DEEP WATERS

Hey everybody! Remember me? I haven't been here in over a year. And I won't waste your time with all the reasons why. I will say the underlying reasons are: 1. I am really busy with family and ministry work 2. As much as I love writing, I have spent almost a year and a half telling myself that I'm too busy to get it done (See reason #1) And the thing is this... A quick survey of the current state of my home would reveal a kitchen sink full of dirty dishes, baskets of laundry to put in dresser drawers and floors needing to be cleaned and vacuumed. (I did manage to thoroughly clean my bathroom this weekend, so all hope is not lost...) Anyway, since I don't see life getting any less busy, I've decided to apply my butt to the seat* and commence writing here again. But enough about my blog reunion and on to why I'm here... For about a year now I have had a book idea, and since I haven't begun writing yet, today it remains just that - an idea...

I've been thinking about one word a lot recently... LEGACY. My thoughts can be traced to a recent event in my life. This past week I spent time in my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. I traveled home for my Uncle Alvis's funeral on this past Monday. His funeral was one of the most precious I've ever attended. The room was filled with people whose lives have been touched one way or another by Uncle Alvis. Family members, colleagues, neighbors, fellow church members -- we all crammed into his A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) church home to reminisce and illuminate a life fully lived. My uncle spent his life serving college students as a professor in the School of Social Work at Howard University in Washington D.C. (my alma mater, by the way - HU!!!). As the president of Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina for a short time. As a member of the peace corps in Liberia, West Africa (which my family and I visited when I was only 4 years old). As a social activis...

As I approach the last entry in this series , I'm amazed at what God has done. The first time I sat down to begin this series, I thought, how in the world am I going to come up with at least five meaningful, practical things to share about the time I spent with my parents in the hospital? I wasn't short on memories, funny moments, frightening moments and random musings. But what had I learned that I could pass on to others? What could I share that could speak to the issues and circumstances that you are dealing with? Those questions weren't answered until I began writing. It was like God opened my eyes and heart to the things my parents wanted to tell me, but couldn't. If my mother hadn't had that respirator placed in her mouth. If my father hadn't struggled with the post-operative delirium that confounded his mind. They would have shared so much. But it was up to me to pay attention. Take notice. Watch their every move. Listen to what they said...