Category: Inspiration

“Work Is Love Made Visible”

“Work is love made visible. And if you can’t work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of the people who work with joy.” ~Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

My initial response to this quote was to be appreciative of the employment that you currently have, and even if you don’t love what you do, do it with love.  Realize the importance of what you do.  Your job is not just about you, it’s about the people you provide that good/service for and more important your family.  You provide the support to feed, clothe and even nurture.

But I’d like to go a little deeper than that.  “Work is love made visible”.  I have been coming across relationship issues but it seems that what is missing is that work that it takes to show the love.  When we love someone, you work like hell to make sure that you succeed in showing that love.  Then after a while, we get lazy and “fall back”.  When I say work, I’m talking about the little things that say you care.  Giving a hug, peck on the cheek, providing a meal, can be really simple actions but the most important aspect of this is where these actions come from.  There is a difference in doing something out of duty, and doing something out of love.  The sincerity is not displayed in the action itself but in the way it is presented. 

Most people don’t equate the words work and love but they are a direct result of each other.  When you love something/someone you show it through the work you put in to maintain that relationship to get better and more successful.  But on the flip side of that is you’ll know whether someone loves you by the work that they put in.  So the next time you say or think you love someone, think about the work that you have put in to display that love…now what do you think?  Be blessed, #bedyanmic

0

“…I’ma Show You How To Do This”

Tee Chavis circa 1967

I have been having to recurring dream/vision of me saying to my deceased father “Don’t worry, I got this, I’ma show you how to do this.”   The thing that bothers me most about this dream/vision is what he says before.   He says “Listen, don’t do what I did”.   As a parent, I still can never fathom another parent voluntarily not playing a major role in their children’s lives.

One day while playing with my kids, I became very bitter about my father not being around and missing my childhood.  Growing up without my father playing a major role had a major effect on me that I never even knew.  I lost my father to the streets and drugs very earlier.  It wasn’t until my first son, Jordan being born in 2006 that my father cleaned up.  Because he wanted to be a part of his grandchildren’s lives he made a serious effort to stay clean.  In January 2008, my father passed away from pneumonia and although I never learned what to do as a father, I definitely learned what not to do.

After Jordan, I made the decision that “My curse will be my children’s blessing”.  They will never have to worry about whether Daddy can come to a game, performance or a parent/teacher night.  I felt like I missed out on a lot in my childhood, but because I know that feeling of disappointment, I never want my kids to feel that way…EVER.  I was nervous about being a good father.  I went to seminars, read books but it wasn’t until I started to reflect on how I felt in various situations that I may not know what to do but I definitely know what not to do.  Og Mandino writes that one of the keys to promote success is to avoid failure.  I think that I have seen enough failure to avoid.  Hey Dad, “don’t worry, I got this, I’ma show you how to do this”  Be blessed, #bedynamic

Tyrone “Tee” Chavis R.I.P.

4

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of #attitude on life.” ~Anonymous

I don’t know exactly where I found that quote but it is a direct reflection of me and my growth.

#Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home. What you do in life is a direct result of the #attitude you have (and display)!

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the #attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We spend a lot of time trying to change people and what they do but we can change our reactions to them and what they do. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our #attitude. We have all seen or heard the quote “life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it.”   I know, it is easier said than done but it takes work.  We have to deliberately choose to look at the positive side of things realizing problems are really challenges with an opportunity to grow.  The bottom line is, we are in charge of our #attitudes, so take charge.

Be blessed, #bedynamic

0

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor — Servant Leadership

The biggest need of the church today is leadership. People are willing to follow God’s vision but have no exposure to vision and/or effective leadership. Over my lifetime while worshiping in church I have noticed decline in the strong leadership in the church and especially the black church. I am a strong believer that everything rises and falls on leadership. The crazy part is that most believers become convinced that when they follow Christ, they must become sheepish, quiet and withdrawn, confusing meekness with weakness.  EVERYONE plays a part in leadership in the church and it is OK to question decisions made by leadership without being ostracized.

In March 2009, I took on a major project at my previous church and I was challenged and undermined by the leadership with no opportunity for discussion. I had restriction place on my small leadership role that had never been placed on anyone else in that church. Instead of getting angry I decided to pray and ask God for discernment in what was happening. I exited that place of worship. My sister who stayed at that church has gone through a similar situation in that a new “process” has been added for conflict resolution just for her case. There were six days/opportunities to address this conflict, instead the leader decided to address it during morning worship. All parties were prepared for this new “process” except for my 5 month pregnant sister leaving her to feel embarrassed. Two points came to mind to mind during my study of the book of Micah:

 “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8

God holds leaders responsible for creating an environment of justice. God holds leaders accountable for creating healthy environments. The people learn to love justice and show mercy when their leader creates an environment for both. In both cases above, leadership created an unfair and unjust environment by not communicating with the parties involved. Morning worship is NOT the venue to resolve personal disputes.

“Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge who accepts brides, the powerful dictate what they desire – they are conspire together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits. Now is the time of their confusion” Micah 7:3, 4

Leaders who fail to practice servant leadership become self-serving. Without a cause to better the overall congregation and worship experience, this leader found a cause to serve their own (and their family’s) interest. This self-service eventually becomes a thorn in everything that will go on. In the examples exhibited, the leader made both decisions based on a personal preference and benefit for them and their family.

Be blessed, #bedynamic

0

If by Rudyard Kipling

Once in a while, I tend to whisper some of the words to this poem in my sons’ ears…exposing them to the difficult balance of being a man.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

#bedynamic

0

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started