The In-Laws- The Mother; 12-27-11

So one of the things I recognize about myself, is that I carry some hurt feelings about my In Laws, more specifically with my Mother and Father. It's easy to remember and focus on the negative than it is to remember and be joyous about the positive. I've got good reasons to be hurt, but at some point, well it just doesn't make sense to always squint my eyes and ball up my fists whenever I think about them. What they did isn't all that they are. They are in general decent people. So I'm intending to start up a small series of positive things about my In Laws. I'd be essentially replacing the hurtful negative with the maturing positive. This one is about my Mother.

There was certain things I could go to or get from each of my In Laws. I could talk ALL DAY with my Mother about recipes.We were always bouncing ideas off of each other. I remember shortly after getting married and in our own place, I wanted to make some salmon patties. I had an idea how to make them, but I couldn't remember how. I had always watched my own Moms, but I figured I could call my new Moms. And I did call her, and yep they turned out great.
I remember the time when I grilled some cornish hens over charcoal.  I had one of those tools where you can put a can of beer or soda inside and put the chicken on top of that, grill it, and you've got some good meat. So I'm using that with orange soda, some garlic and some basic seasonings. Grilled it up for maybe 45 minutes, let her try it, and I promise you........we fought. Me and my Moms. As I recall she literally snatched a drumstick right when I cut it up good, problem was it was still in my hand. It was good. I still think on that and smile. That was one of my favorite moments with her.
Then there was the other time when she made a "Better than Sex Cake" (otherwise known as a Mississippi Mud Pie, but I prefer the before mentioned name). GOOD!! That thang there! I don't remember all the details, but as I recall, I was gone at work or school when she made it and I had what was left, and my Brother had some, then some more. Out of all the cakes she's done, that's my favorite. Boy do I miss it! I mean I could very well do it myself, yes. And it would be good. But it wouldn't be the same. Sometimes food tastes better by the person who normally does it.
I remember this angel food cake thing she did. It had like three layers of the angel food cake, and that was separated with layers of a whip cream or cool whip I believe. And she had strawberries and blueberries on top, and maybe within the layers of cream. I remember the white chocolate covered strawberry on top with blueberries. When I ate it, she had just taken a call with her sister. I knew she was on the phone but I decided to tell her it was good. So I walked over and pointed at the cake and maybe gave a thumbs up or something. I wasn't satisfied so I got on the floor and played like I was dead with my tongue out as if to say "It was to die for".
She did make this turkey breast pasta dish that was good. Just regular egg noodles with chunks of turkey breast instead of chicken or beef. But the kicker was that she added I believe orange juice to it and gave it a slight orange flavor. THAT was good!
I wonder if she still has that one drawer FILLED to the brim with recipes? Haha.
I used to pick at her because she always seemed to make things more difficult than what it was. Like a 10 for 10.00 sale at the grocery store. No you don't have to buy all ten items to get that for 1.00. Then when she would finally understand, I'd go get a light bulb and put it over her head. Haha.  
I think me and my Moms share similar personality traits. I don't know what word to use really. Soft, humble, meek maybe. Merciful, grace. I don't know. None of those speak to me strongly, they only hint at what I mean.
I miss her and her cooking. Believe me, I know how to cook, and don't mind cooking, and in fact at times, I love cooking. Actually now that I think about it, there is no one and has never been anyone else that I could bounce ideas off of like that when it came to cooking.

I miss her, respect her and I love her.

I spoke with my son this past Monday! 12-22-11

So I'm at home and I've been slaving over the grill with this turkey.

S/N- Y'all missed out on some good bird!

And whilst I'm carving up the bird (a technique I only learned form Youtube within 5 minutes or so), I get a call that says "restricted". So I'm  thinking it's my Uncle calling me. Maybe my Aunt. I don't know. I just know that it can't be my son, after all they won't let me have any contact with him. So I say "Helloooo" and the response is "Hi Daddy". So I'm like "Huh? I know someone is messing with me". So I say yet again "Hello?" And response. "Hi Daddy" It was my Little Dude!! We talked for about 30 minutes or so. It was hard hearing/understanding him. I think part way they were driving home and the window was down, then when they got home, She told him to put the phone to his mouth, then there was the fact that he would cross between jibber jabber and clean english, as any kid his age would do. I didn't care. That was my son on the line and I was gonna listen to it all!! Here's what I did understand though. "SANTA CLAUSE DIDN'T GET ME ANYTHING FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!" Haha. And Him- "Where do you live?" Me- "I live in GA." Him-"I wanna see you in GA Daddy" Yea that one made me feel good.

