Wednesday Word

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Psalm 46:10 (a) says "Be still, and know that I am God!

If we don't touch on anything else today, lets look at the first few words be still. In this crazy busy world that we live in it is often hard to just, be still. Every situation is a bit different in that being still does not always indicate going and sitting in a chair, although we need to do that to. Be still is often a condition of our heart, mind, and spirit. Be still.

Don't be so quick to run and tell that. So quick to walk off of your job. So quick to give up. Stand still and see what God is going to do. You see, when we can relax and be still it allows God the opportunity to work. Too often we jump right in the way of our blessing. Don't get my wrong God can work around us but if we would just slow down and let him work he would have to do as much.

Know that he is God, not us. He has our best interest at heart. He wants to see each of us prosper and be in good health. We must trust him and believe.

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed 

Tuesday Tools

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Did you know?
Jan Matzeliger was born in Paramaribo (now Suriname) in 1852. Matzeliger settled in the United States in 1873 and trained as a shoemaker. 

As a dark-skinned man, his professional options were limited, and he struggled to make a living in Philadelphia. In 1877, Matzeliger moved to Lynn, Massachusetts, to seek work in the town's rapidly growing shoe industry. He found a position as an apprentice in a shoe factory. Matzeliger learned the cordwaining trade, which involved crafting shoes almost entirely by hand.

Cordwainers made molds of customers' feet, called "lasts," with wood or stone. The shoes were then sized and shaped according to the molds. The process of shaping and attaching the body of the shoe to its sole was done entirely by hand with "hand lasters." This was considered the most difficult and time-consuming stage of assembly. Since the final step in the process was mechanized, the lack of mechanization of the penultimate stage, the lasting, created a significant bottleneck.

On March 20, 1883, Matzeliger received patent number 274,207 for his machine. The mechanism held a shoe on a last, pulled the leather down around the heel, set and drove in the nails, and then discharged the completed shoe. It had the capacity to produce 700 pairs of shoes a day—more than 10 times the amount typically produced by human hands.

Matzeliger's lasting machine was an immediate success. In 1889, the Consolidated Lasting Machine Company was formed to manufacture the devices, with Matzelinger receiving a large amount of stock in the organization. After Matzeliger's death, the United Shoe Machinery Company acquired his patent.
What a great contribution to the world. www.biography.com

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Friday Focus

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

We are still focused  on heart disease.

One in four women dies of heart disease. For African American women, the risk of heart disease is especially great. Heart disease is more prevalent among black women than white women—as are some of the factors that increase the risk of developing it, including high blood pressure, overweight and obesity, and diabetes.

Ladies that means in your circle at least one of you will die from heart disease and that does not have to be. Our health has got to be more important than anything. You only get one body and when it's used up that's it. We need to start early training our children to eat well and to exercise.

We have become a very immobile society but that has to change. Before you say the gym is expensive. You're right but what can you do in your living room? Zumba is fun and the whole family can do it together. Turn on some music and just do some old school dancing. Walk around your neighborhood. Find a long church gym that you can walk in. It doesn't have to be fancy you just need to get your heart rate up.

Next, we have got to eat better. I know cooked vegetables taste better but we all need to incorporate some raw fruits and vegetables in each day. Then we need to eliminate so much sugar. Obesity and heart disease go hand in hand. When you elite the obesity the chances of heart disease go down.

I love you and want you to be around for generations to share your beauty. Call a friend or a relative and ask them to go walk with you.

Until Monday
#liveBlessed

Thursday Thoughts

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

I love this picture from I am Hip-Hop Magazine.

First, examine the picture. What do you see? 

Next, I want you to consider the feelings it brings up in you. 

Finally,  I ask who inspires you to greatness? 

See, if nobody in your circle is pushing you to do more, think bigger and move in a new direction you need a different circle.  

Until Tomorrow

#liveBlessed

Wednesday Word

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Today's word comes from Philippians 4 :13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

It is amazing how many times this scripture has popped up in the last few days. I when this happens I just take it as a sign from God.

I can do everything through Christ that strengthens me. Which means that I am not operating alone. When I am strengthened I am given all of the power/strength/tools needed to be successful each and everyday. What an amazing God we serve.

Now the question becomes are you and I truly utilizing the resources we have been given or are we just floundering on our own? You can have all of the keys you want until you put them in the ignition you will have no power. You have every tool needed in the word of God but until you begin to speak and act on the word nothing will happen. You have access to the strength tap into and stop moving out of your own strength. The power of life and death is in your tongue. Speak life. Love, you have got this. Don't allow naysayers to get you off course. Tap into the power.

