jj thames...naked.

To have your childhood dream realized is a really big deal. -Maya Rudolph 15 year old me... wide eyed... full of dreams!  I was gonna be a writer (check)  I was gonna be on tv (check) I was gonna be on the cover of magazines (check) I was gonna move to New York (check) I was gonna record records (check) I was gonna own successful businesses (still building but check) I was gonna travel the world doing what I love (check) I was gonna win a Grammy (made it to the final ballot...but not quite yet) I was gonna be an advocate for female empowerment (check) I had no plans to be a wife or mother (but check em anyway) Never was I supposed to be divorced or have a child die (check that too) I never imagined being homeless, sleeping on the train, and singing in the subways (check) You couldn't have paid me to believe that I would live in an extended stay hotel, or homeless shelter with my children (check) Never conceived that I would move to 4 different states...47 different tim...

"Everybody's story...ain't your story. So stop tryna fit into their fairytale template. Do you... God's plan for your life requires you...doing you. And you allowing Him to do Him, through you.  Let Him be the lead in your story... It'll be one rockin ride!" -jj thames. Flashback to 2009. I was 27 years old, a new mother (3 month little boy, Israel Angel)...In a new state (New York City)...and in a new position (full time minster) ...surprised? well...I sure was. I had dropped out of ministerial school, ran away from the church, from everyone that I ever knew, from my past, from all of my hurts (mainly the death of my 2 year old son)...and high tailed it as far away from Mississippi as I could go at the time. I was supposed to be in New York to pursue my music career...God had other plans. During this season of exile...I spent HOURS upon HOURS locked away studying and meditating on the word of God, worshiping, and spending t...

"You can't just lay down and let life happen to you... you have to DO life...and do it big. You're the boss...You determine how you're going to survive... pushing back or being run over...ride the waves, or let them drown you." -jj thames. Yesterday was Thanksgiving...and was probably one of the worst days of my life... Thanksgiving/Christmas/The New Year/Valentine's Day all have been attached to very unsavory memories... My mother's death, my child's diagnosis and death the following year, now a divorce...(this time last year, we were celebrating with family members and preparing for our wedding in 3 days, now we are separated, waiting for the mandatory waiting period to be over, and divorce to be final, and completely excommunicated- what amazing things can happen in a year.) sideeye* Then there are the many very lonely holiday experiences throughout the years  (my birthday is in July and that ones a doozy too! One year- EVERYBODY fo...

God is not pretentious...that's us...He just wants to be our friend, and for us to come and talk to Him like we do our best friends. He wants us to tell Him our thoughts, dreams, hearts desires, pains, plans and the like...even though He already knows. He's just so...everything wonderful...when you get to know Him. -jj thames. The poem below is one that I wrote in 2009, and genuinely was the beginning of my relationship with God...When I learned to let go of the formality, and just told the truth. Best thing I've ever done...enjoy!  Hey God, It's me...for real this time. By jj thames. Hey God, it me...for real this time. Don't strike me down, I'm puttin it all on the line. Shoot straight from the hip, all liquor no chaser. No pretense, no formulas, no strainers, no shakers. I feel bamboozled, led astray, put aside... These people who say they know you, their checklists I've tried. I'm starting to see, starting to believe that...