Concurrently Realistic and Unrealistic

I have a friend who used the book Start by Jon Acuff to embark on a journey. She is searching for new career opportunities and instead of staying at home conducting my job search, this book has inspired "[her] to overcome her fears, take action, and go after [her] dream of helping others through personal development strategies and media". I was really excited about her project, to say the least. Anyway, she gave me a copy of the book and I'm listening to it right now. Somewhere in the beginning, Jon makes this statement:

You have to be brutally realistic about your present circumstances and wildly unrealistic about your future circumstances. #Start @JonAcuff

I've been thinking about this for some time now; obviously not in those exact words. I've been thinking about it for months after a conversation with an under-employed friend who takes any assignment that he can get his hands on. In fact, I have several friends are are unemployed and under-employed. I give them advice on finding jobs and generally discourage them from taking "anything". To which they all tell me in so many words that they don't have the luxury I have of being married to a successful husband who provides everything that I need. Every time i heard that, I tried my best to defend myself saying that I felt the same way before I was married. To add to this, I was at my YMCA class one day and the instructor suggested that we all go out for eat afterwards since none of us worked anyway. I could very well go to breakfast, but then I'd have to admit the truth: that I had nothing else to do.

The funny thing is no one seems to know that I'm unemployed except the people my husband tells.

It's because I'm not being brutally realistic about my present circumstances. I do very limited contract work. I HAD 2 monthly clients and everything else is sparsely sporadic. At this point one contract job has ended and I am unsure of the future of the other. I have to go back and reread this chapter but at this point I don't see how I can accept this and still be unrealistic about my future. However, at the church that I attend this is what is promoted. If you read my other blog, I share my sermon notes from Lakewood Church and the general message is of hope. I think that I could be a grammy, tony, academy, winning actor, director, writer, producer. Every great person used to be unemployed so I'm sure that I can be great too.

That's all for now..

Break Out

I acted in a television commercial today. The commercial will seek to raise awareness about Joel Osteen's book, Break Out. 

Break Out discusses how God Created us to leave our marks on our generations and not just get by with average, unrewarding or unfulfilling lives. God created us to leave our marks on our generations. This book gives five ways to go beyond our barriers  and live extraordinary lives.

I'm not sure that any book can give 5 ways to go beyond my barriers. Every time I talk to anyone about what I can do to be successful usually, everything that they tell me is circumstantial and good luck. But Joel Osteen is very encouraging. He has a way of saying things that encourages me to want to try anyway. So even though I thing it's all luck, I say if it's all luck, then why not try. It may not work, but what if it does. It's funny how most people are eager to believe the worse when there is an equal opportunity that the best can happen.

Either way, I had fun today. I can't wait to see myself and my friends in the commercial. They shot the commercial with a Canon C300 and the videographers seemed to be excited about that. All of the extras in my scene are members of Lakewood Church's drama team. Many of us are working actors, some of us act on the side. I feel so honored to be a part of the drama team and I'm believing that we will all break out soon. :-)

If You Really Love Me...

Gary Chapman wrote a book entitled "The Five Love Languages...:" which outlines five ways to express and experience love: acts of service, quality time, words of affirmation, gifts and physical touch. Unfortunately, Physical Touch and Receiving Gifts are definitely the red-headed step-children among love languages. From a young age, we hear phrases like "money can't buy you love",  "she's a gold digger", and "he just wants me for my body".  As a matter of fact, society and media view words of affirmation, acts of service, and quality time as the love languages we must forge to receive "physical touch" or "gifts".

Society shuns people who speak and hear love as physical touch or gifts. The fact of the matter is people are different. What makes one person feel loved will not necessarily make another person feel loved and by nature, we tend to express love to others in the way we wish they would express love to us. Oftentimes we are told rather bluntly that our way is wrong. Of course no says "your way is wrong" they say, "you just want me for my body", "don't touch me" or "you ain't nothing but a gold digger". The receiver sees the giver's love as insincere and when the giver fails to receive a positive reaction, he or she becomes frustrated. Those on both ends feel unloved when the problem is that they are speaking the wrong love language. So if you really want to share love you need to learn about love languages. If it turns out to be physical touch or receiving gifts don't become judgmental.

