Another Graduation…

You know for most of my life I have been in school. In fact I don’t remember a time that I wasn’t in some sort of formal education. Now I know that some folks can remember when they were very little BUT I am not one of them… All I remember is no matter what was going on in my life, from Monday through Friday I was in school.

Just as I have started school there always came a point in which it ended. I have graduated several times now (5 times I believe), and this upcoming Saturday I will add another one to that list.

I will be graduating from Seminary with my Master of Divinity. I have been attending Baptist Bible Seminary since the fall of 2009. This graduate degree program was about 90 credit hours (if not just a bit more ) for me. Before I choose this institution I was looking at getting my Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology which at some schools was about a 60 credit hour degree. So we are talking a bit more work if you haven’t noticed. Nonetheless the last few years have been worth it. I have truly grown as a leader and as an individual.

This Saturday many people will be at this ceremony to see their loved walks receive their diploma. To be honest I really didn’t want to go. I have never wanted to go to my graduations. However this one is a bit different. I am proud to walk across the stage as I will be representing my family. My wife has sacrificed a lot for me to achieve this degree. She has support this goal from before we were married.

Yea, I really don’t care to be there for myself BUT I am honored to do so in light of her testimony. SO this Saturday I will be in Pennsylvania graduating one more time, but this time I will be with my lovely wife and child.

 

OH and P.S.

This won’t be my last graduation either

Someone follows and someone leads…

Well this morning was one of those mornings where the steam was just kicked right out of me…

It tends to happen this way. Have you ever gotten your hopes up about something, anything. It seems like there could be a glimmer of hope and then WHAM reality sets in and your stuck looking into space. Yes that was my morning. However that is ok because ducks help me put things into perspective.

You read that right DUCKS helped me. No I didn’t go to the zoo and play with the duck nor did I find random ducks to stalk them.

I was driving in my car along a pretty busy road. Here in Florida water is all around us and on one side of the side there was a little pond or something. I have driven on this road almost everyday for the last nine months. However today as I was driving I saw a momma duck and about six little ducks behind her. They made a mad dash through the busy street heading toward the pond. CRAZY, I thought as the mom made it without any real threat of danger but those babies aren’t as fast. They aren’t as nimble and worst they probably don’t even know where they’re headed.

Nonetheless they followed momma. They knew, she knew where she was going and so along they went. Sure car’s were on the verge of grounding them for life but they just knew they had to follow momma…

You know someone has to follow and someone has to lead. If all the ducks would have gone their own way no one would have made it. It is small little reminders like this that encourage me to keep pressing forward. So I may not have a firm grasp on what’s next, but come on, I know who does. Therefore I may not be able to see the pond but if this is the direction I am led then, across the busy street I go…

Who is leading your life? Are you following faithfully?

I never liked needles anyway…

Well if you haven’t noticed this month as been a bust for me… I will fill you in on what has been going on in a future blog BUT the story I am going to share couldn’t wait any longer…

Last week I needed to get some blood work done for an upcoming doctor’s visit. If you know me, you know I dislike HATE needles.. URG Anytime I have to get blood work done there is like a 10 min conversation I need to have with myself before I get out the car so I can maintain my dignity.

SO about a week ago I walk in for this testing that needs to get done. I know most of the ladies in the lab since I was there like every other week at the end of last year… However this one lady I have never seen before. Now I am a pretty friendly guy so we begin making small talk as she grabs her instruments of torture . She then cleans my arm with the cool alcohol pad and I know it’s about to go down… She grabs the tool design to inflict pain while stealing my blood. I muster up enough courage to continue my conversation as she dives in…

After the initial sting everything seems fine… I began thinking silly guy you can do this it’s just a needle THEN IT HAPPENS

I began to feel this slow stinging pain from my elbow all the way down to my hand. I say “UMM I have this stinging pain and I assume this isn’t normal”

Her reply… “Oh! Sorry I must have hit a tendon”
WHAT are you kidding me??

Well since that day I haven’t been able to extend my arm fully. I get stinging pain still and it has been getting worst. I have been to see my doctor and a neurologist. They had to perform an ultrasound on my arm as well as an NCV (Nerve conduction velocity) which evaluates the function of the nerves in one’s body. Basically they send small electric pulses throughout my arm to see if things are working right.  They found that my arm is extremely inflamed but the nerves seem to be working fine…

So the neurologist gave me some med’s to help reduced the inflammation and some that will help with pain. LET ME TELL YOU these med’s are taking me for a doozy…. The side effects seem to be worst than the original pain. I mean seriously when you read what “may happen” as a result of taking the medication it is a bit extreme and then when you feel some of the effects it’s a bit scary. Nonetheless I need to take them…

SO all this is to say I really don’t like HATE needles and not sure if I like people who use them (just kidding…lol) So this last week it has been a bit crazy but I pray this will all be over soon. I have to wait about 2-3 weeks for the med’s to be done and to see if I need anymore testing done….

 

The other side…

Now usually every month I write a happy beginning of the month blog BUT it didn’t happen this month… sorry…

So this month I am writing a see you later blog…

I figured I could make up for it this way. You know how that goes. You miss out one something and so you try to make up for it. Sometimes we miss something and then next then you know time flies and more often than not we aren’t doing what we used to.

I was doing some heavy reflecting this month and I realized that it had been YEARS since I celebrated Black History Month. When I say years I mean almost 10. That’s a decade. Since I have been in an environment that Black History month was celebrated or where I participated in any kind of events.

The crazy thing is I remember the first several years I made a big deal about this. I was very unhappy that my new cultural environments didn’t seem to embrace what had been so important to me for… well forever. Now almost ten years later I have missed saying hello to the month and toward the end I have caught up to it…

I feel terrible. I feel horrible. To be honest I feel worst than that. There are several books I am reading that have kept me connected to issues than many people who just celebrate the month and the disappear for the rest of the year but nonetheless I let my environment or my lack of cultural support dictate my commitment to what I believe in and I didn’t even realize it.

How many times have we done that in life… Started with passion and then over time let life suck it out of you and eventually you end up on the other side of it all… You may know all the fact, you many have all the connects but you lack the passion and support. You no longer are concerned with the overall well-being for the cause…

Well here is to being on the other side! My time here has allow for great perspective on a very challenging issue and on that is close to my heart. Truth be told I think for me and my passion to be renewed I needed a trip on this side of town now I am ready to return understanding what I need to do…

What do you need to do in order to recapture you passion,

in order to reclaim your fire, in order to return from the other side and live life fuller?