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed 

Tuesday Tools

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Thomas L. Jennings (1791-1859) was the first African American person to receive a patent in the U.S., paving the way for future inventors of color to gain exclusive rights to their inventions. Born in 1791, Jennings lived and worked in New York City as a tailor and dry cleaner. He invented an early method of dry cleaning called "dry scouring" and patented it in 1821—four years before Paris tailor Jean Baptiste Jolly refined his own chemical technique and established what many people claim was history’s first dry cleaning business.

People objected to an African American receiving a patent, but Jennings had a loophole: He was a free man. At the time, U.S. patent laws said that the "[slavemaster] is the owner of the fruits of the labor of the slave both manual and intellectual"—meaning slaves couldn't legally own their ideas or inventions, but nothing was stopping Jennings. Several decades later, Congress extended patent rights to all African American individuals, both slaves and freedmen.

Jennings used the money from his invention to free the rest of his family and donate to abolitionist causes.

Monday Motivation

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

A bit of motivation from Black Panther..
Never forget the mission.

Wow, life is tough, along its journey you can and will be distracted but don't give up.  This weekend I watch 3 very powerful movies. Black Panther, Gabby Douglas Story and Samone Biles story. Each of them had one thing in common and that was when you fall down get back up.

No matter where you land in your socioeconomic realm the truth of life is we all have rough patches. It is those those times that reveal who you really are. Everybody can kick but when they are on the mountain. What happens when you are injured, tired and feeling alone?

Every detour is not designed to get you off track but to close align you with the detained plan for your life. Don't forget your mission it must be your driving force.

Friday Focus

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Today we are focusing on heart disease.

More than 40 percent of non-Hispanic blacks have high blood pressure, which is more severe in blacks than whites, and develops earlier in life. This little known fact is something that, if known and treated in advance, could have led to a more romantic first date for Shermane.

But why is it targeting African-Americans?
Researchers have found that there may be a gene that makes African-Americans much more sensitive to the effects of salt, which in turn increases the risk for developing high blood pressure. In people who have this gene, as little as one extra gram (half a teaspoon) of salt could raise blood pressure by as much as five millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

The African-American population also tends to have higher rates of obesity and diabetes, which puts them at greater risk for high blood pressure and heart disease. But for many African-American women, particularly those who consider themselves perfectly healthy, perception may not always equal reality.

So what’s the solution?
For starters, cutback on the amount of salt in your diet. In fact, make a serious effort to improve your overall eating habits by learning about heart-healthy foods, and how to prepare them. And of course, if you’re not already active, get moving.

Shermane made these changes following her first stroke, but didn’t commit to them until several years later when she suffered a second stroke. This goes to show that the risks for stroke cannot be ignored – something Shermane now realizes.

What are the stroke warning signs?
*Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
*Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
*Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
*Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
*Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Thursday Thoughts

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Omg yesterday I talked about love and then hear about the shooting at that school. Friends, our world needs to get back to love. Yesterday was ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent and the period where we begin preparation for Easter.  I want to challenge each and everyone to not focus on what you want give up but what you want to add. I challenge  you to add more love, concern, and observation into you day.

Yes, when you desplay love to others it changes their attitude. When people are shown general concern they are not so quick to be angry and lash out. Open your eyes to opportunities that are right in front of you everyday to speak life into someone.

I started working on a college campus and it is amazing how students faces light up when you acknowledge the it presence, ask them how they are doing and wait for a response. Our world is angry and closed off because we got away from the basics. Take the challenge to love.

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Wednesday Word

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  Matthew 22:37-39

Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind. Every part of your being must show love to the one that loved you first. Wow, love is such a small word but such a powerful word. A word that brings strong emotion. Love can move mountains and tame the savaged beast. Love can draw people together. Love can heal wounds. Love draws people into union that otherwise might not seem to be a couple. Love, four little letters.

Anytime we speak of love the opposite four letters creep up. Hate. Yeah four little let's as well. While hate may be in the dictionary before love it is not the first emotion that one feels. See when you watch children play their first reaction is to love. They want to play and hug. They learn to not display love by the emotions and actions of their parents. Babies just want to love and be loved.

I came from a very huggy, touchy, feely family but over time some of that has subsided in me. Why? Our world has become so technological that we have gotten away from human touch. And maybe, just maybe that is what is wrong with our world right now. We need more love. More genuine concern for each other. More heart to heart contact. If we truly loving our neighbor as ourself, assuming we love ourselves, then displaying  love should be second nature. Just like kids play. Hum, just a thought. 

