you can now find me bloggin here

http://thomastribe6.wordpress.com

it has been awhile

So, it was recently brought to my attention that I have not written anything here in quit sometime. You are so correct! There is a simple explanation for that...YIKES life got out of hand. It started with the Relay For Life season in April and May and ended with me deciding that ACS and I had two different views on how to best work towards a cure for cancer so I parted ways. Shortly after that parting I returned to retail. I worked one day at my new position with Lucky Brand and then Willie and I traveled to Romania with four youth boys and 2 youth girls and two pastors and what a life changing experience. To put it in any other way then God changed us and blessed us by placing Romania in our hearts and we left part of our hearts behind. There will be a blog on that eventually. So we were gone for two weeks and upon our return Willie received a promotion, the kids all started school and I went to work at the new job in retail and started back to school. All is going well and I am finally feeling a balance in our life. Besides the craziness that has been going on in our lives I have been looking for a different blog site. Why? You may ask. Well, here it is the truth I like to write my stuff in a Word document and then cut and paste it and I am unable to do that here. I do this to ensure I am able to save it to a thumb drive for later use. I have found a site that I can do that so I will give you that address when I move over there.
I am going to start a new daily ritual that will ensure that I spend time with God each morning and also find time to work on my writing. Throughout my adult life God has always placed on my heart that I need to give 10% of my income back in tithe to the church that I am currently attending. He has also reminded me that I need to spend time with him building our relationship and well let’s just say I find it easier to give him my money then my time. So, here it is I want him to help me get to the place of writing a book and get frustrated when I feel the urge to write before I need to leave for work or when I am exhausted and want to sleep. Then it dawned on me do I really give him any part of my day that is exclusively his to do his work through me. The answer is NO! So, he chooses the times for me I feel as a reminder that he still desires me to write but that I am too "busy" for him. UGH! I only work part time and yet I still have not given him my first in time. I am stepping out and saying again here I am God all of me do what you will with the talent and desires you have given me. Please join with me in prayer to keep him first in all I do.
I always wonder how is it that we can be on time to work or show up when we are needed, we have time for a friend who calls in distress, time to watch that latest TV show, time to read meaningless stuff, time to talk on the phone and even time to do nothing but yet there is not time in our day to sit down with our Creator. We have time to sit down and talk with the God who chose to create us in his image to do a good work for him yet we choose to do “work” over just taking the time to get to know him and what he wants for every part of our lives. My problem is when I pray for him to reveal his plan to me he gives me a look about the same size as a grain of sand and what do I do, I run and try to build a sand castle worthy of his praise with that one grain of sand instead of waiting on him to bring me the remainder of the sand that I will need to do it in such a way that he is glorified. Control is what that is all about, I choose the things I think I can control to do and then try and blame God for the things that don't seem to be falling in to place. Wow, life is sure about learning. Every day I learn a little more about myself and a little more about what God is all about and yet there is so much more to learn. Your way Lord is the way I want to travel, your how, when, where and why are what my focus needs to be to really see all that you have for me instead of just that grain of sand. Let’s get this thing going.

what was I thinking!!!!

-taking on not only a new job but one I have absolutely no experience doing
-going back to school while working fulltime and having a house full of teenagers
-changing churches
-getting involved in ministry again
What time is this to begin all of this...This is God's time and He will see to it that the things He will not have me do fall by the way side and the things that are of Him will grow to become what is His will. I travel through this part of my life and have more contentment and joy then I think I have every known all the while feeling inadequate to do any of it. I know from my years of reading the bible that God is great at taking those that feel inadequate and doing great works through them. As I am traveling a path that I KNOW is God breathed I can only think oh God please hold me up, please give me the strength, don't let go of me because I will fall on my own. Inadequate means unsuitable. Satan is playing with my mind right now by saying "how can I think I am suitable for the things set before me". I have his answer in the promises of God's word. Isaiah 40:31 says But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings of eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not be faint. This is just one of many scriptures that I can claim as I walk through what I feel inadequate to walk through. I don't like the refining but I know I always love the blessing and ability to glorify God on the otherside of the fire. So, the answer to what was I thinking? I was thinking okay God I am jumping on your back as you carry me through the fire and by the way thank you for caring enough to not only refine me but carry me!!!!

