeply that they feel less than a human being, we destroy them! We give them no hope. We leave them helpless and hopeless in the depths of pain. Their ego, “the I am somebody,” dies. We kill their will to try, change and live. We who are wounded and hurt by others must seek help. There is nothing that we can do if we are deeply hurt but to ask for help. God wants us to come to Him. He stands and waits for us to knock on His door for a private appointment. He will not turn us away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- God will lead you on to a pathway of healing and change through those whom He will send into your life. He will bring people with a heart of understanding, concern and love to help you change your attitude and disposition. He knows just the right people to listen to you about your hurts and frustrations. He will send those who will not talk about you and criticize you. They will not tear you down. They will build you up to become a person who is free from uncontrollable behaviors of violence and rage. Most of all, God wants you whole. He does not want you tormented by Satan. God has a definite plan for your life. He wants to set you free. His Son, Jesus Christ, can change you through His blood. You will be filled with the Spirit of God. His Holy Spirit will dwell in you. The Spirit of God will live in you to bring forward His Spirit that will come forth. This Spirit will comfort you and bring you peace. Please read this poem with an open heart. Read it slowly and carefully. Take it in.
Maybe you have heard these words or lines before. Maybe you have been or are being sucked into them. You might be afraid to change or to move away from the problems that are coming. You just might feel trapped like a helpless victim. Are you like a fly on a spider’s web? Do you feel that there is no way out and no one to talk to about what is happening in your life? Well, God is waiting to set you free. He wants you to live in freedom and victory. He wants you to have hope and joy. He cares. The reason I am writing about domestic violence is because I have seen it so many times. It is ugly. It is horrible. It is evil. There are many pictures of it that have revisited my mind from time to time from those who have been brutally beaten and hurt. I can recall families or neighbors fighting on our block in our nice neighborhood. Things seemed so peaceful in their homes until you either see them running out of their house with blood on them or you hear the sounds of the police and emergency medical units coming down your street headed to someone’s home or apartment Now, that was in the late 1950's, the 1960's and so on. When I went to college in the early 1970's, there would be incidents of boys pushing their girlfriends around or slapping them up. It was a quiet thing and kept secret. Only whispers of this and that went on. I never will forget the day that my mother and dad, Elder and Missionary Minor Palm, Jr., got involved with someone they did not even know. I was probably around 10 years old. My brother Rodger was at least 8 years old and Regina, our baby sister, was about 6 years old. My parents were young, probably in their early 30's. Dad was driving down Joy Rd. near Grand River. It was a very hot day that summer. We were either coming from a relative’s or friend’s house for a short visit. As we were happily driving along, my mother spotted this lady leaning against a large brick building on Joy Road. I believe this was a movie theater. As dad eased on the brakes to the light on Grand River, we could see that the lady was bleeding. She was cut or stabbed. She was crying and screaming for some man to leave her alone. My mother told my dad that she was getting out to help her. Dad said, “Willie, what are you talking about? You don’t even know what is going on! I’m not going to let you out of this car to get KILLED!” Well, we, the children, laid down on the back seat and cried. When our car came to a stop, Mama opened the door and got out! She ran across the next lane and leaped up on the sidewalk with the bleeding lady. “Honey, what happened to you?” Mama asked. “Let me help you . . . ” “No! Stay away! Please go awa-a-ayy,” cried the lady, as she waved her hands at Mama hoping to stop her. “PLL-EEAA-SE!” Mama quickly walked over to her. “You’re bleeding! God, help this lady! Help us Lord! Come on . . . Let me help you. Let us take you to the hospital . . . ” “No! NO! NO!” screamed the lady. Mama held out her hands to her. She kept trying to reach out to her. Dad drove our car over to the curb. He called out to my mother. Mama did not come. “HONEY! