Lloyd's Life Lessons

In my youth, I was care giver for an elderly neighbor dying of Cancer. On his death bed, he uttered, “I have forgiven my brother”.

The night before my mom died, she phoned a relative and forgave her ending a 40 year grudge. Apparently, God's children are lead to forgive before leaving this world.

Sometimes forgiveness can be impossible in our own strength and requires divine help.

Years ago, a couple were house sitting for us while Mary and I were out of town. Mary owned and loved an expensive Blue Fronted Amazon parrot. Mary trained the bird to sit on her shoulder. She took it to fairs and festivals; always a crowd-pleaser.

Before leaving town, Mary specifically instructed our house sitters not to take her parrot outside.

Upon returning home, we saw all our neighbors outside looking up into the trees. Elke, the wife half of our house sitting couple had taken Mary's parrot outside to show-off. Mary's beloved bird was gone; it flew away.

Heartbroken, angry and devastated, Mary hated Elke. Forgiveness was impossible.

While as a Christian Mary knew she had to forgive Elke and despite much praying about it, Mary simply could not forgive her.

We attended a church service in which the speaker spoke on the importance of forgiveness. The speaker prayed with Mary and the miracle happened. Mary forgave Elke. Praise God!

Forgiveness does not mean you keep unpleasant people in your life. Some people are best loved from a far. I am careful about who I allow in my life, surrounding myself with people who celebrate me rather than simply tolerate me.

However, I will not allow the poison of holding a grudge against anyone to infect my soul.

Video: "Healing Rain" by Micheal W. Smith



Video: "Deep In Love With You" by Micheal W. Smith



Chairman of The Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama 
Lloyd is singer/songwriter of the American Tea Party Anthem and author of Confessions of a Black Conservative, foreword by
Michele Malkin
Spokesperson for Tea Party Express
Please help me spread my message by joining my Liberty Network
LloydMarcus.com

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

^{I believe our pets are spiritually assigned to us. Mary and I had a Border Collie which apparently was not meant to be with us. He dug his way out under our backyard fence and disappeared. Mary searched for him at three dog pounds without success.}

^{At one of the pounds, Mary and a big black Border Collie connected. She told an attendant, if no one claims him, I will come and get him.}

^{The next day, the pound called to inform Mary the collie was scheduled to be “put down” that day. Mary was headed out the door of our Maryland home to visit her parents in West Virginia. She asked if they could hold the dog until she returned a day or so later. They replied, “No”.}

^{So, Mary picked up “Rush” and took him with her to visit her parents. Mary said Rush appeared extremely nervous and fearful and never left her side. Every time she fed the dog, he would take his paw and tip over his bowl. He would eat a little of his food and bury the rest for later.}

^{It took a while before Rush grasped the concept that we would feed him every day. The slightest raise in our voices would cause Rush to shake, run and hide with his tail between his legs. If anyone walked within five feet of Rush, he would get up and move. Obviously, the poor dog had been abused.}

^{Rush also had a fear of being left behind. Whenever Mary brought out our suitcases, Rush would follow us from room to room.}

^{You can imagine Rush's panic seeing us filling the moving van to relocate to Florida.}

^{Rush had several health issues which baffled our vets. Numerous drugs did not stop Rush from periods of losing hair and emitting a foul odor. Still, Rush was our dog. God had assigned him to us.}

^{There are people like our dog Rush who have been kicked around and abused so much and for so long, they expect it. When true love, care and understanding comes along, it takes awhile for them to believe and accept it.}

^{During a thunder storm, a frighten, shivering and all most blind little Cocker Spaniel appeared on our front porch. We called him “puppy”. We thought by not giving him a formal name, we would not get too attached and stay open to finding him a home. We paid for surgery on puppy's eyes.}

^{When we relocated to Florida from Maryland, the moving van went ahead of us. We drove down in our car with Puppy and Rush who was stinking to high heaven in the back seat; twelve hundred miles.}

^{God truly does give you the grace to do what He has called you to do.}

^{We had both dogs for at least fifteen years. Puppy still eventually went blind. Rush became Puppy's seeing eye dog companion.}

^{When Rush died, Puppy died a month later.}

^{We gave both dogs, Rush and Puppy, good extended lives.}

Video: Dogs LOVE Food; "Ultimate Dog Tease"



Video: Someone helped themselves to the kitty cat treats; "Denver Is Guilty!"

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

Whenever I mention sports to my wife, her eyes glaze over. Thus, I preface my comments saying “This is not about sports. It's about life”.

