The Facts of Life

“When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.” – Excerpt from 1 Kings 8: 22-53

Today's Reading: 1 Kings 8-9; Luke 21: 1-19

So the scene here is that Solomon has just finished building the first temple for God. At the dedication ceremony he says this long prayer about the steps that Israel took to get where they are. He also reminds God of the promises that He made to Israel.

But the excerpt above is where it starts getting interesting for me. He starts to break down all of the ways that Israel will fail God in the future and asks God to forgive Israel if they return to the good path.

Given that Solomon was the wisest of the wise… this must mean something right?

Just like Israel… we will all make mistakes, stumble, fail, and let God, others and ourselves down.

This is just a fact of life.

But the key isn’t dwelling on this fact, but rather, that we have the opportunity to get up again. If we can focus on getting up, rather than on the fall, no setback will derail us for long.

Soul Mates

Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife.”
Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.” - An Excerpt from Luke 20: 27-40

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 6-7; Luke 20: 27-47

Anyone who knows me even moderately well knows that love romance movies. I love romantic comedies, romantic dramas, good ones, bad ones… it doesn’t really matter. I love the magic of guy meets girl, guy gets girl, guy loses girl, guy gets girl again. I root for the troubled lovers and feel vindicated when they have realized what we all knew in the first five minutes; that they belong together.

I’m a romantic.

This stilly state of mind has always led me to the question of soul mates. Do we have a soul mate? Do we have several soul mates? Can they be platonic friendships; spiritual comrades assigned by divine order to march side by side into the battle for good? Or are they always romantic in nature; a finding of ones other half if you will?

Or is there really no such thing as a soul mate. Perhaps what we refer to as soul mates are a series of conscious decisions made by two individuals to share their lives and purposes with one another.

I have no idea.

I was talking to a good friend of mine about soul mates yesterday and I remembered this scripture above where the Sadducees try to catch Jesus in a clever riddle… and as these things typically go, it comes up in my reading the next day.

There are no accidents.

The way Jesus answers the question posed by the Sadducees puts the soul mate question in a certain perspective.

I kinda feel clowned.

It’s almost as if the notion of love and commitment are nothing more than trivial utterances compared to the soliloquy of the spiritual bliss to come in the next age.

I do still find myself wondering about soul mates. Do I have one? If so, have I already met her…?

But perhaps all of this time and energy spent thinking about this topic is all for naught. In the end it won’t really matter anyway right?

But, then again, the same could be said for a great meal, the perfect piece of fruit, or an amazing glass of wine.

Hey, even Jesus understood the importance of that good wine…

PASA Lessons: Lead with Love

Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 1 Kings 3: 11-13

Today's Reading: 1 Kings 3-5; Luke 20: 1-26

Ok…

So, Solomon is doper than I. I can deal with that.

I’ve been talking all this time about pursuing dreams and what not. But, when Solomon is asked by God what he wishes to have he says wisdom.

I’m a know–it-all and even I wouldn’t have said that. It makes me think of how much love it takes to be a great leader.

Yes you read that right… love.

Have you ever been a leader of an organization? I have. And let me tell you. It’s a pretty thankless job.

During my sophomore year at Pomona College I was president of our Pan-African Student Association (PASA). I’m not even sure how that happened. I think it might have been one of those moments when they asked for volunteers and everyone took a step back while I was picking my nose or something.

All I know is that I was nominated, the nomination was seconded, and within about ten minutes I had the title.

I was cool with it though because I was really excited about the organization and really wanted to help out. During my freshman year my friends Kieran, Aaron, Yohance, Kofi, and Christina were really involved with the group. We were happy to do our part to help.

But man… I learned a whole lot that year.

One of the things I learned was that being a good leader means that it ain’t about you.

There were so many things that I wanted to be done a certain way but often times it turned out not to be the best way. It was frustrating to not get my way at times, and even more frustrating to realize that my way wasn’t the best way.

I had a ways to go on the path toward humility back then. Still do.

This is why I’m so impressed by Solomon. This dude had the opportunity to ask God for ANYTHING. And what does he ask for? He asks for the thing that he thinks will best help him serve the people he is leading.

