“A Good Black Man”
I know we live in a world that says good black men are hard to find. Some don’t even believe that good black men exist because of bad experiences and negative images in the media. However, good black men do exist, and today I want to dedicate this post to one of the good black men that I know, my husband for almost 19 years, William Tatem, Jr.
Today is his 51st birthday (Happy Birthday Babe!) and I want to take this time to give him his flowers while he can smell them. I am so thankful that God brought us together for such a time as this. He is a good friend, husband and a father to our children. He loves the Lord and is truly a servant. He loves to serve and to be a blessing to others. When I met him, he was picking up senior citizens for church and handling them with love and care. He was also a volunteer serving as a youth advisor at The First Baptist Church of Glenarden. We both signed up to serve in the Youth Ministry and that is where we met, the rest is history.
One of the things that I love about my husband is that he truly loves me and he does an excellent job of demonstrating his love. He works very hard to provide and he consistently finds ways to serve me and our children. He is very supportive of everything that I want to do and accomplish. Since he has been my biggest cheerleader, I have done things that I normally would have been afraid to do. I also love the fact that he wants me to feel good and look good. He encourages me to keep taking good care of my self from the inside out. A few years ago, one of his friends challenged him to wash me with the Word of God. Ever since, he takes time to pray for me and to read me a scripture just about every day. He knows that I love God and His Word so he has learned to feed me the Word of God. Yes, I can feed myself but there is something powerful about him praying and washing me with the Word. (Ephesians 5:26)
I am so thankful to God for William Tatem, Jr, a good black man. I also thank his parents for raising such a wonderful son. My children are thankful for the father that he is and for all of the sacrifices that he makes to raise them. My mom and grand parents have reached out to him just to say thank you for being the man that you are. They have all witnessed his love, friendship and see the way that he serves his family.
I know that I am not the only woman who has a good black man. So if you have a good black man, I encourage you to see to it that you respect him (Ephesians 5:33) and take time to honor him. He may be your husband, father, grandfather, uncle or your brother but take time to appreciate him today. Good doesn’t mean perfect because none of us are perfect. Don’t wait and don’t delay for tomorrow is not promised, take time to thank a good man today.
Until next week,
Carolyn
Marriage from A to Z 
Hello Carolyn, Amen and high five to that. I agree 100%. My husband is just as you have described a good black man to be. I look at my husband in admiration for who he is, whose he is and what he stands for. GOD is truly a GOD of another chance. I am so glad GOD saw fit to entrust my husband to me. He is truly the man I had dreamed of and hoped for.
TRhank you for this post!
“So if you have a good black man, I encourage you to see to it that you respect him (Ephesians 5:33) and take time to honor him.”
I appreciate your desire to encourage men to be good, however I will point out that Ephesians 5:33 does not say it is okay to disrespect your husband if he is not good. This is echoed in 1 Peter 3:1-2 where it is clear that a wife is to be respectful and submissive to her husband regardless of his behavior.
“In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.” [1 Peter 3:1-2 NASB]
I agree Ephesians 5:33 does not say it’s okay to disrespect your husband and neither do I. So sorry that you took it that way.