A while back I introduced a new background to my webpage. It’s a display of fruits with the words thank you emblazoned across them. Although not a customary greeting, I felt it was highly appropriate as a reminder to myself to always be thankful. Plus, I thought the card looked so good it had to be shared with the world. Now I want to jot down reasons I’m thankful in an attempt to cultivate an “attitude of gratitude.”
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April 17, 2003
Obviously I haven't updated for awhile. I'll decide to post, but then delete it, cuz it's too spiritual or too churchy. I'm not sure why this is a problem but that's why I rejected the last two entries. Today's made the cut. I had to find a way to break the silence.
I'm so thankful that I got my tax refund last week. It was an amazingly painless (except for the $35 filing fee) and quick process.
August 9, 2002
I'm thankful that I am thankful. Sometimes I forget that things could be worse than they are. That's a backwards way to think about gratitude, but it's what reminds me that I don't deserve the best of everything.
I've been really blessed this summer. But the highlight for me, was my mom's cousin's visit. My mom's cousin and his wife visit the US almost every year for a bible conference. On their way back to Nigeria, they usually visit our family for a few days. I am always, always encouraged by their visits. They are a really cool couple. I'm just amazed by their humility, their realness, and most of all their active faith. They were here 5 days, and they got so much done. Repairing broken relationships, encouraging people to forgive each other, just really good stuff. This was their "vacation" but they didn't hesitate to get involved in the hard stuff.
It's encouraging to see "old folk" who haven't lost their zeal for serving God. For me, that's a good enough reason to keep on, keeping on.
May 23, 2002
I'm thankful that Faithful Central is back in the Tabernacle(the 2000 seat sanctuary) for the summer. When we first bought the Forum(the 18,000 seat sanctuary, where the Lakers used to play), I was really excited. I mean it was a big expenditure for an African American church, and there was a huge vision for community development and service. But after a few months of worshipping there, I was ready to go back to a smaller building, multiple services and all. So my plan is to go to the 6:30 am service every Sunday. I feel more holy when I go to church early, so I'm elated that there's an early morning service.
March 23, 2002
I feel like I've hit my groove in substituting. It was really hard at first, especially at schools where students aren't afraid to clown you to your face and you quickly learn that the administrators can't/won't back you up. My best day so far was at Fairfax High School. It's located on the edge of Hollywood, Koreatown, West LA and Santa Monica. The student population is an interesting mix of Blacks, Hispanics, Koreans and Russians. The teacher I subbed for had a lot of sheltered classes. Most of the students were recent immigrants still struggling to learn English. As the students discussed the assignment, the class sort of divided into sections by language. There was a Korean section as well as Spanish and Russian sections. It was so cool to see. Of course, I impressed my students with my 2 words of Korean, my phrases in Russian and my limited sentences in Spanish. I think I loved Fairfax because of it's unique diversity and the students (the ones I worked with) desire to learn.
January 14, 2002
I'm really thankful that my aunt and her family have found an apartment of their own. I enjoyed living with them, but they really wanted and needed a place of their own. They found a place that's near our house, has a couple of rooms and is super cheap.
November 8, 2001
On Sunday The Children's Choir sang "Shackles" by Mary Mary. There were three soloists, and I'd guess their ages were twelve, eight, and six. Each had a turn to sing a solo. When it was the six year old's turn, she forgot her words. She tried her part again but she couldn't remember. She probably felt doubly intimidated by the huge audience and building. When the choir finished singing, the pastor hugged the three soloists, as a group. Then he knelt down and hugged the six year old as she continued sobbing. The pastor was wearing this flowing robe and he's like 6 feet, and she was enveloped in his hug. It was such a beautiful picture of encouragement and affirmation in spite of imperfection.
October 12, 2001
So the day I wrote my last note of thanks, was the day I thought of reconsidering my need for a car. I don't appreciate the high number of men(who usually happen to be on the bus or near the bus stop) over 40 who think it's alright to ask me for my phone number and "if we can you know get together sometime." No we can't get together and no you can't have my phone number, just leave me alone. But, I don't want to be bitter, so i'm going to leave that alone.
I am thankful for my new phone. However, I can't get calls at home cuz the signal is too weak. But, at least I can get some calls, some times, and that's still better than not being able to get any calls.
October 2, 2001
I decided that I don't want a car. I like riding the bus and for now it works for me. Part of it is because i'm cheap, part of is because I'm kind of conservationist. So each weekday i spend 3 hours on the bus or more. Anyhow, i used to consider myself a bus evangelist. I didn't really approach people, but because i ususally read my bible on the bus, people would ask me questions. However, recently i've been really into myself so I haven't appreciated being on the bus. I started thinking maybe it was time to move on, and maybe folks were right about the need for a car. But one day last week I sat down next to a lady reading a book. I noticed that the book was by T.D Jakes. So I informed her that T.D Jakes was coming to the Forum September 30th. Her entire face lit up. And when I told her it was free, she was happier. She said this news made her entire week. In turn, it made my entire day, to think that some information I shared with someone could cause them that much happiness.
