Sunflowers

Sunflowers are my favorite flowers and yesterday while I was at my second favorite grocery store Whole Foods ( my favorite of course is my Food Coop) I bought some and thought I would share them with you!!!

My Office is Now Complete

Well my office is officially finished thanks to my SUNFLOWERS who surprised me and brought over a huge palm last night, which was the finishing touch the room needed. I was wavering between putting up a drape in front of the window which I really did not want because the window is kinda cute. Take a look at the pictures. What do you think? Just in case you are wondering all furnishing are compliments of Pottery Barn via my 40% employee discount. Desk – Bedford Corner Desk, Book shelf – Study Wall Shelf and wood gallery frames, Rug – Sisal Rug with black border, red drape ( I can switch the drape out and change accent of  the theme of black and white)- Cameron Drape, the chairs they do not have any more and the desk chair is probably older then me it is a classic and Pottery Barn actually sells one exactly like it but it is cheaper quality of wood and is much smaller. I have not acquired all of my books from my moms storage but once I do I will probably need another shelf, I have books from undergrad and graduate school and my current collection that I am acquiring in my MPH program.

I have to include a little note about the Palm that SUNFLOWERS brought over. First it was a shock I could not stop thanking, hugging and kissing him not that he is not AWESOME all the time but I had forgotten that I had asked/mentioned in passing, what he thought about a plant in front of the window since he has such a green thumb and could he look into one for me. So when he showed up with it, I was like oh wow you got me a plant. You got me what I wanted. And when I told him how thankful I was he said you asked me for it and I was like yeah but I did not necessarily think you would get it. Something about that is pretty awesome to me and I am not expressing it in words as I would like but I know what it meant to me and that is the most important thing.

Sabbath Lesson for Me

Today’s sermon by Pastor Carlton P. Byrd was God’s weapons of mass destruction. It was taken from Exodus 7 – 12. These texts tell the story of the 10 plagues God brought upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians as a result of Pharaoh refusing to let the Israelites go, they were;


1. All water outlets turned to blood (Exo. 7:17)

2. Frog infestation (Exo. 8:10)

3. Dust turned to lice (Exo. 9:17)

4. Fly infestation (Exo. 8:21)

5. Death of cattle (Exo. 9:2)

6. Boils (Exo. 9:9)

7. Hailstorm ( Exo. 9:18)

8. Locust (Exo. 10:4)

9. Darkness (Exo. 10:22)

10. Death of the first born (Exo. 12:29)

My take away or what I was reminded of is that God is our protector and avenger. He(God) does not need me to fight situations I find myself in. He will protect and avenge me in ways I could never have thought or imagined and He uses weapons I could never have thought of. Who would have ever thought frogs could be used as a weapon? My God is awesome!!!!

Quote for Today

I was reviewing a blog that I follow (the Briden Bunch) and I came across the following quote

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.


~Saint Augustine
 
This and the fact that I a humanitarian at heart is the reason I am destined to join the foreign service working for USAID or the CDC.  Here I Come!!!

Sabbath Lesson For Me

My Sabbath lesson occured before I even went to church.  I read it in my morning devotional book ( it is comprised of stories by women from around the world).  And the day's author made the following prayer that I thought was noteworthy

Lord, help me to simply love others as they are.  Help me also to value the things that are eternal and to accept the things that are temporal.

I thought was rather poetic I hope you see the same.

Sabbath Lesson for Me

It's Sabbath and I went to church even with the snow.  I am only two exits from church so I have no excuse.  It was nice.  The Mayor of  the City of Atlanta was there being honored as part of our Black History Awards honoring those who have me strides in African American History.  Our mayor is Kasim Reed, he is a young (late thirties) and I guess I can say progessive.  He was voted in after a heated election.  He made a statment using a quote from Dr. King that I had never heard.  I have spent the last hour searching for it online.  It spoke of the next generation of privilege.  I could not find that one however I found a two others that I thought I would share

by Dr. King

I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream—a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few;..... ; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality. That is the dream...



AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

and relative to today's climent of the so called Recession
 
When there is massive unemployment in the black community, it is called a social problem. But when there is massive unemployment in the white community, it is called a Depression.


We look around every day and we see thousands and millions of people making inadequate wages. Not only do they work in our hospitals, they work in our hotels, they work in our laundries, they work in domestic service, they find themselves underemployed. You see, no labor is really menial unless you're not getting adequate wages. People are always talking about menial labor. But if you're getting a good (wage) as I know that through some unions they've brought it up...that isn't menial labor. What makes it menial is the income, the wages.

Local 1199 Salute to Freedom, March 1968

Not Washington, DC but

It snowed today.  The pic is of my house I thought I would capture it as it snowed on it.   I took off today and it was a joy from the moment I woke up till now (minus the slight headache I have now which only tells me I ate something with dairy in it and I did not know it).  My mom and I decided since I had my dad's truck to head up to Dawsonville to visit Pottery Barn Outlet  to make use of my employee discount which I fear will be ending soon since holding down my full time job at the Food Bank and going to grad school full time is taking most of my time so much so that I barely have time to for just me in addition to studying.  However giving up the discount is a lot to let go.  Every since I have worked there I have said I want a sofa and I have yet to buy one.  I have furnished my dining room, a guest room, my bedroom and now my office ( you will see the transformation, I am working on it this weekend stay tuned) but not my living room.  I even went to the Outlet for the purpose of finishing up getting stuff for my office and I did all but for  a drape which I will run over to West Elm ( a division of William Sonoma which also owns Pottery Barn and the discount work there too)  over the weekend to see if they have anything.  I feel like I keep drifting but the point is I bought a sofa today for the bargain basement price of $300 (yes it is new), I only wish they had two of them.  I feel I can now comfortable depart from the great PB without any regrets I have gotten what I wanted but then I really want to furnish my other guest room.  The discount keeps calling me back once you pay a drastically different price it is hard to go back to buying at full price, the fake sale price and even the clearance price when you know if you gave up 4-10 hours a week you could benefit from a great discount.  Stay tuned on when I let go!!!!

January Family Get Together

We have started this tradition with my father's side of the family that for all the family in the ATL that we get together once a month at someone's home have dinner. This month it was at my house and the theme was a Soup Swap. It turned out really nice and everyone had a nice time. At first I was a little concerned that the family would not know what to do with just themselves with no TV to fill in the time. All worked out well. We talked, communicated and learned something about each other. We enjoyed a great variety of soups, grilled cheese and crackers and wonderful company. I look forward to the next get together!!!

oh by the way I provided the picture of the table because I find a well dressed table inviting and this particular one I put together myself and I am kind of proud of it!!!.

New Years Day 2010

Last Year was my Year of Restoration, the list I created is below along with the resolutions that occured in 2009


1. Restoring my relationship with God - living the life I believe -CONTINUAL PROCESS
2. Restoring my career that utilizes my education, talents, gifts and drive to travel the world to make a positive impact for change - I AM IN GRADUATE SCHOOL TO ASSIST IN POSITIONING ME TO FULFILL THIS
3. Restoring my status to loving wife, friend, life companion to a man that is a Christian, Adventist, leader, honorable, respectful and knows how to love me best - THE LORD IS WORKING ON IT
4. Restoring my finances to position me to return in tithes and offering what I currently make in less than five years - FINISHING MY DEGREE WILL ASSIST IN THIS FULFULLMENT
5. Restoring me to a level of maturity that accepts people as they are and respecting their desire to be different - I THINK I HAVE

Now as for 2010 I have to repeat those listed above with continued emphasis on my relationship with God and financial stability where the only thing I owe any man is love. Debt free is the goal. I will add I am would like to have secured a consistent weight goal of 140 pounds with a regular weekly exercise routine that I hope will include biking. I think that is it. I will recap next year this time.

