Austin asked me to write about my experience in Knoxville and Cornerstone as a minority. This is going to be short and to the point.
I have been the minority every single day of my life. So going to Knoxville wasn’t any difference. When I was younger up to my early teens I went to an all Black Baptist church but early on in high school I started to attend an all white Presbyterian church and through that I became a believer. Not because they were white or because I was going to a Presbyterian church but because I was surrounded my truth, and particularly truth and care from my dear friend Kelli Wilmot and former youth group leader. So from that day on not because of preference but because of where the Lord led me I attended predominately white churches. The Lord has been kind to be and gracious to me to give me a heart that seeks truth and wisdom and that’s what drew me to Cornerstone Church of Knoxville. I didn’t care if there was 1% or 80% minorities, I was eager for truth. At CCK I learned and grew a ton. It is a solid and gospel centered church and that’s what I wanted and needed.
I do have a desire to attend a church where truth is spoken and the people are diverse. My prayer is that I will see that before Christ comes back but I do have faith that if not on this earth it will be so in Heaven. I wait that day.
In closing my four years in Knoxville where by far some of the best four years of my life and that was because I was a part of such a great, solid, Christian community. I love and miss my family at CCK!!!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
1 of 3
I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post. I get so caught up in life, the last thing I have time to do is to blog. Today I am going to answer three request from Katie M., Jill, and Austin. This is the first of three blogs today and I will answer each request in a different blog.
As a side note before I answer Katie’s request any girls who attended the women’s conference in Knoxville please post your comments, I have heard great things about it and I am looking forward to listening to all of Carolyn McCulley’s messages. If you were not in attendance or have no idea who Carolyn McCulley is please look her up. She is a great godly example of what it looks like to walk out this life biblically as a single but most importantly as a women called by God.
So Katie asked my what is my timeline in reference to school, life, and my book. I have been in college for about 20 years now, not really that long but for about five total years and I have yet to finish my undergraduate. There have been many times where I have found myself discouraged because I have not finished my degree yet but you know the Lord has been gracious in this time. Anyway, I will be finished with my social work degree next May and I plan to either continue on to get my MSW or move to Africa to work with Campus Crusade. Right now I am leaning more towards my MSW. I also plan to be married, working on my first child. Okay I am lying, because I am single and contently so I am not headed towards that direction anytime soon. Also I am working as a girls director in this community here in St. Louis and I am just wanting to feed into these girls lives more and more each week. I pray my heart for them will continue to grow.
With the book Katie, sadly to say I have not done much at all. This summer I plan to be writing a lot with the book, please be encouraging me to do so. I also plan to read good books like Carolyn’s fairly new book Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World . I think this book will be a good resource for my book.
Carolyn's website- solofemininity.blogs.com
Her book- http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Womanhood-Feminine-Faith-Feminist/dp/0802450849
Her messages from knoxville conference- http://www.cornerstonechurchofknoxville.com/media/sermons/
As a side note before I answer Katie’s request any girls who attended the women’s conference in Knoxville please post your comments, I have heard great things about it and I am looking forward to listening to all of Carolyn McCulley’s messages. If you were not in attendance or have no idea who Carolyn McCulley is please look her up. She is a great godly example of what it looks like to walk out this life biblically as a single but most importantly as a women called by God.
So Katie asked my what is my timeline in reference to school, life, and my book. I have been in college for about 20 years now, not really that long but for about five total years and I have yet to finish my undergraduate. There have been many times where I have found myself discouraged because I have not finished my degree yet but you know the Lord has been gracious in this time. Anyway, I will be finished with my social work degree next May and I plan to either continue on to get my MSW or move to Africa to work with Campus Crusade. Right now I am leaning more towards my MSW. I also plan to be married, working on my first child. Okay I am lying, because I am single and contently so I am not headed towards that direction anytime soon. Also I am working as a girls director in this community here in St. Louis and I am just wanting to feed into these girls lives more and more each week. I pray my heart for them will continue to grow.
With the book Katie, sadly to say I have not done much at all. This summer I plan to be writing a lot with the book, please be encouraging me to do so. I also plan to read good books like Carolyn’s fairly new book Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World . I think this book will be a good resource for my book.
Carolyn's website- solofemininity.blogs.com
Her book- http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Womanhood-Feminine-Faith-Feminist/dp/0802450849
Her messages from knoxville conference- http://www.cornerstonechurchofknoxville.com/media/sermons/
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
A Day in The Life of Me!
I guess Joanna is the only person who is really interested in asking me to discuss a certain topic. Joanna you are by far my favorite blog friend.
Each day of the week tends to look pretty much the same every week. So Joanna I will write about my typical Tuesday and the funny thing is that today for the most part looked the same, but there was some change. Tuesdays I wake up take kids to school, head to counseling, and I have two classes. One of my classes is a lab class and we get to go explore different agencies. I think this is my favorite class so far, I am learning so much about many agencies in St. Louis and learning what I want to do when I am done with school. For many who don't know and I am a Social Worker student in St. Louis.