I'm even guilty of being judgmental in this area. In the south, physical touch seems to be a popular love language. Everyone wants a hug, guys want to hold hands on the first date, people want to put their hands on your shoulder while talking. Though I have eased up a little, this bothers me. I don't like to hug "random people" and I certainly don't want random people putting their hands on my shoulders while talking. Unfortunately, many people took my disdain of physical touch as  statement of how I felt about them. Even though I affirmed and spent quality time with them, I was not speaking their love language. Furthermore, my facial expression and reaction just solidified their summations that I didn't love them. Before I was married, physical touch as love language was off limits. I was saving ALL forms of touch for my husband. This is probably why that with my husband (and only my husband) my primary love language is physical touch, imagine that!

Physical Touch and Gifts have negative connotations but if you continue to speak your own love language and not your loved one's language, then you fail to communicate. Proverbs 21:2 says that every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord knows the hearts. God is the only one who truly knows a person's heart so it's not our place to judge we are only commanded to love.

Do you know the love languages of those in your household? do you know your own love langauge?? You can click here to discover your love language and to learn about all 5!

You Are Valuable

Jentezen Franklin @ Lakewood Church

• Hongkong is the capitol of Tattoos. Born loser is the most popular tattoo . Before a tattoo Is placed on a persons body, it is already permanently inked on your mind.

• Christoper Columbus
• According to Earl Rosenthal, author of The Palace of Charles V in Granada (1985), the motto is closely associated with the Pillars of Hercules, which, according to Greek mythology, were built by Hercules near the Straits of Gibraltar to mark the edge of the then known world. According to mythology the pillars bore the warning Nec plus ultra (also Non plus ultra, "nothing farther beyond"), serving as a warning to sailors and navigators to go no farther and also a warning not to go farther.
• After Columbus sailed to the Americas, The Spanish coat of arms depicts two crown-topped pillars of Hercules (with red banners displaying the motto in Latin, "PLUS ULTRA," meaning "More Beyond," alluding to Columbus' discovery of the New World).
• That tattoo was removed!

• Roger Banister
• Roger Bannister was the first person to break the 4-minute mile demolishing a long standing myth that it could never be done.  Once he broke through the paper barrier, 17 other people broke the 4-minute mile that year and over 100 the next year.
• That tattoo was removed.

• • Philippians 3:11-14
• If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

• Do not be overcome by the devil's tattoos .

• Romans 12:1-2 KJV
• I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

• l am who God says l am.
• A hundred dollar bill's value doesn't change no matter what it goes through because it's creator says that it's worth one hundred dollars. Even if someone uses it to buy drugs, then it's used to bribe someone in a bad business deal, then pay for a prostitute…it's still worth $100

• How to remove a tattoo: a laser light stirs up the blood on the inside .
• 1 John 1:7 "...if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

• IF Satan keeps bringing up my past then it means that he doesn't have any new material. When you are reminded of your past, praise God that you aren't there anymore.

The Real Jesus

John Gray @ Lakewood Church

• Jesus is calling me to present an accurate picture of His character. Jesus is not comfortable or Safe...l haVe the answer and I need to share it.  Sometimes God asks you to''go out of your way )
• John 4:3-11 KJV
• He left Judæa, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

1. *Jesus went out of His way.
2. *Jesus was intentional and related to the woman at her point of need
3. *You have to be relational relatable and relevant
4. *Jesus didn't judge her

Be A Magnet for Blessings

Joel Osteen

God will send blessings for you IF you honor Him with your life

• Deuteronomy 28:1-2 KJV
  And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
• Continue being your best where you are.
• you don't have to Worry and play games to get people to like you . All you need to do is honor God will and he will make the divine connections.
  IF you are not faithful in the wilderness then how can he trust you In The promised land. God has explosive blessings in my future.

