True Things

The wonderful fact about True Things is that your belief in them cannot make them any more true, and your disbelief won't take away from their ability to be True. I seek Jesus in order to be True. That way, affirmation from others becomes appreciated, but optional. --Me

Diamonds

Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs. - Author Unknown

Life is a wonderful gift that we’ve been given, but it is not always easy. We all, at some point, have life pressures that will test our strength and will to succeed. I will not let life's trials make me give up on my goals and dreams! I'm determined to past the test, press through and go to the next level of success.

It’s seems like in most success stories that I have read, breakthrough came right in the midst of the storm. So don’t let your emotions, people, and problems get the best of you!! You’re stronger than you think you are. It seems 'there are people that are waiting for you to fail and people that are waiting for you to succeed'. Who are you going to prove right? It’s your choice; stay a piece of coal or become a diamond!

I know this is for someone out there besides my self.... I need to remember this from time to time.

Quiet

Ever notice how everything is most quiet right before the sunrise?

I been up alot lately just before the sun comes up.

Taking a moment to calm the clamor and rest my soul.

The Lord knew that we would need moments like these before He gives us a new day

Abundant Life

Okay, so I know I've been preaching...or teaching, informing, or as one "friend" put it, on my church kick lately but everyone involved must know this is my life and I've been blessed too much not to stay like this...this time, for the rest of my life. You suffered through my painful year of "poor me, I'm so miserable" so now get happy or rather be happy for me, love me or leave me alone...but I love you anyway :-)

let's move on.

I am on a quest.


About mid- May, I came across the words, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

For those of you who are unaware...this is John 10:10.

So, my quest is to figure out just what Jesus meant by "life, and have it more abundantly". I mean personally. For me. I am well accustomed to the first part of the verse, but at some point, I got tired of playing the martyr.

There are a few things that I felt I lost along my way. While I managed to hold on to a single strand of sanity throughout it all, I accepted the notion that I could end up living out the rest of my existence....empty-handed. And I thought that is what the Will of God was for me. What He was pleased with. I thought that is what He took notice of. What caught His attention. I used to picture myself as a small girl wearing a pretty blue dress...with sad brown eyes pleading for someone to tell me how pretty I looked. I took this mentality into my relationships...and even as I interacted with God, I figured that I must do something to win His approval. My poison? Suffering.

That's what "bearing your cross" is all about, right?

Wrong.

I've inquired of God these past few weeks about what does it really mean to have an abundant life. Does that include a fat bank account? Good health? A vast array of friends? A lucrative 401K plan?

Is it different for each person? How do we recognize it when we're living it? And how do we obtain it?

Well. This is what I've gotten so far:

"Living Life Inside-Out".

Change is accomplished and KEPT when it happens inside out. When we seek to change our surroundings or our environment, we should pray that the change begins inside of us. One of two things will happen:

1. We will literally change our environment for the better. And have grateful hearts.

or

2. We will see our environment change...but only because our perception of it has changed. We see it differently....and gain a grateful heart in the process.

It's an ancient concept, yet still remains true: your attitude is the only thing you can control. I am amazed at how the world around me morphs when I decide to change my attitude. I almost wished I'd thought of it first.

Peace and Blessings,

PBM

Self Love?

We live in the age of the Hater, where we place emphasis on having victory over odds and others. From birth, we are taught to pursue what we want in life, and that the most important opinion is our own. I've thought this was the answer for so very long. We are taught that you can only count on yourself. You are all you have. Even religious-minded people hold similar thoughts: "Trust no man, only God." " Only God can judge me." Circumstances, which are meant to chip away the hardness of our hearts, only add to the boulder on our shoulders. It's puzzling to me why we end up choosing to grasp tighter to ourselves, instead of letting go. Is it that we think we'll end up losing ourselves at the end of it all? Yes, I know that is an example of what I have deemed as truth. But that's impossible.


We are who we are.

When God created us, He didn't just mold our outer shells. He also placed an inner nature deep inside. That, which is "in His image".  True love is self-sacrificing, but we are taught that love is indicative on how a person makes us feel. We weren't created to deny our feelings, or be led by them. Yet, God knew that a passionate heart, tainted by a sinful nature would equal disaster. Which is why we, as human beings, are in a constant, ever-abounding need of an ego check.

