He’s Concerned

I am sitting here listening to CeCe Winans singing He’s Concerned and if I wasn’t at work I would be on my face. Sometimes you just need to hear that God is concerned to believe it. You are watching all hell break loose, bad go to worse, and wondering where is God. You have just about given up and think that God doesn’t care. But, just when you are about to hit rock bottom…

He knows, He cares, He sees, He’s there, And He’ll carry you, He’s concerned about you.

Though the pressures of life seem to weigh you down, and you don’t know which way to turn. God is concerned and He’s working it out just for you. Yes, He does that alright!! EVERYTIME!! He works it out, why? Why for you, why for me? What have we done that was so good? The answer… absolutely nothing!! He just loves us, that’s the reason why he works it all out.

So stop walking around with your head down. Stop feeling defeated. God has your back. Trust and know that HE IS CONCERNED ABOUT YOU!!

Tired of nouns?

In elementary school I remember nouns being defined as people, places, and things. I would like to assign it this acronym…

Negative Opposition Under New Stipulations.

And right now I am fed up with the nouns in my life. I am sick and tired of the enemy getting his way. I’m tired of the enemy having the upper hand in my life and the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am tired of the voices…Tired of them whispering…You can’t, you won’t, you’ll never, give up, give in…I am frustrated because we are listening to them. I am frustrated because we believe them. I am frustrated because have forgotten who we are.

I don’t mean to rock your boat or sound cynical at all (yes I do), but sometimes I just wonder if we believe that this is they way God intended it to be. Why else do we let the voices dictate our lives? It is time that we are no longer ignorant of the devil’s devices. We have allowed the devil to walk all over our stuff far too long; we have allowed the voices to keep us from our purpose too long. I believe we need to start lighting the fires! You have a God given authority to tell the devil to get out of your mind, out of your life, out of your house, out of your finances, out of your children, and most of all OUT OF YOUR EAR! Stand up, speak up and tell the devil to shut up in Jesus’ name! We need to begin to tell the enemy where to go and how to get there.

I know that God DOES have something better for us. Look at Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you.” (that’s the NIV) and the King James Version says it like “for I know the thoughts that I think toward you.” I encourage you to get out your spiritual ear plugs and “Do Not Disturb” signs and go hard after this thing. I encourage all of us to seek God. And, when you seek Him ask to see His plan for your life to begin to visibly manifest. Seeing is believing!! So when you see it you can’t and won’t believe what the enemy is saying to you.

Giving Thanks…

Today I am piggy backing off my BFF...

Things I Am Thanking God For…

1. That He is a God of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th…chances
2. My Kids…Thanks guys for being mature at a young age. It makes Mom’s life easier.
3. That Friday is Pay Day… I need to make right some wrongs so I can sleep… I get it Lord, now can I sleep through the night, please?
4. Pastors who won’t let up till everything God has planned for me manifests. I appreciate your diligence Pastors Lyons.
5. For TRUE friends. You know who you are.
6. That it is 75 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes and 5 seconds until Tuesday, January 1, 2008.
7. Growth. Cuz after I found out who broke in my house, I didn’t wind up on the news.
8. Truly understanding, “Though He Slay Me, Yet Will I Trust Him…”
9. That I am more than a conqueror!!!
10. The Process.

Funny!

Ok, CBS has me hooked. The Big Bang Theory is a hit with me. Nerds are funny!

Thoroughly FRUSTRATED!!!!

I am soooooo tired of my local public school system. If these lazy teachers call me one more time with some nonsense I will be on the news. Here’s the story…

My 7yr old was diagnosed ADHD last year. We tried the meds and have since taken him off. He functions fine without them. He has no problems anywhere but school. He goes to an after school program everyday with about 50 other kids and 3 maybe 4 teachers who are students with Americorp. They have little or no problems with him. But, these teachers at this school have started a paper trail and phone call terrorism. I could see if their issues were note worthy but this is dumb stuff. I get phone calls like, “Dakarai doesn’t have his listening ears on today. I’ve told him several times to stop fidgeting and work.” HE IS 7!!! What 7yr old doesn’t fidget after sitting for 4 hours coloring on some worksheet.

They want to turf him to an alternative school but I can’t let them do that. The school they want to send him to is for severe behavioral problemed kids. And they send the violent, truant, and pregnant teens to this particular school. Because of No Child Left Behind they have to provide a program for these troubled students. His issues are not that bad. So, they figure if they fill out enough nuisance referral forms they will put him out. His teacher even suggested that I put him back on the meds.

I remember as a kid having kids in my class that fit Dakarai’s type and the “good” teachers realized that they needed a little more attention and adapted to help that kid learn. What happened to all the old school teachers? These new folks think medicating is the answer to everything. They want a classroom full of zombies to make their day go smoother. Then they want to look at you crazy and call Child Protective Services because you won’t medicate them.

Just because the teaching style that you have been using for the last 100 years doesn’t work for a kid doesn’t mean it’s something wrong with the kid. Maybe, just maybe there is something wrong with your program. I was pressured into having him tested and diagnosed ADHD, it was the only way to keep him in school. If he had a label they couldn’t send him home. Now that I’ve done that mess they don’t want to acknowledge his illness. They only want to dope him up. Where are the alternatives. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! Ya’ll may see me on the news. I want to line them all up and slap them like the 3 Stooges.

This just ignites my plan to home school next year. Every phone call just puts me a step closer to doing it.