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Tuesday Tools

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Our inventor of the day

Jesse Ernest Wilkins, Jr. is one of America’s most important contemporary mathematicians. At 13, he became the University of Chicago’s youngest student. Wilkins continued his studies there, earning bachelor, master, and eventually earning his doctorate degree in mathematics at the age of 19.

He’s published papers in mathematics, optics, and nuclear engineering. As a mathematician for the American Optical Company in Buffalo, N.Y., he perfected lens design for microscopes and ophthalmologic uses. His greatest contribution to scholarship was the development of mathematical models to explain gamma radiation and his work on developing a shielding against gamma radiation.

His other claim to fame came from working on the Manhattan Project. At the Manhattan Project, Wilkins worked with future Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner and made significant contributions to nuclear-reactor physics, now known as the Wilkins effect and the Wigner-Wilkins spectrum. www.thinkgrowth.com

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Monday Motivation

Good morning, 

Grace and peace be unto you! 

As Malcolm X stated, the future belongs to those that prepare for it today. I am sure that you, like myself can think of many things that a little more preparation on our part would have taken care of. 

Too often we don't prepare because preparation can be and is time-consuming, but having to repeat a task because it was not sufficient is even more time-consuming. 

This makes me think about a student I had who was very gifted but was absolutely lazy. He never wanted to practice his instrument and never wanted to do homework. This was not a problem through public school years but when college kicked in the challenge blew his hair back. You see, no matter how gifted and talented you are, you must still prepare. Your next level will require you to put in some effort, planning and thinking through ahead of time. The rewards of this effort will be sweet for sure. 

Until tomorrow 

#liveBlessed 

Friday Focus

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Splashing a little bit of water on her face didn’t calm Shermane Winters-Wofford’s first date jitters. And then what she perceived as nervousness escalated into sweating and tightness in her chest.

Although she didn’t experience the typical warning signs, Shermane was having a stroke.

A stroke? How could it be? After all, she thought of herself as perfectly healthy. But it turns out Shermane had been at risk all along. Like many other African-American women, she had a strong family history of high blood pressure and heart disease. Unfortunately, she didn’t discover this until it was almost too late.

Heart disease & stroke is the No. 1 killer in women, and stroke disproportionately affects African-Americans. Importantly, African-American women are less likely than Caucasian women to be aware that heart disease is the leading cause of death.

Diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, physical inactivity, obesity and a family history of heart disease are all greatly prevalent among African-Americans and are major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. What’s more, African-American women have almost two times the risk of stroke than Caucasians, and more likely to die at an earlier age when compared to women of other ethnicities.

Here are a few unsettling stats:

*Cardiovascular diseases kill nearly 50,000 African-American women annually.
*Of African-American women ages 20 and older, 49 percent have heart diseases.
*Only 1 in 5 African-American women believes she is personally at risk.
*Only 52 percent of African-American women are aware of the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.
*Only 36 percent of African-American women know that heart disease is their greatest health risk.

Only you can know where you stand. Go to the doctor and be check. What you don't know can kill you.

Until Monday
#liveBlessed

Thursday Thoughts

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Something to think about as we work our way out of debt...

Recent research and data from the US Department of Education indicate that African-American students, are taking a greater financial risk than other groups in going to college, even as a degree has grown increasingly vital for workers hoping to survive in the modern economy. They typically start with a smaller economic cushion, are more likely to borrow, and, on average, earn less upon graduation.

As a result, instead of bridging the racial equity gap by opening the prospect of well-paying jobs, getting a degree can actually widen the gulf in wealth between black and white adults.

African-American students who started college in 2003-04 typically owed 113 percent of their student loan 12 years later, according to the most recent data from the US Department of Education analyzed by the Center for American Progress.

By contrast, white borrowers had paid down their debt and owed only 65 percent of the original amount, and Hispanic borrowers had knocked down their debt to 83 percent of the initial loan.(Boston Globe)

All of this to say. If you have young people that you know you want to go to college start a fund now. I know you didn't have one, but somebody has got to stop the poverty curse in each family. Let it be you.
529 funds are for education and have been expanded in great new ways. Don't get your nails done one week and throw that cash in the fund. Maybe start a Friday fund it day and fund your child's future. Debt is a trap that we all need to be set free from.

