40 Day Transformation

Let’s face it; we are spiritual beings having a human experience! Whether you believe in God or not, or consider yourself spiritual but not religious, you are only on this earth for a short period of time (whether it’s 5 minutes or 100 years). We are a combination of mind, body and spirit and all must be in optimal shape to allow us to function as a whole. If one is out of whack it will definitely affect the rest. I am spiritual and I guess at times religious. I do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior but have a hard time with faith. Yes faith, believing and receiving God’s blessings for me. I don’t know if it is because I don’t believe I am worthy of HIS blessings or because I block my blessings by things I do and think, but whatever the reason is I am determined to improve my faith. Well my first step in getting my life in order is too nurture my spiritual health through meditation, prayer, scripture readings and a 40 day fast. At the end of this 40 day fasting and spiritual activities I expect to be better and stronger: spiritually, physically and mentally. This is my challenge to me and my promise to God! And it begins today! Follow me on my 40 day transformation journey, or even better, join me and let’s do this together.

The Queen City

I am committed and determined to begin "Rebuilding Our World" and what better way to start then in my own backyard. As a lifelong resident of Plainfield, New Jersey better know as the Queen City, I know all to well how a town could go from a thriving community to an unrecognizable one. I remember when I was a pre-teen, every Saturday my friends and I will go downtown just to walk around. Armed with some money (often times no more than $10) we will go and window shop. We had Macy's, Youthtown, PedEze and who could forget Dee & Dee's (where we would buy $5 socks) and afwards go to Casanova Pizza for lunch. Ahh I remember those days so well. Now when I go downtown Plainfield, there is a cell phone store every other store, a million restaurants and the moral of the city is low. None of my money goes back into the community because there is no where to spend the money. Okay, maybe a meal at Bill's Luncheonette or a quick pick-up from Dee & Dee's, but nothing more. If my kids need clothes I go to Watchung Square Mall, need food go to Watchung Blue Star, sneakers, you guessed it Watchung! And I am guessing it's the same for most people. Come on Plainfield we have to get it together. Enough of the complaining, get involved! Volunteer your time for a kids sports team, start a block association in your neighborhood, go to the board of educations meetings! Know the people in your community so we could get back to what Plainfield used to be. A vibrant city that our children could grow up in and cherish their own "Saturday Memories".

God's Calling

Okay I have been going down a long and winding road in terms of figuring out what I want to do with my life. I am 35 years old and have extensive experience within the workforce, however most of the positions I held, didn't move my spirit. I will often count down the minutes until it was time to leave and trurthfully wasn't very productive, therefore I wasn't much of a help to the company's overall objectives anyway. However, it wasn't all torture I held plenty of positions in the non-profit industry and that is where I found myself the most happiest (although at that time I didn't realize it). But with this unvoluntary hiatus that I have been on for the past 7 months (was laid off from my temporary position at Johnson & Johnson) I come to realize that my love is in helping people. I love helping out at my kids' schools, with extra curriculum activities and giving advice. I also have the most passion for the black and urban communities. It makes my spirit do somersaults and that's what it's all about! I am on a mission to improve the lives of black and urban communities through all aspects of the black experience (family, community, economics, health, spirituality) and I will not feel guilty about doing so. I love who I am and the legacy that my race of people leave to the world. I just want to continue that legacy by making my community stronger, one village at a time.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" Chinese Proverb