Sabbath Lesson For Me

Well it is the Sabbath after Christmas and of course we had a Christmas themed sermon. I unfortunatly did not focus on it at all. Whenever I am at church and bored or distracted by my surrounding or distracted from my own thoughts I start to read the Bible to bring my mind back into a state of worship in God's Sanctuary. Today was no different. I starting reading in Luke in part directed by the fact that is where the day's text came from however i went pass the Luke 2 Christmas text and went on to read Luke 11:13 which states "if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your chidren: how much more shall your heavely Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him."

My take away from this text today reminded me of what I put in my Christmas letter. I mentioned not getting the one gift I wanted when in actuality I did get it and have had it a while. I know you are thinking I am talking about the gift of Christ sacrifice on the cross, I realize that and am undoubtedly thankful however that is not what I am talking about. God has given me the gift and just because I was not able to have it on Christmas Day as the world would say I should I had it all the previous 364 give or take a few days of 2009. So weighed properly and in perspective I think I am good, I am great!!!

My Christmast Letter 2009

This year started off with me attending the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States ---Barrack Obama. I had the honor of attending it with the man that I am now dating whom I will call from this point on Sunflowers per his request to remain anonymous to the world wide web. I was in the throng of thousands of people it was my chance to be a part of an historic moment in American History and Global Politics – I was humbled to be alive to witness this moment, Thank you Father.

Spring came and I ushered in my 33rd birthday at home with mom, Luther, Rodrecus, his fiancée Katrina and Sunflowers. Oh and Patches, the world’s best cocker spaniel. In the spring I also received acceptance into Morehouse School of Medicine Master of Public Health Program. The day I received the letter I got to share the moment with Sunflowers. We officially started dating in May give or take and Katrina became my sister-in-law as well.

I excitedly went through the summer waiting in expectation for the school year to start. School started in August. I am on the Epidemiology track meaning in one more year I will be an epidemiologist. What is an Epidemiologist? It is and I will soon be a scientist who studies the outbreak, frequency, distribution, and control of communicable diseases. And you know me those studies will be global, preferably on the continent of Africa.

My grandmother died in September. I was thankful to have had the opportunity to see her for her birthday in August and that Sunflowers was able to accompany me. I wanted him to meet her. It meant a lot to me then and even more now that she is gone. She left some pretty intelligent, educated, and respectful children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. May our daily lives speak to the work she put into each of us and may that be her legacy.

God has been awesome to me. He allowed me to gracefully finish my first semester with a 3.6 GPA, maintain my job and keep Sunflowers happily engaged. The last one is kind of a nice bonus. God is pretty cool about giving us not only what we ask for but sometimes just out of His sheer love for us, He gives us what we do not ask for.

It is the week of Christmas. I am not where I had planned to be and it just really hit me that I will not get the only thing I wanted for Christmas. I attempt to comfort myself with knowing that I must be where God would have me to be at this moment and enduring what He knows I can handle. It has taken and will probably continue to take a few (really a lot of bo hooing) tears, mental consultations and letting go to realize that however I am trying. I am thankful for the comfort that God brings and I will be thankful when this time has passed.

Over the course of the year I have had friends and family edit my interest letter for graduate school, reassure me of the calling God has on my life, pray for and with me and to just listen to me. They have all been very precious to me and for that I am thankful. I look forward to a new year of great possibilities, growth in myself spiritually and mentally and the privilege to share it all with people whom I get to share my gift of love to and whom get to share their gift of love to me.

First Semester at MSM Completed Fall 2009

Well I have officially completed my first semester at Morehouse School of Medicine in the Master's of Public Health Program.

