Well, here we are, the end of the year, in a few hours we will be in 2006. I always get a bit melancholy at this time because I think about the year that is leaving us and look to the year ahead with a little fear and excitement. It’s been a tough financially year for us but when I review 2005, I have to say that I am grateful to God that my son DJ was not hospitalized (for a 3rd straight year), I still love my husband deeply, my other son Samuel is doing fine physically and otherwise, I am still alive and I’ve managed to hold on to things like my house, my cars, get closer to finishing my degree. You know, the simple things. Today, my sister-in-law sent me something that I thought captured how I want to feel at 12:59 today. I hope you feel this way too and Happy New Year! The first day of 2006 can be the best day of our lives, ever.

Today, when I awoke, I suddenly realized that this is the best day of my life, ever.

There were times when I wondered if I would make it to today; but I did!  And because I did I’m going to celebrate! Today, I’m going to celebrate what an unbelievable life I have had so far: the accomplishments, the many blessings, and, yes, even the hardships because they have served to make me stronger.

I will go through this day with my head held high and a happy heart.  I will marvel at God’s seemingly simple gifts:

the morning dew,
the sun,
the clouds,
the trees,

I found aerial and other pics of where me and Hiram were raised. Wow. So cool. Thanks Rudy for the link. Here they are…amazing what has happened to the areas.

This is where Hiram grew up with his sisters and his mom and dad. Where they would travel on the train to Primitive Christian Church almost every day of the week!

Hiram’s House Aerial View of 229 Arlington Ave in Brooklyn

Hiram’s House Zoom’d

This is where I grew up with my single parent mom, where I learned to do the Hustle, where I lived through a mini-fire and a robbery, where I witnessed domestic violence on the streets and where there was a neighborhood bodega (grocery store) where my mom would get things fiao (on credit) until she would get paid and where my little sister was conceived and born. I can’t even believe I remembered the address!

Aerial View of 268 Stagg Street in Brooklyn

Zoom’d in View of 268 Stagg Street and my elementary school P.S. 196 (a little over to the S.W. corner)

From Brooklyn we moved to Manhattan. I remember praying to God that if he allowed us to move to Manhattan (so I could go to church with my uncle) I would serve Him forever. I also asked him to let me meet Scott Baio of Happy Days who played "Chachi" but that didn’t happen but the move to Manhattan did and it changed my life forever!

Follow my moves here.

the AOL poll has this to say: (Guess which way I voted lol)

Today is the first day of my two-week vacation. As day one commenced, I could not think or even do until I attacked my piles in my office. Such is the case when digging through files, you find ‘things’…old calendars, business cards you never filed, receipts you never submitted for reimbursement, clipped articles and old notes on seminar you attended. Today, I found some notes from the Acton Institute seminar I attended for church leaders in DC this year. It was a few tips thrown out to participants from the book "How To Succeed in Business without Being White" by Earl Graves. Here are some:

1. It doesn’t matter how big your paycheck is because you don’t own anything.
2. Income is not wealth. Ownership is wealth. Your wealth is your true net worth.
3. If you are in business and you are not helping anyone less fortunate than you, then you don’t deserve to be in business.
4. Anything that takes you away from your core mission will hurt you in the long run.
5. Greed is having more than you need.
6. Money is neutral is can be used as a weapon or it can be used as a tool. And know this…doing nothing with it is evil too.
7. Our poverty is a poverty of poor stewardship not one of lack.

On that note, just an fyi that April is Financial Literacy Month and for me that means our church is going to do something to educate the community on money and the use of it. Why is this important? Well, for starters our people for the most part just don’t know how to handle money. In addition, there are over 26 million people in the United States currently without checking accounts, savings accounts, or credit cards, financial education has never been more important. Today’s "unbanked" Americans may never realize the dream of home-ownership, build credit, or reach their financial goals without adequate financial education. 

I am starting a Jr. bank account for my son Sam so he can learn to understand that Mom and Dad are NOT the bank and that money DOES NOT grow in our pockets.

Here are some great sites to help out with info.

• http://www.americasaves.org/
• http://www.debtadvice.com
• http://www.wife.org/money.htm
• http://www.masteringmoney.org/

WHF only 11 months old has entered the multimedia world with new technology that will allow us to utilize some of the great clips found on www.sermonspice.com, www.oxygen-multimedia.com, www.arttoheartweb.com, and a host of others. Thanks to our mother church’s contribution to WHF we were able to afford this high tech system to give visitors and members a multisensory experience, sight, sound, smell. In 2006 we seek to make it a year of intentional outreach by developing relationships in the community and making our ministries be partners with area nonprofits as a means of service for our members. We’re excited about what God is doing.

