Guess Who Loves Me More Than YOU Ever Did

This Relationship Revelation is not about my relationships with men; it's about my relationship with God.

In my last Relationship Revelation ("Life Nearly Whooped My Ass!") I talked about how God spoke to me and let me know I was coming out of my troubles. And His voice was as clear as my girlfriend, who is sitting in front of me yapping while she knows good and doggone well I'm trying to write this revelation!

Anyway, a few readers Inboxed me asking me to privately share with them how I can "hear" God talking to me so clearly. They wanted to know how I could be so sure it was God and not that lil' voice in my head that warrants psychotropic medications!

Well, the first time I realized God talks to me in a variety of ways was just after Christmas.

I'd just broken up with my boyfriend -- we'd had a huge fight. I was feeling unloved and unwanted. My father was deceased. My brother was living in New York. My sister was living in Dallas. My aunts, uncles and cousins were spread out from Mississippi to Louisiana. All my girlfriend were busy; all my guy friends were, too.

In a word, I was alone. Period.

It doesn't happen often...ya know, me being totally alone. But, life is funny that way. So is God. Yeah, He's got an insane sense of humor! When He wants you, sometimes He will isolate you. This is the first step in hearing God talk to you because, well, He's the only one around you. So, you cannot help but to hear him.

Anyway, I'm driving home taking the same scenic route through the same residential neighborhood I'd  taken all year long. I'm not really paying attention to anything in particular. It was basically house after house of the same Christmas lights that I'd been eyeballing since November. I mean, if you've seen one inflatable snowman, you've seen them all. And the same colorful lights were blinking night after night. Quite frankly, an unfamiliar driver wandering into the neighborhood might be BLINDED by all the damned lights in the neighborhood! But I'd become accustomed to them.

And I decided to pop into the CD player Raheem DeVaughn's first compilation "The Love Experience." Then my favorite track queued up..."Guess Who Loves You More."

The chorus goes like this:
Guess who loves you more (Oh love)
Guess who loves you more than he did (Girl)
Guess who treats you betta than he did?
Me, girl, me (that) that's right me
When you gon' see? Wake up and see
Guess who loves you more than he did (Me)

Guess who treats you betta than he did?

Me girl me (that) that's right me (When)

When you gon' see? Wake up and see?

And as Raheem sings those words, I pass up the same house I'd been passing up for more than a month. In the front yard was a GIGANTIC display of lights that spelled out one word...JESUS. And as Raheem sang, "Guess who loves you more than he did," my eyes fall on that sign. It was like God was actually answering the question.

(Guess who loves Michica more than anyone else in the world? Jesus!)

In my car, behind the wheel, I broke down right there. I sobbed like a fool. I mean, you would have thought someone had shot my dear mother and killed my dog. (Y'all know how I feel about that 4-legged mutt!)  I cried like I hadn't cried since my father's passing. I was suddenly filled with REAL REVELATION that God really did love me. And when no one else in the world was there for me, He had never left me. He was gonna always love me through my MESS as well as my BEST!

Raheem kept on singing. The next lyrics that came were:
My love for you can never be measured (Ain't no doubt about it)

Girl I treasure (Girl don't you ever doubt it)

Each day my love multiplies for you 

Girl as long as Father Time is on my side 

I'm gon' be by your side 

Baby you're perfect in my eyes 

You're my joy and pride

Here's why...girl I love you....you, you, you, you

Child, after that I don't even know how I got home. I was a hot mess crying in my car, and so thankful God had somehow let me know he loved me more than anyone else did. He let me know He was there when no one else was there. And I knew from then on, He would always be there no matter who came into (and out of) my life.

Soon after that episode I started tuning into my life and the things happening in it. I realized that life was not so random after all. I noticed God was putting me in places and situations that would challenge me, but would ultimately help me. He put people in my life to show me something, and the moment the lesson was learned...those folks were gone!

Today, I hear Him whisper to me gently. I'll just be sitting still somewhere reading something. And the words on the page are interrupted by a different set of words -- a message. Sometimes, I'm watching television and my thoughts about the program are interrupted by other thoughts and revelations that come straight from God. It's nothing mystical or magical. Charlton Heston isn't booming around in my brain with a Wizard of Oz type echo! Nah, it's just calm. It's just a voice, and a feeling of comfort that what I'm hearing is right.