So here's what's crazy. This fast has been all about me. I'm doing my best to put God first and limit drastically thoughts about my son and Wife. It's not that I don't care for them, but I feel as though I put them before Him to often with my thoughts. Wondering what he's doing, what's he learning, does he miss me, etc... And for her, why won't she let me speak with him, is her mother blocking the calls and not notifying Her that I called for our son, I've only talked to him 4 times this year, why don't I have her number instead of her mother's, I am her Baby Daddy after all, our son is my and her responsibility, etc......Anyway, I've been focusing on God rather than my feeling and emotions of them. It's almost as if I've been rewarded for doing so.

I thank God for hearing. If I couldn't hear, I would not have been able to hear my son say "Daddy", or "I wanna see you in GA".
Y'all be good, and be Christian.

Wisdom and Knowledge 12-14-11

So I was reading like 2 days ago and something stood out. Paul is by far my favorite apostle. To understand where he began, and to follow his transformation, is inspiring and yet instills hope within me.

Ephesians1:17-19
¹⁷That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
 ¹⁸The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
 ¹⁹And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

In Ephesians1:17-19, he talks about how he prays for the church in Ephesus, that they get spiritual understanding and maturity. So as I was reading I was like "Oh! OH OH!! THAT'S what I want!!!
Here's what I know.
I've read the new testament over and over and over and over and so on. Yet there is always something that you never caught the first time or third time or what have you. So you are always growing and understanding, in yourself and your spirit. But I believe also, that you just can't get everything the first time. Being a true Christian takes time and hard work. Our understanding is as little kids. We have to kind of grow into understanding.

1 Corinthians 3:1-2
¹And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
 ²I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

Anyway, yall be good and be Christian! 

Idols 12-13-2011

Ok so I was thinking about idols at some point. I realized that the word "idol" could mean a few things. I think in most cases, when someone says Idol, we immediately think of some carving made of wood, stone, or something made of metal that we worship. We all know of the story in the old testament when the people worshiped the golden calf. It was made by man, then man worshiped it as his god. But how does that apply to this day in time? It is 2011. I think people making their own gods are few and far between. But do we "worship" anything, or someone else more than we do God?
I remember I believe earlier this year how I was playing this game on FB. I realized that I was accessing the site, and playing the game more than reading my bible. We have cell phones that do any and everything. We are constantly glued to those little screens. It's become more important to know whats going on with the outside world than whats going on with our inner spiritual selves. People get on other websites that constantly update their daily going ons- what they are eating, where that are at, how they feel, etc., yet did they take 5 minutes to pray for their kids or more importantly their spiritual beings? I'm just talking. But I wonder too though. In our day to day lives, do we really put God first as we think we do, or are we doing things that contradict our beliefs?
I don't see any real wrong with websites, or with cell phones, or with any other thing we use to make life bearable. I just wonder about how involved are we with these things.

Exodus 34: 14- For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God

Fast update 12-10-2011

So I'm on my 10th day of my fast and it ends on March 12th. It seems as though it's the hardest fast that I've done. Before I never really had an issue of fighting off the urge to go out and buy a burger, or stop by and get a taco. But this one is different. I've never really had an issue of denying myself food to the point of where it was a struggle. But this one is serious! Before, it was more like, I knew what foods I wasn't going to eat, and I was cool with it. This time, I have to reprimand myself or encourage myself or put it out of my mind somehow.
I've had one dream so far. I realized when I woke up that I've had it before, except this one was more detailed and had more scenes, I just can't figure it out though.
There's one thing I know. Anything of value, you have to fight and struggle for. Spiritually speaking, anything you strive for, the enemy will do whatever he can to destroy you. He's working hard to stop me on my fast. I've got 90 more days left.
May the Strength of our Father in heaven be with me forever and always. I ask that He won't let me falter in my progress towards Him. I can't fail Him now. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Y'all be good, and be Christians.

The House- The Blessing 12-6-2011

Ok so the house isn't all that "Wow!" on the outside, but the inside is pretty decent. In the end, you live inside a house, not the outside. The inside needs to be better, at least in my view, since the inside is actually lived in. The outside can always be fixed. But how is it a blessing?

