GO Girl

No . . . not like Ciara (Go Girl), but like I keep going and going and going. I move on to my next endeavor, not forgetting about everything it took to get to this point. From elementary school to learn the fundamentals . . . the ABCs the 123s . . . to middle school . . . playing team sports and grasping the true meaning of leadership and being a team player. The trip to Europe, my parents fortunate enough to send me off, exposed me to classic cultures and taught me appreciation for the arts. On to high school where I learned humility, well I tasted it at least. You are smart, yes, but there is always going to be someone smarter/brighter than you. I guess its true what Chris Martin sang (Cold Play - Viva La Vida - Lost). Then there was college . . . wow . . . to many tales to tell, many I may be too embarrassed to say. In high school I strived to be good, then great, but in college I strived to balance. I think I let having fun get the best of me and at times I did lose myself. I had my first, okay . . .second major heartbreak and learned that superficiality gets you no where . . . like an expensive piece of artwork in too much sunlight, it fades. Grad school taught me, if I apply myself, work hard and give the credit where the credit was definitely due (to God), I could accomplish anything. It taught me hard work is exactly that . . . HARD, but the rewards are great. It taught me that redirecting my priorities was okay, even if I lost a few friends along the way. I think it got pretty lonely and for someone who enjoys social interaction that time was the hardest. But . . . I'm a go girl . . . I kept going and going and going. I graduated, in more ways than one, got engaged, earned my first corporate job, got married and purchased "our" first home . . . and kept going. From each experience I continued to grow. Now, I'm on to a new endeavor . . . challenges will always be there, but is there any such thing as growth without challenge? I haven't experienced it. So anyone who is sometimes at a loss for words, have that sick feeling in your stomach or aching pain in the space between your neck and your shoulder blade . . . to that person who throws their hands up in utter frustration and doesn't understand the lesson needed to be learned from the hardship at hand. I say keep running. That's what life is all about . . . ready . . . set . . . GO!

I'm off the pill

I deactivated my Facebook account today for a number of good reasons. Like most things, I thought I had to be extreme. I had to keep up with any and every person that asked me to be their "so-called" friend. Funny, I can count my friends on one hand.

I was addicted for God sake, a slave to the red alert light on my blackberry that went off anytime I had a new message. I had to change my picture at least every two weeks and thought I had to update my status at least once a day. It was like having a second job, but that second job never brought substantive resources like money, coupons or even reward points. I need a break.

What is most hard to swallow is the fact that I thought this medium would bring me closer to my friends, but all it did was remind me how far removed I am from things I used to do or the person I used to be. It reminded me that my priorities have somehow shifted from hanging out to putting in long hours at work so I can "make something of myself". I find myself being reminded that time is limited and anytime I have these days are being spent with the family, reading, cooking or planning home renovations. I didn't think the day would come where I would feel . . . . to say the least . . . boring, and I think the images of happy hours, uninvited lunches and jet setting vacays have all but made me sick to my stomach. This addictive form of communication has made me ill. It has made me questions my priorities, my judgments and my happiness. Crazy isn't it?

I need a new prescription.

Keeping up with politics is TAXING

I have been trying to blog for the last week and a half now on some pretty major topics. It's been so long ago now that I hope I can remember everything I want to say. There is just not enough time in the day is there?

First and foremost, I would just like to say that Slumdog Millionaire is one of my new favorite movies of ALL time. Don't worry, I won't give anything away, but this story, tragic, yet triumphant is one that will tug on your heart strings. If you have a heart.

