I know I don’t post nearly as much as I should on enough “interesting” things. Seems I only have enough brain power to post what is happening in my life and not much more thought into anything else. It is what it is at this point.

Let me share some stuff with ya’ll:

* I am leaving to NYC tomorrow morning. Hoping the weather is good to me. I HATE the cold. I am truly FLORIDIAN.

* Hiram and the Porn Pastor-My church had Craig Gross from XXXChurch.com this past Sunday. Hiram was his liaison or in some circles its called “Armor Bearer”. I wish more people would have come out to hear the message but we had a pretty good turnout and the message was clear. Very down-to-earth dude.

I want to share this poem which is part of a book called Poetry for Young People based on Langston Hughes’ poetry. Poetry is something I added to the curriculum I do with my son. He’s learned about different kinds of poems thus far…narrative, lyrical, nonsense verses, and haiku. This poem is scheduled to be discussed when I return from NYC. I can’t wait to get his thoughts on it.

Mother to Son

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor–

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now–

For I’se still goin’ honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

They say when you teach you learn twice. I have to say I am learning so much

As you may know, my church the Pursuit Christian Church is hosting Craig Gross of XXXChurch.com this Sunday at the 10:30 a.m. service. I am hoping people come out to the event to get educated on the issue of Porn and how they can either help others in bondage or get themselves out of bondage.

The team at the church put this video together…check it out

On another note, I just got this email from XXX Church and I am hoping we can all band together and help this sistah out.

We have an Esther Fund applicant who is in great need of our help. She is a single mom of 4 who left the sex industry a year ago after giving her life to the Lord. She was an adult film star as well as porn producer running websites for 7 years. She has given up all royalties to her work, traded her expensive car in for an older less expensive vehicle with lower payments but still has many needs unmet.She recently lost her employment when her kids became sick with the flu and could not go into daycare. She is 30 days late on a car payment, has utilities that are scheduled to be shut off and is in the interviewing process for a new job but needs gas to put in her car as well. Please help us to help meet this woman’s need.
1. Power Bill - cut off date is April 17th $137.84
2. Car payment $280.00 (March and April)
3. County Taxes on  car $44.41
4. Tag Renewal $25
5. Sprint $145.
6. Gas for vehicle $150.  (should supply 3 tanks till her first paycheck in two weeks)
 
$782.25  Immediate Assistance Needed

>>>>DONATE TO THE ESTHER FUND NOW

Hey all!

This is a sample part of a newsletter I just sent to women on mailing list as part of my Rebound Coach ministry. If you are interested in getting it every month, please sign up through my sign up box on the right hand column.

Vacation Reflections…

·         Don’t take anything or anyone for granted. I had a great time on vacation and in the moments when I was doing absolutely nothing, I found myself staring at my husband or my children and just exhaling because it wasn’t too long ago that I almost lost my youngest son on Mother’s day and a few years earlier my husband. Splashing water, squealing in delight over dolphin play, kissing my little guy and smelling his breath (which only a mom can do and love) and just holding hands with my honey as the sun was going down are things that were almost taken from me. So I ask, what are you taking for granted that you almost lost and have let the day to day grind make you forget?

·         I’m grateful for what I have even if I sometimes cry about the things I don’t. I realize in today’s harsh economic times that I am in a handful of people who don’t have to worry about a mortgage and although at times I still  get panic attacks about making ends meet, I know I am blessed even though my blessing came at a cost, the disability of my son. Sometimes things look wonderful on the outside with people in your church, neighborhood, etc. but you just don’t know if they only have $25 until the next payday. So I ask, who can you invite over for dinner, bless with tickets to something, etc. because although you may cry about some things you don’t have (like I do),  as God’s children, He always comes though for us in some way, and you may be the “the way” for God to “come though” for someone else.

