Michelle Obama!!!!!

I do not know about you but I am sitting here on the side of my bed in awe. In awe of possibilities, in awe of hope, in awe of change and in awe with what my contribution will be to this planet.

So often, we get buried in the sea of our hurts. And I tell you, I have experienced my share of hurt and pain; so intense that I thought survival was an impossibility. However, tonight I heard a women speak about family, hope and change with some of the same baggage that I carry. I saw a woman speak with passion not looking for applause, not looking to be the first anything but looking to make a difference. I saw a woman speak, whose words brought tears not only to my eyes but also the eyes of my teenage children.

I go to bed tonight energized, confident of my struggles and assured of my future.

Clean Up

Have you ever one day, woke up and you could now see things so clearly? Things that you justified in the past just do not make sense anymore. I have started calling that the "Spring Cleaning" period of your life. Usually around the spring most people fine their homes filthy and cluttered, and they just want to make it better. The funny thing though, this can happen anytime during the year. Sometimes it happens in the spring or sometimes this happens in the winter or fall.

I recently woke up and had a spring cleaning moment. Something that I justified for a time seemed completely wrong. Almost immediately, it was as though, once I received that clarity or that clean house hope was ushered in. Now, it did not solve the reason why I made the decision; I believe that is coming though, but it definitely gave me the ability to see that I was not making the situation better. I am learning that to win at life sometimes you just have to do some spring cleaning.

Love...

I know, I have been gone a while but I am back! Thinking too much as someone specials always tells me.

I could not sleep thinking about this definition. If you are looking for an answer in this blog, stop reading now, I do not pretend to have it figured out. I could not define love as I lay in my bed, at least one that made sense to me. So I went to Webster’s. Love is defined as: Strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. Attraction based on sexual desire. Affection and tenderness felt by lovers. Affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion. An amorous episode: love affair. The sexual embrace: copulation.

Then the Bible: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. I Corinthians 13:4-8.

These are all definitions of love, while some sound beautiful and sweet, some of the definitions are illicit in nature. This begs the question. Who taught you how to love? I mean, how did you learn to love? If you have never truly experienced love, how do you know how to give it? Is it automatic? Would you recognized it if it tapped you on the shoulder? Do we often confuse love for that something that feels right at the moment? I am learning to love and be loved. I realized recently, I really did not understand love. I had always heard love is Christ and what he did for us but how does that translate to how we love? Do we go as far as Christ did and die for someone? I think many of us try. While some of us try to love as Christ, many of us get our idea of love from movies. In the movies it often looks perfect; it looks as though it feels good and something that can last forever. I think we all are searching for the meaning of love and I hope we all find it. Truthfully, I like the Bible's definition but life or love does not always feel that way.

I read in several books that there are seven basic things a woman wants from a man and someone I was talking to this week said it even simpler, a woman needs a man to make love to her heart. What does it take to make love to your heart; here is what it takes to make love to mine....

1. Leadership
2. To be chased or desired
3. Security
4. A man that is healthy physically and mentally
5. Some shared interest
6. A man with dreams and purpose
7. A man that is fun with healthy friend relationships