What A Merciful God We Serve!

I allowed Satan to rob me of my joy today. The joy from enjoying the mercy and forgiveness the Lord has given me from not attending Mass this weekend. God has forgiven me but I couldn’t forgive myself. Here’s my brief explanation. All I could think about all day were the many gifts of He has given me that I take for granted. I woke up, I still take care of myself, I have all my faculties and senses and I have a job to keep food on the table and a roof over my head. Have I forgotten who gave me this? No, but I acted like I did. Our God is a good God! He knew what I was going to do before I knew and He forgave me. I allowed Satan, who does not deserve any more discussion, to plant the seed of doubt about God’s infinite mercy and forgiveness. I had to express my feelings about this one more time so that if any of you ever experience this particular guilt that I am going through, I want to understand that we have a powerful supporter. God has our back when we think that no one else does. Thank you, Lord, for restoring my confidence!

Forgive Me, Lord, For I Have Sinned!

I didn’t go to Mass today, no excuse. I usually go on Saturday evenings instead of Sunday mornings to meet my obligation. But this morning, I wanted to stay in and look at the TV ministers. Subconsciously, I was hoping that it would rain and I love to stay in when it rains. Anyway, I listened to TD & Joel, for those of you who recognize those names. For those of you who don’t, they are TD Jakes & Joel Osteen. Two different styles of preaching but both have the same great messages. Still, I felt guilty for being lazy so I turned off the TV and listened to the radio. Yes, I wanted to give God time but how selfish and unappreciative I was by not going to His House. I listened to more preaching this morning than I normally do when I go but it was not enough. I realize that the guilt I was feeling was from the enemy than from our forgiving & merciful Father. It still didn’t make things better for me when one of the “air wave” preachers mentioned that if it wasn’t for God, we wouldn’t be where we are and should give Him time in God’s House. Talking about stepping on your toes no matter where you are, the Word is always straight and true. I’m bringing this up because too many times we are too busy judging others for things that they do wrong. I will say in my defense that the preacher did say that those of you that go to church on Sundays aren’t any better if they are not practicing love and forgiveness the rest of the week. It does feel like not being thankful for the many blessings He’s given me. I guess you can say I’m doing a public confession with this submission today. So learn to forgive others and stop beating yourself up when you make mistakes. Try not to do it again.

Leap of Faith!

Carolyn is going back to school for her masters and she is scared to death. I can’t understand why. Whether she uses it as leverage or not, she is showing growth and progression. Maybe it’s the extra work and responsibility she’s afraid of. Maybe, she’s afraid of studying and writing which will require discipline and commitment, I don’t know. What I do know is that she is going and will finish with high grades. Now, if I have that much faith in her, surely she should have even more in herself. My co-worker will just have to take that leap of faith. Haven’t we all? Haven’t we gotten into something and thought there was no way out, but by the grace of God, we found a way? It wasn’t easy but we prayed, believed, and hoped and somehow we got through. Isn’t that’s what living all about? Not just leaps but acts of faith pulling us through during our lives? Carolyn questioned what she’ll do with her degree. Please. If God takes us to something, there’s a reason that He’ll bring us through it. So many people don’t believe in God but I do.

Another Historical Moment

Yes, this is another call to the altar.  Columbia, SC, city residents elected their first black mayor, Steve Benjamin.  He was already number one where he lead in the first voting process but was still too close.  This time there was a record turnout in the runoff.  Unfortunately, his victory celebration was short.  The next morning, he collided with a 61year old woman who was critically injured and is now on life support.  Life can change within seconds and we still take it for granted.  We can't believe it can happen to us and it's harder to believe when it does.  Please pray for both of these families and the victims.  Then pray for yourselves that we gain wisdom, patience, and a sincere relationship with God.

We’re Praying For You, Nichael!

