about Whitney...

before i get started,

a fellow blogger recently encouraged her readers

to get back to actually WRITING a blog post,

vs simply posting pictures.

i try to write AS i post a pic but still...

i'm guilty.

also for us to actually READ what people write, comment...

my take on commenting is it's SO nice when

someone takes the time...

but i'm okay, in this busy world, if you don't have the time.

half the time i don't either...

so i don't use the number of comments i get to 

value myself or my blog anymore than i gain any self worth

from the number of FB, TWITTER or PINTEREST followers I have.

i love them...but the number doesn't define me.

having said that, i AM going to try to write more often...

starting today.

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ABOUT WHITNEY...

by now, we ALL know Whitney Houston died.

i mean, the news is plastered with her story.

and that's another blog post...our stupid media culture society...

how this is a LEAD story on the news for days...

when it shouldn't be.

it's sad.

it's human interest.

but it is not the news of the day.

day after day.

in this big, wide world of ours.

Whitney Houston came on the scene when i was in my

 first year of college.

she was my generation.

in fact, she was my age (48) and her birthday was 9 days before mine.

so YES, i was a HUGE Whitney Houston fan.

WHEN she was young, relatively innocent, beautiful

and just plain a young girl with an incredible voice!

she rocketed to a HUGE career and I remember hoping

she would remain grounded,

that her family and their FAITH would help to keep her that way.

but the worst case scenario has come true...

and this is where my personal opinion REALLY comes through.

Whitney was a victim...notice i don't say an unwilling victim...

but a victim nonetheless, of our screwed up celebrity culture.

she had it all...

and lost it in record time.

she was literally, physically one of God's most beautiful creatures...

 she seemed to have it all.

but what bothers me today is the sugar coating of her drug use.

you bet we will never get the whole truth about her death.

not that it is any of our business...

but when the press sugar coat it, they do the rest of society NO favors.

all we hear about is her spirituality,

strong faith,

fear of God.

well, somewhere along the way,

 i think maybe she lost that fear of God...
i'm not sure.
maybe she just felt helpless and lost.

i am in NO WAY passing judgement.

i hope with all my heart that she is resting in the arms of God,

singing with angels,

free from the life that had her in it's ugly grip.

that is what i hope for her.

and i don't believe we have a cruel, heartless God.

sometimes he calls his children home

because they have lived a long, full, Godly life...

and he wants to bring them home,

to Heaven...with him.

it's just time.

but i also believe, that sometimes he taps

 some of us on the shoulder

earlier.

he knows the reason.

but with regards to the fear of God,

i think there comes a time when "enough is enough".

there comes a time when he taps a problem child on the shoulder

and says you better come now.

i'm not a biblical scholar.

i simply grew up in church...like Whitney.

but i know what i believe...

and i believe he tapped her and said "enough".

just my opinion...and i could be WAY off.

but it's what i think.

and it's what i teach my girls.

it's different for us believers.

there comes a time when it is "enough"...

because we KNOW better...

and He expects us to DO better.

life is not one long PARTY...at least not that kind of party.

and sooner or later, it WILL catch up to you.

whether it was time for her to stop struggling...and rest.

or whether it was to be a lesson to others...

or whether she was doing more harm than good down here...

i don't know.

but i think it was her time.

so i won't sugarcoat it for you.

she was a drug addict...

and maybe an alcoholic.

by her own admission, she couldn't stop.

she surrounded herself with the wrong people...

something we teach our children about.

most of us predicted this the day she married Bobby Brown.

it was not going to end well...and it didn't.

she had too many takers...and was most likely broke.

she had WAY to many YES people...

who wouldn't or in some cases, COULDN'T put a stop to this.

she has an 18 year old daughter,

who apparently has used some form of drug/alcohol since she was 15...

and she was the one out partying with Whitney.

now THAT is sad.

that girl has a long road ahead of her.

who is in her life?

her partying friends...