Manic Monday

“It’s just another manic Monday! I wish it was Sunday, cause that’s my funday. My I don’t have to runday. It’s just another manic Monday…”

Those lyric just about sum up my day. And yes I know I am showing my age but hey, “When your old and you know, fight to keep your face from showing it. If your old and you know it clap your hands!!”

Today was just one of those days… One of those days when you want to pull the covers over your head and forget you have a job. Last week I was on jury duty. The task wasn’t the greatest but the carefree days were AWESOME!! It was great. I took a walk at lunch everyday. Went by my office at church a couple of those days and got caught up on some stuff without feeling guilty for doing it on somebody else’s time. I can’t wait till January.

Donnie McClurkin sang a song and the lyrics so fit my life right now, I am closing with them today…

“Remember when you said before that you needed something more. Now it’s time to realize, He’s knocking at your door. Things that you used to do somehow don’t appeal to you. Why would you deny that you don’t want them anymore? Listen to your heart and to your soul. And don’t be afraid anymore . He’s calling you, He’s calling you. Tell me what are you going to do. Your time has come for a life brand new. He is calling you, He is calling you.“

So You Don’t Say

I missed my mind dump this week so here we go…

My son (lives in Va) text’d me today with his grades (which are great), and I was shocked to find out that he was taking drivers ed. He won’t be 16 till March. The first thing that came to mind was, OH, NO I have to add him to my insurance. My rates already went up $75 when I moved to the hood. Now, I can only imagine.

My BFF Crystal FINALLY had the baby. Praise the Lord!! She is still special though, so I don’t think being pregnant had anything to do with her mind function. She is still touched, not real sure if it’s by an angel though. Love Ya Crystal but you do drive the short bus.

I had to put my daughter on punishment probably till Jesus comes back. Her attitude sucks at school and teachers keep calling me. I hate punishment cuz now I gotta remember she is not supposed to be doing stuff. I am old and half the time I don’t remember till she is 15 min into her favorite show.

I am having phone and internet service installed at home next week. Finally. Long story as to why I been there a year and never done it. But, Praise be to the Lord we are moving on up.

A red ant ran across my couch last night and I about lost it. I am so SICK of insects I don’t know what to do. Then I got nervous because I remembered this story. Then came back to reality when I realized there are no fire ants in Ohio.

My 7 yr old has become really independent over last couple weeks. He fixes his own plate at dinner or snack. He even got ice out the freezer and poured juice without spilling it. But, he still cries when you tell him to get socks and underwear out the basket in the morning. Go figure.

I realized that despite the fact that I haven’t worked out in quite awhile (hint, hint Justin) that the pounds are still falling off. I used to have Pterodactyl wings (you know that flab that hangs off you upper arm) now I only have canary. Awesome!!

Lastly, It is 87 days, 13 hours, 29 minutes and 13 seconds until Tuesday, January 1, 2008!!

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Choices

Jury Duty is an experience.  Most people get called in, never get selected, and go on with their normal day to day lives.  Well, I wasn’t so lucky.  My first time ever being called and I got selected.  It was something I will never forget.

We watch a lot of crime shows, court shows, you know Law and Order, CSI and think we are getting a real live depiction of how it really works.  Not so.  Those shows are an elaboration of what really happens.  It’s not like it looks on TV, not at all.  There are some similarities, walking away from this I will look at those shows a little different.

The case we decided the defendant was charged with murder.  To have to base your decision on facts presented and even though it looked different through your mind’s eye was difficult.  The hardest part for me was knowing that my decision would impact him for the rest of his life.  His guilt or innocence was based on how I saw the facts presented to me during those three days.  It took a lot of soul searching.  I was sick to my stomach and almost in tears when they read the verdict that we decided.

His actions, whether right or wrong, put him in a situation that cost a man his life and by the law he has to pay for them.  It was an unfortunate situation.  But, the scary part is it happens everyday.  Everyday someone takes a life.  Everyday somebody leaves home with the expectation of returning, but never seeing friends, family, or daylight ever again; because of the actions, intentional or not, of someone else.

In the end two lives were lost.  The man killed and his killer.  This was not a capital murder case so there is no death penalty. But, this young man because he choose to use a gun will be going to jail for a very, very long time.  He lost his life today.  I feel for both families.    Words cannot not express what I feel right not.  Part of me wants to cry and the other scream.

This whole experience makes what we do as the Body of Christ so much more important.  We have a tremendous task at hand.  In the words of a great bear, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”  Watching the news everyday shows me that we have a lot of fires burning right now. Our forests are going up in smoke ya’ll.  Are we going to sit back and say “Oh, pretty, fire.”  Or will we grab hoses, buckets, whatever it takes and dose these flames?

Alright “saints” of the most high, what are we going to do?  How can we help?  This is your time to sound off, make it count.

Sorry Amigos

It’s been a crazy, hectic, interesting week.  I recieved in the mail a few weeks ago my very first Jury Duty summons.  I had to report on Monday and guess what I got picked.  So, I have been in court all week.  My first experience has been a interesting one I must say.  Hope I don’t get called again for awhile this kinda of jacks up all my plans for the week.

I started reading another book this week I am working on finishing by at least this time next week Getting Things Done by David Allen.  It’s a great read and I recommend it to everyone who lacks or needs to improve task management.  I know this book is going to have a big impact on my life.  I need a new plan, my current plan sucks and doesn’t seem to be working well at all.

So, I hope to be back blogging later this week.  Got stuff I need to say.  Just don’t have the time to sit down and do it.  Until next time….