Quarterback Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys pro football team masterfully lead his team down the field to pending victory. All they needed to do was kick a short field goal to win the game. Romo was supposed to spot/hold the ball on the ground for his kicker. Unbelievably, Romo dropped the ball destroying his kicker's opportunity to kick the winning field goal.

With only minutes left in the game, Romo sat on the sideline heartbroken with his head hung low.

Former pro football coach John Madden was one of the TV announcers. Madden said, “Somebody needs to tell Romo to get his head up. This game is not over and he still has to lead his team”.

Madden was saying leadership is understanding it is not about you. As the Bible says, “To whom much is given, much is required”.

You do not have the luxury of sulking over your mistakes. True leadership is putting the needs of your team before your needs. Now, get your head together and get back out there and LEAD!

There was something heartwarming about the strong wise old coach mentoring the young quarterback.

A psychologist on TV said fathers are not particularly necessary. She said there is nothing a boy needs to know that can not be taught to him by his mother. I thought, “This women went to college to learn this nonsense”.

Boys and young men crave male bonding and mentoring by respected elders. This is why so many single parent household fatherless boys join gangs.

We need more Godly men teaching boys how to become men.

The other day, I called my 84 year old dad for counsel regarding a matter that was “bugging” me. As usual, dad came through with wise advice.

I thought, “What a blessing it is that I can still reap the benefits of dad's character, wisdom and experience”.

At 84, dad's brain is still sharp as a tack!

Video: Two of the BEST sports stories ever told!

1st video: Jason McElwain autistic basketball player gets a chance to play one game and SHINES to the delight of his entire school.

2nd video: Western Oregon softball player Sara Tucholsky hits her first career home run and the unthinkable happens; her opponent teammates show ultimate sportsmanship 

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

What I am about to share is a little embarrassing. I pray my honesty will bless you. Many years ago, Baltimore, Maryland media was buzzing about an upcoming high profile fundraiser for a charity.

I was not passionate about the charity. Still, I worked and was successful in getting my name added to the list of performers simply because, this is embarrassing for me to admit, I thought it would help my career.

My performance was a disaster; everything that could go wrong did. In hindsight, I realized I had forced myself into a situation where I did not belong.

Years later after relocating to Central Florida, an Orlando radio station was hosting a Support Our Troops Rally.



I'm very patriotic and supportive of our U.S. Military. I thought my original song, “Celebrate America” which I performed in Maryland for years at U.S. Immigration Ceremonies, would be perfect for the radio station's troop support rally.

I phoned the producer of the rally and remarkably, sight unseen, not knowing me from Adam, he added me to the program. My heart and motives were in the right place. “Celebrate America” was a huge hit.

My Orlando performance with six thousand in the audience lead to me being asked to perform at a Glenn Beck troop support rally in Tampa with 19,000 in the audience.

My Tampa performance lead to being asked to perform at troop support rallies in Washington DC covered on national TV.

A Sacramento, CA company saw me at a DC rally and invited me to go on national tours. I have performed for millions and God continues to open exciting new doors.

Promotion comes from God. I have learned that I do not need to “soup up” to anyone to get them to like me. I do not need to scheme or jockey for position.

Please do not get me wrong. I am not promoting laziness disguised at “trusting God”. We should pursue our dreams. The Bible says, “faith without works is dead”.

But, “go for it” God's Way. Be honest and true; always desiring to make a positive difference in every situation. This is the key to rock solid success.

Recognizing the truth that promotion does not come from man, but from God is extremely liberating. I can simply relax and be at peace. I know that as long as I am trusting and sensitive to His leading, God will always place me exactly where I am suppose to be.

I'm chillin' in Christ. Ice tea anyone?

Video: "American Tea Party Anthem" singer and song writer LLOYD MARCUS (another promotion from God :)

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

Mary's mom and dad who raised her are loving in-laws. Despite years of marriage, Mary's “birth” mother still refuses to meet me or acknowledge our marriage because I am black. Her mother, Easter Pansy, is Mary's grandmother.

A few years ago, Mary and I flew up to Baltimore from Florida to visit family. Mary wanted to visit her 93 year old grandmother. Easter Pansy was still living on her own with Davey, her 50 year old Down Syndrome son. We attribute the necessity for Easter Pansy to care for Davey to be the secret to her unique youthful energy.

Mary wanted me to meet “the great Easter Pansy” her beloved destine to be a centenarian grandmother. But given that her daughter, my wife's birth mom, was a racist and Easter Pansy's old age, I thought it best not to make waves.

I explained to my wife, "This woman is from a era when interracial dating was considered shocking and shameful. I'll just drop you off for your visit and you can call me when you are ready to leave.” Though she disagreed and was disappointed, Mary complied.

