The reality of our decisions....

Greetings followers:

It's been a while, and I hope you all have been doing well, and your lives and families are blessed.

There was a time when I would ask myself? did I make the right decisions? or choose the right path? Until I came into the revelation of God's Word as a born again Christian. I was living in darkness. The reality of the choices, I have made over the years; are starting to make clear sense. Pastor Chris talks about, in the audio. Christ Consciousness, that we will only know as much as we were exposed too, watched, were taught by those that were caring for us, and the schools we went too.

The woman I have become now, compared to the woman I was before this revelation. Has truly made me more consciously aware of who I am, and what steps I need to take, in order to complete my God given destiny. Our mission is to raise generations of men and women who will come into their inheritance to fulfill God's dream. We are all giving the choice, in this life to decide. If we are going to truthfully walk in the righteousness of God, or adapt to the world's perception of how it dictates, the way our lives should go, based on man's knowledge. "Want's you locate yourself, you make the change to move upward and forward" Source: Pastor Florence Amosa: Christ Embassy Hawaii.

A thought to leave you with, from our dear Man of God, Pastor Chris Oyahkliome, Ph.d. "The spirit has the laws that control the universe.... receive the Word when you speak, it comes forth...

Glory be God! I have an excellent spirit, I'm the seed of Abraham because I'm so blessed.....

Carol,

Are You Pursuing Your Passions?: Why are we living pay check to pay check?

Are You Pursuing Your Passions?: Why are we living pay check to pay check?

Why are we living pay check to pay check?

Are we really working towards a goal? or moving further away from the Pursuit of Happiness?

                                                "The Decade of Prosperity"

The economy overall grew by 37% during the 1950s. At the end of the decade, the median American family had 30% more purchasing power than at the beginning. Inflation, which had wreaked havoc on the economy immediately after World War II, was minimal, in part because of Eisenhower's persistent efforts to balance the federal budget. Except for a mild recession in 1954 and a more serious one in 1958, unemployment remained low, bottoming at less than 4.5% in the middle of the decade. Source: 
http://www.shmoop.com/1950s/economy.html

Case in point! Today's economy is not progressing in the way our four fathers would have imagined. The ultimate decision of one person can determine your life when you work for a company with dysfunctional individuals that cannot separate home from work or vise versa. The economy has been up and down just like these past few years for me looking for work. I have decided to stop depending on someone else's vision and start being a visionary for my own success. Starting with surrendering everything to God my lord and savior Jesus Christ and allowing him to use me in a way that will allow the universe to attract the natural elements that was intended for my destiny. So, that being said, what about the economy, and our current administration. President Obama and his cabinet are doing a great job of putting fundamental resources and vital services back in place for Americans. As setforth, Eisenhower's economy is what enable our parents to establish what most of us inherited or the company that was passed down to us. 

The Black community in which I represent is declining in the lower income neighborhoods due to intentional segregation, resources and the lack of support for good programs to empower our communities to be self reliant. We have a host of other races living in our communities that are non black non Americans, but benefit from our hard earn dollars and sweat. 


Although the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s has gained greater prominence, the black aesthetic movement in mid-twentieth-century Chicago also produced an influential flowering in the arts. The “Great Migration” brought tens of thousands of southern African Americans to the city, where they contributed to the development of an urban culture reflected in the visual and performing arts, literature, and music. Chicago became a pioneering center for recording and performing music. The Chicago Defender promoted black fine arts and publicized the works of artists and the institutions that supported and nurtured their creativity. The South Side Community Art Center and the New Deal's Works Progress Administration nourished artistic creativity and organized art workshops for black citizens. Source: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/240.html

Their is no secret that we are very competent and capable of success and owing empires to produce effective non crime ridden neighborhoods. The misconception of us are those who pray on the weak and take advantage by bribing our communities with the promise of more financial support. We have and still to this day are grounded, beautiful, spiritual, educated people. The world will have you think that all you need is a higher degree, but as we saw in the past and continue to see in this economy the lack of integrity and character in a lot of western society that is flawed.  