• Proverbs 13:22 KJV
  A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
• There and some eventualies in my future. I just need to seek God and not the things.
• Matthew 6:33 KJV
  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
• You cant have faith if you don't have hope. Do not become complacent because you do not see anything happening. Dream big!
• Hebrews 11:1 KJV
  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

← Cow story d

There was a missionary living in a town where a dairy farmer was selling milk for ridiculous prices. One day a few of the cows walked over to that missionary's house. The missionary returned the cows. This continued for weeks. Finally, the dairy farmer told the missionary to keep those cows. The missionary started selling milk for lower prices putting the dairy farmer out of business. 

• Proverbs 13:21 KJV
  Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repaid.

Victoria Osteen

• Luke 2:37 KJV
  And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
  Sometimes that's what we want to do as believers.
  God didn't design us to struggle. So we have to make a decision to love ourselves.
• If you know that there are discouraging people and situations in our paths then we need to plan ahead.
• Psalms 3:3 KJV
  But thou, O Lord , art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
• If you aren't feeling peace about a situation then stand still.
• No one can fill my needs but God. God has my destiny today,  but it's up to me to decide how long it would take.

Activating The Right Genes

I just happened to watch Gattaca this morning while getting ready to head to Lakewood Church where the sermon title was "Activating the Right Gene". The movie was about "a genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel" and the sermon was about how though we may be "genetically predisposed" to certain negative traits we can choose to activate the things that God says about us and not what science says about us! It got me wondering if there are things about myself that I feel have been inherited through my bloodline and will inevitably hold me back. I'm still not sure. In this blog I want o talk about the movie and the sermon.

Gattaca

The first Title card is a scripture from the Bible, "Consider God's handiwork; who can straighten what He hath made crooked? (Ecclesiastes 7:13)"  We soon meet  Society categorized Vincent Freeman as less than suitable given his genetic make-up and Jerome Morrow as a perfect genetic specimen. Jerome is a paraplegic who lacks desire and Vincent Freeman is a "god child" willing to risk everything to succeed.

I thought one of the most interesting parts in the movie was when Vincent said that from an early age he came to think of himself as others thought of him, chronically ill and wherever he went genetic prophecy preceded him. I actually talked about this movie with my husband on the way to church. When people decide that they have a disadvantage anything that happens becomes evidence to that belief but Vincent proved that the things that happened were only evidence that he was human. I don't want to give away too much of the movie, because I want you to go watch it. I watched it for free on my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 using the Crackle app.

Joel Osteen at Lakewood Church

• There are genes that you can deactivate.
• Its easy to use genes as an excuse but I need to take responsibility For myself. Not only can I put A stop to a curse but I can pass down a blessing
• Iniquities will continue until someone takes a stand to put a stop to it.
  Deuteronomy 30:19 KJV
  I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
  ★ Ernest Hemingway's Family has a history of suicide .
  ★Make choices that help my family
• IF Saul had taken care of his enemy (in l Samuel 15) when he had the power then Esther may not had to deal with that issue 500 years later. 
  Ezekiel 18:2-3 KJV
  What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God , ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
  My family may have made decisions that set me back but this is a new day. Deal with the issues that are holding me back.
• James 5:16 KJV
  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
  ★You can not sweep things under the rug and expect it to go away. 
• Dont learn to function in the dysfunction.
• ★Don't Take The Scenic Route
  The Osteens went on a trip and the bellman took them down a beautiful winding road to their bungalow. So that IS the way Joel would go. The next day Joel's son told him that there was a shorter way. Joel refused arguing that he was going the way that the bellman went. On the last day of
  the trip Johnathan asked if they could go his way just once, so they did. His way was shorter; it turns out the bellman was taking the scenic route and according to the map, it was a big circle .
• ★ Sometimes what l have seen modeled may not have been the right way. I need to examine the things that I do and determine whether that the best way.

Victoria At Lakewood Church

Someone May Need to Borrow Your Shoes

Acts 20:35 KJV
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

• God wants us to be tanked up because it is more blessed to give then to receive . we usually think about physical gifts but words one free encouragement is free and etc...
• Joel and Victoria went to Italy and bought his dad some nice shoes. After his dad died , Joel wore those shoes for 2 years.
• Joel's dad had lived a life that Joel wanted to glean from.
• We need to live in such away that others want to borrow our shoes.