Choices: And Consequences: an Everyday Tale

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Final Word

Author’s Note-How

CHOICES Began

Preface

We live in a society where happily ever after is sought after and is expected. Many of us believe that no matter what happens things will always work out for us in the end. Some of us even believe that because we are Christians, or we profess Christianity, God is in control of our lives and he will always lead us to victory. Although these beliefs aren’t entirely wrong, there is one factor that some people fail to take into consideration, personal responsibility. Our choices, the choices we make, play a big role in determining our ‘happily ever after. If we choose to follow our Will, rather than God’s will for our lives, our choices put our ‘happily ever after’ in jeopardy.

As Christians, even after we are saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit, God continues to give us free will and the ability to make choices. Deuteronomy 30:19 states I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, so both though and thy seed may live. This is when personal responsibility comes into play. God wants us to choose life and he wants us to choose blessings. More often than not, we make choices based upon selfishness, fleshly desires and immediacy and wonder why things didn’t turn out the way they wanted them to. Some of the choices we make are minor, others are major. Some of the choices are in response to events that others have created and some of the choices we make create the event itself. Whatever the situation, the consequences of the choices we make can lead to life or death in our lives.

In the coming pages, you will walk through the lives of several Christians who are saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit yet still presented with day to day choices, just like all of us. And just like us, will have to live with the consequences of those choices. They are destined for eternal life in heaven, because they are saved (i.e. given their life to Christ), but are still experiencing a metaphoric hell in this lifetime because of their choices. How will they Christians respond to life? How will they deal with everyday situations? Will they put their trust in God, in themselves or in other people? Will they make choices based upon the word of God, or the word of man? And will the consequences of their choices bring life or death, blessing or cursing?

Chapter 1

Look at a person’s success or failure,

and I’ll tell you to look at their choices. Their choices yesterday, created their lives today!

Girl hurry up! We are going to be late for church if you keep primping in that mirror. Adrienne stated as she walked toward the garage. All I’ve been hearing about is Pastor Lee this and Pastor Lee that, now that we are heading to church and I’m about to go hear him preach, you’re taking your time. You’re going to make me late for my ‘first date with destiny’ as you call it.

Ha, ha, ha, Cabrisha responded. You know I have to look good every time I step out my front door. You never know who I’m going to cross paths with. I might meet my future husband today. But you do have a point. I can’t make you late for your ‘first date with destiny!’ And you definitely need it after the drama you just went through."

Girl, you are preaching to the choir.

After a pause, Cabrisha continued I don’t know why you feel like you can’t tell me the whole story of what happened. We are best friends and you know you can trust me. I am a professional. I listen for a living. I know if you talk about the situation you will feel better.

I’m just not ready to talk about it. It’s too much to even think about, much less talk about it.

Processing your thoughts help.

And sometimes talking stirs up feelings that you are not ready to deal with, so for the sake of avoiding an argument, let’s drop it.

"We can drop it, but you really shouldn’t keep it all bottled up. Sooner or later you are going to have to talk about it, the more you try to bottle it up, the more the pressure builds and you’ll end up exploding.

I thought we agreed to drop it! As I said before, I really don’t feel like talking about it. Adrienne responded.

Sorry. It’s a habit. I have a tendency of bringing my work home with me.

Tell me something I don’t know, like when you going to let me get behind the wheel of this new ride. This Mercedes CLS-550 is the IT!

I know right! Let’s just say, I live the best, wear the best, drive the best and go first class in life and I don’t apologize for my blessings. Besides, I needed a vehicle to compliment my beauty! Cabrisha said smiling.

There you go! Acting all boujie! Those Ivies are starting to strangle you with conceit. Adrienne said referring to the Ivy symbol that represents Cabrisha’s sorority.

Cabrisha starts to sing, They say I’m conceited, and that’s no lie, I’ll be a stuck up… hold on, hold on. I can’t claim that anymore. I’ll claim my colors and my sorority until the day I die, but I’m not going to claim any stereotypes. Besides, I’m not conceited. I’m just convinced, convinced that I am uniquely and wonderfully made and I am predestined for greatness. I am convinced that I am exactly the person God needs me to be at this time and I’ll strive to continue to grow to become the person God wants me to be, neither did my looks nor my degrees get me here. It was and continues to be because of the grace of God!

Praise him, Praise him, and Praise him, the chant of another boujie Christian! Adrienne said jokingly. A person just can’t have a normal conversation with you can they?

Cabrisha started laughing.

After a moment of silence, Adrienne continued on to say Cabrisha you never cease to amaze me. I would have never thought you would mature enough to get over yourself. If Pastor Lee really is all that and the Enlightened Ministry converted you from being Boujie to Blessed, I’m going to have more than just one date with this destiny. I might have 3 or 4. Who knows, we may even get married.

I know what you are saying. God has been molding this little old country girl from the LTX. He has really done a work in me and I know he’s not done. When I look in the mirror I can say, I’m proud of the choices I am making, and the person I’m becoming. Cabrisha responded.

You should be. Besides, you had a lot of people supporting you and pointing you in the right direction. Ms. Irene kept you on a tight leash. You couldn’t go anywhere when you where in high school and she definitely didn’t spare the rod with you. I didn’t have that growing up.

Yeah, although I didn’t realize this growing up, I guess she did know what was best for me. She kept me from getting into a lot of unnecessary trouble. Who knows where I would be if I she would have let me do what I wanted to do.

