Important vs. Essential

Respect the important...
Pursue the essential.

:)

Coming Home

I just love this song from a much older and wiser Diddy, "Coming Home". It's so repentant yet triumphant at the same time. The original video is here. Below are some of the lyrics :)

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world I'm coming home

Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday

I know my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world that I'm coming...

I'm back where I belong

I never felt so strong

I'm back and I 'm feeling there's nothing I can try

And if you with me put your hands high...

What am I s'posed to do when the club lights come on?

It's easy to be Puff, but it's harder to be Sean
What if the twins ask why I ain't marry their mom?

Why? Damn! How do I respond? 

What if my son stares with a face like my own

And says he wants to be like me when he's grown?
Shit! But I ain't finished growing
Another night the inevitable prolongs

Another day another dawn
Just tell Keisha and Taresha I'll be better in the morn'
Another lie that I carry on
I need to get back to the place I belong...

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world I'm coming home

Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday

I know my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world that I'm coming...

Is a house really a home when your loved ones are gone?...

But you felt it and still feel it 

And money can't make up for it or conceal it
But you deal with it and you keep ballin'...

Baby we've been living in sin 

'Cause we've been really in love but we've been living as friends
So you've been a guest in your own home
It's time to make your house your home
Pick up the phone, come on

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world I'm coming home

Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday

I know my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world that I'm coming...

"Ain't No Stopping Us Now", I love that song 

Whenever it comes on it makes me feel strong
I thought I told y'all that we won't stop
'Till we back cruising through Harlem, Viso blocks
It's what made me, saved me, drove me crazy
Drove me away then embraced me, forgave me
For all of my shortcomings
Welcome to my homecoming
Yeah it's been a long time coming

Lot of fights, lot of scars,
Lot of bottles, lot of cars,
Lot of ups, lot of downs,
Made it back, lost my dog
I miss you B.I.G.
But here I stand,
A better man
Thank you Lord
Thank you Lord!

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world I'm coming home

Let the rain wash away

(Feels so good)

All the pain of yesterday

(Feels so free)

I know my kingdom awaits

(Ain't no place like home, baby)

And they've forgiven my mistakes

(Ain't no place like home)

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world that I'm coming...

I'm coming home

All things

All things are easier said than done,

but with God all things are possible.

:)

He's in control of everything... and that includes my heart :)

HE's in control of everything... and that includes my love life :)

Maybe there's nothing more to say
And in a funny way I'm calm
Because the power is not mine
I'm just gonna let it fly
- The Corrs, "What Can I Do"

I can’t say what’s next
And I got nothing up my sleeve
But I don’t lose my head
Cause it ain’t really up to me
And what will be will be
I ain't gonna stress

Don't look
Fate can only find you
You can't choose for something to surprise you
You never know where you're gonna fall
But I'm not worried, no I'm not worried at all
Something's watching over me
Like sweet serendipity
- Lee DeWyze, "Sweet Serendipity"

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: 

Do not arouse or awaken love 

until it so desires.

Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem:

Don't excite love, don't stir it up, 

until the time is ripe—and you're ready.

- The Shulammite woman, "The Song of Solomon"

Computer programming + equations 4 Him

While looking for a good curve-fitting code for my research, I found this "dedication":

Version info: $Id: DEDICATION.txt 4 2008-05-31 20:25:11Z zunzun.com $
The Python Equations project is dedicated to Jesus of Nazareth, son of the living God.

Ephesians 4:28
   Let him that stole steal no more:
   but rather let him labour,
   working with his hands the thing which is good,
   that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Well done! James Phillips of http://zunzun.com/ is honoring God by/while helping out his fellow programmers. Good job :) 

In love, the benefits outweigh the costs :)

"Nothing is more costly than loving, except not loving."

      - on the cover of one of my old notebooks :)

Time and again I've seen this to be true, whether the relationship is romantic or not. 

To love means to value someone, and to let that person know it... 

And true love means doing so, even if the love is not returned.

To love is to invite rejection, ridicule, and disappointment.

To love is to be vulnerable to anxiety and pain.

Costly indeed.

To not love, on the other hand, is to go from one day to the next living the same old life.

To not love is to live with no one but yourself --- alone, isolated, nothing given, nothing received.

But how much of what we learn came from other people, from relating and living with them?

None of us was born perfect; we grow from our experiences, and much of that comes from interacting with others.

And if we interact with others, do we add joy or grief to their lives? 

Do we speak blessing or cursing? Life or death?
Do we add to the good or to the evil?

Do we love?

"We love because He first loved us."
      - Apostle John, 1 John 4:19

We can only give what we ourselves have:
what we have experienced for ourselves, what we have seen is possible.
In the context of love, we can only give true, unconditional love once we have received it ourselves... the kind of love that can only come from God Himself.

May we all realize (or remember)
how unlovable we are (or were)
and that God the All-Perfect still chooses to love us

Even if we can't give back love that perfect
May we all desire to try
To love Him by our faithfulness
And to let His love flow in how we relate to others

"To love another person is to see the face of God."

      - Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Live a life of true, godly love this February, and every day of our lives!

Arise and work! The LORD be with you! :)

The words of King David to his son Solomon,
upon building the Lord's Temple:

"Now my son, the LORD be with you, that you may succeed...
as He has spoken concerning you.

Only, may the LORD grant you discretion and understanding...
that you may keep the law of the LORD your God.

Then you will prosper
if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules
that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel.

Be strong and courageous.

Fear not; do not be dismayed.

With great pains I have provided...
To these you must add.

Arise and work! The LORD be with you!

Is not the LORD your God with you?
And has He not given you peace on every side?
For He has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand,
and the land is subdued before the LORD and His people.

Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God.

Arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God,
so that the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God
may be brought into a house built for the name of the LORD."

(From First Chronicles, chapter 22)

God's calling is where...

God's calling is where you'll face the largest hardships but also find the deepest fulfillment. :)

:)

The privilege of choice

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

 - Psalm 32