Hey... Where's my hat?

Today, we embarked upon Atlanta, Georgia for the Celebration of the New Baptist Covenant. Six good friends together in one of the largest cities in the United States. We braved the traffic on the 400, checked into our fabulous hotel, and then figured out the MARTA to get to the CNN Center. After a good dinner from Moe's we made our way to the Congress Center. We checked out a few of the exhibitors and made our way to our seats. After finding out that we didn't need to be ushers we sat down in the midst of a diverse crowd.
After the political greetings of the Governor and Mayor, there was singing and a gospel choir. They were fantastic and had us on our feet. I had chills, feeling the presence of Christ in that place. Dr. Shaw got up to preach and began to talk about having many sympathies in that place. He said I am here and I am surrounded by many black folks and they realized that what I have been asked to do is a hard thing. First, I have been given a subject to preach on and second, I have been given a time limit. He did a wonderful job of bringing the people together in realizing what our purpose was. He spoke of the peace and justice of Jesus Christ. He spoke about Jesus saying I am. Jesus is the I am. That is all he needs to explain himself. Then he said that our response should be, HERE, I AM lord. Without you I am nothing, but with you I am everything. If we are realistic, we know that if we hurt the least of these we are hurting Christ.

Former President Jimmy Carter brought a message of hope and encouragement. He shared from the scripture and shared from his heart. He asked us a list of questions about life and justice and what we should really believe. We were challenged to come together and be unified even though we are so diverse.

I'll admit, there were parts of the evening that I found myself asking questions. I asked why did they do that or what just happened. I also looked around at all those ladies and said.. "Where's my hat?" Too bad I left it at home.

Brown Rice...Priceless

Yesterday and today have been quite the interesting days. I have to say...I've smiled a lot. Yesterday began with my Old Testament Exposition class on Job and Ecclesiastes. The day started out a little rocky considering class starts at 8 and I didn't wake up til 7:41. I made it by a few minutes after 8. I enjoyed class, Dr. Cartledge brings many interesting pieces of information to the table and he really wants us to think about things in new ways.

After class I returned home to take a shower and really get ready for the day. In the mean time, I got the definite from my boss that I am going to St. Louis in February for work. I'm actually quite excited. I had one more class and then went to get a pedicure.

Last night a group of 8 of us went to Durham to eat sushi at our favorite place, Akashi. We celebrated Kellie's 29th birthday and had a great time of fellowship. Laura ordered the wrong sushi and it turned out to be very spicy. I was one of the few at the table that could eat more than one piece, and I actually liked it. Laura figured if I could handle it, it couldn't be too bad. Well, she popped the piece in her mouth and all eyes were on her. She turned completely red and grabbed for her drink. Her face was PRICELESS.

On our way out, Joey pointed out the sign on the Chinese restaurant next door that said: New Item: Brown Rice. How cool is that.. their newest item is brown rice. Yum.

This morning I took 4 students to the Social Security Office. We spent over 2 hours there. It was not my idea of fun as there were so many people around and it made me claustrophobic. One woman even took her child into the bathroom and proceeded to beat the child and scream at her. The security guard had to knock on the bathroom door and check on the situation.

This evening, we showed the first ever international movie at Campbell. When I arrived the guy from the physical plant said that they had received an empty case. I thought.. fantastic. I called my boss and he didn't answer. He finally called back only to determine that the DVD was in his computer. We finally got the movie back (30 minutes late) and showed "Bride and Prejudice." I truly enjoyed the movie. The students laughed and we all had a good time. A lot of the scenes were priceless. Especially the scene with the gospel choir on the beach (you gotta see it).

I like days filled with brown rice and all things priceless.

When the Burden is heavy

Lately I have felt that my burden and load have been heavy. I wake up in the morning with too much on my mind and heart and go to bed nearly the same way. As a person of prayer, I have found myself over and over again giving these burdens to God, yet as a normal human I haven't found myself letting go.

In Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 the writer is speaking of having to teach others. He says that God has placed heavy burden on man by giving him this task. As I read this passage I thought about my life. I have been called to teach. God does bless us with the joy of telling others about him. Sometimes this can seem like a burden, too much for any one person to handle. But as I continued to think about my burden, I realized just how much God can take burden away. God promises that if I hand it over to him and rely on him, I will be taken care of. Two of my favorite verses of scripture come from Proverbs 3. I like to read them from the Message. It says

"Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track."

You see, if we can just trust God, He will take care of everything. As humans we often try to figure out everything on our own. The scripture tells us not to do that. We are instructed to listen for God's voice in EVERYTHING we do because he is the one who will keep us on track.

Since I have been struggling with these many burdens and doing my best to give them to God, I have noticed that my prayer life is getting stronger. One of the places I pray is in the shower. When I was in the shower this morning a song came on that I have heard several times before, only this time it had new meaning for me. This song is by Sara Groves and it is called "When the Saints".

Some of the words are as follows:
"Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go."

Using the link above you can read all of the words, but Sara goes on to sing about saints like Paul and Silas who carried on in the prison yard.

This song touched me in a new way this morning and I shed a few tears. I spoke a small, short prayer giving God the burden...completely placing it in his hands. All I can do now is continue to pray, have faith, and rely on the scriptures.

So if you burden is heavy, remember God will take it...if you give it to him.

LIfe changes

About 6 months ago my life changed. I was in Cairo, Egypt with my two best friends at the time. I thought things were going fine, we were having a great time. I had noticed that my best friend was becoming distant and talking to my other friend about me when I wasn't around. There seemed to be a wall between us, a distance I couldn't explain.

Finally, I confronted my best friend and asked her what was going on. She began to raise her voice with me, she told me that I was too attached to her and I needed to take time to figure out who I was. She said some other things that I found quite hurtful. There I was thousands of miles from home and as lonely as ever. My friend had told me that once we got home things would be different. She said that we wouldn't be as close. I was devastated. I didn't know what to do. I went through those last few days, surrounded by two people I thought were my best friends and yet felt so distant. I felt like I didn't know them at all.

The trip home was hard. Although I was so ready to get home and see my family, I still wanted to be close to my friend. She was sleeping when they came by with the food on the plane. When I tried to help her by waking her up she snapped at me and said she could take care of herself. I was hurt again.

After getting home, we stood in her driveway and I gave her a hug. I said goodbye. That was the last time I saw her. We talked a few times on the phone after that, but it wasn't the same. She still had a pair of my shoes and owed me money. However, I decided to take her advice. I needed to take the time to figure out who I was. So, I spent a few days with my family and then came back to school to start a new job.

In these last 6 months I have discovered who I am, who God has called me to be. I have discovered things about myself that I never chose to see or wanted to see before. I have become so close to my sister. I have become much closer to my mother and father. I cherish my friends here at school. If my friend hadn't told me to figure out who I was, I may have never done this soul searching.

However..there is a truth to be faced. I miss my best friend dearly. I don't care about my money or the shoes...I just miss her. I think of her everyday. When something good happens, I want to tell her. When something bad happens, I want to tell her.

So wherever you are habibti, I still love you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't know who I am today. The truth is, I miss you. I want you back in my life. I want to share the good times and the bad. I just want to be able to give you a hug and know that life is gonna be ok.

Life as I know it

Well, I haven't posted in almost a month. I have been quite busy with things that have been keeping me from blogging. I must admit, I have missed it. I enjoy blogging not only to get my thoughts out but for the joy of knowing that other people are reading my words and are sometimes inspired by them.

Over the next few days, my goal is to post a few blogs about the things that have been going on in life since December 19. For now, I will share just a few updates.

1. School has begun again. I am back to being a full time student at CUDS. I love my classes, although they are going to require A LOT of work.

2. I am going to Atlanta for the Celebration of the New Baptist Covenant at the end of January. I am looking forward to being a part of this historic event with many of my friends.

