If You Ain't Thinkin', You Ain't Thankin'

Happy Sunday everyone. Long time no see. All is okay over here, still ready to go back to work (only 25 more days til the first day of school and 17 til the return of teachers). Went to chuch this morning and received the Good Word from yet again, Minister Reginald Sharpe.

This message was short and brief, but really touched me. He started by bringing up the book turned movie, The Help. Its about these two African American women who work as maids and housekeepers for wealthy white families. These women work together not only to get the job done, but also to keep the wealthy family together (click here for more info). He related the movie to 1 Samuel 7:12---

¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,^[a] saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

From this verse, he came up with the Topic, The Help. As anyone knows, when it comes to a problem that we has human beings can't solve, we get bogged down with life's ups and downs, we usually call on a friend, coworker, or relative for help. Majority of the time, they are willing to help. But there are those times were you just don't have anyone. There's no one around, or your "reliable" friends aren't really that reliable. Who else can you call on? Who else is available to help? The one and only.... Jesus.

After hearing this exhilarating sermon, I always take time to reflect (mostly when I'm typing this blog...LOL) about how He has helped me when there was no one else around. One quote that Minister Sharpe said before he started, "If you ain't thinkin', you ain't thankin'." Read it carefully and it'll sink in.

While sitting and thinking about what He has done for us and our loved ones over the years, we should also be praising and thanking Him for doing just so. I can't tell you how many times, especially during college and this summer, where I didn't know what was going to happen since my finances were low. I'm never the one to ask friends for much and I've gotten to the age that asking my parents for anything hurts (even though my Mom will do just about anything for me). Yet, relying on Him and praising Him has definitely given me positive results and I make sure to thank Him every single time.

I hope that you remember to thank Him for being your Help when no one else is around. Until next time....

BJ... out.

GTL.... Not Quite

What it do everyone? Hope all is well with you and yours. Decided to do a little update on this hot and steamy day. First off, I want to shout out two fellow educators/ bloggers:

1. Vanessa Schrotenboer... I love this feisty chick. I worked with her in my first year at the Creek and she is an amazing photographer. She has a fantastic blog full of life experiences, photos that she has taken and photos of her dog Leo, who's gonna end up missing one day... (just kidding...LOL). If you're looking for someone to do your engagement or wedding photos in the Charlotte area, I definitely recommend her.

2. Kara Hill-Kara is just as amazing as Vanessa. I also work with Kara at the Creek and she has just started her blog. Very dedicated to female readers who are into fashion and creativity, but I check it for the recipes! I will be using those throughout the school year!

Check those ladies out. I'm sure you'll find some interesting information, tips and things to make you laugh! Keep it going friends!

Aight,

So I woke up this morning with a burst of energy and decided to get my GTL on. I can do the G (gym) and the L (laundry), but not the T (tan... Black people don't tan. We just get dark and I'm dark enough...LOL). I jumped up, ate a bowl of cereal, and headed to the gym on my complex.

I walked in... and was like, Nope. Not here. Ain't got time. The gym at my complex is very mediocre. There is basically nothing in there. I did a little arm workout to start off, but as for the cardio option... negative. After that temporary workout, I decided to do something I haven't done since high school-- run.

Yup, I said it. Run. So... I stretched well. Prayed that my knees didn't bother me with the metal plates in them. Found the right songs on the iPod, and took off. I knew I was out of shape since I haven't been playing volleyball like I used to at UNC Charlotte, but I shocked myself. I actually did pretty well.. Go me. :)

I'm going back to the actual gym at 12:45 with a friend to finish my work out, a little gorcery shopping, and getting ready for Alive After 5 in uptown Charlotte.

Until then...

BJ....out.

The Prescription for a Power Outage

Afternoon Saints! Hope everyone is well. Man, I'm on the ball with this whole blogging thing. I told myself that I wouldn't update that much but I've been on it.. Go me. :-) Its gon' take me a while to get through this post because I'm cooking Sunday dinner as I type (Fried Chicken, cabbage, baked macaroni and cheese and home-made cornbread. A true southern meal. I will definitely make my future wife happy.)