Our church, Wounded Healer Fellowship is in search of space near the North Miami/South Broward County line. We believe it is crucial for our growth as parking is a very key concern for people as well as Children’s ministry which currently meets in my spare room. There are so many issues that come into play when starting a church unless you expect to remain in a house. It’s interesting because it seems to work quite well with Anglo population groups but the Latino community for the most part desire a building, any building, doesn’t necessarily need to be beautiful but it should accomodate a growing community and have space for after service fellowship. This is huge for the Latino community. We need to have our cafe con leche and talk about our week and other issues after the service. Right now, thanks to a small seed grant we received, we can afford to branch out ‘alittle’. We went to see some space yesterday after service but while it was nice and big and alot of parking available, we felt it was not the greatest for the kids since the foyer has a fish tank, glass table, mirror on the wall, etc.just itching for some kid to break and we just can’t imagine having to worry all the time about that. This is the place. At this point, we have the options to take this place, stay in the hotel every Sunday, or use the 4th floor space of a current Spanish AG church (yes they have an elevator and yes we have thought about elevator break down) that meets about an hour earlier than we do.

Please do pray for us folks down here in South Florida. We want to make the right decision and we want to be good stewards of the money granted to us and given to us by our members.

I just signed up for an online course on Poverty in America and Religion.I am looking forward to it. I am glad Jeremy Del Rio mentioned on his blog that Wallis (who reminds the world that poverty is a religious issue) and others were arrested on Capitol Hill. My former boss, Rev. Dr. Raymond Rivera was to be among those arrested. Here is another reason why poverty needs to be addressed by the church. (I apologize for no links, posting from work and just don’t have the time to right now will do later)

I did it again. I put my foot in my mouth. I asked questions and questions usually get me in trouble. My husband said I am an ambitious woman, go getter, driver and that sometimes my questions stun people because they weren’t expecting them to come from ME or at the time I ask them or in the manner I ask them. I am feeling quite embarrassed right now. I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I just asked a question that had to do with my possible future. I don’t want people to think I am overstepping boundaries but gosh can’t I just ask a question? But my husband, that dear dear man, made a hilarious joke of the whole thing and it made me laugh hysterically. It was funny but sad. Is it ok to be in a place where you are afraid to ask questions? I think so. Stayed tuned. As Liz’s World Turns.

Rachelle has a good article in this month’s edition of Next Wave called "Mistakes on the Yellow Brick Road" and its pretty good. I’d like to add a few:

1) Thinking you know "how to do church" and thus should plant. I’ve been finding a few people talking about planting just because they are ’smart’, ‘know how to teach’, ‘got support and money’, etc. when really the reason they want to plant is because they can’t get along with their current place of ministry and they think they know how to do it better. While all the above may be good in and of itself, starting a church plant just to make yourself comfortable because you just don’t seem to fit in or because you think your current pastor just is not "in the know", is the wrong (WRONG) reason to plant. You’ll be spiritually eaten alive let alone physically.

2) Thinking your theology degree makes you an expert on church planting. Like any other credential, your M.Div. , MAR, Th.M. whatever it is doesn’t make you an expert at something only God can build. Perhaps taking your ego down a notch will make room for God to show you what you need to learn in the school of spiritual discernment so you can indeed plant a church that is not a copy cat of anything else out there and that truly is focused on Jesus.

3) Thinking all of your connections will grow your church plant. Just because you know alot of people and these people can be all over the world or in your community, doesn’t mean they will all be flocking to your church. In addition, the people who need to be coming to your church are people you DON’T know because they are the folks who don’t necessarily feel they need God and especially church. THAT means if you are comfortable in your ‘churchy’ boxes then church planting will stretch you way beyond what you want to be stretched. We need to learn how to talk to people on the outside not be impressed with how great we can talk to those already on the inside.

4) Thinking you are so hip you’ll impress people so much they’ll want to come to your church plant. There are so many people in the church world that are so impressed with themselves. Jeesh. It’s amazing how many self-impressed people exist. What will impress people is authenticity and a sincere desire for community. Walking with each other even when it is not convenient, being family…with the state of the church today, yeah…I think that will impress people they may even ask…"is this really a church?"

The Miami Airport shooting of a man who suffered from a bipolar disorder was close to home. Did they have to do it? Well, we live in a different world after 9/11 and a man shooting "I’ve got a bomb" running through the aisle of an airplane would seem threatening. Unfortunate? Yes. Why didn’t he take his medication? Nothing has been said about that. But it just goes to show you that nothing is the same anymore.