All of us, from me to you, him and her, Shaq and Obama, Hitler and Mother Theresa.

I'm not downplaying hurt, rejection, or any of the other forms of heartache that one can endure in a lifetime. I've had my share. However, we are taught that the remedy is to increase your self-love. That if you'd simply love yourself more, it will help you make sense of all you've been through. But, that is incomplete.

It's amazing the point of reference you have when you take the stance of a servant.
. Thank you Lord for clarity.

Just Thinking

"Stop telling GOD how big your storm is. Start telling the storm how BIG your GOD is."

Looks Good Huh?

Can't wait to see it. My man is BACK!!! Step your game up boo!

Okay Okay Already...Lebron

Since even my mother...the queen of "what was that call, why they doing that, what's going on" (in other words she don't really know basketball), is even calling saying 'Where do you think Lebron is going", I had to answer with a blog.

Seriously folks...I don't care! I roll with Kobe! Need I say more? No, but I will. Get 5 rings then ask me will I watch your special. Win a Championship with NOTHING but Scottie Pippen and BJ and a little bench help, Lose Shaq and pick up Paul Gasal, and pray for Derrick Fisher to have a good night, Hope Ron Artest don't lose his mind, beat the Green Machine then ask me if I care where Lebron is going.


In those anxious, heart-stopping moments before LeBron James addresses the nation on the state of the war in Afghanistan, I'd like to ... wait a minute [this is where Jon Stewart puts the fake phone to his ear] ... I've just been informed that the King's special is not about Afghanistan. It is about his deciding in which American city he will pursue his dream -- our dream, really, the dream of our collective nation, or more like the dream of the world, that's it, the whole world, the universe, that dream. Which is to play basketball, make a lot of money, and just maybe change humankind for the better.

But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, as much as we are tingling with anticipation about LeBron's decision, to be announced in a one-hour ESPN special cleverly called "The Decision," you do realize that we are staring into the abyss. Because think of it: What will we do when "The Decision" has been, you know, decided? How will we fill the empty hours, the endless, malaise-driven days when there is no longer video of LeBron arriving at his basketball camp, LeBron posting delectable tidbits on his Web site, LeBron tapping out messages on his new Twitter account? We got nothing. An irritating war, something about an oil spill down South, a crumbling job market.
The Amar'e Stoudemire welcome that was plastered on the Madison Square Garden billboard -- incidentally, the same place they advertise the circus every year -- was an interesting diversion, as was his chest-pounding calls for Carmelo Anthony and Tony Parker to join him on the Knicks. But the over-the-top part began with Wade and Bosh,  we want to play on the same team. Can we? Can we? Pleeeeeeeeze? If LeBron joins them in Miami, it'll be all the cool kids on one side, taking over the playground, nerds over there against the wall.

Look, Wade is a great talent and he won an NBA championship in 2006 practically by himself. (Along with a few whistles that put him at the foul line a few thousand times.) But his diva act has been way, way over the top. Bosh is a solid player as well but the attention put upon a guy who at this point is about the 100th best player in NBA history defied belief. In his seven seasons with the Raptors, Bosh led them to two playoff appearances, both of which resulted in first-round exits.

But the big story, of course, is LeBron, who, is drunk on the greatness of his own LeBron-ness. He is clueless of how ridiculous this whole process has been. Scheduling a one-hour show when you have zero championship rings and, at last glance, were seen folding like a umbrella against the Celtics in the semifinals. I'm sure Team LeBron is claiming that "The Decision" is mostly about raising money for charity, but here's a simpler way he could do that -- take a million or two of the 100 he's going to get and write a check to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. And if he's already done it, do it again.

Oh by the way, my simple pick would be Bulls, where he could actually play with some players like Derrick Rose who, as of now, don't care much about the fame and glory and are enjoying the game and making the entire team better. Just my pick but I don't care cause you still gotta cross Kobe and knock him off the pedastal at some point. That's all