On to more important topics . . . our government. Today, like every other day, I perused the Web searching for information. Well, maybe I was being a bit nosey. I was trying to find out what my government, my president, his cabinet were up to. I came across an article on MSNBC. It was as if it was hidden underneath all the MAJOR happenings of the world as if someone was trying to sweep something dirty under a rug so no one would notice it.The title read: Obama absolutely stands by Daschle at HHS. I'm like okay, cool . . . and I may be a little late, but what the heck are we talking about here? I click on the link, it redirects me to the article and I begin reading. Folks all I read was "failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes" followed by "President Barack Obama said he was "absolutely" sticking with his nominee for health secretary". Then I thought . . . Oh boy. Here we go again. Here we go again. Should scandal once again interfere with the fact that someone needs to be chosen for the job. I mean are we to negate the fact that Tom Daschle is completely qualified, maybe even a little overqualified to do the job. I mean, he worked in the Senate for a number of years and bounced back and forth between majority and minority leader. I mean he should be well equipped to take on the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, right? I mean it's not rocket science. It may be pretty darn close, but it can't be as easy . . . as say . . . paying your taxes once a year, around the same time every year. I mean if I forget to pay my taxes does that qualify me to be a candidate for a position in Pres O's cabinet? I mean last week it was Tim Geithner, now it's the Big O's pick for Secretary of the HHS. What next? And how the hell do you forget to pay $120,000 in taxes? Dems you better get it together or there will be another "A" scare and I'm not talking about anthrax . . . more like starts with a, ends with holes. Excuse my French. God bless America.

* UPDATE - Daschle withdraws as HHS nominee

Walkabout in Favor

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a Bon Voyage party for one of my friends. Her company is sending her to Australia for approximately one year. I think it could be longer. I was so intrigued about how she got this position, so of course I asked. She told me that she didn't apply for the position or even know about it. She continued by saying that her boss recommended her for the job. Now, if that isn't favor . . . I don't know what is. I am convinced that favor is God raising up people to use their power, their ability and their influence to help you. The opportunity came, she was prepared and now she's headed down under.

Sometimes we don't know our own strengths or our own capabilities until we face a challenge, have to make a decision or have to take on additional responsibilities. I have experienced this in my own life. I don't know when I started to fear flying. It must have been after 9/11. When I worked at my previous job, one of my clients wanted me to visit them about once a quarter, if that. They were located in Dallas. I probably protested that decision so much, until an ultimatum was made. Never-the-less, I got on that plane. I flew to Dallas, met with my client and came right back home. When I decided to change jobs and interviewed for my current position, I was asked during the interview if I had a passport. Thinking nothing of it, I said yes. I got the job and one month later I was on a plane to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. I thought, Lord you have such a sense of humor. What was revealed was that if I wanted to be a higher power career woman and be in a position of great responsibility and work for an international company, I was going to have to trust in God and get over this fear. I thought, okay . . . I get it. Had I of tucked my tail between my legs and told myself that I wouldn't be able to handle the stress of travel, more like the phobia of flight, then I would miss out on so much. I wouldn't get to travel to places that I have not been able to. My view of the world would have been so small. I wouldn't be able to learn to embrace new cultures and test my own abilities when it comes to tolerance and understanding. Sometimes our destiny is revealed to us, but our own fears or hesitations get in the way of us fulfilling it.

In saying that I wish Eb all the success in the world. Who knows her eternal "Boo" may be an Aussie and God needed to get her to Australia somehow, right? Whatever the future holds for her . . . I hope she'll walkabout, letting her light so shine before men, wherever she goes.

Master of my fate? Really?

So, this morning my husband sent me this email he received and in it had a scripture from the B-I-B-L-E. I am sure I will blog about it when I get home, this evening. Anyway, I want to share the scripture with you, because I think it will help to put some things in perspective for you as it did for me when I read it. I’m not trying to be hypocritical, but sometimes I too believe that I am the “master of my fate, the captain of my soul” – William Earnest Henley and all the success I’ve achieved, I achieved because I did, what I considered to be “all the right things.” God says something different. You can read what he says in Psalms 20. I came upon this devotion that explains things in simplicity ( I thought it to be really profound) and I hope you read it in its entirety, because yesterday’s events were a testament to achieving our dreams when we recognize our own humility and acknowledge the favor of God.

*disclaimer: these are my beliefs, so after reading the intro, if you don’t get it or don’t view it the same way, it’s okay to stop reading

Pslams 20

If we just believe in ourselves we can do anything. To prove this point we parade out our list of famous people who have “pulled themselves up from their own bootstraps.” But David recognized an entirely different reality in life. He would not recognize what masquerades as conventional wisdom, even in some Christian circles. It is the Lord alone who can truly help us in the day of trouble (v.1). The only “sure thing” in life isn’t a blue-chip stock, a strong national defense, or education, it is that God would set us securely on high. Many of us boast of our “track records” with far less impressive of a resume than David. One of the greatest warriors and military leaders to ever live understood that his victories were a result of something God was doing, more than something he was doing. His humility wasn’t ornamental; it was the real way he understood his life and his God.

