Desire, Need, and Action!!!

Reverend Colley dropped by today to drop me some knowledge. I enjoy talking to the Reverend. He gave me the analogy I used on Hide ‘n’ Seek and Lions, Tigers, and Bears. This time at his last Sunday’s sermon, he used children as an example. Rev. uses a basic technique of getting the Word across, he keeps it simple. Understand that Rev is an intellectual but he doesn’t use it as a stamp, he’s just a down to earth guy, who knows how to present himself. Most importantly, I, personally, needed this message. Last week’s sermon was on what were the 2 important questions children ask? I hope that you adults can go back a bit and think like children for a few minutes. Thought about it? What were the primary questions did we ask our parents, others, or ourselves? What is that? Why? Weren’t we inquisitive? Our young minds wanted to know what things were and why were they like that. We got the definition on what and the purpose on why. The answers satisfied our small minds because they made sense. We didn’t know any better, but we trusted that the grown-ups did. But as children, as many things that we did, we still tried to stay on track because we had a single-minded focus on what awaited us. Okay, change back into the adult mode now. We are so busy with the job, family, multi-tasking here and there that we spread ourselves thin. We get off track. You can’t pay bills if you don’t work. If you’re unhappy at your job, you can’t quit until you find something better. Your family needs you now more than ever, but if you’re getting stressful every time you’re home, something has to change. What do you do? We have forgotten as children to ask ourselves, what do we do? Why are we doing it? We must slow down and get back on track and ask these questions. We have to be honest with our answers, too. In order to get back on track, we need to know what our true Desire is. What real Need will we accomplish? And what Action(s) should we take? Don’t allow what you’re doing get in the way of where you’re going. I know that I didn’t say or exactly quote word for word what Reverend Colley said but this about sums it up. We must become like Little Children in our way of thinking and acting. I’m reminding myself more than you why I am here on this earth…to get to my heavenly home. I get distracted at times, but a friend sent me an email reminding me that “we ought to develop godly friends. These are the Christian brothers and sisters who will laugh, cry, and empathize with us. Above all, believers need friends who will continually point them to God and pray over them.” Don’t forget to click on the red bold printed words, they are links to point you in the right direction.

Another Sinner's Prayer!

Lord, please hear my plea. Listen to the words of your humble servant. I am a sinful and broken man with a sorrowful heart. My brother and sister have no feelings for me. Is it really my color the reason for this hate? Is it the fruits of my labor that are not worth showing but jealous of? My heart is burdened with sorrow and grief. Their words and actions are like arrows piercing my very soul. They turn their backs on your loyal servant. Turn not your back on me, O Lord. My joy has been stolen by the enemy who planted these scornful seeds and I am too weak to fight by myself. David wrote constantly of his love for you but he was also anointed by you. I am but a man who has forgotten that he was created in your divine image and bears the breath of your Holy Spirit. I cry constantly because my sadness feels no love from my brother. What have I gained when I have lost everything that was so dear to me? Touch me, Lord. Wrap me in your grace and mercy. Hold me close to your forgiving heart so that I can love and forgive my brother for his anger. Guide me, direct me, Lord, to the paths that You have willed for me. Strengthen me in these times of weakness and despair that when I reach for your trusting hands, You are always there. I feel so alone, that I can’t talk to even my closest friends about my hurts. This is two years, two months, and a day since my mother has gone home to You. Is this why I feel so despondent today? Please, Lord, hear my cries. So many around me are being called home and we still do not realize that nothing is guaranteed. Life is so short and taken for granted. Thank you, Lord, I already feel your grace enveloping me.

Congratulations To The Brewbakers!

Jake & Angela got married last weekend in Virginia!  They had another celebration this weekend at their reception!  It was a great reception!!  Congratulations!!!  We are wishing you the best and long years together!

Rest in Peace, Pam!

An unexpected passing of a fellow co-worker occurred this weekend on Saturday.  Our prayers are with you, Pam!  We'll miss seeing you.

Pentecost Sunday

The Beginning of the church is what Pentecost is all about. This began when each of the Disciples of Christ were given the tongues of fire. They had the power of communication given to them. The Disciples were empowered to proclaim the Resurrection of the Lord and share the power of the Holy Spirit which is all of us. We have to be at peace within ourselves to allow Him entry. We know a lot about the Father and the Son, but we don’t speak often of the Holy Spirit, Who has been mentioned numerous times in the Bible. A couple of examples are: When John the Baptist baptized Christ and a dove (Luke 3:22) and in the Book of Job which mentions that "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life" (Job 33:4). Some religious authorities think that the Holy Sprit represents the feminine side of the Holy Trinity Who complements the Son. They see the work of the Holy Spirit as comforter, intercessor and source of inspiration could be represented in the ministrations of Mary and other holy women of God. I don’t know, but is it intuition that women seem to have when they know something is up or do they have a built-in receiver? Maybe women are so much better at multi-tasking that they know how to be at peace inside when everything around them is in chaos. Whatever it is, they are more open to The Spirit than us men.

