Daily Thoughts

In life we often times dream of better days; better relationships; better jobs and the list goes on and on but the one thing we need to stop doing is letting our dream...die. When my son was growing up and even before when he was a small baby, I had dreams.  Big dreams for him.  But during the course of his lifetime, those dreams I had have often taken a back seat.  Why you ask?  Well when my son decided at the age of 16 to drop out of high school my dream of him walking across the stage and getting that diploma in 2013 died.  My dream of him going to college in 2013 died.  They had no life.  What life they had died along with his decision to forget school, at least at that moment.  But there is something liberating about dreams.  They live as long as you keep them alive. What that means is this.  Maybe my dream of him finishing high school in 2013 died, but it can re-live again with him finishing high school...right?  And maybe...

There are many times in our lives that there is a moment of silence.  A moment when time really seems to stand still..when it almost haults...actually seems to a stop.  It's these moments we cherish the most.  When your child was born and you were all waiting for that first cry...when they received their first academic award...when they graduated from high school or college and walked across that stage to receive their diploma...when the bride appears and then walks down the aisle...when the clock strikes 12 midnight on New Year's Eve...when a child falls for the first time but gets up without crying...when a proposal of marriage is made and he awaits her answer...all of these occasions have captured a moment of silence......good bad or indifferent, all of these times in your life seemed to take your breath away...as if you stopped breathing just to take it all in. You felt that if you took one breath...you might miss something.  So there was a ...

Day in and day out we take time to help others achieve their goals...to aide them in their work...to encourage and inspire them...to pray for them and to teach them...but with some people...our time becomes their crutch.  You see, there are tmes when we give so much time that it becomes too much time.  It is at that time when we should say...time is up! You can only help so much and give so much and teach so much and prepare so much...you can only pray so much that those who take advantage...those who wait on you...those who use you and your time as their own...that you realize you are no longer helping..rather...hindering. You are hindering their growth...their learning curve...their need to depend on their own knowledge...their own talents...their independence...because you are always giving of your time.  And that leaves little time...for you.  The old saying goes...you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.  Another saying goes if you ta...

Here we go again with senseless murders.  While all lives do matter it seems that for some individuals, they mean absolutely..nothing.  I mean how else are you able to go into a church and kill 9 innocent persons...persons whom you sat with...persons you knew nothing about?  And those shot in the movie theater...what about their lives.  Did it matter that they were there minding their own business, trying to enjoy the movie like we all do from time to time?  Did it matter that they had families to go home to and jobs to show up for?  Though most of them survived, if only one was killed...it is senseless. Yet it seems that to some, our lives mean...nothing.  I believe in my heart that it is not because our lives mean nothing...it is that their life holds little meaning.  Listen to me for a minute.  If a person valued their own life, why would they take valued lives of other strangers...away? If they felt important and that they mattered to s...

You know, when you are watching a television program and all of a sudden there come this...station break; or when you are listening to the radio and there comes this...station break...well here we are again at another station break..but this is a break of a different kind.  This station break involves our nation..it involves our people...it involves our Christian brothers and sisters...it involves us. This morning, we were all awaken with tragic news of a young man who had opened up fire in a church in Charleston, SC.  We heard what they said, watched footage that was available at the time...we even looked on the faces of those affected by this crime and we as a people...took a break.  We took a break from our normal activities upon waking up in the morning..instead of rushing downstairs to fix breakfast we were rushing around in the bathroom so that we could see this unfolding news...this tragedy...those affected...and the suspect who was at large. We didn't rush to ...

Wow is all I can say at the moment.  It's not because something has happened or someone has said anything or something was done...it is because of my inner joy.  This joy, that makes me want to get up every morning and praise my God.  This joy, that keeps my mind steady when everything else around me is unsettled.  This joy, that puts a song in my heart and a spring in my step when there is no reason to sing or dance.  This joy, that keeps me calm in the midst of my storm.  This joy, that makes me stand still and know that He is God. This joy, that when I am confronted with mess and ridicule, I can smile and say to myself, "everything is going to be alright."  This joy that soothes me when there is so much to be irritated and frustrated about.  This joy that makes me pray each and every morning to a wonderful and patient and loving God.  This joy, that helps me smile when I should be sad and witness to the goodness and greatness of Jesus....