Sheep's Clothing

Greetings Happy People,

Never lose faith in yourself. Never lose faith in your God. Those two things will be saving graces when you face your challenging times.

People may talk about certain things, but it is the true colors that will always come shining through. It may be as colorful as a rainbow or as gray as the darkest storms. No matter what happens, never let them deter your own vision of certain things in life.

When my dad passed last February, my family and I were going through some challenging times. One of which was to find a church that would hold a funeral service. Through this experience, you can say that a lot of churches have shown their true colors.

One church my family went to wanted a ridiculously high amount of money just to perform the service. Another church we use to go to would not give us the time of day because we had no immediate family members that belong there. A third one wanted more money than the first one. When we finally found a church that was willing to perform the service, let's just say that they were marginal at best.

The service was okay, but there were two things that had my eyebrows raised. The first one was the fact that the church offered their condolence to my eldest sister and her husband for the loss of my dad. No mention of my mother, no mention of myself, and no mention of the rest of the immediate family.

WHAT??!!!

I did not care if my eldest sister is a member of that church, the oversight made by them was not right at all.

The second thing was the preacher talking about how Obama was the greatest President ever. I know he was trying to connect the message with how he and my father were great men in what they have done, but he could have done without the political tones. I knew people at the service that were not big fans of Barack Obama and they were from different races. He skated on thin ice with that beginning as my mother and I looked at each other with real concern on our faces.

Whatever the church service lacked was strongly made up for with the burial service. The military style burial in Boulder City was done with class, integrity, and succinct professionalism.

Before all of this happened, I had questions about the different churches in the Las Vegas valley. Thanks to this experience, my questions were answered. I was surprised with some of these churches that talk about offering a helping hand. When it came down to the wire, that hand they offered came with a price. For me, that was a complete turnoff. While I may know some cool people that attend these churches, it would not change the fact on how I feel about the houses they choose to worship. It is a shame that some of them are led by the dollar instead of the Word.

No matter how many of these churches are out there, I still believe that there are some good ones around. I am feel grateful and blessed to know that my faith in these good churches have not wavered. It would have been easy for me to close my mind and say that all churches are corrupt, but I know that is not the case. All it takes is keeping faith, and a good one can be found.

Today, so many people have lost faith in many things. Whether it be in churches, work, news, or anything else, they can deplete our beliefs in more ways than one. No matter how negative these things can be, it is important that we never lose our own faith. Believe it or not, our own faith can help guide us through some tough times. All it takes is for us to believe.

It may not be as soon as we like for it to be, but it will happen. Never lose faith in your God, never lose faith in others, and never lose faith in yourself.

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I