is he ready...am I ready

Alex was not your typical toddler boy. When other boys at the age of three were running around with what seemed like endless energy that could not be reined in and controlled he would sit and listen as long as you were talking. He loved anyting to do with a computers or video games and while some saw them as a harmful thing I discovered for him it was how he learned. He taught himself to read and solve puzzles of all kinds by age 3. He was a very complianted young boy that took in everything around him. He learned early in life that although he knew a lot he should not brag or flaunt that with his peers and instead patiently helped them to learn new things. He has never liked to have attention brought to him. He stopped wanting to read in about the 2nd grade and I discovered he didn't like made up stories, so he started checking out non-fiction. I am always amazed by the random facts that he has retained. He was a great flag football player with an amazing understanding of the sport as well as other sports. When he started to be home schooled in the 3rd grade I allowed him to learn at his own pace and next thing we new he was two grades ahead. He also wanted to enter back into the public school system and at the age 13 became a sophmore in high school. He was very samll then but took it in stride and move past the name calling ot make some life long friendships. But although he learns easily he is fun loving and full of joy. He almost always is smiling and brings a smile to most of those around him. Once when he was about 10 he asked me if he was funny. I told him your friends seem to think so but as a mom you can be a wise guy but I love that about you. Here I am looking at him a great role model and friend accepting others where they are in their life journey but showing them Christ's love through his actions. I pray he continues to look towards God's truths and follows His path for his life no matter where it leads him. He is looking to become a High School Math teacher which fits his personality well. He may be intelligent enough to do anything but I want more then anything for him to follow God's path for his life. So, here we are a few weeks away from him graduating high school 2 years early. It seems like yesterday he was standing in the tub yelling "Is it washing hair day, mom?". I will cry as he walks to recieve his diploma both with sadness that he is growing into a man and will no longer be my baby boy and out of pride for his hard work and determination.

how can it be that she is graduating

Stephanie the apple of her daddy's eye the day she was born. I will remember the first time he held her in his arms forever. Here we sat working hard to make a living and now we had been entrusted with the blessing of raising a baby girl. She has always been very aware of those around her wanting nothing more then happiness for all. She would grow into a very opinionated toddler at age 4 but very aware of the rules and the first to remind you if you forgot what you said you were going to do. At the age of 4 she stepped into the role of a junior mom as she assisted me in taking care of her twin baby sisters. She was a natural and very good at feeding them, changing them and getting them to fall asleep. She learned early the art of "allowing" Alex to clean her room for which he felt was a great priveledge. She hated PE and sweating so much she learned in Kindergarten you could go to the clinic if you said your tummy hurt and soon figured out how to get out of PE. We caught on and she was to endure PE until she came home to be schooled in 4th grade. She remained home until she decided it was time to go back to public school in 9th grade. I had a hard time letting her go but trusted God had her back. She has had tremendous strength as she has watched her father go through cancer not once but twice in the past 8 years. She is mature beyond her years in many ways which I think is an advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is she deals with stress and emergencies in stride the disadvantage is she can seem so very serious and closed. I pray that she will feel God's hand as she continues to grow into an amazingly Godly woman. As I look at her I want for her to enjoy life but to be mindful of the path God has for her; to look toward Him, learn His truths for herself and live those out boldly and without fear of hypocracy. Going to those that are more mature in the faith for guidence and wisdom without apprehension. When she came to know Christ personally at the age of 8 she looked to her father and I and said I can now go to Africa to be a missionary. Her path may not actually lead her to Africa but I pray that she will still live life to glorify God and show others his love and gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. So, my serious junior mom is now moving to a phase that will start her on her journey into adulthood. In June she will graduate from high school when I feel like she was just potty trained. Who knew that something so wonderful could also be so heart breaking. You may ask, why heart breaking? It is heart breaking to see that you are not as needed as you were when she was 4. I know I will always be here mom but I may not always be the one she needs. I am excited to see her grow up but surprised that graduation is here already. I could not ask for a better daughter and will be full of tears I fear until well past her graduation day.

reach out and ask the impossible...