Went to church this morning... Ebenezer Baptist Church. The one church I found in Charlotte that reminds me so much of Mt. Zion Baptist back home. Good crowd, good music, and you can always expect a good Word. I took some friends with me who had never been and they really enjoyed it. This Sunday happened to be a Youth Explosion Sunday, so the pastor got the congregation a little crunk by doing some chants and the youth praise team did a little dance. Then it was time... PREACHIN' TIME.

The actual pastor for the church is out on sabbatical and will return Aug. 7. We had a guest preacher whom I've heard before when I first visited. His name: Reginald Sharpe. Yall, this young man is 19 years old and can tear the HOUSE DOWN! His sermon: the Prescription for a Power Outage (2 Chronicles 20:1,12).

He began by reading a "letter" that he received in the mail from King Jehoshaphat (click for more information). This letter contained information for a Prescription for a Power Outage. By "power outage", I mean when you feel like giving up. There's nothing there to help you move on, you are at the bottom of the barrel-- you're considered being in a power outage. You have no one to help you, and you've just given up.

But in the story of Jehoshaphat, his kingdom was getting ready to be attacked by the Moabites, Ammonites, and the Meunites (Verse 1). Jehoshaphat's kingdom was not ready for this,so he and his people lifted their heads toward the heavens and said "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you" (Verse 12). So he came up with this prescription:

• 1-surround yourself with people who are assets to you. Don't keep in contact with those leeches. If you know those who are leeches, change their number in your phone to "Leech."
• 2-Pray to seek assistance. Whenever you can't sleep at night, stop counting sheep and call on the shepherd. (That one spoke up to a lot of people, including me.)
• 3-Your past will give you some assurance. Look back and see what god has already done for you. Clearly if he has worked for you in the past, He'll continue to work for you.
• 4- Your perspective must be at the right angle. Keep your eyes on the Lord. If you keep your eyes on Him, your blessing will come.

He ended the sermon telling that King Jehoshaphat and his people ended up defeating the 3 groups all by keeping the faith in Jesus. After a mini shout fest, and people praising, he ended the sermon with this song:

Yall, this sermon was soo good. It made me realize about the whole situation that I'm going through (Post: I Guess It wasn't Meant To Be). I've felt like i was in a Power Outage. But going back and thinking of all the blessings He has given me over these last 25 years I can't complain. I know that it will be coming soon and that it will be great.

Frying chicken now, and everything else is done. I pray that yall have a blessed week.

BJ...out.

Random #1

So, I think I'm going to do a series with this blog. Once a week, I'll try to do a landowners rant. Just me posting photos, and talking about things that went on during the week, things I've seen, thoughts I've had, etc. Here's my first attempt. Here we go:

• Shoutout to Camden Park Commons! My apartment complex threw a pool party for the residents and supplied a KEG! Talk about some drunk people, including the leasing agents and the maintenance men! There was a DJ throwin' down the tunes and my girl Monica was there with her sister, who looks exactly like her. BTW, did I mention that Monica is bangin'?!!? Yeah, she is. Oh! And I won a free carpet cleaning and a Tyler Perry DVD #Winning

• I need to get on my grad school fix. I want a M.Ed in Higher Ed./ Student Affairs and/or K-12 Education Administraiton. I want to find a program that could work with me to do both at the same time or give me one thing and certification in the other. Then I looked into Educational Leadership and Policy... I think that just might be the one.
• Hangover 2.. Hilarious. Holla! City of Squalla!!!! LMAO
• I need a new wallet. The one I have is getting to beat up and too small for all the cards.
• Ya'll ever played Blast Monkey on Droid or iPhone? Its pretty amazing. You should download it.
• Oh yeah, I got drunk as shit Tuesday night. Thank you Bad Dogs on the Boardwalk for your 1.00 you-call-it drinks. That Vodka cranberry and Rum Pineapple definitely had me on lean....haha. Woke up sick Wednesday, and went back downtown on Thursday for AA5 (Alive After 5).
• Did some time at the Creek.. Classroom was ready to organize stuff. Did a little bit, but nothing strenuous.
• So at AA5, this woman walks by. Tall, slender and MASSIVE TITS. I mean MASSIVE. She had the audacity to wear a corset... Paint the picture. Go ahead, I'll wait......