Our co-worker, Nichael, had a very serious seizure today. During lunch hour around 1:15, we heard a very loud and long inhale as if it was someone was taking a final breath come from her cubicle. She’s had mild seizures before and we all, in the close area, check on her. We were attuned to unusual sounds from her cubicle so we all knew that something was wrong. Well, this time, she was rigid and was foaming at the mouth. I personally thought that she was having a stroke. If it wasn’t for Greg, a trooper who trained for these types of matters, I truly believe this incident would have been worse. While Greg & others were busy attending to Nichael, a couple of us were calling 911. She had fallen and bumped her head but Greg & Carolyn did outstanding until the EMS folks got there. It was a very frightening moment. When I first saw Nichael in that rigid and shaking state, I immediately thought of my mother when she had her heart attack. My God, it took everything I had not to break down wondering about my mom’s final moments. Thank God Greg took charge on this. I don’t think I could have handled it. They took Nichael to the hospital but she was seating up in the stretcher looking normal. I thought the EMS was taking her to Lexington Hospital but when I called, no one by her name had been admitted today. I wish this young woman well. She is going through quite a lot.

Philadelphia: The City of Brotherly Love

I spent this weekend and a couple of days in Philly for a Lifesavers Conference. I flew, and my co-worker, Gregg, drove. I consider any trips over two hour’s flight time. Gregg is still a trooper so he’s ok with the driving. The people were very nice and friendly, not surprising, I understand. It is a very diverse population and I can see why. The city seems to ooze history. In some parts of the area, it’s like walking back in time. And believe me, I love to walk. Yes, wherever I go, I like to get up early and start trekking. If there are landmarks, that’s even better. I’ll walk at least 10 miles, five to get there and five to get back. I try to walk in the safe areas but if you’re foreign to any area, how would you know? You can ask but if you look at, any area can be dangerous. Cars can be just as dangerous as people, even construction work can be harmful. It’s a chance you have to take. Keep in mind, I said I walk early in the morning, ample time to recover, if lost, and plenty of daylight to mark your bearings. Well, I walked this weekend and saw where the founding fathers of this great nation signed and wrote the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of the Federation, and the Constitution. I was in the same building (Freedom Hall) where they were, saw the places where they sat, and quite possibly walked along the same areas. I imagined that there was quite a bit of heated discussion regarding the colonies, their separation from England, their new found freedom, wars, and the issues. of slavery. After all, the Philadelphia was part of the Underground Railroad and the Liberty Bell became the battle cry for abolitionists, Liberty for All!

The conference was informative and creative! I enjoyed hearing about new ideas and implementations in traffic safety that’s happening throughout the country. You’ll see in cars, laws, and neighborhoods. On the way back home at the airport, I met Janette Fennell, founder of Kids and Cars. If you’re in the policy making hierarchy, she’s well known. I didn’t know her, so you know where I stand. She and her husband were instrumental in pushing the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to collect Not-in-Traffic Statistics (NiTS) (Not head lice). It’s all about little kids dying in cars with the windows up and the adults forgetting about them, fatalities that occur in driveways when the adults accidentally run over them, and closing the door on their little body parts. She also worked with the doctor who lost his son in the trunk because there was nothing to open from the inside. Well now there’s a glow in the dark pulley that unlocks the trunk from the inside. This is something in the safety world. By the way, Janette is a wonderful person. Click on the red highlights, they’ll link you to the websites. Please see how many children are injured, it would surprise you.

Turning A Page In A Life

Today, 5 adults decided to volunteer their efforts towards the improvement of helping our fellow man. We all met at an orientation towards improving literacy in the state of South Carolina with the help of Turning Pages. Turning Pages is a local non-profit organization serving adults in the greater Columbia area. Their mission is to help adults reach their full potential by helping them improve their reading, math, computer, and English language skills, through customized learning plans. They want to open doors of opportunity for adults, children, and families to become enthusiastic lifelong learners. It was exciting to meet such educated and prolific individuals who continued to better themselves throughout their lives. In attendance were educators, past principles, French chefs, engineers, missionaries, and world travelers. Most of them were fluent in two languages and understood a few others. One lady was so fluent in German that she still read her books in German. Even the director and her assistant were former educators and are still teaching because of their compassion to help others. I felt that I was sitting on the board of directors in such esteem company. So, hats off to Edwina, Laura, April, Anas, Malcolm, Genevieve and Deborah, they deserve a hearty pat on the back. I do have to say that Malcolm a retired French chef, who has cooked around the world, is returning to school at Carolina for a Masters in Linguistics and a Ph.D., at 70 years of age. How’s that for not slowing down? Volunteers are people willing to help each other for free. I never thought that I would be a part of that group. I hope someday, if I have any readers, would be willing to take that chance, too.

Who's Minding The Home?

