Category Archives: Holidays

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Christmas Just Ain’t Christmas Without the One You Love…

Hello World!!!

On the day after tomorrow, Christmas, once again, will be here…Although it is the busiest time of the year, it is still the most wonderful time of the year…In spite of all of the commercialism, for those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a time to remember Emmanuel which means “God with us.” This is the time that Christians remember that God so loved the world that He sent us His son who was born as a baby. That baby, Jesus Christ, was born to die for our sins. And now because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we have fellowship with the Father. God is with us.  For the Christmas story in detail, please read Luke 2.

But what are we to do when the ones we love are not with us on Christmas?

This month, I have known of two people who died…A friend of mine died without warning a couple of weeks ago…I was stunned because we communicated via e-mail just days before she died…In her e-mail, she was telling me how she was planning to prepare for Christmas and now she is gone…It’s amazing that someone with so much life and influence could literally be here today and gone tomorrow…Another friend of mine lost a loved one a week or so ago too…I hope it is comforting for these families to know that our loved ones are now with the Father…but aside from all of that ethereal knowledge, I’m reasonably sure that it just plain sucks to not have them right there with them…

I have tried to offer comforting words to those I know who have lost loved ones this month, but I imagine there is nothing I can say that will truly comfort them…But what I can do is cherish my loved ones as I now realize they may not be here next Christmas…I was talking with my mom last night on the telephone, and she was kind of getting on my nerves as she often does…but as I type these words, I’m glad that I have her, my father, my brothers and a host of other family members and friends…

If you are anything like me, it is easy to focus on what you don’t have at this time of the year…but I am finding out if we are not thankful for what we have, what we have may just be taken away from us…In fact, I recently had to sit down and write a gratitude list just to remind myself of my blessings…

It’s funny sometimes the things we think we do for other people are really for us…This is what I mean…I teach fitness classes at a gym…The truth is that much of the time I would rather be curled up sleeping in my warm bed rather than working out…but because I teach fitness, I have to work out…I began this blog as a way to minister to others, but mostly I have ministered to myself….

Anyway, I digress…if you have your loved ones around you at Christmas, consider yourself blessed…And pray for the families who have lost loved ones…especially at this time of the year…

Any thoughts?

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Another one bites the dust…2009 is nearly over…

Hello World!

In case you haven’t noticed, 2009 will be over in roughly a couple of weeks…And how do you feel about it? To get a feel for how my year has gone, I dusted off (actually opened a file on my computer) my written goals for the year…

One of my goals on the list was to make my blog the best it can be. Hmm…I say I did a not-so- bad job I must say…I’ve written about interesting topics I think….My most popular post this year was “Of Drugs and Light-Skinned Boys…” It got 489 views although only two people commented on that particular post! I was able to spread the word about the House of Grace Free Health Care Clinic, a true example of what Jesus Christ would do…I was able to have a few guest bloggers…My favorite guess post was “Your Turn: A Closeted Virgin Speaks Out…” My blog has even been shouted out on other blogs….Check me out on momstyleicons.blogspot.com…It’s a wonderfully inventive blog with haute photos of our moms at their most fashionable…I’m also listed on the blog roll for enjoyceinglife.blogspot.com! Thanks JD! So what y’all think about my blog? Have you enjoyed reading my posts as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them? Feel free to offer suggestions for posts or ways to make this blog the best it can be…

Another one of my goals, which I’ve actually written about, was to learn more about financial health…I’m proud to say that I have the biggest savings account I’ve ever had in my life, and I am on a mission to pay off a major debt my May 2010! Having money is not a guarantee that one will be happy but being broke ain’t too cool either… Whatever I have, I’m thankful for, which is the key, my financial counselor said, to receiving more blessings…

I could write more about goals, but life is about more than goals…life is about learning and growing…And I’ve definitely learned and grown a lot this year – some of had been hard lessons to learn and some have given me tremendous joy…Here a few a few of the lessons I learned in 2009:

1. Any relationship that causes you to worry all of the time – whether it be a platonic friendship or a romantic relationship just ain’t worth it…

2. No matter what I do, I just cannot control my circumstances…The best I can do is to do my best and leave the results to God period end of story…