·         What makes special kids so special is that they trust unconditionally because they need you. I am blown away by the helplessness of my son DJ. My husband and I carry that sense of responsibility everyday and while most parents know they will eventually have an empty nest, we know we never will, unless DJ goes home to the Father. Which means, for us to have what most parents get we will have to suffer another loss. What I’ve learned from DJ is that we need each other a lot but we are not willing to trust unconditionally with no agenda. I’ve made a few “special” friends and I’d like you to meet them. They are Peter and Debbie, we just met officially at the recent vacation trip we had but they immediately let me in on their life. My goodness, I so wished I could be half the people these two are. They are special indeed.

Excited About…

·          I was just asked to become a Contributing Editor for Outreach Magazine. I’ll be joining these guys Anthony Coppedge (church media expert), Brian Mavis (creator of Sermon Central), Brad Powell (Sr. Pastor of Northridge Church in Michigan), Sam S. Rainer (Pastor & Pres/CEO of Rainer Research), Thom S. Rainer (President/CEO of Lifeway Resources and author of many books including Simple Church), Steve Sjogren (Servant Evangelism idea guy, pastor, planter, and church planter coach), Lee Strobel (former pastor at Willowcreek and author of many books including The Case for Christ, The Case for Easter and many more), Marlon Hall, and Ed Stetzer (former church planter, author and church planting coach). I’m honored.  I hope I do some justice to the role and they don’t regret asking me!

Perplexed About…

·          A friend of mine is getting ordained next month and I’m really happy for my friend. That is not what perplexes me. What is perplexing me is that I wasn’t told about it by my friend even though the planning has been going on for a while. I can’t be there anyway because I will be travelling to much that month.  I happen to find things out because I do J but I don’t want people feeling sorry for me because I am no longer pastoring. I know that this is a season for me. I know that God’s call is irrevocable and that something somewhere will open up for me one day so I am not sweating the roles. I’ve been on both sides and trust me, I am enjoying the break from the executive pastor role I played. I know what I am doing right now is where God wants me in this season of my life. I may never pastor again or maybe I will but is that really important? I think my friends don’t know how to tell me that their life is “going on” as “planned” while my life has went off on a detour so to speak.

Note to all who read this: My entire life is a detour. I celebrate, I don’t hate.

 Final Thought…

·         We are the ones we have been waiting for. Have you read this before? It was spoken by the Elders Oraibi of the Hopi Nation.          

We Are the Ones
We’ve Been Waiting For 

·        You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.And there are things to be considered:·       

So I say…It’s time to take a stand. Say what you must.Do what you will.Walk in your destiny.

Don’t be ashamed of your past.

Let your pain point you to your purpose.

And be the glorious you God intended.

Don’t wait for someone else to be “the leader” perhaps YOU ARE THE ONE YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

We are officially back from vacation location but not necessarily from vacation mode.  Why is it that the U.S. is the only country that provide such cheesy vacation policies. Other countries get a lot more than U.S. workers do read about that here.  Since I don’t have an “employee” role and both my sons don’t have a traditional school we can take vacation at any time but really what is a vacation without Papi! We usually take his two weeks plus one “unpaid” for a total of three weeks vacation TOGETHER.  I also have been known to go away for a weekend or so with my girlfriends.

I actually “tried” to have a working vacation because so many things are going on for me but in the Keys they don’t believe in that! It was hard for me to find a wifi anywhere…we finally found one and I was able to return some emails but for the most part it was a workless just veg and burn vacation. Island Dolphin Care where we played with our assigned dolphin “Fiji” all week was such a precious trip. We want to go there every year once a year (we are thinking of how we can stay in the Keys a month in the summer), the therapy for DJ was awesome and his brother, Sam got to “play” with DJ more at this place than ever in DJ’s 8 years of existence. It was such a blessing.

Here are some pics of our time away (click on pic for better view)… 

Sam with the Marine Water Tank

Sam gets a kiss from Fiji “our” dolphin for the week

Me and DJ giving dolphin “Fiji” a wash

Fiji gives me a birthday kiss

Fiji says Hi to DJ!

Anyway, enough about vacations, we are back to reality now.