We are told almost from infancy to “chase our dreams.” They are ours to catch, or lose. David would have laughed at such a view. Our heart’s desire, our purpose for living, can only be fulfilled and realized through Him. David recognized what we often don’t, that God is sovereign, that He alone can grant us our hearts desire and lead us to His perfect purpose for us (v.4).

Who saves us when we are in trouble? Social Security? A solid investment portfolio? A strong national defense? It is so easy to trust in what seem like the pillars of a strong society. Yet, all these can crash. The roaring 20’s gave way to the Great Depression. The mad dash for wealth and financial security led to the great stock market crash. The Maginot line protecting France from Germany, considered impregnable, was bypassed in hours by the invading German army. The Great Atlantic wall, designed by the wily German general Rommel to keep the Allies from landing in France, was breached in hours .

There is only one safe place to put our trust, and that is in the name of our God (v.5). Those whom God loves, He protects, and ultimately saves. The only place to make a perfectly guaranteed investment is in heaven. It is the only place that is not vulnerable to the ebb and flow of the future and catastrophe’s of this world, where moth and rust destroy.

David, a man skilled in war, a leader of armies and countless campaigns says, some boast in chariots, and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God (v.7). Chariots and horses can bow and fall down (v.8), but those whose trust is in the Lord do not.

Too often, what we call trust and faith is little more than a thinly disguised lie. We don’t really believe God has given us all we have, we are the ones who so very wisely took care of ourselves. We acquired the necessary skills, we have the pre-requisite drive to succeed, we made the shrewd investment, we responded correctly to the calamity, and that is why we are where we are today. The human belief in self sufficiency is so firmly rooted in most of us, that faith and trust in God is merely a religious nod we give to cover our bases, spiritual insurance, just in case we may have received a bit more help somewhere than we realized.
Like Nebuchadnezzar, who could only see his position in his world as a result of his own efforts, we are modern Nebuchadnezzar’s (Daniel 4:29-37). The truth is that the best of us are no more than turtles on a fence post. In the country, when you see that sight, you are certain of one thing, he didn’t get there by himself, someone put him there.

Who gets the credit in your life for your accomplishments? Not the patronizing credit we so glibly give at church “God has been good to me,” which frequently we say without believing in any case, but the real credit. In your heart of hearts, who do you credit with all your success and the success of any decisions or actions you have taken? When Nebuchadnezzar forgot who put him where he was, God knocked him off the fence for seven years. He grazed in the field like an animal. When God led him to regain his senses, he saw the fence post more clearly, and said so.

What will it take to bring you to your senses? Success does not breed wisdom, humility does.

The day the world stood still

Today . . . .Was the day the world stood still. It stood still to witness a great change in America.

Mothers, fathers and children of every race and every creed witnessed what will inevitably be a historic period in this country. I watched in awe as Barack Obama took the oath and witnessed Chief Justice Roberts almost screw it up. I watched, from my parents living room, the millions and millions of people whose expressions symbolized what my heart felt these last few months. The unspeakable joy that change in America has manifested this day.

I listened to the speech that will forever be echoed through the hearts and minds of all Americans like the words of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy and Frederick D. Roosevelt and couldn't help but wonder if they were there to witness it all, because in my mind our spirits live on long after our bodies have turned to dust. What a prophecy that has been fulfilled. Martin called it and he knew America would indeed embrace it. Why? Because like Obama said in his speech . . .

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

Our common link is that we all have struggled. Be it a struggle for racial or educational equality, peace, financial stability or justice. Now we must unite as one people. We must put our past hurts behind us. We must educate ourselves and our children, because as I am finding out from reading the works of WEB Dubois and Frederick Douglas education leads to freedom.

We have now moved from Before Obama (BO) to During Obama (DO) and I can't wait to see what my children will witness After Obama (AO). The skies are the limit and my hope in all things great has been reignited. Let freedom ring!