So, you could say that we are all favored (the recipients of gracious kindness) because we have all done things that weren’t the best but [sometimes in the same day] received an act of gracious kindness.

I propose to you that the degree in which we recognize and appreciate the favor that we receive actually entitles you to more favor. If you are a parent, mentor, big brother/sister, or anyone in authority over someone else, when you do an act of gracious kindness to someone and they appreciate, recognize and thank you for it, does it not motivate you to do even more?

So to say that favor isn’t fair, I say is true, because who can actually say on their own merits/efforts/work they deserved to be favored (receive an act of gracious kindness).
So, I charge you, the next time you receive an act of favor (an act of gracious kindness) be thankful and watch more favor enter into your life.

I see people around me that are in need and their need is motivating me to grow and do things even better. I know a person who donates her time, baby sits for her friends, volunteers in the community, and gets around at 6am any of day of the week. She does all of this without complaining and always in a cheerful spirit. I wondered “how does she get around with no car?”

I know of a single mother who has to make a choice between feeding her children and paying the rent. She earns too much to get assistance from the government but not enough to avoid this predicament. It is a choice, I believe, that no one should ever have to make.

Some may say, Calvin, “who are you to help these people and are you rich to do so?” I would answer them, “what my finances can not do, my faith and favor will.” So, I set 3 public #2010Goals:

1.  Buy this young lady a car
2.  Pay rent one month for an individual in need
3.  Pay mortgage one month for an individual in need.

How am I going to do this? Honestly, I am not sure, I have my bills and obligations that I have to meet, but I am going to sacrifice, save, and pray that opportunities, automobiles and my network can help to achieve this goal. Now, I saw an opportunity to win $25,000 from CarMax so I entered in the drawing.

Now, am I putting all of my hopes on that CarMax awards me the prize, No. I am putting all of my hopes in God and his ability to bring it to pass. But, just in case someone at CarMax reads this, I would want them to know that my desire to enter and win this prize is not so I can pocket all the money for myself; instead, to give away more than half of it by buying someone in need a car, paying one month rent and mortgage for someone in need.

This maybe foolish or silly to some but I think I am just continuing to have faith, that I will achieve the goals that I have set out and be able to bless those who I see are in need.

Right now Tiger Woods and his private matters have become quite public. This morning as I was watching ESPN they had more coverage on it and I began to think, what can I learn from this situation. One thing came to mind…

The importance of self control.

Now, I was in no way shape form or fashion on the same level of Tiger Woods but I did have an interesting college experience :joining a fraternity freshman year, going on to be Student Body President, starting a company on campus. Looking back, at the time, I could barely fit my head in the same room as other people. I felt like I could pretty much do what I wanted and how I wanted to do it.

So taking that feeling and multiplying by $1 Billion, I had a glimpse to how Tiger could have felt while sitting on top of the world. Now, during part of that time, I didn’t have a girlfriend and like I said, I felt like I could do anything that I wanted. After college, I went through a period of isolation where I dealt with alot of my weaknesses and areas that I had to improve in. Coming out of that, I had a closer relationship with God and a determination to be celibate until marriage.

Now, celibacy definitely started as a major challenge and I had  some interesting experiences as I became more comfortable with it. But now since starting down that road 3 years ago, I can see some of the most important lessons that I have learned. If I am to be as successful as I desire to be, I must learn how to control myself when no one else is going to hold me accountable. It is the battle within that is rarely fought while we dress up our exterior.

Now, I do not know if Tiger practiced celibacy or abstinence before marriage but I do know that for myself, that since going down this road, I am a stronger man and I no longer fall for the same temptation. If I continue on the path that I have set out to be on, hopefully  I would be protected from any of these types of Tiger Wood’s press releases.

So, I just ask that all of us that have aspirations to be great that we tackle our inner challenges. If not, when put under a international microscope, everything will be revealed. Sex can be a monster… Celibacy can help control it.