He asks for wisdom.

It is this attitude of humility and sacrificial love that separates politicians from leaders, hustlers from servants.

Are you in it for you or for others? That is the question.

Solomon was in it for his people that he loved and as a result God gave him way more than he could have ever dreamed.

I hope that the next time I am in the position to lead I will have grown to be more like Solomon.

We live and learn right?

Amen

And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, “What is your wish?”
Then she said to him, “My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ - 1 Kings 1: 16-17

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings: 1-2; Luke 19: 28-48

And Solomon did become the next king…

This is the same great and wise Solomon of the book of Proverbs. He was the second child of the Bathsheba; the woman with whom David began his fall into his biggest sins.

Once again, God turns a bad situation into a blessing, the lowest possible means into the greatest possible result. This theme occurs so much that it cries out for us to pay attention.

Joseph rises from slave to be second to Pharaoh. Gideon rises from cowardice to become a great judge of Israel. Ruth makes it through a rough situation as widow to be the forefather of David. A Young David slays the giant Goliath with a stone and sling.

It’s almost as if God enjoys defying all odds. He provides paths of victory through the impossible forests of fear and circumstance.

What is required of us is faith.

We may still be afraid. We may hesitate. We may linger at the crossroads of fate entirely too long. But once we decide to act in faith, we are asking God to move in our lives. We are granting permission for the impossible to be made possible.

So don’t worry if you come from a bad family, have a troubled past, don’t have money, education, or the resources that you need to achieve what you want to achieve.

If you have faith then no circumstance can stop you from getting where you are supposed to be.

God has already said yes, now He’s just waiting on us to say Amen.

So be it....

David's Mighty Men

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 23-24; Luke 19: 1-27

So we are coming to the end of David’s story and there is this hilarious chapter on his mighty men. Them cats who made 300 should do a movie on David.

Actually, someone with better storytelling skills… but for real these dudes were way more beastly than the Spartans… Here are some excerpts from 2 Samuel 23 that I enjoyed.

These are the names of David's mighty men:

Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. 2 Samuel 23: 8

Eight hundred in one encounter!! Hahaha wowzers. And with a spear! Dudes muscle endurance must have been off the chain (I’ve spent entirely too much time thinking about capoeira lately).

Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. 2 Samuel 23: 9-10

His hand grew tired… but he didn’t drop the sword… oh no… his hand forze to the sword! When mere mortals get tired they let go, but Eleazer, he holds on.

Imagine being one of the soldiers who came back to the battlefield only to see Eleazer there, standing on a heap of slain enemies trying to shake his sword free from his hand.

Not sure why that is so amusing to me. It’s so ridiculous!

Shammah’s story isn’t as ill.. but the finale for all three is the best…

During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it.
Such were the exploits of the three mighty men. 2 Samuel 23: 13-17

Priceless.

Gotta love how after all of that David poured out libations…

Libations!

I have no idea how folks don’t find a whole lot of entertainment in the Good Book.

Do You Deserve It?

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”

But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” – Excerpt from Luke 18: 18-30

Today’s Reading 2 Samuel 21-22; Luke 18:24-43

The camel through the eye of a needle is a pretty famous Christian reference that I heard a lot growing up. There was this notion that money was the root of all evil. The more money you had the more evil you had to be.

After all, how did you get all that money in the first place…

I was talking to a good friend of mine today. We hadn’t talked in a while so it was nice to catch up on how things are going. I was having a tough day and feeling a bit discouraged about some of these goals I have set for myself.

I was starting to second guess my dreams a bit.

But then she came in right on time with a perfect message. She told me how she had to first believe that she deserved to get her blessings before she could allow herself to get them. She was always taught that money was inherently bad; however, she needed money to accomplish what she set out to do.

But then here is the golden nugget that she dropped. She realized that as long as the reason she was striving for her goals was in line with her spirit and with God then she would be able to keep money in its proper perspective.

Money is a great tool, but it will not define who she is.

This is the problem that Jesus identified in the rich young man he was talking to above. It wasn’t that his riches and possessions prevented him from walking with Jesus. It was that he could not let go of them.

