Whitnee's journey with Christ

On Sunday past I was blessed to be able to assist in Children’s Church. God allowed me the opportunity to teach, learn, and grow with beautiful young people. There were many familiar faces, but one bright star stood out, her name was Abigail. Although Abigail was the youngest member in Children’s Church she had the wisdom and heart that definitely superseded her in years.

The lesson was entitled “To Be Blessed.” It was the introduction to The Beatitudes. You can find The Beatitudes in the Book of Matthew chapter 5:1-12. Some little ones were familiar with a few of The Beatitudes but others had learned it for the first time. It truly was a remarkable lesson and it is a true privilege to learn alongside these young people.

As I was studying and preparing to teach the lesson I stumbled upon a section in the instructor guide that took me back to my childhood. I saw words that stood out like: oppressive system, God’s kingdom, and hoarding.

Faith and Jasmine call me a hoarder all the time and I was always in denial until maybe a year ago. I never knew it was “that bad” until I got to a point I would got overwhelmed it was time to clean up or find space to put stuff up. Truth be told, I never knew it was “that bad”, because it looked like home! God rest their souls but Ralph & Willia knew they could collect a WHOLE HEEP of stuff. Tal once said my dad lived like the father and son on Sanford and Son, unbeknownst to me, I didn’t see the problem!

Every Saturday morning when my dad was able to, he would go to the flea market. More times than none my mom would say, “Now Ralph why you keep bringing all that junk here, we already have enough junk outside.” You see my dad was the type of man that would start a project and two weeks later start two other projects and the first one might have gotten finished- or not! Then there was Willia! Now that little lady know she was the Queen of bargain shopping. I mean she got deals on EVERYTHING!!!!

Growing up everyone knew they could come to the Davis residence if you were in need. Hungry, come on over! Needed to borrow a power tool, come on over! Needed a Bible, come on over! Needed a lawn mover or garden tool, come on over! Needed some clothes, come on over! Need some soap or other toiletries or personal items, come on over! And Lord don’t need some laundry detergent, dish soap, Comet, or bleach…we had you covered! (I mean can you imagine my mom couponing on top of being a bargain shopper, we could have had our own outlet).

I read and re-read the lesson for Sunday I saw how people back in Jesus’ day would do all they could to collect money, land, and honor and how they would hoard and oppress their neighbors or other people to cause them to be more poor.

There are few places in the Bible that talk about the word hoarding and it is usually associated in a negative way. But then there is Willia Davis! My mom was the type of woman when she went in Goodwill she knew Eva was a size 4, Marlene was a 0, Mariam was a this, Ojetta was that, and the list goes on! She would go on senior days and dollar days and you bet your last dollar she had a buggy plus more full of clothes for her girls at New St. Thomas. And don’t let her find something with tags on it or Anne Taylor, Talbots, Gap…because it was more for Melissa, Meg, Pam, Mrs. Teeny, Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. Rembert or Fran. I mean this woman did not discriminate. She would shop for the men, children, and your dog if she knew his or her size!

Someone who didn’t know my mom would call her a hoarder but my mother was no hoarder, she had God’s storehouse in her home and in her heart. She went from the Cloth’s Closet, Store of Hope, Sharing God’s love, Transitions, the women’s shelter, NST, and even on the street with perfect strangers. She would help any and everyone if she had it. And if she didn’t have it she wrote down your size and made sure she had it the next time she saw you. She was a true giver.

There were times bills were late or unpaid but she still gave. Some folks would think if she would just stay out the store she would have so much money but my mom didn’t care about money. She always said, “God blessed me to be a blessing to others.” That’s how she taught my brother and I.

When we were little a lot of people called us poor and picked at us because we didn’t have name brand stuff. I promised when I was old enough I would work and never get picked at again. And so I did, I got my first “job” at the age of 12 and have been working ever since. But no matter how much money we had or didn’t have, I never felt poor. I was truly happy. I never knew a day when we went hungry, we might have had to eat what we didn’t want, but my parents made sure we had a hot meal every night. Even when our power was out (not sure if the bill was left unpaid or what) but my dad would get the kerosene heater and a pot and cook our dinner on it with candles lit all around.