We are officially on vacation and we go to our Florida Keys destination Sunday. In between I have to try to finish one overdue article for PRISM, two entries for a Latino History encyclopedia edited by Dr. Miguel de la Torre and a Theology News and Notes article for Dr. Ryan Bolger all of which were due by March 31st! And mind you, this is not including the book proposal I owe my agent!

I was telling my husband I NEED this vacation for a myriad of reasons. The most likely culprit of my brain exhaust is the homeschooling adventure I am on, while I am most definitely prepping for “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?,” I am totally spent by days end. Don’t get me wrong. I am loving this but it is definitely a hands-on, get in the mix role and it isn’t for everyone. I have learned my son’s strengths and his weak areas. 

In addition, after my dissertation process I just can’t seem to get into much that will require 100% brain power. Don’t laugh. I’m getting worried. I am also working on a few consulting projects. So yeah, I am sooooooooooooo looking forward to the Keys.

Do you ever wonder why…

people and corporations are so greedy! This story about Walmart suing an ex-employee made me mad. What on earth were they thinking!!! Of course, their decision to not sue could pretty much be because of the public outcry. This hit home for me personally because when my son won his lawsuit, Aetna health insurance put a claim on his settlement to get back a portion of what they paid out for him when he was in and out of the hospital in NY. I couldn’t for the life of me understand the purpose of health insurance! I was upset that we had to pay them back for something that they are in business to do anyway and let’s not forget getting paid by my employer at the time and me.  I found out that Aetna is one of the few insurance companies that do this. So if you have Aetna…beware! They just might be “loaning” you money.

some people succeed and others fail? Winston Churchill is quoted as saying…”Never give in. Never give in. Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never.” That sounds so empowering doesn’t it? I mean, when I read quotes like this I feel like I can kick some serious devil butt. However, I know from personal experience that there are times when you just say the heck with it, not because you really wanted to but because you felt like all signs point to “give it up”or it would drain you of life.

Everyone wants to succeed, but few people take the time to study success. Similarly, everyone dislikes failure, but few people invest the time ad energy necessary to learn from their mistakes. Often we are too busy basking in the glory of our triumphs to think through what we did right, or the pain of failure is sufficiently intense that many of us want to “move on” and “put it behind us” as soon as we can. Yet those who want to improve their chances of success can ill afford to disregard the issue of why; despite seemingly equal levels of intelligence and  education, some people succeed where others fail. This is what I’ve been pondering the last few months as I get information for the book I want to write. What makes people succeed at life?

For me the issue is not in “giving up or giving in”. I think sometimes we have to do that because continuing on in something that is not working after you have put your best effort just to prove a point or not be embarrassed is simply not a good enough reason to sacrifice your life or the lives of your loved ones.But I believe You are SUPPOSED TO FAIL! If everyone succeeded at everything the first time they tried it the world would be a pretty boring place. Everyone would be the same. Hard work and ingenuity would mean nothing, and there would be no incentive to learn and grow and improve ourselves. Thank goodness for failure. It gives us the opportunity to succeed!

The one crucial ingredient that many people forget is persistence. Persistence is a hard thing to have, and for many its simply not worth it. I mean persistence to keep trying even when there are things we have experienced that made us fall flat on our face.  Every time we fail we learn something - EVERY TIME. God does not waste ANY journey. If you take that knowledge and use it to try again then success is inevitable. It might not happen the second time, or the third time, but it will happen. So its not in the NOT failing that people succeed, it’s in the persistence to “keep trying” even after failure.

Some quotes that prove this philosophy are:

A failure is a man who has blundered but is not capable of cashing in on the experience. Elbert Hubbard

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing. George Bernard Shaw

My reputation grows with every failure. George Bernard Shaw

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Robert F. Kennedy 

So the next time you hear the little voice in your head saying, “Forget it! Give up and Never ever try again”, just remember that one more try coupled with the knowledge you have obtained by previous failures just might be enough for you to reach your destiny successfully! Remember failure + persistence = success!