There may be all kinds of things holding you back from your purpose: fear, comfort, people, or things. But when it comes down to it you have to decide what you will do and what you deserve.

Are you willing to let go of what you are holding on to? Do you deserve joy, and happiness and all the wonderment that God’s path brings? Are you willing to drop everything in pursuit of that path?

Winning takes a full commitment. It is there for all of us. We just gotta step up and go get it.

Loving our Enemies

Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. - 2 Samuel 2: 19

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. – Luke 6: 27-28

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18: 1-23

Wow…

So you know the whole thing that Jesus says about loving your enemies and turning the other cheek. Sounds ridiculous right? Well it sure did to Joab, the commander of Israel’s army under David.

I remember as a kid always hearing that David was the man who had the heart of God. I never really knew what that meant. How can a person achieve that? What is God’s heart like?

Well… this is what the old folks must have been talking about.

David loved his enemies.

First we saw it with Saul. Saul repeatedly tried to kill David. But what did David do? He continued to honor Saul and show love to him to the point that he spared his life on multiple occasions.

Now we are seeing it with Absalom. Sure he is David’s son, but he is no less an enemy than Saul was. Absalom hustled his way to the throne, ousted David and sent his troops on a manhunt to snuff him about.

And what did David do? He instructed his troops not to lay a finger on him. After all of the turmoil that Absalom caused David was not going to lay a finger on him.

This is love beyond my understanding. I don’t get how folks could conduct their lives in such a way. But I also realize it is not outside of our reach. We see it every time we study the life of Gandhi and MLK Jr. We see it when we observe non-violent protesters standing firm in the line of fire. We see it every day in America with our friends and neighbors who work to coexist with people who hate them for who they are and what they represent.

In this instruction lies the key to our future. Imagine what the world would be like if we could love our enemies!

What a wonderful place it would be.

Shame: A Letter to David

As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul's family came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out. He pelted David and all the king's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left. As he cursed, Shimei said, "Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel! The LORD has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The LORD has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!" – Excerpt from 2 Samuel 16: 5-14

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 16-18; Luke 17: 20-37

Yo David,

Man, what are you thinking? I read this over and over again at least four or five times. And all I could think was wow… what would I be thinking here?

Several years earlier you knocked up Bathsheba and killed her husband in the process. The prophet Nathan told you about yourself and you felt real bad. You knew that God was not a fan of what you did.

Not one bit.

So fast forward a couple of years and here you are… running out of Israel to escape from your son Absalom. On the way out you run into Saul’s kin folk. Of course he’s not exactly pleased with you. But wow. He throws stones at you in front of all of your men and curses you saying that you got dethroned because you are a man of blood.

Must not have felt too good man…

What’s interesting is that you know that you were anointed by God through Samuel. That is undeniable. So of course what he is saying about this being retribution for Saul is incorrect. But, you sure do know that you have some innocent blood on your hands.

I too wondered why you didn’t have old boy snuffed out when he was throwing stones. But I get it. Even though he wasn’t exactly right, you knew that you were wrong.

Your tryst with Bathsheba turned you into the man of blood that he was speaking of.

I guess it pays to do right doesn’t it?

I’m not judging you, but it seems like you have some doubts at this point. But how much do you doubt? Do you doubt whether or not you will be king again? Or, do you doubt whether or not you ever should have been?

It seems to me that both are equally likely because of the remorse that you felt for the wrong that you did.

So hard man…

No person is perfect… and hence the difficulty of living life. But one thing you have shown me here David, is that when we do wrong we open the door to all kinds of confusion.

I’ll do my best… sigh…

Peace.

Say Thank You

When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." – Luke 17: 14-19

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 14-15; Luke 17: 1-19

Ten dudes with leprosy ask for healing. Ten get healed. Only one comes back and says thank you.

Not a good look.

This is one of my pet peeves. It seems like people don’t say thank you anymore. I wonder why that is. Do people see it as a sign of weakness? Has something been lost in our collective ability to appreciate the actions of others? Maybe we think that there is nothing to be thankful for… maybe we think that the people who do things for us are supposed to; that we are entitled to the good graces provided to us by those around us.