Until tomorrow.
#liveBlessed

Wednesday Word

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 6:7 NIV

If we are honest all of us have looked at someone and made some assumptions that were incorrect.  After getting more information your opinion changed but your initial thoughts were wrong. Wow!

Aren't you glad God doesn't form his opinion about us by our appearance or by what we say? He simply sees our heart.
Which could be scary too because another scripture says that our hearts are desperately wicked. Hum! So he takes the time to see way down all the junk to see there are redeeming qualities under all the muck.

A lady by the name of Dottie Rambo, wrote a song that says, he looked beyond my faults and saw my needs. Fortunately for us that is true. God looked beyond what people would say are faults to get to what we need most, which is his holy presence. Thank you God.

Today as you go through your day ask God to let you see the heart of those you encounter, not their faults. Hey didn't bless you today, it blessed me. Until we meet again.

#liveBlessed

Tuesday Tools

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

In celebration of Black History Month

Among many firsts, Patricia Bath is the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology and the first African-American female doctor to receive a medical patent. She invented the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment in 1986.

Born in Harlem, New York, on November 4, 1942, Patricia Bath became the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology in 1973. Two years later, she became the first female faculty member in the Department of Ophthalmology at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute. In 1976, Bath co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, which established that "eyesight is a basic human right." In 1986, Bath invented the Laserphaco Probe, improving treatment for cataract patients. She patented the device in 1988, becoming the first African-American female doctor to receive a medical patent.

Monday Motivation

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Happy Monday morning. I would like to encourage you to think about who you influence and who you allow to influence you. See our success is never just because of us. It is because of the tribe that you put around you. In listening to some very successful people that got there by having mentors, guides, teachers, coaches and great friends that pushed them to greatness.
So, again I ask you who are you influencing and who is influencing you? If you are the smartest one in your group you might want to get a new tribe. Light the path for someone coming behind you.

Monday Motivation

Good morning , 

Grace and peace be unto you! 

Booker T Washington gives us a different way to measure success. If we use this measuring stick more people would view themselves as successful. 

You might not have dotted every I or crossed every t, but did you learn while facing the obstacles in your life ? Did your trials give you wisdom? Some the times that we have learned the most would not be the times when we have been successful in man eyes. It is the trials and tribulations that stretches us to the next level. 

Don't beat yourself up because you haven't achieved what others have. You are in a race of one. You get to set the pace. You are only racing with you. Don't allow people around you to get you off pace. Stay focused on your race. 

Win or loose, you still win. 

Until tomorrow 

#liveBlessed

Friday Focus

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Did you know...
Alfred L. Cralle (September 4, 1866 – May 3, 1920) was an African-American businessman.

Cralle was born in Kenbridge, Lunenburg County, Virginia in 1866 just after the end of the American Civil War (1861–1865). He attended local schools and worked with his father in the carpentry trade as a young man, becoming interested in mechanics. He was sent to Washington, DC where he attended Wayland Seminary, one of a number of schools founded by the American Baptist Home Mission Society to help educate African-Americans after the Civil War.

After his education, Cralle settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he first served as a porter in a drug store and at a hotel. In 1897, at the age of 30, he received a patent for the "Ice Cream Mold and Disher," a type of ice cream disher (a scoop with a built-in scraper). He later become an assistant manager in a local business association.

Cralle died in a car accident in 1920.

And they say black have never contributed to society.

#liveBlessed

Thursday Thoughts

Good Morning
Grace and peace be unto you!

I'm back!  The fast is over, and I made it. Lol
A thought that is heavy on my mind this morning is, it's time to evict fear. Yes, evict fear. It has been living rent-free in your head for far too long. It and all of its buddies have to go. It has been a squatter for far too long ( someone/something living in a space that doesn't belong to them a bit they claim ownership of).
How do I evict fear?
1. Be conscious of your thoughts. You thought life tells it that can stay.

2. Watch your conversations. Your smallest member the tongue can speak things into existence. Mind your words.

3. Change your environment. If everyone that you listen to is negative you will be too. Get around people that are moving and shaking even when you go afraid. Remember, dome fears are only conquered by facing them.

4. Get a tribe. You need to put people around b you that don't mind checking you. In others, somebody in your circle should not fear retaliation if they challenge your fears.

One of my biggest breakthroughs was when one of my friends said stop being afraid of success. I didn't realize fear was what was keeping me paralyzed and not moving forward. As she voiced it, I could recognize the truth in it.

Fear is simple false evidence appearing real. She has the power to change what you see.

#liveBlessed.   Until tomorrow