As I said in my last post- even though I haven’t been writing, I have been keeping up with other people’s blogs. And I’m always checking out the news. Here are some articles you should check out:

1. Daughter on her own, but still needs dad

This article is written by Nat Irvin, the fabulous father of Jovian Irvin, who many of you all know and love. I read his articles every week, because they always provide some sort of fatherly insight; and I feel more educated when I finish. I thought about including an excerpt from this article…but it’s so touching, that no excerpt would do it justice. You’ll have to read the whole thing yourself. Kudos to Papa Irvin and other men out there for being excellent fathers and for standing in the gap and being mentors and father figures for others. We appreciate you.

2. Students and Faith

I read this article last week on InsideHigherEd.com, which is a great site that keeps me aware of some of the happenings in higher education. I’ve often wondered how college affects the faith of students. There are tons of books out now about maintaining your faith in a collegiate environment such as “How to Stay Christian in College“, “University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus“, and”Survival Guide for Christians: How to be students and disciples at the same time“. And we all know there can be challenges to your faith in the collegiate environment. Shoot, there are challenges to your faith in every environment. But that’s another story for another time. Here’s a snippet of the article:

The more you pursue a higher education, the more likely you are to abandon your faith — at least that’s what conventional wisdom holds.

“Actually we’ve just been wrong about this for quite a while,” said Mark D. Regnerus, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin and one of the authors of a new study that suggests students who attend and graduate from college are more likely than others to hold on to their faith.

It’s not that colleges necessarily encourage faith, he said, but for all the talk about how intellectuals are out to destroy students’ relationships to their religions and God, the main obstacles to such relationships have to do with maturing and how young people spend their time. “Some kids were bound to lose [their faith] anyway and they do,” Regnerus said. But the evidence suggests that college isn’t responsible.

I better stop with school now…or else I won’t have any faith! But seriously, as someone who came to Christ ON MY OWN for the first time when I was in college, I don’t know how I would have made it through the remainder of college or graduate school without my faith. Just my two cents…

3. ‘Beautillions’ a rite of passage for black males

I think I was slightly surprised to find this article on MSNBC.com, I guess because I was thinking beautillions were such a southern thing. I know in Durham, it was really big, along with cotillions and other debutante stuff. I wish I had the pics from my own little pageantry/cotillion experience to post up here. They are quite embarrassing and I’m sure they would bring you all lots of laughter.

Anyhow, what I love about this is that it really shows the other side of the black community where older black men are relating to the younger generation, and helping to provide them with tools to be successful. There are black men who are raising their kids, involved with their communities, and not being the stereotype.

However, I never knew that Phi Beta Sigma did a beautillion. For real. In all seriousness.

So, I really haven’t BEEN anywhere. I’ve actually been sitting behind a computer everyday, reading everyone elses blogs. I’ve made notes about things that I want to write about, but I’ve never motivated myself to actually write. I’m trying to do better.

What’s new with me? In this short time, I’ve been enjoying the post-grad life. I recently got a job! YES! PRAISE GOD! I’ll be working at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, GA as an Admissions Counselor/Recruiter. It should be fun. The faculty and staff there seem fabulous, and I’m working with a guy that reminds me A LOT of Archie Ervin. Should be good times. My start date is June 26. I’ll keep you updated.

I’ve also been learning a lot about myself in the past weeks. There has been so much going on, so it’s interesting to see how I’ve grown in the midst of that. One thing that I’ve realized, or have been reminded of, is how much I value time by myself. As much as I enjoy spending time with other people, I so value the solitude and the peace that comes with being by myself.

Another thing that I’ve realized is that I have a low tolerance for people who are inconsiderate and who hold grudges or are less inclined to forgive. This realization has led me to pray hard for people, but also for me to pray hard for myself, and how I react to them. I’ve learned that part of being a Christian and displaying the love of Christ is particularly important in how we react to people that we don’t like or people who get on our nerves. And as for forgiveness- it’s is a difficult thing. Something that can keep you up at night and eat away at your soul. My prayers for being forgiven and for forgiving others are consistent. And in all honesty, sometimes I don’t want to forgive.

I’m about to start a journaling project, and it’s going to be an interesting journey. I’ve never been one to journal…even as a teenager. I’m journaling in an attempt to get to know myself to better and to really come clean with what my weaknesses and my strengths are. To recognize where I have grown and where I need to grow. I pray that God will do something awesome with this project so that I can be used fully in the ministry that He has for me.

So…perhaps that’s all for now. Peace and Blessings!

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work.”
~John 4:34