I don’t have the answer here but It’s gotta stop.

There is something exceptionally loving in those two words. When we thank someone, we acknowledge them. We are not just acknowledging the particular deed or action that benefited our lives. We are also communicating to that person that we recognize their value in our lives. We recognize the love that we have received from them.

We recognize their humanity.

This sort of acknowledgement is sorely needed. Look at all the folks on twitter and facebook tweeting and updating their status all day. Look at all of the folk out there with blogs. So many of us are clamoring for attention. We want to be heard and felt. We need someone to listen.

We all want to believe that we matter.

I’m no sociologist nor psychologist but I really do think that if we all made a

better effort to acknowledge the humanity in those around us then the world would be a better place.

It’s the little things that matter.

So next time you have the opportunity don’t hesitate to say thank you to someone who has shown you love. Say hello to a stranger. Say I’m sorry to someone that you have wronged.

I bet that more often than not you will make that person smile. And with that smile, the world has already changed.

Can't Serve Two Masters

"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight. Luke 16: 13-15

Today’s Reading 2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16

I had a chat conversation with a good friend of mine today. We were talking about Ethiopia and in the middle of her typing I interjected with some comment about Ethiopia haven’t a gang of Christians.

She was already typing the same thing. Shut up and listen Clarence…

I’ve never been one to worship money like the Pharisees but I definitely have dealt with my own idols. I used to worship at the altar of the mind.

My own mind… How arrogant is that? Or perhaps insecure…

Two sides of the same coin really.

Here’s what I mean by that. Have you ever met someone who always had to be right or always had to come up with the answer to the random questions that invariably come up in casual conversation? Aren’t those people insufferable?

Yep that was me. And you know what. It’s really tiring. It’s impossible to know everything right? So imagine how much energy it would require to seem like you do.

So silly.

But I’m sure you’re thinking how is being a know-it-all anything like what Jesus is talking about above with the two masters stuff.

Well it interfered with my relationship with God.

When I was having doubts and troubles with things related to Christianity several years ago much of it was due to what other “Christians” had done. But another part of it was that there were so many things that I had questions about. There were so many things that I didn’t understand.

That scared the hell out of me.

So I went on this quest to try to answer some unanswerable questions:

What is “sin” and what causes it? How does God “judge” us? How does He determine if we go to heaven or hell? If Jeffrey Dahmer is in heaven where is Gandhi? Is he in hell? Why? That doesn’t seem right.

This troubled me a WHOLE lot until I realized how the passage above applied to me. By trying to answer these questions I was trying to be God.

That job is way above my pay grade.

Once I realized this it became clear that I was totally out of balance. I am not God. That is an arrogance that I hope I don’t fall into again in the future.

So I decided to let God be God. I would listen to Him for guidance as to how I can best do me. After all, doing me is enough work anyway right?

So whatever your vice may be, take a look at it. Be honest with yourself. Maybe the reason why you aren’t moving as fast as you like is because you are getting in your own way.

If you have my problem you might end up like this guy.

How Small Wrongs Become Big Problems

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant." – 2 Samuel 11: 2-5

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15: 11-32

Don’t do it David! Noooooooooooooo!

Uh oh… She got him. Drats.

We’ll get to David in a minute here but we gotta talk about Bathsheba for a second. You know what my first thought is every time I read this story?

She knew what she was doing…

It looks like folks have been getting trapped for millennia. The game doesn’t change… each generation just adds their own flavor to it.

Ok. If you’re lost… let me recap the play by play here.

David goes for a stroll on his roof. He’s chillin’, looking around the city and low and behold he sees a super bad woman bathing in plain view.

Who does that? Nekked for the whole city to see? Riiiiiight.

Then he has his folks go get her, he sleeps with her, and she gets preggers.

You know what David should have done right? He should have taken a play out of Onan’s handbook!

I kid, I kid.

Ok… David shouldn’t have been up on the roof peeping at folks. Yes I know that the army was away at war and he was probably just chillin in the palace board to tears. But dude… occupy your time in a more responsible manner. Go get a board game, play some backgammon, Uno, dominoes… something else other than the “peeping Tom” move.