This is a letter to someone who watered the seed of desire that God placed in my heart.
The year is 2005 the place is Women of Faith in Orlando, FL. I saw for the first time a woman that I so admired She was doing God's work and she was doing it with spunk, pizazz, humor, flare and the right amount of seriousness. This person was you, Patsy Clairmont. It was at this moment I knew that one day I would be speaking to glorify God. This was the day that my ministry journey started its course to where God would lead me. This would be the same year that I took on the task of molding the minds of our young leaders by becoming a children's director for a church start. This journey was so full filling but 5 years later I heard God saying the time is now; time to continue towards your true calling. My resistance was strong, I was needed right here. Who would do it all if I didn't? But also during this time I chose to push the Holy Spirit aside so as I tried to find joy and admiration in all the wrong places. It took great loss for me to drop to my knees and re-surrender to the path He clearly set out for me but that I chose to ignore for self. Now, at age 40 I have a clear desire that I know is one God placed in my heart in 2005 but at that time I didn't trust God to get me there. I have an over whelming desire to write and speak. The subject is simply relationship development. God has placed on my heart that our nation and world are dying because they don't see that relationship development is the answer. The key relationship first being with the Savior, Jesus Christ, those around us, dating marriage, parenting, empty nest and retirement. So, here I am 40 years old back in school working on my BA in Psychology, working full time, involved at church, on top of being a wife and mother of four teens, and writing when God says, " write NOW you can sleep later". So, here is what led me to write you. You are someone that I consider a great example of God taking the impossible and making possible. I was not so afraid of the world that I became secluded from the world like you but I was very intimidated by people. I was also some one that needed people to survive. I thrived on relationships and when alone became depressed yet I was afraid to reach out to new people. This was a huge obstacle considering to this point I have moved 60 times and in my 13 years of public school education I changed at the very least 13 times. Some years I attended as many as three different schools. For years I have suffered from undiagnosed narcolepsy. Now, I take medication and it has opened up so much of my mind I have trouble quieting it. As I wait on God's timing, which in the past I have struggled with, He brought to my mind to write you. Here it is my attempt to obey God at what seems like a long shot. However, I have learned over the years where things don't make sense or seem crazy to us if we pay attention and obey we will find God is in the middle. It is His way of making sure He is glorified. It reminds me of the passage 1Corinthians 1:26-29 (American Standard Version) 26 For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that are strong; 28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring nought the things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory before God.
With all this said I ask first for your prayers but I am stepping out in faith and feeling led by God to ask you to help guide my journey . I look forward to however God leads you to respond to my email. I also wait to see if it is here in Orlando that attend Women Of Faith this year or fly to either Texas or Kansas City, Mo and go with friends there so I can once again see you speak. May God continue to bless you and you ministry. Carol Thomas

one day at a time.

I work for the American Cancer Society. Some of you know this and some may not have known until now. My job title is community representative. My job description is to create a relationship with a community, share the services ACS has to offer, educate on how to do all you can to prevent cancer for yourself through good choices, to honor and support survivors and to encourage the community to dig in and help us fight this horrible thing called cancer. A large part of how ACS is able to fund so much life saving research and all the other services they have to offer is through events such as Relay For Life. I am part of those events taking place. I find people with a passion to see this fight end with a cure. I train and lead them to create an amazing overnight event that will celebrate and honor survivors, bring closure to those who have lost loved ones to cancer, and raise money to fight back through education and research. So, there are days where I am unsure if I will be able to do enough to reach the goals that need to be met to put an end to it all. When we are in trainings as a staff we are reminded we need to instill a sense of urgency without causing panic and axiety. I am not always good at doing that with myself so I worry my volunteers will read my face. Then today as I was talking with a committee that is amazing but starting to get that panic and axiety look it came to me. We are at the place in our journey to our event that is a mirror to the place where a cancer patient finds themself after that first treatment or even every treatment; the place where they doubt themselves. I can't keep going, I am to tired, this is too hard, it would be easier to throw in the towel then push forward, I don't know enough and I don't think I have it in me. Well, wham it hit me. Yes, we really need to get to 30 teams not just to hit goal but to help more people through research. I said to them we need to all get up every day with the determination that we will do our very best today to make a difference. We fight for each day just like a cancer patient is fighting every day. We can only win one day at a time if we are pushing to win today then we will win in the end. You see tomorrow never comes it is always today. We can't change the past and we can't see the future so today we need to do all we can and the whole thing will come together as a cure for cancer. SO, today I am determined to move into the mind set of I will do all I can no matter how hard the battle is and with God's strength and the support of voluteers I will stand in the face of cancer and say YOU WILL NOT TAKE US DOWN! Join me where ever you are there is an event find it at http://www.relayforlife.org/ If you want to join me at one of my events you will find me at www.relayforlife.org/winterparkfl www.realyforlife.org/westorangefl www.relayforlife.org/baldwinparkfl www.relayforlife.org/goldenrodfl
Come support me and help me celebrate more survivors and more birthdays!!!!