We had been looking for a house for the past month to two months. We found some great leads, but there was always something that didn't fit us. Too high an amount, not enough rooms, bad area, etc.. The majority of our things had been moved to storage, so we are sleeping on the floors, only a few pots and pans to cook with. Then what happens? The plumbing goes! You plunge the toilet and the stuff comes out of the tub. Everyone say it with me! "EWWW! NASTY!" So we spend a good week or two making trips to the water valve at the street shutting it off, partly due to the fact that the kitchen faucet is constantly dripping. Oh yea, my personal gripe. I had no "room" of my own so I slept in the family room in the back. Problem is that there was no door, only a curtain. A curtain that my little sister would just go through if she were bored to see what I was doing. A curtain that my Moms would just walk through looking for something of hers in my room since the majority of her things were in there. Can't someone knock?! Anyway, we get a letter in the mail that says that we have to move out by some date, and most of us move out that night. We spend the next 2-3 weeks basically homeless in my mind. I mean we had places we could crash at, but nothing of own. Then one Saturday night, my Moms has me to buy a Sunday paper. She wakes up Sunday morning and makes calls. She got to the, I believe it was the second call, and it was like everything fit together. Conversation. Price. Rooms. We ended up looking at the house that day and put money down on it I believe that same day. Anyway long story short, we got the house. And it seems to fit us. The plan is that this would be a transitional house for the next one. Meaning we don't plan on living here for the rest of our lives, which is another reason why it's not so important how the outside looks. We would stay here a good year, two at most, then move on to something better.

I thank God for this house. I can say that it is true. He never left us. He was with us always. He got us this house that we feel comfortable in. We feel at home. Oh and yes, there's a door to my room. Hehe.


May the Spirit of Christ dwell with this family and within this home, this house. May His Spirit provide us peace and love, not just to those who live here, but to those who walk through it's doors, those who look upon it, those who drive by it, those who walk by it. May the Spirit of Christ continue to strengthen and quicken our spiritual spirits allowing us to stand upright in the name of Jesus, so that no wrinkle may be found among us. Let all those who would judge us be chastised according to His judgment, but more importantly, as He sees fit, let them be given understanding. Let them be allowed to grow in Christ. Let them be able to see the good and positive, and not the bad and negative. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Moving 12-6-2011

It's been a crazy month, month and a half or so! Our house went into foreclosure, as many others around the nation, so we've had to move. But through this whole process I've been generally calm, generally.

It's hard moving. What made it even harder for others is that we had no idea where we would be moving to. o we were literally moving out, but didn't have anywhere to move to. We packed up our things and put them into storage, leaving them there until we would find someplace to go. So here's a few things I realized or understood during this transition.

If God takes care of His animals out in the wild, won't He take care of us?
Matthew 6:25-26
²⁵Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
 ²⁶Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they
My trust in God as to what would happen to us grew with this scripture. I knew not where we would go, or where we would live, but I knew that God would be with us always. He would not send us somewhere we couldn't handle, or somewhere we would be in danger. He would send us where we needed to be, whether it be for our sakes, or the sake of others watching on. And it would be good, and very good in His sight.

The other is more of a realization that I had. I'm blessed. I'm so blessed that I had more than I needed. In the process of gathering all of your belongings, you need to bag it or box it. It is then that you see how much of something you have. I filled a 13 gallon white trash bag with all shoes that I owned (other than the pair I was wearing), yet I only have one pair of feet. Obviously every pair has a purpose, but how often do I wear each pair? Did I necessarily NEED each pair? I had white socks galore, with a good and necessary reason, yet still I owned a lot of white socks. I owned a bunch of shirts, khakis, pants, ties, shorts and whatever else that I had not worn in a while. That's how blessed I was. I didn't even realize it. SO in going through all this, I decided I didn't need everything. So I went through it all and condensed my, I believe four bags of clothes to one. Everything in the one bag. The pairs of shoes I owned I condensed to maybe four pair.

We live our lives knowing that we are blessed, yet unable to see how we are sometimes. I'll admit it is hard to see the little things, but I guess as Christians, we have to train ourselves to see those little things.

So we did in fact move into a new house. I won't lie to you, it doesn't look all that great on the outside. But it does look better on the inside. This house is a blessing. I'll tell you why in the next post God willing.

May our Father in heaven continue to bless us as He sees fit, according to our sins and our goodness. May our outward showing and proclaiming as Christians be reflective of His genuine residence within us, and not just idle words and actions we say and do to fit in. May He strengthen us our spiritual minds, ever guided to Him and His ways so that one day we may hear "Well done my good and faithful servant".  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.