BOUNCE BACK!

WOW! Can you believe that CHRISTMAS is THIS Friday? 2009 is almost over. Where has the year gone? It seems as if "this" year just swooped right pass, but doesn't it seem that way EVERY year? LOL...

So much has transpired in 2009. Some good things have happened (The FIRST Black Man took office in the White House and became The President of the United States - Way to Go, President Obama!!), Some not so good things transpired this year (The Economy suffered tremendously, way too many people lost their jobs, we witness major companies having to fold, we heard of so many people committing suicide because their monies were gone, so many people lost their homes leaving their families destrought because the provision was no longer there), we've had Tragedy hit us hard this year, we lost so many good people this year, Death came through and SHOOK our foundation (*to name a few* - Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcet, Michael Jackson, and Sooooo many others).  We've heard the horrible tragedy of the young man, Derron Albert, 16, in the city of Chicago who lost his life at the hands of other young men of his color. A young life taken for no reason at all. People have literally lost their minds:  we have parents killing their children, we have children killing their parents, we have preachers and ministers doing things that are UNLIKE the GOD they minister about. ((these are just some of the issues that this world has))   ... WHAT'S GOING ON???

Some might say that these things have been going on for years, and although that 's true, I am the last to argue that, ... it has become more PREVELANT in 2009. It's been UP, Close and Personal for me. Not only has this year taken lives of the people we READ about, but I have personally lost a Godmother, Two cousins, a Uncle, and Two friends this year and have heard of so many others who have also lost their loved ones this year. My Pastor always say: "Every Year Carries It's Number"  ... I never really paid much attention to that UNTIL this year. And boy o boy did THIS year carry a HUGE number out of here.

But DESPITE all of these things ... One thing I can honestly say with JOY ... "I am STILL here! And it's ONLY by the GRACE of GOD!!! .... Can't think of a reason to give GOD praise? ... if you are ABLE to READ this blog ... that's ENOUGH reason to give HIM praise.

Isn't it sad that everywhere you go now ... People are saying: "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" instead of saying: "Merry Christmas"? I rode through my town the other day and noticed that not one sign downtown said: Merry Christmas, EVERYthing said: Happy Holidays!  WHAT???!!!  And what really burns me is this:  "X-MAS" <<< Huh? What is that?   STOP! trying to take CHRIST out of CHRISTMAS! HE is or should be the REASON why we celebrate such a day! We have truly lost the REAL meaning of this Holiday. So many people are looking and expecting these grand gifts, but it's NOT about that. We have received THEE ULTIMATE gift and that is JESUS! ... DAILY we receive a GIFT  and that is the GIFT OF LIFE!! ... ((Pause)) When was the last time you actually THANKED GOD for LIFE? So many of us complain about what LIFE isn't ... but have you taken a moment to thank HIM for what LIFE is?

I have learned to STOP complaining about what I "felt" life wasn't! I am THANKFUL for all of the things that I "could have been" but didn't.   I could be DEAD... but I'm NOT.  I could be HOMELESS ... but I'm NOT ... I could have been infected with some DEADLY DISEASE ... but I'm NOT.  I could be in JAIL, but I'm NOT.   I could have LOST my mind, but I DIDN'T.   There's NOTHING that I need to complain about. I may NOT have everything that I want ... but I have what I need: My LIFE, HEALTH & STRENGTH. *smile*

I am so glad from where GOD has brought me from. There was a time when I lost the "joy" & "excitement" of Christmas. I am so glad that I have gotten it back. When I learned that I was adopted, which was two weeks after my 18th birthday (March 4), it changed the way I looked at Holidays. Every Holiday became rough for me, (My Birthday, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Thanksgiving & Christmas) these holidays were no longer the same for me. I went from being "happy" & "joyous" on these holidays to being "sad" & "depressed" and instead of "celebrating", I ended up "mourning". I went through this for YEARRSSSSS! Although, I would smile and PRETEND for the sake of people on these days ... deep within I was a total WRECK.

On My Birthday, I always wondered, did this woman who gave me up realize that it was my birthday today? Did she even care? Did she regret giving me up? Will she ever come and look for me? Is she looking for me now?

On Mother's Day, I wondered, did this woman think about me? Was she able to celebrate "Mom's Day" knowing that she gave one of her own children away? Did I have other brothers and sisters who were with her helping her celebrate this day? Do my siblings even know that I exist?

On Father's Day, ((to be honest with you, it wasn't until a couple of years ago, that my birth father ever became a thought in my head)) but the time that I DID think about him, my thoughts were: Does this man even care that he has a daughter out here somewhere? Do I ever cross his mind? Who's celebrating him today? How many other daughter does he have? Are they with him celebrating today?