Sit still, like the old folks tell you to. You'll hear Him talk to you. But beware: When you're busy with your own life...ha ha...God will LET you be busy. And He'll be there for you when you slow your butt down enough to listen!

Thank you for reading Relationship Revelations this year. It's been my sincere pleasure to share my life experiences with you! And I hope your 2011 is filled with wonderful Relationship Revelations! 


Content copyright 2010. Relationship Revelations, LLC. All rights reserved.

Life Nearly Whooped My Ass!

When the housing bubble burst...so did my finances!

I was broke and I was going through the lowest point of my adult life about 4 years ago. I was down to $.78 in my bank account. That's right -- 78 cents, not 78 dollars. And there was no hope in sight for nearly a year.

Here's what happened:

I'd taken a risk and gone into real estate, selling houses. The problem came a year later when the housing  bubble BURST! And my bank accounts exploded right along with it. Closings weren't taking the usual 21 days; it was taking as many as 65 days to close a transaction...and those were the deals that were going through. Some weren't closing at all. And don't forget, the bills come every 30 days and ON TIME!

I'll spare you the details of how I sat in my apartment with all the damned lights out, sweating because I didn't dare turn on my air conditioning. What can I say? Hell, it was hot and dark! To make matters worse, I had to skip my usual diet of fresh food so I could dine on crap like Ramen noodles! Can we say "personal plumbing problems?!?!" And I won't tell you how I became a hermit because my broke ass didn't want to burn up any of my precious gasoline. If you invited me somewhere and you weren't picking me up...I just wasn't going.

Again, my bottom line was $.78 in the bank. Hell, why even HAVE a damned bank account? It cost more to print and mail me my monthly statement than I had in the bank!

So, I prayed. 

And I went to church. It was the only place I was bothering to drive to. Honey, I was in there every Wednesday and Sunday, shouting for the Lord and thanking Him that my lights weren't cut off YET and that I still had Ramen noodles to eat (not exactly a queen's meal, but whadyagonnado?). 

But I'm not a perfect Christian and I'll admit there were times when I wondered if God was even listening to me. 

So, I prayed some more. (P.S. -- I know now that God hears me the first time, but I was a lil' hard headed back then.)

And as I sat in church one Wednesday evening in bible study, about 9 months into my pain and after all my bank accounts were properly drained, I got a Word. God said to me as clear as a bell, "You're coming out. This is over." And when the call for testimony came, I got up and told the congregation about the Word I'd gotten just moments ago. As I spoke, I was sobbing and snotting and hot tears were streaming down my face. But I had to tell these people who had listened to my sad story unfold for 9 months that this was finally going to be OVER! 

And boy was it ever OVER. Money began flowing to me in the form of closings and eventually a job offer with full benefits, including profit sharing.

Then I had a REVELATION!      Life is trouble. 

We are born into this world causing and experiencing all kind of trouble for momma and for our infant selves. With birth comes labor pains, spreading cervices/cervixes, C-sections, forceps, cords wrapped around necks, breech positions, stuck in the birth canal and we can't forget about that idiot in the scrubs slapping a baby's booty! 

But the revelation I had was that the pain and trouble of birth is but a mere moment compared to the comfort of the little baby being in mom's belly all those months. While tucked away in there, someone's singing to the baby and talking to it. It's warm in there and baby gets fed and naps all day. The baby has nothing to do but to rest and chill and grow. 

Then there's birth. 

One minute we're chillin. Then WHAMMO! We turn upside down. (Sounds a little bit like life, right?)

And we go THROUGH the birth canal upside down. (Aren't ya kind of UPSIDE DOWN when you're GOING THROUGH something in life?) 

Sure, birth is troublesome. But it only lasts for a little while. And so, too, do our problems. Ironically, my troubles lasted 9 months, which is what led me to this revelation in the first place.

I guess what I'm saying is this: My life is nice most of the time. And then I go through some troubles. But compared to the entire span of my life, trouble is short-lived. Soon enough, life will settle back down. And I'm happy again.

Now when I go through my troubles, I try not to ask God to get me out of it. I'm learning to ask Him for the strength to endure it and learn from it.

Content copyright 2010. Relationship Revelations, LLC. All rights reserved.