I think that's it for now. This was interesting and random as hell....hahaha.

BJ...out.

Guess It Wasn't Meant To Be

So about 3 weeks after school let out. I've began looking for summer jobs. When it comes to me being picky, this is the one thing I am really meticulous about. When it comes to a job:

1. I don't to food service/restaurants. I don't like working around other peoples' food and can barely stand them working around mine.
2. Retail (Target, Wal-Mart)...um no. If someone walked into a store and decided to catch an attitude with me looking like 'who shot john in a pig pen', I will probably tell them about themselves. Also, kids go there a lot with their parents and I may know the kids. Ain't got time for that.
3. I like customer service and interacting with people. I'm a very social person, which is why I was heavily involved in college.
4. I want something that's a little more than minimum wage. I hold a full time job with benefits that pays wayy more than a full time job in a restaurant or retail. Ain't got time...

Giving my guidelines, I decided to look into hotels and stores that sell specific things (Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Teaching Stores). Hotels would be fun because you meet all kinds of people from other states and countries. Specialty stores are cool because instead of worrying about where this piece of clothing is, or this section in the massive store, you can focus on the key thing of that store and pin point them to that location.

I've applied to all of those places and have yet to hear back from either one of them. I've given the 1-2 week waiting time and made the phone call to check the status of the application, I've even emailed the managers. Yet, it seems like no one wants to hire a teacher for a full-time position for the summer and part-time during the school year.

But then I sat back and thought... maybe this was a way for God to say, "BJ... Enjoy your summer. Don't worry about anything and things will work out." Which is, scary enough, the exact same thing my mom told me when I went home the other week. I have enjoyed my summer; I've visited the people I wanted to see, did some of the activities I wanted to do, and now I'm just ready to go back to work. I hate sitting at home. I wake up, fix breakfast, walk around the apartment, clean here and there, fix lunch, nap, clean, watch television, fix dinner, watch tv, and do it all again the next day. I feel like I'm going through cabin fever.

Majority of the teachers I work with think I'm crazy because I want these last 39 days to hurry up but in all honesty, I love my job. I'm on a constant routine every day. Plus, kids are hilarious and you never know what's going to unfold in the classroom.

A friend of mine convinced me into doing tutoring. I don't mind it, the sucky thing is that it's not a constant schedule. Its this day, or that day; this time or that time, and I hate that. I'm a very structured person. I'll give it a shot and see how it goes...

BJ....out.

Really? We Ain't Dating!!!

I'm talking to this girl. Very sweet person, great personality, everything I like. We hit it off fairly quickly, talking to each other each day through text or actual phone call. Me being the curious person, wanted to know where this was going. It would have been cool to make this relationship work, yet she's in another state and I've been in one long distance relationship already. The one thing with the long distance thing-- no physical contact. We come to realize that it wouldn't work, and that we will be friends.

I like her, and at the beginning I had feelings. Since we have come to the conclusion that we won't work, I've removed those feelings and left it at the friend status. Yet, just like any other woman, she still has these feelings. And gets upset over simple things like we are in a relationship! I mean really, WE AIN'T DATING!

For example, she got upset because I have been "ignoring her and not conversing like I used to." OK.....

1. Even though school is out, I have things to do. Contacting you is not my top priority.

2. We have talked NON-STOP for a month with no major break. I need some time to myself.

3. WE AIN'T DATING!

I could see if we were dating I would text you to see how your day was going or call just to say hey, but WE AIN'T DATING! Majority of the time, we don't have anything to talk about, we sit in silence, or I say something and she gets upset about it. I care for you and I like you, but all on the friend level. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't want to completely break it off and lose a good friend.

BTW... did I mention that she was planning to come visit in October....?

BJ...Out.

Up and Running

I finally created a personal, random blog. I have one for teaching (here) and I did one for my summer at TAMU (here), and I decided to do one where I can really say whatever the hell I want (3rd times the charm, right?)

This blog is basically going to be about any and everything. Whatever comes to mind, random thoughts, personal experiences, random photos and videos.

Keep check... and hopefully you'll learn something and possibly find some comic relief.

BJ.... out.