Mary said when Easter Pansy opened her front door, she asked, "Where is your husband?" "He dropped me off," she replied. Mary said Easter Pansy ran outside, amazingly swift for a 93 year old, to the curb to catch me. I was gone. Easter Pansy told Mary, "You tell that young man he is always welcome in my home and I love him."

Wow! An elderly white woman whom I never met said she loved me. I learned that you can not make assumptions about who or what a person is based on age or geography.

In Easter Pansy's youth, black men were killed for even looking at white women. So, I assumed Easter Pansy's granddaughter marrying a black man would be too much for her. I was wrong. I wonder if you could argue that my assumption was even a bit racist?

When I finally met Easter Pansy, she gave me a great big hug.

Obviously, nobody told her what to think or do. Even at 93, she was a radiant, strong, feisty and independent woman of character; an awesome human being.

Easter Pansy served Davey, Mary and I her homemade apple pie. It was delicious.

Video: To Celebrate LOVE & what a wonderful world we live in..."What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

In love and gratitude, from time to time I pray, “Lord, show me how to bless my wife today”. It came to me to ask Mary what she would like to do and submit to her request. Mary wanted us to shop for three red items to accessorize the new side table in our great room.

Talk about, as they say on Star Trek, “to boldly go where no man has gone before”, we went to seven, yes, I said seven stores; carefully studying designs, colors and whether or not an item was properly themed for our room.

Then, there was the “coupon /percentage off thing” about which Mary was well educated. We had to go to this store because she had a 30% off coupon; another store offered 15% off on Tuesdays, another store offered 70% off. I am convinced that not even “world peace” could excite Mary more than 70% off.

I also learned no shopping spree would be complete without a visit to Starbuck's for coffee. What is this love affair women have with Starbuck's? There was a line to purchase coffee, of which, 90% were women.

Just when I thought my “good hubby” ordeal was over, Mary excitedly asked, “You don't mind if we go to Pier One do you?” “Of course not”, I replied with a big smile on my face. Then, Mary named three additional stores she wanted to visit. All toll, we visited eleven stores.

Our quest to find and purchase the perfect three red items for the new side table was unfruitful. However, we did purchase a lamp for another area of our room.

Without Mary knowing it, I had made a commitment to God and her for the day to do whatever she wanted to do. If she wanted to drag, I mean, ask me to accompany her to twenty stores, I would have done it with a smile.

Mercifully, after visiting eleven stores, it was dinner time. Upon Mary's request, the grand finale of our “shopping date” was dinner at a new sushi restaurant she wanted to try out.

During dinner, Mary exclaimed, “I had so much fun shopping. Thank you.” Seeing Mary's pleasure was well worth enduring her shopping marathon.

Guys, from time to time, it is good to show your wife you love and appreciate her. There's an old saying, “If momma ain't happy, nobody is happy”.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

^{Mary phoned her mom to thank her and dad for the Christmas gift they sent us.}

^{Mom reported that dad got his Flu shot yesterday. Mom was in the process of baking bread to take over Mac and Mary’s sister Melanie's house that night.}

^{Mary's other sister Donna, her husband Mark and their son Ben, home from college, were driving up from Baltimore to join them at Melanie and Mac's beautiful Christmas card setting West Virginia home.}

^{Due to various obligations, they decided to have an early family Christmas celebration. Florida obligations prevented Mary and I from attending.}

^{Mary's mom said this was the first time she and dad decided not to put up a Christmas tree for fear of the speedy crawling new grand-baby pulling it down. Mary said,"I don't remember them being so easy going when we were kids".}

^{Now I know what you are thinking. I must confess, as Mary was telling me all of this stuff, my mind began to wander. I, like you, was thinking, who cares! But then it dawned on me. Wow, this is great! Mary's mom was sharing non-eventful, typical, normal, boring family stuff.}

^{Well, that is exactly my point.}

^{God has blessed our family with another year. No one is seriously ill. No one has died. Yes, it is all so wonderfully normal and gloriously boring; an unwrapped Christmas gift from God. What a blessing! Praise God!}

^{My dad told me over the phone how he endured Christmas shopping with my stepmother. Dad asked me to keep her knee replacement surgery in prayer. But otherwise, they are happy and doing fine.}

^{I think I will call my brother David for his NFL playoff game predictions. Lisa, my daughter, texted me about her Christmas plans. I stopped in Deltona Records where Frank, my music producer and dear friend of 20 years, was excited about me hearing the song he recorded sung by his daughter who has blossomed into a beautiful young woman.}

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