On sunday my brother and I went to buy gas. I don't like buying gas, because there's always someone asking for my "spare change". This trip was no different. After the guy asked me for the fifth time, I searched my wallet for some change and handed it to him. My lil bro, asked if my hand had touched his and I don't remember what I said. But he (my bro) replied that he always tries to touch the people's hands that ask for money, to show that he doesn't think he's too good for them. I was pleasantly surprised by his response because I was expecting him to warn me about getting their germs on my hands. It was touching to see that hint of compassion in him.
September 23, 2001
I was "blessed, blessed, blessed..." Yesterday I went to the Fred Hammond Concert and it was off the hook. Faithful Central invited him to their new home, the Forum. My guess was there were 10,000 people there, just praising their hearts out. I loved it, the praise, the worship, the energy. I truly felt invigorated after all the obstacles of getting there. From breaking the car key, to missing the bus, to running 45 minutes to get there, I could go on, but I am so blessed that I got there in time and that we sang most of my favorite songs.
September 21, 2001
I am thankful that my extended family has decided not to move out of our house yet. Today we woke at 5:30am as usual. All the kids, including myself were pretty bummed because we taught at nightfall our families would become separated by 2000 miles. Before I left for work, my aunt was persuaded to stay by my parents. And I reminded myself, when misunderstandings arise, I should always try to hear both sides of the story before reaching a conclusion. I think i knew that before, but in the heat of the misunderstandings and miscommunications, I forgot. And the only worse thing worse than a drawn out communication confrontation among friends, is a drawn out communication confrontation among family members. But God is faithful and it worked out for what i consider the good, the families are staying together for now.
September 12, 20001
I can't say much about the events that transpired yesterday, so i won't. But in class our teacher shared the reason why he loves "Mr.Rogers". His best friend in high school dived into a neighbor's pool and became quadriplegic. His friends did all they could to support him emotionally and help him out as they could, but he became increasingly suicidal. So remembering that their group of friends were all fans of "Mr.Rogers Neigborhood", they sent Mr.Rogers a letter explaining their friend's plight. Mr. Rogers responded by sending some albums, with all the tapes autographed, and a long encouraging letter to the suicidal friend. Mr.Rogers followed up with a personal visit 2 years later. My teacher said "On this sad day, when we see how evil can be, this helps me remember that people can be good. I love that man[Mr. Rogers]". And then he sang another of Mr.Rogers song, and got a little teary eyed. It made me get a little teary eyed myself.
September 7, 2001
my mom. for exemplifying sacrificial love, everyday of her life, thereby giving me a better understanding of Christ's love.
September 5, 2001
This weekend I spent about 8 hours doing my aunt's hair. I figure it probably would have taken me 16 to 24 hours to do it by myself, but my twin cousins helped out. Although i'd use the word "helped" loosely because they got into many fights. I guess once you've passed the age of 8 you no longer fight over inconsequential things like who looked at a braid first. Their favorite part of the process was when I used curlers to roll the braids and dipped it into boiling water. I had one twin be the "minute woman", which meant she counted to 60 and the other twin to hold the bowl of hot water, while i curled their mom's hair. While i took a break from doing her hair, my aunt did her two daughters hair in an hour. The day after we finished my aunt's hair, my cousins and i spent 8 hours taking my braids out. When we finished, my aunt helped me comb and rebraid my hair, which took another hour. So every female (except my mom who needs professional grooming),residing in my house, got their hair done this weekend. I've been looking for someone to pratice braiding on, so my aunt's head of hair came in handy, and i hate combing my hair by myself, so my aunt helped me out. All in all, I'd say it was a very hairy weekend. An additional bonus was our numerous hours of "bonding".
August 31, 2001
One day at the Stanford CCC weekly meeting, the icebreaker was to share with others what God had done for you that week, as a sort of praise report. I was stunned to realize i couldn't think of one single thing. I realized that if I don't make the effort to give thanks daily, i soon forget my blessings. I've found that since i started keeping track of things to be thankful, i've been noticing even more things to be thankful for. Funny how that works.
So thursday, my roommates and i hopped into our beds at the same time. One of my cousins suggested that we pray before going to sleep. She then proceeded to lead us in this really cute, really sweet prayer. I don't know, there's just something about children who are serious about God, that just brings tears to my eyes. So she was thanking him for everything, the house, the food, the day... it was sweet.