I don’t mean to change the subject but is that your church? It is huge. Is it true what people say?

What do people say? Cabrisha asked.

That big churches just want your money.

Girl, all churches want your money, how else will they survive and pay bills. People should be less concerned about giving churches their money especially tithes and offerings and more concerned with following the principles of God. But of course, that is too much like right. I choose go to a church where I can see the tithes and offerings at work. If the church is making a difference in a person’s life, saving souls and doing God’s work, it’s doing what the church is supposed to do. And if it’s doing what it’s supposed to, even it if did start off small, it’s supposed to grow. Besides, what’s more important, helping the church change somebody’s life spiritually, or that new outfit you wanted to buy to go to the club.

It depends on the club you are buying the outfit for? Adrienne said smiling. After Cabrisha looked in her direction, Adrienne started laughing. Calm down girl, I was just joking, but you know a lot of people think that way!

I know and I seem to hear that all the time and it’s usually from people who put 50 cents in the offering bucket on Sunday, but will call a church the next week to see if the church can help them pay their light bill.

You have to understand Cabrisha, not everyone has the money like you do! So, when you come to these big churches, who parade money around like its water, you can’t help but feel like this. Some people can’t pay their bills, or buy food to eat, so when they see other people flaunting their money, they can’t help but judge.

I understand what you are saying. You know my background, so you know I know what it means to not have. My issue is with the people who do have the money, but choose to spend it on unnecessary things, and when they need something, call the church asking for help and get mad if the church says no. If a person needs help, I believe the church should help them. It is when people try to use and abuse the church system I get offended. Besides it’s somewhere in the bible where it says, give a man fish, he will eat for a day, but teach him how to fish, he will be able to eat for a lifetime. I could be wrong in quoting it, but you get the point. Well, let me stop because you know I can talk. We are here. Cabrisha said as she pulled into the crowded church parking lot.

[sb]

It was Adrienne’s first time visiting Enlightening Word Ministries since she moved to Houston 3 weeks ago. Adrienne and Cabrisha have been best friends since childhood. They grew up across the street from one another. After their High School graduation, Cabrisha relocated to attend a University near the city of Houston and ended up making Houston her permanent home. Adrienne, on the other hand, attended a trade school in Austin, a city close to their hometown, to become a Medical Assistant.

Although their relationship had grown somewhat strained due to the distance, when the two were together, it was like old times. Adrienne and Cabrisha reconnected and decided to become roommates after Adrienne broke off her engagement to be married and decided to move to Houston for a fresh start.

Although Cabrisha ‘had it together’ on the outside, internally she was torn up. When Cabrisha turned 30, she fell into a depression and began to believe her life had no meaning. Although she was a very successful business woman running an Outpatient Psychological Clinic, making well over six figures, she struggled with feelings of rejection and insecurity. As an adult, and after several failed personal relationships, behaving like the scholar she was, Cabrisha invested in several books, attended personal growth conferences and paid a substantial amount of money to have private counseling sessions with a world renowned Psychotherapist. Cabrisha did all this in the hopes of ‘fixing her issues’ and overcoming those feelings of insecurity. However, that deliverance didn’t come until she stopped looking around for people to comfort her and started looking up so God could heal her. Instead of continuing to focus her time, her money and her attention on worldly remedies, she chose to allow God heal her past, direct her in her present, and prepare the blessings for her in the future, but was she really ready to receive what she thought she wanted. Was Cabrisha ready to exchange the beauty she had waiting for her for ashes of her past that she kept close?

Adrienne, on the other hand, prided herself in her ability to date several different men at one time. That was up until two years ago when she decided it was time for her to grow up and settle down. Six months after she made that decision, she started dating Brian and a few weeks later the two were engaged to be married. Brian was the only man she trusted. He was the only man she ever thought she’d love. Adrienne was totally submissive in the relationship and trusted him in spite of what her friends and family were saying regarding his fidelity. After Adrienne reached the point of no return in the relationship, she called off the engagement, moved to Houston and agreed to ‘test the miracles of God’ Cabrisha constantly boasted about. Adrienne wanted to live, she chose to life. Especially after the last major decision she made led to her physical death, well for three minutes.

[sb]

How did you like the service? Cabrisha asked as she and Adrienne walked out of the sanctuary and into the church lobby after the service was over.

I enjoyed it, but I felt like I was back in high school taking notes. Pastor Lee uses a lot of scriptures in his sermon. I have probably read more scriptures today, than I did all of last year combined. Adrienne said jokingly.

I told you, he wasn’t a joke. He teaches the word, nothing more and nothing less. If you sit under his teaching for just six months, your life… .

Adrienne interrupted will never be the same. I know Cabrisha. I’ve heard it a hundred of times. You don’t have to tell me anymore because I’ve seen it for myself. I’m looking at a living example right now. I wasn’t ready today, but I think this may just be my new church home, at least while I’m in Houston. I’m going to have to get used to how big this church is, but I think I can get over that. To be honest I need that peace Pastor Lee was talking about in my life. I’m just so tired of doing the same old thing, especially when it’s getting me nowhere. I need hope and I definitely need healing.

What’s up Luling? Chloe stated as her and DeNae walked over. I saw you in the parking lot flossing in your new CLS this morning. I’m not mad at you. It’s about time I do a little upgrading myself.

I didn’t know you were thinking about getting a new car. DeNae said to