Sometimes you just got to cut up! Tiffiney, what do you mean by cut up? Well, I am glad you asked. Many of us have encountered many remixes in our lives, some were for the better and others not so good, but the good and bad experiences have helped to build our character. These experiences have molded and shaped us into being who we are today. 

I remember when DJ’s would do remixes manually by scratching vinyl records on a turntable. The turntable reminds me of the world we live in because it is constantly evolving and revolving.  We are the vinyl records patiently lying and waiting for that needle of God to drop, which is the only constant thing on the record player of life. But then God allow someone or something to place a hand on that record and scratch that thang up, we tend to get upset and all bent out of shape. Back and forth, around and around we go! The beauty of it all is when the hand of the outside force is removed from the vinyl record, the needle of God resumes position! He never changes. Sometimes the remixes sound great, when done right.  At other times, the originals are better than the remixes but just remember if you have the MASTER, you can make necessary changes and it will all come together perfectly.

I am a Christian and I absolutely love music. Music just makes me feel better! I can remember before my parents were saved, they would have house parties quite often, which is when I fell in love with the music of the 70’s.  I have proof of how much and how long I have been loving music.  If you were to look right above my top lip, you will see a cut that I received when I first started to walk. Does anybody remember those heavy glass ash trays that our parents had sitting on the living room table? My momma loved to play music while she cleaned the house, so she had the song ‘Fire’ by The Ohio Players playing and I was holding on to the side of the table to balance myself, trying to dance, grabbed the ash tray, pulled it to me and cut my lip. Yep, I was just learning to walk when this happened, which means I have been loving music all my life.

I love all types of music from Christian to R&B, Blues, Rock, Hip Hop, Jazz etc. Honestly, I can say that I am not a fan of a lot of the rap today because of the repetitive words, phrases and let’s not mention the content. Now I will say, I love a dope beat and heavy baseline but sometimes I catch myself and listen to the words and I am immediately turned off. We cannot allow ourselves to get distracted by the beat, we need to listen to the content and the message being conveyed to our children. We as parents also should be aware that there is a big difference between those radio versions and the originals. I have learned that the hard way. A good beat can get you messed up!

I have a daughter who is a lover of music and she gets it honestly from her parents. She has grown up listening to the music my husband and I grew up listening to, as well as, the music we listen to now and she absolutely loves it. Now, she does listen to some of music of this generation, but it is closely monitored. I make a conscious effort to keep myself abreast of what is going on in the world when it relates to what my daughter watch and listen to.  I simply do not want her to experience any type of shock when she ventures out into this world on her own. In her lifetime she will encounter many remixes that she will need to work her way though. I just pray that she remembers that while she may be on that turntable of life being remixed that the needle is what will make the difference. God never changes he always remains the same. 

I tend to cut up with my daughter a lot. So much until sometimes she acts as though she is embarrassed. For instance, while we are out riding around in the car, I will put on a song with a dope base line, turn it up loud, sing /rap the lyrics while bobbing my head in the car or trying to show her some of those old dance moves we had such as the cabbage patch or the prep. She will turn her head and sink down in her seat, but the whole time she is smiling, saying, “mom stop, please stop mom”! I get too tickled at her but one thing I do know is that she loves for me to cut up with her. She will remember the dance battles we have in the house, old school vs new school. She will remember the Zumba classes that we took together, and I was totally off beat and out of breath. She will remember that her momma cut up with her and taught her how to dance through the remixes of life. 

I am so happy that God is the DJ of remixes in my life, there is nothing like being remixed by the MASTER!