August 29, 2001
On Sunday we sang "The Heart of Worship" at Faithful Central. It made me glad that the God I serve, could work in a way that, some guy at Faithful Central would teach thousands of people a new song, because it expressed some idea, some belief that we share in common with other believers, despite our seeming differences in appearances and ideologies. It's the same way I felt the first time we sang "Hallelujah, Salvation and Glory" at KCPC. It's an ineffable idea for me, but it's one that causes me to rejoice each time I experience it. It's such a small thing, to sing a song from a "different" style of worship, but one that I don't think is insignificant.
August 27, 2001
I am so grateful that my Aunt is a comedian. Each day she says something to crack me up. She still has her Nigerian accent and all, but she can imitate Americans and Nigerians at will. My aunt and I share my old room with her twin daughters, and it’s sort of the chilling spot for the females in the house. Anyhow, my mom comes by the room. On her way, she’d passed my cousin, doing sit-ups. He has a wicked pot-belly for his young age. My mom asks us (her sister and I), how it is that men get such big bellies. My response was, for older men it comes from drinking beer, eating a lot of food (especially meat), and sitting on a couch watching TV for hours on end- while sending your wife to get more food(A common pratice among some Nigerian men). So then my aunt chips in her opinion about a relative with a pot belly. First off, his wife always serves him dinner in front of the TV. He’ll inspect the food, and ask for more meat. He makes comments like, “a man has to eat some meat, not these bones you feed me”. Anyways, the way she was telling the story was making me giggle. Finally, she describes the time when this same male relative got appendicitis. He couldn’t eat anything for two days before the operation and a couple of days afterwards, so he lost a lot of weight. When his family members and friends saw him, they congratulated him on his improved appearance with the reduction of his girth. They asked permission to pray that he would keep getting sick so he would continue to look nice. This part of the story, made me fall out of bed with laughter. You had to be there to get it.
But, the reason why I’m so thankful is this. I know my mom has a hard life. She works pretty hard to support my siblings and myself through college and pay the bills and what not. She’s always working, and always tired. But she never complains. I always try to find out how she’s feeling and doing, and she’s always like, my work isn’t over, until I’ve taken care of my responsibilities. I worry about her cause she doesn’t laugh or rest enough. I’ve been praying that she would form some good female friendships. So with my aunt living with us, I feel like she has that friend. And I think it’s especially sweet that it’s her sister from Nigeria, who can tell how their mutual friends and family members are doing. And my mom’s sister is such a comedian, she’s always making my mom laugh. And that makes me happy.
August 25, 2001
I went to the "3.99 Store" and got some beautiful green pants for $4.31, with tax included. Is that a deal or what? Only thing is, i'm pretty sure i can never wash them unless they'll fade.
August 23, 2001
Today was a pretty good day. I did not wake up at 5:30am, and that is almost guaranteed to make my day great in and of itself. But, I spent the first few hours with my one of my LA friends. We went to get her car fixed, and that was an adventure of another sort. It was just really nice to have time to chill, relax, talk and catch up.
August 22, 2001
My cousin was crossing the street one day, when a motorcycle collided with him and dragged his body a few inches down the street. My cousin was probably about 9 or 10 when this happened. My aunt and I were discussing it a few days ago; it was the first time I heard the story. And I didn't know how to say it, but I told her they were fortunate. His only injury from the accident was a broken leg. Pretty serious stuff, but she said when they came to tell her about the accident, she thought her son(my cousin) had died. And we agreed that it was a bittersweet thanks. For it could have been far worse, but it wasn't. He's alive and he can walk around, and even goes jogging with me! (when he's behaving)
June 22, 2001
1. I graduated.
2. My mom's sister and her family came from Nigeria a while back. It's cool to be around now because my cousins are totally going through the challenges that come with adjusting to the school environment and being teased about their accents,appearance and manner of speaking english. since i've already suffered through that we've have had some awesome conversations.
3. Ekene and I went rollerskating with Ashaunta in May. it was so much fun. i haven't gone rollerskating since i was 10, and i'd forgotten how much fun it was.
i can't even list all the awesome things that have happened these last two months, but i can say i've seen God's faithfulness,his goodness, his mercy and his abundant blessings.
May 21, 2001
i have so much to be thankful for. God answered a prayer that i've had for almost all my quarters at stanford, today. and i was just struck by how it's almost the end of my time here, it seemed sort of impossible, and yet the Lord worked it out. In fact he brought out of the painful, unexpected and what i thought failure. I can't help but praise God for his faithfulness despite mine.
January 9, 2001
vacation. rest. and it was good. Impact2000- ineffable for me- i'm so glad that i had another chance to experience this awesome conference. driving up from LA with a friend was so sweet, tiring but i love to hear people's story.