The Good Life

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Deontae Update

Deontae is going to make it! He is breathing all on his own now and they are going to take the tube out tomorrow. They have already taken out the tube in his brain because his ICP was stable. He is moving around quite a bit and I think he'll wake up before too terribly long. He is incredibly blessed to be alive. Please pray that this second chance in life will help him spiritually.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Update on Deontae

Deontae's ICP (intra cranial pressure) skyrocketed late yesterday afternoon. His BP (blood pressure) also rose dramatically. They thought he may have had a stroke. This morning they did another cat scan (the fourth one so far) and found that he hadn't had a stroke after all. His vital signs are stabilizing again, and things are looking better today. Praise God for that! God is really working in this situation.

I have learned a lot about a culture very different from my own the past six days - one that I only thought I had learned a lot about over the past decade. This has been the single most educational experience that I can remember in my life thus far.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Dana, Dana, Dana!

Okay, I had no intention of posting anytime soon, but I have no other choice after the email I just received from my mother. I am absolutely serious when I tell you that my own mom (whom I thought I had trained not to try to convince me to date when I didn't want to) sent me an advertisement and link for the infamous eHarmony.com. Take from that what you may.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Posting Strike Temporarily Lifted

Well, for many reasons which I shall not go into right now, many of you (and, by that, I mean my single reader, Blake Blackwell) have been aware of my temporary blog posting strike. After a huge personal epiphany this evening, I have decided to temporarily lift this strike, as I feel I have something to say.

All my life, I have been a hard worker and someone who gets quite a bit done every day. I get probably five times done in a day as does the average person. Sometimes this is a very beneficial (efficient, as I like to think) quality, while at others times it can be an annoyance to me as well as to the people around me. A drawback to this efficiency for me is that I cannot leave things undone - especially in the area of helping children who need a hand up. I also have little or no patience with those who are able to ignore or forget about children in need. These constant projects leave me with little leisure time (though I thoroughly enjoy everything I do with these kids). For others, it can be frustrating, first of all, because I am spread so thin that it can be down right annoying, and secondly, because I don't have time to freak out about little things. Those who are, by nature, high-stress individuals, do not like it when other people "let things go."

These qualities I possess also, at times, drive me to attempt huge feats. Right now I am working like a dog (in addition to my full-time job, my four little league basketball teams, my jump rope team, and my full-time grad school load) to acquire some financial security and freedom - possibly through real estate investment. I am the type of personality who could easily become wealthy if I invested some of my time and effort into an endeavor such as this. I am, and have always been, aware of this potential, and in the past two weeks I have become arrogant and pompous in regards to these and other abilities. I've always been somewhat impatient with people who I (maybe unnecessarily and undeservedly and maybe not - though it is irrelevant) deem as unmotivated or even somewhat senseless, but my superiority complex has reached an all new level recently.

I came upon this realization this evening as I was discussing this issue with someone, who for some wildly odd reason of which I know not, has the ability to bring out and amplify the most negative characteristics that I have (through no fault or prompting of his own). I have to say though, that after realizing my thought processes in talking to this person tonight, I am a little bit fearful of my selfish attitude. I even said myself at one point, "That is not very Christian of me, BUT..." There is no but there. That should be the end of it for me.

I have to admit that as I worked myself up into a self-loving frenzy, I realized that I am becoming too independent. Jesus is the person I need to be on my knees thanking for my good fortune, happy life, and most importantly, salvation. I am such an independent person, that I tend to rely solely on myself. The only problem with that is, I am NOTHING on my own. May the Lord forgive me for my haughty attitude, and may I come to rely more on Him in the future after coming to this realization!

Update on this blog:
I have decided through much prayer and discussion with other Christians that I am not going to pursue real estate investing or other financial opportunities at this time. Though it is often difficult to make ends meet with a mortgage, a car payment, student loans, etc. on a single person income, I am not on this earth to be monetarily rich. I am rich in the love of children, the love of friends, the love of family, and most importantly - the love of God. That is all I need. While it would be nice to go on a cruise every once in a while, to take more trips to see my family, and other things that cost money that I don't have the funds to do, what I do get to do every day is far more fulfilling and important in the grand scheme of things and doesn't cost me anything.