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!” yelled Dad to Mama. “YOU CHILDREN, STAY RIGHT HERE!” Dad got out of the car. By then, other cars had stopped. People started to gather across the street. In those days, in 1960, there weren’t cell phones or any texting going on. However, someone must have run over to a payphone on the street to call the police. Thank God that they did because a big man in a white T-shirt and black pants came around the corner on Grand River at Joy Road yelling with a beer bottle in one hand and a butcher knife in the other. “HEY! STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE!” the angry man yelled. He stood there then he staggered over to our parents! He staggered to the left and to the right. Dad saw him coming their way . . . ”HEY! YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSE TO BEAT ON A WIFE OR A WOMAN! MAN, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?” “SH-T! WHO DO YOU THINK THE H-LL YOU . . . ” the man shouted. He knocked that empty beer bottle on the brick building and he came after them with the broken bottle and knife! We, Rodger, Regina and I were praying out loud and screaming. Mama and Dad shouted, “SATAN, LEAVE US NOW!” The man made another step and then he fell backwards to the ground. We heard police sirens and they swarmed around the man. A couple of them got the lady to put her in their police car, but the ambulance came and loaded her up. Police talked to my parents. Then some came over to our car to talk to us. What a frightening day! Dad and Mama got back in our car and put us all on the front seat. They kissed and held us. “Everything is okay . . . Everything is okay,” they said. THE FINAL WORDS I can just imagine some of your comments. I believe that most of you are more negative concerning my parents’ actions with us, their children, in the car rather than being upset with the act of violence by the man! These were different days and times when this happened. This was nearly 50 years ago. Today, the whole scene is different. Instead of being critical of my active parents, many more people must be concerned about those who have children and grandchildren in their home who see things played out daily before them. Children are exposed to these violent acts in their home. They live in fear and constant violence. In our news, we hear of children who were caught in the fight or gun fire. There have been stories of the mom and children getting killed by the hands of the dad or boyfriend. IT IS HORRIBLE! BOOKS TO READ Let’s become pro-active. DO SOMETHING! ACT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! Don’t wait for things to get out of control! These books are the stories from the abused. They lived in horror. However, God brought them through and out. Please support these authors. DORA BLAIN, “It is Not a Spiritual Thing, Verbal Abuse” $13.99 + s/h “Verbal abuse is not a test of your faith: but a minimizer of your humanity; a hindrance of your dreams; and a precursor to the domestic violence that will follow.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MINISTER LINDA HAYWOOD, “Does God Really Hear Me When I Cry? A Life Transformed” $12.95 + s/h. Email Contact: lhaywood45@yahoo.com “My autobiography details how God brought me triumphantly through my struggles with serious mental health challenges, abusive relationships, alcohol, and other drug additions.” Contact Information: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATRICIA C. GALLAGHER, BA, MBA, “No More Secrets— A Family Speaks About Depression, Anxiety and Attempted Suicide” $19.95 + s/h Order at: Patricia C. Gallagher, Box 561, Worcester, PA 19490. “Helpful information for families who are personally affected by a loved ones’ mental illness.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IZOLA BIRD, “Burning the Mattress,” “This book is about the spiritual and emotional journey of a woman growing up in West Helena, Arkansas. Her life is full of hurt, sorrow, violence, and martial problems. IZOLA BIRD, “The Witch Who Stole
My Husband and the Mother-in-law Who Helped” Books are available on: www.amazon.com WANDA J. BURNSIDE, my poetry and articles are featured in several books: “The SistahFaith Anthology,” “Too Soon to Say Goodbye. Healing and Hope for Victims and Survivors of Suicide,” and “Wounded by Words. Healing the Invisible Scars of Emotional Abuse.” Please contact me concerning any of these books. I urge you, the reader, to open the door to writers with a message and story to tell on these subjects. Please invite them to your church, schools, community centers, colleges, ministries, and outreaches. Allow them to share their testimonies. Purchase their books to help others or yourself. COMING . . . This subject on domestic violence will be visited again in a special edition.BACK TO SCHOOL ISSUE! - September/October 2010 CLOSING PRAYER Dear Lord, Help us! Protect us! Show us Your way. Put Your love in us so that we will love and not hate. Take out the bitter and troubled heart. Cover us in Your precious blood. Let us walk and live according to Your word. We ask that You live in us so that we will live holy and righteously. Teach us how to live peacefully, lovingly, and victoriously. We need You Lord! We need You in our life. We thank You for changing situations and circumstances in our lives, which are not right. We thank You for moving in our lives to give us peace and hope. We praise You. AMEN
================================================================= MRS. WANDA J. BURNSIDE,
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT © 2005 - 2011 The Called and Ready Writers |
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