What this situation shows is how one little thing can lead to a huge wrong. Later in the chapter David sends Bathsheba’s husband to the front lines of the war to die.

So David went from being a peeping Tom to a murderer at light speed. He made one error that continued to build on itself until he totally acted out of his character.

None of us are above this. We have all been in the position where we have told a “white lie” that snowballed into fictions so great that they could inspire award winning performances.

But when it comes down to it most of our big mistakes can be traced back to the small decisions we make. We cannot avoid all of these mistakes because we are not perfect. But, if we constantly work toward being the best that we can be and stay humble, then hopefully we will have the focus and discipline to admit our smaller wrongs before they become big ones.

I Am Free To Be ME

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"

David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD.– 2 Samuel 6: 20-23

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 6-8; Luke 15: 1-10

For a long while I was ashamed to identify myself as a Christian.

This had nothing to do with my faith in Jesus; that never wavered. But it did have a whole lot to do with how popular culture viewed “Christians”.

The 2000s were an interesting time for me. There was so much change. I went to college, 9/11 happened, I studied abroad in Brazil, I graduated college and entered the “real world” trying to figure out what kind of man I would be.

It was at this time that my Stepdad told me something that I’ll never forget. “This is the time in your life when you decide what kind of man you will be.”

I believe that we are always becoming who we will be in the future but he did have a point. It was one of those crucial turning points.

But as I really started to think about my spirituality I started looking around at the world got confused. I saw wars being waged in Jesus’ name, an epidemic of child abuse in the Catholic church, and many other fellow Christians being led astray by media designed pull at their spiritual heart strings.

And if that weren’t enough, how about the absurdly dogmatic hypocrites making the lives of “sinners” miserable while these same church leaders were guilty of the same sins…

Sigh…

I was frustrated and hurt. Where are the good Christians? Where are the “love your neighbor as yourself” Christians? Where are the Christians who will admit that they don’t have all of the answers; the ones who aren’t scared to ask questions?

Where are the other folks who just want to be the best that they can be and to spread their love to those around them.

You know what I finally realized?

What me and God have going has NOTHING to do with any of these folks.

When I figured out that I was focusing on the wrong things, that I was focusing on other people rather than going straight to God with my questions and concerns things got a lot easier.

God answered with the quickness.

It became easier for me to be like David, to dance and sing and enjoy the life that I have been blessed to live.

Because, when it comes down to it, only God can judge me… being concerned about what others think or do can only distract from what I need to do.

Now I feel free to be the Christian that I am, not the one that others try to make me into, to fit their frame of mind.

I am free to be ME.

Ain't No Half Steppin'

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14: 25-27

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 3-5: Luke 14: 25-35

There goes Jesus playing zero games again.

Before you go running for the hills on this one take a deep breath, relax, and chill.

I know that I needed to.

I had actually forgotten about this passage. When I read it again I almost was like “that doesn’t sound like Jesus”. What happened to all the lovey dovey stuff: Don’t worry, love your neighbor as yourself, and all that jazz?

Now he’s saying that I gotta hate my loved ones? Huh?

But I get it now… what he’s saying is that walking that good path is NOT A GAME.

Ain’t no half steppin.

I’m reading this book by C.S. Lewis called The Four Loves. In his chapter about Affection he talks about those folks who need your affection to validate themselves.

Yes we’ve all been that person.

But what happens if you change your lifestyle in such a way that this person can’t really identify with you in the same way? Say you go away to school, start pursuing a dream, “find God”, or change your life in some other fundamental way.

Deciding to dedicate yourself to God’s purpose for your life is the ultimate expression of this example. There might be people in your past who just can’t deal with how you are growing and changing. They might try to pull you back into being the person that you are trying to grow out of.

You might have to tell some of these folks to kick rocks.

You can’t let anything or anyone get in the way of your God given purpose. If they really do love you, then they will eventually learn to accept you for who you are rather than preventing you from changing into who they fear you are becoming.

So keep your head up, stay strong, and keep taking steps forward. There’s no time for half steppin’.

Cause before you know it, half steppin’ turns into backpedaling. And instead of facing your purpose you are running from it.

And that’s no bueno.