My goal was to get all A's however my report card reflects the following

A Fundamentals of Public Health
A- Epidemiology
A- Chronic Disease Epidemiology
B Statistical Computer Methods

I know you are thinking why not solid A's in the Epi courses since that is my end goal to be an Epidemiologist well what excuses can I give life happened. I am working full time and going to school full time so I find comfort in that. Now as for the B, what can I say I can trully say I did my best. It was very difficult however I do recognize that I need to improve on my SAS and SPSS abilities. I am trying to get a practicum that will focus on that skill development. Stay tuned I should have some info on that in April/May. I am excited about that.

I am now on a break till January 4th. I am trully enjoying it. I am actually have the chance to do a little cleaning and time for just me and Patches. I am taking it all in until then!!!

Sabbath Lesson For Me

Well today I went to Berean and Pastor Byrd spoke and the title of his sermon was "Raising Another Man's Baby." The premise coming from Matthew 1 and the story of Joseph and Mary and Jesus being another man's (God's) baby. He related it back to the point that there are a lot of children that need to be raised. You and I need to do it in an effort to help them become a better person. He brought out a news story of a lady living the American dream (married, 2 1/2 kids and a dog) and how it was taken away when some three young boys less than 17 years old broke into her house killed her husband an violated her daugther and traumatized her. The lady went through the trial and pleaded against the death penalty for these young men and visited them to learn of their story and how one of them was just looking for someone to look up to and how he ended up with the wrong group of people and ended up at her house. And she made the statment in the story if only someone had taken on the responsiblity to raise another man's baby.

I thought the sermone was worthy of note and thus have shared it with you. I pray that I and you take it upon ourselves to guide, direct and love the young people that we come in contact with.

Thanksgiving 2009

As I thought about this post I had mixed emotions that I am trying to decipher how to express.

My holiday weekend started Wednesday. I kept my nephew for the day which was an adventure and tiresome.

Thursday/Thanksgiving.
Patches (my dog) and I went to my mom and Luther's for breakfast. It was a pleasant family time with just the three of us. My brother was off with his in-laws. In the midst of the day I sent and received text messages from friends saying Happy Thanksgiving. It was nice. I had a great Thanksgiving dinner with family and did not make a thing well I did make sugar cookies per request but that was minor since in the past I have cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal. I think school and working took all of my energy, only thing I wanted to do was just mingle, eat and leave. and that is exactly what I did. I came home and chatted with two long time friends. I forgot to mention that at dinner we went around asking what we were thankful for and the first thing that came to mind was the fact that I have some great, amazing friends. There was a time in my life were I did not have any friends. I prayed that God would send me just one and HE sent me SEVERAL, that is just how awesome my God is, He blesses us above and beyond what we could even ask, think or imagine!!!. I am crying now just thinking about His blessing so lets move on to Friday

Friday
I thought I was going to go to the outlet at midnight with a friend who wanted to go shopping for his house and get all the great deals. At midnight he was otherwise occupied and I was kind of thankful because I was sleepy and really was not to feeling the crowds but oh at 8 he was ready and came knocking on my door and I said sure lets go. Off we went not too extraordinary I bought the 2nd of 3 parts of the desk I have been acquiring from Pottery Barn Outlet and a skirt that was the only significant purchase. He was able to get some stuff for his house. I came back and road out to my brother's for our annual Friday night dinner. It was ok, they had some additional quest of his wife's family.

Sabbath/Saturday
I went to church. I was blessed most by the study of the sabbath school lesson. I was blessed least by the political campaigning facilitated by the pastor. I am still trying decipher how I feel about that but at the moment I am disappointed. In the evening I had the opportunity to go out to dinner and celebrate the birthday of one of those friends I mentioned earlier along with her sisters and some more friends. We had a nice time.

Sunday/today
I had the opportunity to rest at little before heading to PB. Work was uneventful as always I would have loved a massage upon my return home however I just did my little foot and toe stretches that will do the trick until I have a personal massage therapist. And I am now writing this post.

That is all. I hope each of had a great Thanksgiving with true friends and family and always remember to be thankful each day you have breath it means God still has a plan for your life and looking forward to you fulfilling it!!!!!