On Thanksgiving, I wondered, What was my birth mom doing? What was she cooking? Was she a cook? Who was she celebrating Thanksgiving with? Does her family even know that I exist? Do I ever come up at the dinner table? Do they even care?

On Christmas, I wondered, Is she thinking about me? Does she wish that she never gave me up? Will she come looking for me? What gifts did she receive? What gifts were she giving out and to whom? Did she spoil her other children? Was I ever mentioned? Did she have a special ornament on the Christmas tree to represent the baby girl she relinguished back in 1975?

These were some of the worst days for me. It wasn't as if I didn't have a GREAT life and TWO wonderful parents or a Family that didn't love me. I had the BEST of everything ... a life any child could have wanted, But learning the FACT that I was adopted ... changed me EMOTIONALLY. It did something to me. I changed! I went from a happy go lucky person, to a very somber, moody, and depressing individuaL. It was just 3 years ago that this changed for me.

One day, I was preparing to minister at a Youth Conference and while preparing this particular message: "Bounce Back - You Don't Have To Stay Where You Are"  Scripture(s) Job 1:1-3; 42:12 & 13, 16 & 17  While preparing this message, I was convicted, ... here I was getting ready to deliver this message to a lot of youth and YET, I was stuck and needed to BOUNCE BACK from the "state" ((condition)) I was in.  JOB started off good, he had everything any man could want, he had it all: The Family, The House, The Cattle, The Land, ((he was weathly)). but one day out of the blue, his ENTIRE life changed, not for the better but for the worst. The Bible shares that he lost EVERYTHING that he had, all of his children were killed, everything that he had been destroyed, he became extremely ill, and his wife ended up leaving him ... No doubt, Job had his moments of depression, his moment of loneliness, his moments of feeling like he didn't deserve this, his moments of: "Lord, Why is all of this happening to me?" ((We've probably all asked this question)) ... he even had some friends who came along and kicked him the more when he was down because they felt like, he must have done something WRONG or against GOD and this was why GOD was punishing him.  The Bible says that JOB cursed the day he was born, in otherwords, he wished that he was NEVER born. ((How many of us have felt that way @ some point in our lives?)) ... but INSPITE of ALL the hell that he has been through, there was ONE thing that Job DIDN'T do ... He NEVER, EVER gave up on GOD, even when he didn't 'understand' why GOD would allow such a thing to happen to him ... He STILL worshipped GOD and knew that in GOD's own time, a Change would come and he was right, because in Chapter 42: 12  it says that the Lord blessed his Latter days MORE than his beginning, not only did Job gain all that he had prior but he was given MORE (Double). But the blessing didn't stop there because in vs. 16 it says that Job LIVED ((he didn't die in the kaos)) not only did he live, but he lived to SEE some stuff. ((Are you living just to live? or Are you living to SEE?)) ... JOB lived to SEE 140 years, saw his children and grandchildren for FOUR generations.   And when he died, he died FULL of his days. ((when you die, will you die FULL or EMPTY?)) ... Will you die with your dreams? or with your dreams FULFILLED?

So, how did this message HELP me? ... Simple ... My life was fine, like I shared with you earlier in this blog, I was a happy, go lucky person, but then one day out of the blue, I was HIT with some news that I was Adopted and from THAT day, my WORLD changed. I ended up depressed ... I became secluded ... etc. When we allow Depression to sneak in, it tends to control us, it stunts our Growth. So, Just like Job when it first hit him, he too became depressed, but then he decided to BOUNCE BACK mentally ... he worshipped GOD inspite of, because he "believed" that he was in the hands of GOD.     So, I TOO woke up MENTALLY ((it all starts in the mind)) and then I had a talk with myself ... it was TIME that I got myself UP from what "felt" like DEFEAT, Brush my shoulders off, and REMEMBER ...that I was in the Hands of GOD.      And it was that night of the conference that I BOUNCED BACK!!!  I realize I didn't have to STAY where I was.

EVERY Holiday after that ... has been a BLESSING!!! I enjoy and have a blast at ALL of these Holidays just like I use to but even MORE so!!! I realize that I have Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much to be Thankful for!!!!

So I say to you: Whatever you may have been through ... or perhaps may be going through even now ... DON'T allow it to STUNT your GROWTH ... You CAN .. BOUNCE BACK!!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE!

I encourage YOU to LIVE and SEE all that's awaiting you!

~God Bless~