The most important thing in the world

I am a 1st degree black belt in Cuong Nhu, a vietnamese style of martial art. For our black belt test we are evaluated on our communication skills as well as our physical skills. Writing a paper is one of the requirements as well as speaking to an audience about the subject of the paper that was submitted for our test. I chose to write about teaching because I believe it is the best way to make a difference in the world. Everything, and I mean everything, is based on teaching! Without it we would have no way to share our knowlege with eachother, no way to build off of what others previously learned. No technology, no art, no religion, no sports... And I could go on and on. Thank goodness we treat our teachers with so much respect nowadays! I mean what would happen if we didn't ourselves teach our children to respect teachers; if we didn't teach them to value learning and education; if we took our teachers for granted; if we... Wait a minute... Isn't this already happenning?

Life is made up of...

I am not sure who wrote what is posted below, but I really like it! Relationships are what is most important in our lives! Surpremely the relationship we have with God...which will improve every other relationship you have. Years ago I began teaching and proclaiming that "relationships are the essence of life." I came to that conclusion after thinking hard about the relationships in my life, the way I was raised and where I was at the time. I do not believe that we have anything that is more important than relationships. We (humans) were designed for community and fellowship. It is in relationships where we find love. Life without love is meaningless. Love without relationships is not possible. As important as relationships are, they are what we take for granted the most. We allow other things in life interfere and interrupt our relationships on a consistent basis. I was talking to a young lady the other day about the importance of relationships. She was telling me how she had too much going on for a relationship. Life is too hard and too full for "that" right now. This is the way a lot of people think. However, it is because life is so difficult and challenging that we NEED relationships. When life is seems to be too much you need someone who can help share your load, provide an escape and help you keep your sanity. Of course I understand that not everyone needs or desires a romantic relationship. I'm not advocating romance, I am advocating relationships in general. In the case of the young lady I was talking to I was trying to get her to see that now is when she should make time for friendship. Too often we allow life to rob us of the thing that God has provided for us to deal with life…relationships. Don't get so caught up in "making a living" that you forget to live. Even in the most severe and traumatic situations, our ancestors understood the importance of family and fellowship. We allow our jobs to rob us of valuable time with our children. We put growing and strengthening our friendships on the back burner while we try to provide a better life. At some point you have to realize that there is no "better life" without quality relationships. No amount of money or material possession can grow your children into emotionally whole adults. There is no job worth your marriage. There is no promotion or project that can replace the little league games you miss, the family dinners at night or the conversations at Starbucks with your best friend. If you are not careful, the thing that you work so hard to get will rob you of your joy. Real joy only exists in the confines of relationships. Joy is not the same as happiness. Joy is deep and is not affected by circumstance. Joy is what you look too when everything else seems to go wrong. You need quality relationships. Make the choice today to invest more of you into your relationships. Your children need you more than anything thing else. Your wife wants to know she has you whether you ever get that dream house or not. Don't let life steal your joy. Clifton E. Brantley

Oh, what JOY!

I am the kind of person who needs to be reminded of things! If you know me or anyone close to me they would tell you that sometimes I can forget things very easily! Very recently a prayer that I had been praying for a long time (about a year) was answered by God. Not only I was praying for this but many many others as well, especially my girlfriend. On October 31st my girlfriend's son received a kidney transplant! He is only 4 and had been on the transplant list for such a long time! I am writing because I want everyone to know what a blessing God has given us. I remember praying that God bring a kidney for jonathan and praying for the day where we could praise God specifically for the new kidney. That day has come! Praise God! I don't ever want to forget the blessing God has given. And so I remind myself everyday.