———————————————————

My prayer:

My prayers are with Tiger, his wife,and his children during this very sensitive time and I pray that the strength of God and correction of God will rest in Tiger and he will grow to become the internal man that God created him to be, and not just the professional juggernaut he has become. I pray for his wife that she is comforted with the love of God and that she knows that even in this time of betrayal there is one who never betrays and is always with her, Jesus. For his children, I pray that they are protected from unnecessary conversations and exposure, and that through this experience they gain a closer relationship with Christ, as he is the only perfect man to ever live on the earth, and that they will increase in compassion and love for both of their parents. Amen.

Not just something I had on my todo list like, complete a project, make a sales call or even collect money. But there must be something greater because in the grand scheme of things, all of those items will vanish and truly don’t matter. There must be a greater reason why I was allowed the opportunity to continuing living.

Since I am awake I am going to actively and purpose realize why I was allowed this opportunity to wake up again and see what impact I can make with things that really matter…

In two days time I received my tour and was a very happy camper. Once I understood how BlackBerries operate, I fell in love. It was all there: my emails (all 8 of them), BBM, Facebook, Twitter, GMail, AiM, Bible App, Games…it was a beautiful thing. I was elated!

Then, I configured all of the notifications to have their own sound so that I could tell what was going on just by the tone. Oh boy!! It was rich! My blackberry would go off starting at 530 and wouldn’t stop… at all! I would have to turn it off. I read a study where they say that a blackberry user must touch their phone every 30 minutes and I even laughed when I shared it with friends.

I was addicted to the “Crackberry”. I saw someone’s Facebook page. It had an image with a blackberry and a Bible side by side and said, ‘Which one do you pick up more?” Well, I laughed and thought, “Gotcha! My bible is on my blackberry! ” But then I thought: How often do I go to the application…

Now for someone who isn’t interested in hearing, listening, and growing in God it would have been no big deal. But for someone who has decided that they want to grow in God and become closer to Him and have a better life: this is a BIG problem. Over the next few days/weeks, I realized that who/what was controlling my life was my blackberry. That may sound drastic but let me tell the story:

My BB tells me to wake up and shower – I wake up and shower.
My BB lets me know someone is calling – I stop what I am doing and pick up the phone
My BB tells me someone sent me a message – I must look at it that moment and respond.

Now, let’s see how God was doing.

I feel a desire to get up and pray – Oh, I can pray later.
I feel a desire to read the bible before I go to sleep or after I wake up – Let me just check my BB first.

Umm… for someone who wants to grow in God, I was not doing well at all. My priorities were all messed up. But thankfully, the blackberry has an amazing feature, one that has become my favorite but it has allowed me to go back to living my life, live with God, and still be in touch via the phone.

“Phone Only”

This feature allows the phone to only ring, but with no email notifications, no text, and no BBMs. This feature has restored my balance and peace, no longer do I feel the need to respond just that moment because most of the time I don’t get business texts or business BBMs. I can now check my email via phone and only check my BB when I choose. When I am thinking about God or studying a bible verse, no longer does my phone pull me away.

My BB was just a symbol. There will always be an opportunity for something to get between you and your relationship with Christ. The question is, ‘Are you going to allow it and once you realize it, will you try to make active changes to silence all distractions?’

It is a beautiful feeling to finally break that strong hold that was holding you in the safe/quiet place.

So, I challenge you, those with fears that do not line up with God’s purpose for your life, (not saying to jump off of buildings – no be afraid of that! ) conquerer your fears.

Fear is not good, in any way, shape or form, it only holds you back from being the person that God created you to be.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT FEELS GOOD TO BE FREE!!!!

BE READY, NOTES ARE A COMING!!! I will not allow the fear of making a mistake hold me back from using the gifts that I know bless the people around me.

With much love,

Calvin F. Williams, Jr.

Does a liar who tells you that 2 + 2 = 4 make the fact that 2 + 2 does equal 4 false?

or

Does an addict telling you that drugs kill make the fact that drugs kill false?

To a degree, it doesn’t matter the source, truth is truth. It doesn’t matter if the truth was delivered by God or by a rock. The truth is the truth. Well if you agree with that, why do we reject or judge truth dependent on the source that delivers it.