Today I started my day out with some counseling. As aside note, every time I leave counseling I call my dear friend Loren, but today I got the opportunity to talk with her before going. This is one blessing for today. But I want to take you all inside my counseling session today. It was interesting. I can't exactly remember what lead to this but for some reason there was a picture that popped in my head while sitting there and I shared it with my counselor and she asked me to draw it out. I wish I could show it to you all. I am a horrible artist. This picture was a depiction of my life. It was me in this cold dark box chained and naked. The box was chained on the inside at least that was my perception of it. And on the outside it was easy for people to walk in. The person who is chained represents me. On the outside of the box there were all the people around me whom I have come into contact with, and on top were the people and situations who put me in the box. Then there was a sun and a moon which represented two things. One the people whom have taken time to get to know me and whom I have allowed in the box and it also represents how people perceive me. So the people who are surrounded by the box see these beautiful clouds and this sun, so they don't even perceive the rain and thunderstorm that comes from that cloud sometimes. This is an interesting thought process that I had which was very vivid in my mind this morning. My desire is for people to dig deeper and get to know me and a deeper level and my heart also is that I will become more transparent.
Today I was exposed and humbled. A few weeks ago I applied for my last year as a social work student and was supposed to find out about if I was accepted last week. I did not receive a letter to say if I was accepted or not. So I called the school and they asked me to come in for a meeting. I was very anxious but prayed about it some on the way to school. I tried to think of all the things they could address and what they addressed is not even close to what I ever would have imagined. I was in a sense rebuked and disciplined by two professors. I was so encouraged and humbled. They pretty much said you need to calm down, and you may be prideful. I am not meek, and I do not have a gentle and quiet spirit and they pointed that out today. I am forever grateful for those women who pointed that out to me and pray that I will seek to become more humble.
Also today for my lab we went to this place called The Urban Cafe which is located at St. Louis Ave. and 14th street in St. Louis and I encourage all of St. Louis and visitors to go and check them out and support their wonderful cause. All their proceeds go to better the community which it is located. They have great food as well.
My day is not done, now I get to go to a soccer game for my favorite 16 year old and then get to sit outside and have a glass of wine with a good friend.
Each day of the week tends to look pretty much the same every week. So Joanna I will write about my typical Tuesday and the funny thing is that today for the most part looked the same, but there was some change. Tuesdays I wake up take kids to school, head to counseling, and I have two classes. One of my classes is a lab class and we get to go explore different agencies. I think this is my favorite class so far, I am learning so much about many agencies in St. Louis and learning what I want to do when I am done with school. For many who don't know and I am a Social Worker student in St. Louis.
Today I started my day out with some counseling. As aside note, every time I leave counseling I call my dear friend Loren, but today I got the opportunity to talk with her before going. This is one blessing for today. But I want to take you all inside my counseling session today. It was interesting. I can't exactly remember what lead to this but for some reason there was a picture that popped in my head while sitting there and I shared it with my counselor and she asked me to draw it out. I wish I could show it to you all. I am a horrible artist. This picture was a depiction of my life. It was me in this cold dark box chained and naked. The box was chained on the inside at least that was my perception of it. And on the outside it was easy for people to walk in. The person who is chained represents me. On the outside of the box there were all the people around me whom I have come into contact with, and on top were the people and situations who put me in the box. Then there was a sun and a moon which represented two things. One the people whom have taken time to get to know me and whom I have allowed in the box and it also represents how people perceive me. So the people who are surrounded by the box see these beautiful clouds and this sun, so they don't even perceive the rain and thunderstorm that comes from that cloud sometimes. This is an interesting thought process that I had which was very vivid in my mind this morning. My desire is for people to dig deeper and get to know me and a deeper level and my heart also is that I will become more transparent.
Today I was exposed and humbled. A few weeks ago I applied for my last year as a social work student and was supposed to find out about if I was accepted last week. I did not receive a letter to say if I was accepted or not. So I called the school and they asked me to come in for a meeting. I was very anxious but prayed about it some on the way to school. I tried to think of all the things they could address and what they addressed is not even close to what I ever would have imagined. I was in a sense rebuked and disciplined by two professors. I was so encouraged and humbled. They pretty much said you need to calm down, and you may be prideful. I am not meek, and I do not have a gentle and quiet spirit and they pointed that out today. I am forever grateful for those women who pointed that out to me and pray that I will seek to become more humble.
Also today for my lab we went to this place called The Urban Cafe which is located at St. Louis Ave. and 14th street in St. Louis and I encourage all of St. Louis and visitors to go and check them out and support their wonderful cause. All their proceeds go to better the community which it is located. They have great food as well.
My day is not done, now I get to go to a soccer game for my favorite 16 year old and then get to sit outside and have a glass of wine with a good friend.
Monday, April 5, 2010
You Tell Me!
So this week I want my readers to tell me what they want me to write about. So if you want to comment on my post or email me your request I will pick a topic and write about it. You can ask a question or pick a topic. Any topic, any question. I may decide to answer one, some, or all. Be creative or not but know that you are in control. If everyone fails to respond that will show me that no one cares about my writing and I need to shut down the blog. I love you all and thanks for following my blog.
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