These are some interesting times we are living in. We all seem to have good days and bad days. We worry now more than ever about our future. Look around you, young people are committing suicide. So many of them don’t even believe in a future. They live for the moment and don’t even think of the consequences. There is a difference between appreciating life and living for the moment. But how can you make them aware of this when as an adult you are faced with complex problems of your own? More importantly, are you still there to help guide your children in these troubling times. So many parents ignore their children when these youngsters need guidance from the family than the streets. Have we as parents failed our children? Are we more irresponsible than they are? I was offsite today visiting an upstate agency. I was shown some statistics regarding teenagers from 12-16 years old that would rival adult criminal activity. I’m talking about rape, attempted murder, manslaughter, breaking & entering, drug dealing, theft, vandalism, and even illegal internet activity. These are but a few of these major offenses committed by this particular age group. There were some 10 year olds involved, too. What makes it worse is that these numbers are in the city, not the county. I was told major efforts towards mentoring, finding community support, did not bring the kids to any of these positive activities. Why? Will the excuse single parents can’t raise their kids fly? I don’t think so. If anything, many of them try harder to raise their children. I sincerely believe that when religion and discipline was taken out of the schools, our children’s future went down hill. Children are raising children, classmates are raising each other, and modern technology (games, computers, cellphones, etc.) are helping raise the children, too! Neighbors, during my time, were involved in the each others’ welfare. Now when you return to your roots, nothing looks the same. You might find that there are no flowers, no well-manicured lawns, no fruit trees, and no pride in the homes and community. I heard on the radio coming back that a radio announcer was frustrated with television entertainment ministers and television entertainment academicians. They are selling their show and books. They both preach and use well intended words eloquently, but don’t put forth any actions. In other words, they talk a good game, but can’t back it up. Money talks, BS walks. It’s easier to criticize what others do wrong when you don’t do anything yourself. Yes, neighborhood churches have a lot of ministries and need the money to fund them but how many are actually walking the neighborhood and bringing the church to the people?

Others To Lean On

I want to apologize to my readers about discussing my political views. I got frustrated on the state of our national divisiveness that I vented my own take about partisan politics. I know that there are some of us that will not like the other person for whatever reason but I do believe that we should at least respect each other.

As you all know, the month of March, all Thursdays, and the day after Easters are rough for me now. Easter is such a glorious time!  But I want to give some recognition to people who understood and proved that no man is an island. Lt. Russell Wilson gave me a beautiful card on March 24th marking my mom’s 2 years. His father passed 7 years ago on that date. Cheryl Anderson’s father just recently passed this year on that date and Kathy Solkofske’s father passed last year on that date. It’s amazing how much we all share in this life when we take the time to listen to each other. We never know what others are going through. I tend to think that my problems have priority over others until I learned that compared to other people’s problems, I really don’t have any major problems. I am blessed everyday and still manage to forget it. Miracles are happening all around me and I still don’t see them as I should. We need each other to lean on regardless of our differences. It can be our differences that can unite us, if we just take the time to listen and respect each other.  It starts with little acts of kindness towards each other.

Same Old Negative News

I don't know about anyone else but I have heard enough about Tiger and his sexual exploits.  If I want to read or hear porn, I can go to the internet.  Is this a new found way that the "purist" reporters get a chance to talk dirty and cover steamy news without feeling guilty?  Seems to me this a new reason for the media to go into our bedrooms.  Even though Jesse James and Sandra Bullock are making the latest news, we still hearing the old news with the same players but new information.  Tiger screwed up and let's move on.  Jesse screwed up and lets move on.  David, Eric, Charlie and a whole group of famous and not so famous guys screwed up and some are making the news.  Apparently, people that are doing good deeds aren't worth reporting about.  And if they are, they will get only 5-15 minutes of fame.  Bad news continually sells.  If we don't want to hear it, turn away from it or turn it off.  Adulters have been around for a long time and they aren't going away.  But not everyone is and not everyone will.  But is sex is addictive, I'm not the shrink to figure it out.  Was the same said for alcoholism?  Drugs?  Can you be addicted to porn?  Particular foods?  You see where I'm going with this?  If you have a problem, find a way to get help and work it out.  Do we need others to air our problems?  I know that people are nosey and love to gossip about other people's business instead of their own.  Is insecurity an addiction?

Happy Easter!!! He Has Risen!!!

I hope we all meditated on Christ's supreme sacrifice for us!  If we didn't it's still not too late!