We all have battles within that can (if we allow them) lead us to do or say things that other times we wouldn’t want to do. But, why do we as humans throw out the baby with the bath water. I, once, heard a saying, “eat the meat, throw the bone.”

If we would all be a little more compassionate about those around us and the challenges that they face, we could produce an environment that would be more forgiving for the mistakes that people make. 99.9% of the time, we all know when we are doing something that we shouldn’t’ be doing. We don’t feel right on the inside, our spirits don’t sit still. So, those on the outside that know of people’s challenges would be much better off, encouraging and building up individuals rather than bringing them down to where you (the lowly person) maybe.

In addition, just because someone makes a mistakes doesn’t’ discredit the truth they may have said before, during or after. We are all human, with challenges that we have to overcome.

Let’s lend a hand, instead of delivering a slap.
Let’s people our fellow men (and women), instead of taking the easy way out and reducing them to a lower level…

C.

PS. Forgive me as I get back into the swing of writing, greatness is on the way!!!

However, as I have kept on living, I have become better at finding the blessing.

When I say better, I mean to be able to be in a crappy, loathful, distasteful situation and see the blessing. When we are able to spend our time in a situation but see the blessing then that is how we become able to overcome the situation. There is a positive aspect of every situation that we go through.

The process to finding that blessing is a direct one that we must take or else we find ourselves in the situation for much longer than we ever desired.

Steps:
1. Accepting the Reality of Where We Are

This can be the hardest step but it is the most real step. If you are in debt over your eyes, you have to realize it, write down the number figure out what the debt is. If you are in a relationship that is hurting you, you have to realize it, accept the fact of where you are. If you are failing a class, you have to just look at your tests and accept the reality of your current situation.

This is creating the bottom of the whole. Someone once told me, the way to get out of a hole is to stop digging. To stop digging we must figure out where we are.

2. Determine the Path Out

Many people try to figure out how to get out before you know where you are and thus feel like there is no way out. But when you already have found the bottom of the whole, you can figure out exactly how to get out.

Truly, if we are too be honest with ourselves, we know how to get out. The challenge is do we decide to do what we have to do so we can get out of the storm.

If you truly dont know where to go, ask someone with wisdom (not a friend that is in the same situation you are in, someone with true wisdom that can help

3. Make the Decision – It is only hard in thought.

When we know what we are to do but we have such a challenge doing it, it is not because the actual decision is hard it is because we have a perception (a mental expectation) that it will be challenging and hard but when we have to do what we have to do, we have to do it. You and I both know that when we start going down the road, it will open up and flow out very easily.

Dang! Someone called and broke my concentration…. If it comes back to me, I will finish, if not I hope this blesses someone….

Dang Nabit! wasn’t that old school…

C.

However, created equal does not equate to living equal.

It is your duty and your job on earth to ensure that you live a remarkable life. You have been created with everything that you need to overcome but until you put them into play you will never know what you are truly capable of. Some call it living on the edge, until you get out of the boat and walk on water, you will never know how far you can go.

Life is designed to push back against you achieving your destiny. It is a bottom line fact, systems, rules, regulations, and people are set up as road blocks to stop you from achieving your personal destiny. You have to come to the emotional point, I will not give up, I will not give up and I can do this.

Your mother can not do it for you, your father can not do it for you, and your friends can not do it for you. The only way that you can reach and manifest your destiny is when the world pushes you up against a corner, you demand on yourself to push back. It is a learned skill, one that when master will ensure that you never lose again in your life.

Make today your day. Make today be the day that you stop allowing life to pass you by. Get angry, get focused, and get your destiny.

No one is holding up your stuff. The only reason why you are in the life that you are living now is because you accept it. How do I know that? Because the only reason why I am in the life that I am in now, is because I accepted it. Well, here is a public notice of a private declaration, I reject the areas and things in my life that are not apart of my destiny and I replace them with my aspects and features of my destiny that were promised to me as a human created on this earth.

Today is the day. Now is the time. My world is rearranged according to my words and my beliefs. If you don’t believe me, just keep living, you will see.