Beautiful Plus Size Women

Fine Like Cristal Champagne

I want to address a subject suggested to me from Vivian, a member of the lunch crew. I said I will try. So some, if not most of this subject, will be addressed to her. Let’s be clear from the get-go, I don’t like the term “fat” women. You can use stout, thick, healthy, plus-size or even big-boned around me, but not fat. If you use PHAT, make sure that’s what you’re saying. PHAT = Pretty Hot And Tempting. I don’t know the origin, but I did hear Chris Tucker say it in one of his movies. Look at the women in the picture from the internet, they seem extremely collected, confident, competent, and complemented! They don’t look like they have low self-esteem issues. Don’t these women look beautiful!!??? Don’t they look good!!?? Your game better be on point! You can’t help what type of body you were born with but you can help how you want to look. Why would you demean someone or hurt their feelings to boost up yours? We did that when we were children because we didn’t know any better. “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11 (King James Version). We don’t have a clue how some women feel about their appearances. We do know that they are self-conscious about how they look on the outside. There could be medical, mental, or physical problems that these beautiful women are undergoing. Some are having low self-esteem problems but they are no different than any other women. I guarantee that they are concerned about their health and if you’re willing help them achieve their goals with positive encouragement, they’ll comply. We all know as we get older our metabolism slows down. With us men, some of us act like we don’t care when we gain weight. Then again, some guys really don’t care. But, most of us are really concerned. There are great deals of health problems that can be associated with anyone being overweight but instead of criticizing we should encourage and show support. Let’s break it on down. For everything you seem to see wrong, let’s look at what’s right. Look at how smooth their skin is. Look at the face, how smooth it is with those high cheek bones. They can get by without makeup. They don’t need it! Already a plus! Look at their attitude, positive and uplifting. Some of the so-called “cuties” think they are too good to laugh out loud and let go. They don’t want to tarnish their “image.” Go to the eyes, the neck, the hands, the legs, and the feet. Thick, strong legs are already in place. I don’t want to stereotype but so many thick women are loving, kind, generous, and thoughtful. They’ll do whatever they can to make a man happy. But the man has to remember to treat a woman with respect and dignity. Accept her for who she is. Any kind of abuse is simply abusive. A loving woman will stand by her man if he’s doing the right thing. So stand by your woman. If the woman is willing and encouraged with the right support and encouragement, help her fight her low self-esteem. Build up her confidence and pride. Help her to believe in herself. Get her out of those sloppy outfits, coach uniforms, sweat skirts and onesies (thin cotton-like material with tops & bottoms that match). The clothing doesn’t need to be tight but professional and sexy. Dress to impress and make you feel good. Find things that both of you can enjoy and get to know more about each other. In the process, enjoy the positive mental and physical changes that take place. Obesity is a problem and we all can pitch in. Why pay thousands of dollars for cosmetic surgery, liposuction, and stomach staples and bands? That’s a temporary fix and not all that healthy unless the doctor ordered it. It took time for all us to gain weight and it will take time to lose it. We have to be patient and stick to our commitment. In time, it will pay off. Yes, we all have our preferences but whatever we choose, let’s be respectful and courteous. By the way, I’m not disrespecting the slender women in this article. I was asked to discuss how some women feel when they don’t meet the image of what men want. One very big point I almost forgot. Ladies, respect yourselves first! You’ll get from us when you give it to yourselves. Respect is earned before it is give. People, I hope that the next time you see or meet a plus-size woman, try to be understanding about the difficulties she might be facing. The next time you meet any woman treat her like a lady. Because no matter what size any of us are, we are all facing some type of challenge.

Stay Focus On The Will

Living is a tough and too complex for our human nature can understand. The longer we live, the more we begin to pity the world and our selves. Our disappointments last longer, our hurts are deeper, our loves are temporary, and our attitudes get aggressive. On the other hand, our patience becomes longer, we learn from our experience, and we realize by our mortality that life is too short to worry about problems we can’t handle. Some of us begin to see the Hands of God intervening and intertwining within our lives. At times, all that we see are uncontrollable events that seem to knock us two steps backwards just when we though we recovered from another problem. We are so close to our breakthrough but we just can’t seem to get it right. We question ourselves a lot and forget just how good we got it. Yes, we want more but can we handle more? Some people seem to have all of the luck. They got the money, the homes, the cars, the jobs, the right connections, and their lives are great from our perspective. We wonder why wasn’t our lives like that? The Bible says the sun shines on the good and bad. Indeed, it rains on us all, too! We wear our emotions on our sleeves and we become slaves to those emotions. Our emotions control our minds and can cloud our judgments to make the right decisions. We then make ridiculous mistakes and sometimes end up regretting what we did. What’s worse we developed this emotional slavery since childhood. We get angry when we didn’t have our way as children and we still do it now as adults. We have problems accepting criticism even when it’s positive. We can’t deal with rejections so we might not even try to progress even though we know that the next step would be good for us. We have lost our faith in ourselves. We are slaves to our emotions. We don’t want people feeling sorry for us but we welcome the sympathy. Why does it take so long for some of us to learn what our purpose in this life is? Because to me, most of the time in our early years, we left God out of the decision making process. We knew we had all of the answers or one of our friends did, so we made the grave decision of not praying to God for divine guidance. We forget that God talks to our spirit which in turn connects to His divine Will. If you thought life was complicated then what do you think about the Holy Trinity? God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit make up the Holy Trinity. I’m not even attempting to go there. My faith is strong enough to just know. The Holy Spirit came down in the form of tongues of fire on Pentecost above the heads of all that were present in the Upper Room. I believe that from that time on we all have developed an ability to communicate with the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us. If developed, your spirit can recognize a kindred spirit. It can also recognize a fake one. “He without sin let him be the first to cast the stone…” Instead, the so-called, Christian, sinless man is always quick to make the first judgment call. I digress. Remember when Jesus was praying in the garden to the Father that He be excused from death, He said it is not His will but the Father’s? The human side was very emotional to point of sweating blood-like drops. But He got back to obeying God’s Will. What I am trying to say is focus on the will not the emotion. It will take some time but I believe that it’s possible. The emotions are powerful but the will is much stronger. Add faith, patience, perseverance and love to the mix, I think we might have something going for us. May the God of peace and love always be with you.