BUM of a father...

her mom's "entourage"...

and even her mom's family, who were  apparently unable to help...

or tried too late.

i do believe her mom, Cissy Houston, 

is a loving mother who prayed her daughter

would not get screwed up.

i have no doubt she is heartbroken right now.

and probably thinking she could have done more.

i don't know...and it isn't my place to say.

maybe at first, but it is very hard to help an addict.

they can't even help themselves sometimes.

 when she started to get caught up in the celebrity life,

that is probably when things needed to be handled.

but it's in the past now.

 except for her daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

it's still all right there in her face.

the other thing the people in Whitney's life can do...

and SHOULD do, (again, in my OWN opinion)

is be HONEST.

how better to help others who have addiction.

abusing drugs WILL ravage your body...

whether prescription or street drugs.

she was found with prescription bottles.

okay, i'm just cynical enough to wonder 

if what had been IN those bottles was prescription drugs.

as a nurse, i saw it more than once...

people hiding their illicit drugs in prescription drug bottles.

again, i'm not judging Whitney.

she had a problem.

i'm actually more critical of the ones who choose to
"only remember and talk about the good". 

okaayyy...what a cop out.

remember the good...but the good came with the bad.

and maybe that is the GOOD that can come out of this.

one person saying "i don't want to end up like Whitney".

just one.

hopefully, that one person will be her daughter.

but only time will tell.

i believe THAT is what Whitney would truly want.

to help someone who felt as helpless as she did.

if nothing else, this could serve as a lesson.

our teenagers have 3 artists who died of some sort of overdose this year.

(and you better believe...whether the coroner report is out or not,

Whitney died because of drugs...overdose or burned out body...

it was still drugs)

and for all three of these artists,

we are bombarded by how talented they were.

okay, maybe so...

but they are dead.

because of drugs...

too much partying...

a dependency on the wrong things...

associating with the wrong people...

but the end result is the same.

out of the three...i place my bet on Whitney.

what do i mean by that?

she spoke about being a child of God,

being a Christian...

being saved.

that she just "took a wrong turn".

who am i to say otherwise.

so i hope she IS with God today.
one of my favorite Whitney songs, and the song playing on my blog,
 is "I Look To You".
she knew.
she knew better.
read the lyrics:

I Look To You

As I lay me down
Heaven hear me now
I’m lost without a cause
After giving it my all

Winter storms have come
And darkened my sun
After all that I’ve been through
Who on earth can I turn to?

Chorus:
I look to you,
I look to you
After all my strength is gone
In you I can be strong
aI look to you,
I look to you
And when melodies are gone In you I hear a song
I look to you

'bout to lose my breath
There's no more fighting left
Sinking to rise no more
Searching for that open door

And every road that I've taken
Led to my regret
And I don't know if I'm go'n make it
Nothing to do but lift my head

Chorus:

My levees are broken
My walls are coming down on me
My rain is falling
Defeat is calling
I need you to set me free
Take me far away from the battle
I need you
Shine on me!
wow...
powerful song.

 maybe we can use her early death to help a few others.

but if all we hear is "it wasn't her fault"

or "she was tired...fell asleep in the bathtub..."

we help no one.

not even her daughter.

if Whitney is resting in God's arms today,

which i pray she is...

i believe she would want to reach out to those who loved her.

to say "look at me" ...

your life is too precious to throw it away.

get help...because there ARE people who will help.

since she can't say that...

it's up to her friends and family to smarten up and say it for her.

and for the press to NOT get in the way.

stop worrying about sales of papers...

and honestly tell her story.

HONESTLY.

she had a beautiful singing voice...

and we will always love listening to it.

apparently, the night before she died, she impulsively 

hopped on stage to 

sing a song with another artist.

the song was "Jesus Loved the Little Children".

i used to sing that song in Sunday School.

i bet Whitney did too.

how telling that was the song she got up and sang...

and even then she was on something, so reports say.

but maybe she somehow knew.

maybe she knew that this is what counts.

what it's all about.

but while listening to her lovely voice in days and years to come, 

listen to her story.

she has a very important story to tell

...about Whitney.