To man we were poor but according to my studying over the weekend, we were blessed!

And so when I became an adult and had kids of my own it’s like history repeated itself. I’ll never forget one of my son’s childhood friends picked at Micah because he had light up shoes. Micah was probably in the 2nd or 3rd grade so I thought it was age appropriate right?! I guess not. Even in 2nd/3rd grade you were picked at if you didn’t rock the latest Nike or Jordans. I’ll never forget feeling like a failure.

Rico and I worked hard to make sure no one would ever pick at our boys again.

At some point it went from having enough to just being greedy. The teaching and memories of Willia’s storehouse to help others that I grew to admire (even though I was younger and spiritually ignorant I couldn’t understand) had become a jaded memory and I began to hoard out of ignorance. The need for my kids to feel equal to had totally blinded my judgment and after studying this lesson, it showed me that I was living like I served a God of scarcity. I’m proud to say I serve a God of abundance.

Although I’ve always been “kingdom minded”, my actions were one of person who relied on the approval of others and feelings of belonging over what it was I was taught. You see there was a dilemma. Morally and ethically speaking, I was wrong and in a sense I was hindering other people who truly needed the deals that I had receive through thrifting, sales, etc.

In essence I never thought I hoarded anything and always was willing to help the next person and kept my moms legacy alive. I knew this person could use or that person needs that and so on and so fourth. I truly keep my moms approach alive and out of that mindset, Dolly’s House Clothing Ministry, a non-profit was birthed last year.

Without a building like the church space my mom had in the back of NST, my house looks like I should be on one of those hoarder shows but people judge me without knowing the real intentions or my heart. They assume but don’t ask. I mean truth be told, I don’t care because if they aren’t willing to be apart of the solution, don’t bring me problems. (No shade and not stepping on anyone’s toes, just stating the facts).

Though we struggle, though I look like I’m living with Sanford and Son- I am happy and I know I’m blessed! I’m blessed and it is according to God’s standards of happiness and blessing not mans.

I’ll never stop thinking of other people, I’ll never stop giving even when my bills fall a little short, and I’ll never turn a blind eye when I know someone could use something because that’s Ralph & Willia in me, it’s in my DNA, and it is who I am. But out of this lesson I learned to stay focused on God’s storehouse and how I can take the mentality of the lessons from Jesus while on the Sermon on the Mount to really change lives one person at a time.

My prayer is I can give of my nothingness and whether it be new, used, or indifferent that like my mom, I can be a blessing to someone else. It’s worth having a whole room of giveaways in my opinion (though I need the space to store it elsewhere) but I believe in my heart one day I’ll have a space for Dolly’s House Clothing Ministry where people can come “shop” in my boutique and get gently used clothes, toiletries, shoes, household items, and more FREE OF CHARGE!

Willia’s Storehouse didn’t die when my mom passed away because there are so many other kingdom minded folks who do this everyday, effortlessly and without credit.

So the next time a person is viewed as a hoarder, don’t be so quick to judge. Prayerfully that person isn’t collected to oppress others or to tax others heavily, but use their goods like my mom did to build up God’s kingdom and add to His storehouse.

Shout out to ECBC for the privilege of being one of many beautiful people to teach our young people. I love children’s church and I LOVE Sunday school. Like I said this lesson in particular hit home for me in so many ways and when I volunteered to teach this past Sunday, I never knew the blessing I would receive in return.

Not only was I blessed and learned from the mouth of babes, but I learned not to cross that line of living like I serve a God of scarcity verses the God of abundance.

I’m happy and blessed! Lord help me face every challenge with hope, faith, clarity, and understanding that You supply all of my needs and in You though a time may come when I May get hungry, I can come to you and truly fulfill my thirst and hunger in Your Word and by Your grace. Amen.