3. A lot of things have been going on with my family. In the next few days, I plan to share some of these things.

4. My computer died. I am waiting on a new one to arrive (hopefully next week) and in the mean time I am relying on my work computer and my roommates extra laptop. I am thankful for these resources.

Until I write again, be blessed. Happy 2008!

In public

When I hear the word "public" my mind automatically thinks of comedian Ron White and the way he used to talk about being "drunk in public". He didn't say the word public in any normal way...in fact I found the way he said it to be quite obnoxious. I remember seeing him on TV several times and every time he said the word public I cringed. I believe that stuck in my mind because now whenever anyone says the word "public" I am reminded of the obnoxious way of saying it.

Lately, I've heard a lot of talk about public. We talk at work about going public with decisions that have been made. In class we often talk about how we are to act in the outside world (or the public). At church, I heard about inviting the greater public to a Christmas service that would be taking place in December. As you can see, I've been hearing the word a lot.

Not only have I heard it in these places, I have heard the word from my boyfriend. For a while now he has made a joke that I don't like to be seen with him in public. Well of course I interject my feelings and exclaim that that is not the case. He gets this smile on his face and says something like.. I know the truth, you don't like to be seen with me in public. Well today, as we were walking into a restaurant to have lunch with some friends, he made the comment that I don't like to be seen with him in public. Of course, I responded but this time he got a smile on his face. He said of course he knew it wasn't true, he just liked to see how I react to such things.

Well, I decided...I want the world to know I really do like to be in public with my boyfriend. If you didn't know that already...now you do. I love to be in public with him and in fact, I am a better person for being around him and with him. So the reality is quite the opposite...being in public with him means that I can show off the person that makes me a better person and that makes me "one happy woman." :-)

These are a few of my favorite things...

As I lay here tonight watching the 40th Anniversary edition of The Sound of Music I am reminded of the later years of my childhood when I first saw this movie. I don't remember where I was or who I was with, but I remember falling in love with this movie. I remember wanting to go to Salzburg (which is still a dream) and I remember learning the words to all of the songs in the movie.

When I was in the 5th grade, my mother purchased the piano music for me so that I could learn to play the songs. I started with the famous tune "These are a few of my favorite things..." I practiced that song everyday for weeks so that I could get it perfect. I wanted to be able to play it at my recital. I finally go it and my piano teacher was so proud of me.

Several years ago the 40th edition of the movie came out on a 2 DVD special edition. I asked for it for my birthday and my aunt got it for me. I was so excited that I watched it that night. Since then, I haven't watched it much, but lately that tune of favorite things has been on my mind.

Tonight after finishing one of my take home exams for school I decided to put the DVD in. As I laid here watching the movie, I was reminded of some of my childhood thoughts. I remember writing down some of my favorite things. At the time they included my dog, my mom, pizza, church, and Mexican food. As I lay here watching the Sound of Music, I have a smile on my face. There is just something about Maria becoming the governess of the VonTrapp household and making them clothes and teaching them to sing. The songs put a smile on my heart.

My list of favorite things has changed a bit since the fifth grade. Actually, it has changed quite a bit. If you'd like to know... my favorite things include my boyfriend. He puts a smile on my face and makes me laugh even when I am in a weird or bad mood. He makes me feel comfortable and I know I can be myself around him. He makes me happy when I am sad. I love spending my time with him no matter if it is at the dinner table or sitting in my room. He is one of my favorite things. My list also includes my friends. My friends mean the world to me. I have a group of close friends that I really feel "get" me. I don't have to act around them and I can just tell it like it is. My parent's are on my list. My sister is there as well. The list also includes traveling to places like Vienna, Austria, Prague, Czech Republic, Seville, Spain, and Cairo, Egypt. I haven't made it to Salzburg... but I am trying to get there this coming summer. The list has food on it as well...from Mexican food to pizza to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.


These are just a few of my favorite things. As I sit here and sing along (but not too loud) I am reminded that I have a lot to be thankful for and I wanted to share a few of my favorite things.

(Image from www.walmart.com)