This line is in addition to my original post because I got a phone call from someone whose name is still Sunflowers to me just after I published this post which is pretty amazing because the exact same thing happend last year.

New Hair Cut

My mom and I went to the Salon Nede and got our hair done today. For the first time in my adult life I actually got my hair cut in an actual style. A person of significance identified what I normally get as a trim not a cut/style. Due to the fact that I was contemplating getting a significant trim I decided to get my hair cut in an actual style hence the picture. My mom joined in this adventure and got a cut as well.

Sabbath Lesson for me

okay let me say that it is 10:42 pm and I specifically turned my computer back on to post this on my blog.

Today my best friend Tara was in town with her husband and kids as part of an event at my church. After church and dinner she and her daughters came over.

We are all sitting in the living room and Tara decides to give her oldest daughter McKenzie a lesson in fractions. She first asked what is the fraction of living things in the room that is a dog, referring to my dog Patches. So I decide to ask her what is the fraction of art work on the wall that was done by me. Let me give a side note of the fact that in my living room I have a framed chalk board that I write scriptures, inspirational notes or greetings to visitors weekly. Today on the board it stated Father, let the words my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable (found in Psalms 19:14). I have one forest painting that I painted, a painting that I brought from Tanzania and the chalk board. I ask McKenzie about the chalk board, her mom answers and says that is not art and McKenzie states with confidence that God's word is art. And then I say wow that is deep. I asked her to write in the board and I am thus sharing that with you.

That was my Sabbath lesson not the quote but the innocence of a child. I am thankful for a friend, mother, person raising their children to have a relationship with God, a knowledge, respect and love of God. When I am in some settings it saddens me to see parents attempting to raise their children without that, it concerns me of what they will one day become. Kudos to great parents who know the greatest teacher is God and his text book is the BIBLE!!!

Update on School

Well just to give an update I had mid term exams about two weeks ago. I received my grades and to date I have two A's and two B's. My goals is all A's. Stay tuned!!!. I am still excited about pursuing my MPH and the opportunities that it will prayfully open to me.

A few weeks ago I decided to investigate every division at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that I would want to work for and email the person that heads the particular division of interest. Of the 20 people I emailed 10 emailed me back and provided input, referral or just encouragement. As I result I also had the honor of speaking with the head of a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on yesterday and it was an amazing conversation. I was very appreciative that he took the time and provided some very insightful information that will guide my professional career. It affirmed in me that their are people in the world and in higher level position in corporations and organization that enjoy mentoring others. Tey realize they will not always hold the position they have and want to ensure that the individuals that follow them are as prepared and equiped to build upon what they have established and develop it even further.

Thank you Father for using your people to aid and direct me!!!

Lo-Rain

A little over a week ago an event happened that established the following belief in me:

Communication and follow-thru on your word is how trust is attained and maintained in all relationships.

Convocation at Morehouse School of Medicine

Today was the convocation at Morehouse School of Medicine. It was a very nice ceremony. Where can I begin, well first my mom and a man of significance to me went with me. I thought it was very nice of them to come and share in this moment in my life. I was awarded an academic scholarship which required me going on the stage and doing photo op with the Dean, being the center of attention for any amount of time is always something I shun. I only went to my undergraduate graduation because my mom paid the tuition it was more her moment than mine. Overall I enjoyed being in the presence of future doctors and learning of their individual achievements to date in their field. Dr. David Satcher spoke and he was awesome. He said a number of profound things that were really encouraging and touching. He stated the quote below that I thought was worthy of sharing;

The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled but it is a calamity not to dream. by Benjamin E. Mays

I had a great day and I thought I would share it!

Washington Post Article Noteworthy Quote

The following is a quote from an article by Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post:

"It's true that politics is the art of the possible, but it's also true that great leaders expand the scope of possibility...Giving up on the public option might be expedient. But we didn't elect Obama to be an expedient president. We elected him to be a great one. "


The link to the complete article is below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702178.html?referrer=facebook