3. If a relationship starts affecting my looks, I gotsta go…pleaz…I’ma be cute…

4. Coveting is a sin…

5. Tomorrow is not promised…reach out to friends and loved ones that you haven’t communicated with in a while today…

6. Prayer, laughter and sloppy kisses are good medicine…

7. Ain’t nothin’ like your girls…

And since it is the Christmas season, I must say a few words about the “most wonderful time of the year!” I have found that many people end up feeling sad because they expect that Christmas is supposed to be the “most wonderful time of the year.” I’ve found that if I expect to feel a little blah this time year of the year because of the frenzy that goes with “just 12 shopping days until Christmas” and what not and focus on more Christ  (The word mas means more in Spanish.) instead of Christmas and my family and friends, I feel better…

And now, I gonna go against what I just said…I love Christmas songs about romantic relationships even the sad ones..so I’m going to name a few in no particular order…and just for the record, “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway is my absoute fave relationship Christmas song, but I mentioned him last year…

1. “Merry Christmas Baby” by Charles Brown

2. “Let It Snow” by Boyz II Men

3. “Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt

4. “Last Christmas” by Wham!

5. “Every Year, Every Christmas” by Luther Vandross…one of the best saaangers ever…

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My Glass is Half Full…

Hello World!!!

As of today, at least according to me, we are officially in the Thanksgiving season…and no matter what displays are already out in department stores, we are not in the Christmas season yet…

This year, I would like to focus on gratitude for the whole month of November rather than just on Thanksgiving Day…So what was the catalyst for this decision…Last week my manfriend aka my boyfriend D (do you really have a boyfriend if he is a fully grown man? I don’t know…) challenged me about my penchant to focus on negativity in some areas and predict negative outcomes…

I don’t think I’m an overall negative person but sometimes I do fall into the habit of focusing on what I don’t have rather than what I do have. He pointed out that everything in his life is not how he wants it to be either, but that he would rather focus on what he has. He said he always sees his glass as half full rather than half empty…

So the next day as I performed my work, I made an effort to see my glass as half full no matter what happened and be thankful for life just as it is.  And God pointed out to me in numerous ways that I have a lot to be thankful for even if He chooses to never bless me with anything else…As a part of my job, I have to park in several parking spaces all over town. As you would expect, I always try to find the spaces closest to my destination and luckily for me, that usually happens.

But the day after I decided to see my glass as half full, I ended up getting a parking space at a location a little farther away from where I am usually able to park – it was if as God was saying, “Ima see if she is going to be thankful if she has to go out of her way to get to her destination…” (Now some of y’all are probably saying, “You can’t pray to God to get a good parking space” or “God isn’t concerned about something as insignificant as a parking space.” Well,  in Bible study, we are studying the creation story in Genesis, and it is clear to me that God is so magnificent and magnanimous that He is concerned with everything that concerns His beloved creation – even parking spaces.) So as I was walking to my destination, I noticed a man getting out of his jeep, which was parked in one of the spaces that I had my eye on….It probably took at least 15 minutes for the man to get out his jeep as he walked with two canes…Obviously, he needed the space more than I did. As I watched him painstakingly make his way to his destination, I had to be thankful I could jump out my car, slam the door and be on my way in less than a minute. My glass is half full…

On any given day, I would like to be a few pounds thinner – seriously…but I was reminded last week how I used to be obsessed with my weight and control my food intake like it was a life and death situation…I mean I used to weigh myself several times a day and say all kinds of negative things to myself if I wasn’t at my desired weight. I.WAS. CRAZY…for real…Yeah, I still have my moments when I obsess about my weight for sure, but trust me it’s a long way off from how I used to be…My glass is half full…

If you have read my blog posts over the past year, you know that I would like to be a published book author…I feel like I’m destined to be a published book author and still it hasn’t happened…(Yes, I know about self-publishing…) But thanks be to God that I do get paid to write already…And I received a freelance writing check in the mail yesterday as I was working on my monthly budget (Shout out to Sonia!). Ain’t God good…My glass is half full…

I could rattle off more, but I want to hear from you…How is your glass half full?

And if you know me and you hear me saying a negative statement, you have permission to tell me to stop right then and thank God for my glass being half full…

Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God’s will in Christ Jesus that you do this. I Thessalonians 5:18

Any thoughts?

P.S. I have also decided to bless rather than curse situations by speaking positively as “the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21

I love this song about being thankful…I feel you girl…I hope to be singing this song one day…