Risking it all to discover yourself

Hi guys,

     Carol here! giving you the secrets to how I found myself, and being comfortable in my own skin. I know it's been a while since my last post. Well actually a year or so, due to some unforeseen circumstances with my family. The thought of changing careers to pursue my passion for those around me sound crazy. What? you are not going to law school? No! it all came to a halt after I heard one of Oprah's life classes and she interviewed J.K Rowlings, and it hit me! that in order to find my soul purpose, true happiness, and piece of mind I needed to write it down on paper. It's like the poems that automatically comes to me, or the passion in my heart when I choreographer dance steps in my head while my body is secretly dancing like no one's watching.

     Also, like the best chapter of my life is me, and the things, people and other cultures that I have embraced as my own. J.K. Rowling's story was that still small voice saying. What are you waiting for, yes I 'm talking to you Carol, put it on paper. In life there is a saying that "if it wasn't written then it didn't happen". source unknown. The facts! nothing, but the facts! How she felt before she was noticed and how Harry Potter became the success it is today. On November 8th I hosted an event at the Asian Arts Initiative and one of my members made a very good point. Write, just write, don't think about the structure, grammatical mistakes. So, that brings me to this! Ah! when I woke up this morning and checked Facebook  there was this photo of this sister rocking her locks/natural hair so I pursued to look at all of them and it reaffirmed my beauty and Identity as a black woman.

     Although,  I am no J.K. Rowling's I am ready to tackle the world. In addition, like Rowling's I was a single parent of three daughters and we had some diverse challenges, but I win always!  First, ladies  let me tell you, when you invest and believe in yourself, and the divine presences of God's will. Defeat is impossible! The greater one lives in me, I know who I am.  As my friend Jean said, some guys are not ready for a  genuine and intelligent woman who know's who she is and what she wants. That being said, The focus has always remained on God, me, family and my career.

     Furthermore, never spend time on something or someone that was never meant to be yours in the first place. It's goes without saying how blessed I am to have my daughters who are my jewels and are all grown women well into their own lives. One class away from my B.S. degree, and now seeing what Jobs and Bill Gates felt when they listened to their hearts and followed their passions. Jobs, the creator of Apple, life story was a blessing and inspiration. His story stayed with me the most. Bill Gates and Jobs both went against the grain and followed their heart and passion.

     Finally, the secret to me finding my happiness was hitting rock bottom and yielding to the spirit and allowing God to take what I thought I lost and create a new chapter. Although I am making progress.  I am confident that this is just the beginning and I will be writing novels in the future. J.K. Rowlings story and her life as for many woman who are left to raise children on their own were epic inspirations to achieve my success in completing my B.S. degree and taking some time to really develop my skills and sole purpose for my existence.

The US dollar no longer as important

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place – although they have not discovered the details – are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China's former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. "Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable," he told the Asia and Africa Review. "We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security."

This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil – yet again turning the region's conflicts into a battle for great power supremacy. China uses more oil incrementally than the US because its growth is less energy efficient. The transitional currency in the move away from dollars, according to Chinese banking sources, may well be gold. An indication of the huge amounts involved can be gained from the wealth of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar who together hold an estimated $2.1 trillion in dollar reserves.

The decline of American economic power linked to the current global recession was implicitly acknowledged by the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. "One of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power relations," he said in Istanbul ahead of meetings this week of the IMF and World Bank. But it is China's extraordinary new financial power – along with past anger among oil-producing and oil-consuming nations at America's power to interfere in the international financial system – which has prompted the latest discussions involving the Gulf states.

Brazil has shown interest in collaborating in non-dollar oil payments, along with India. Indeed, China appears to be the most enthusiastic of all the financial powers involved, not least because of its enormous trade with the Middle East.

China imports 60 per cent of its oil, much of it from the Middle East and Russia. The Chinese have oil production concessions in Iraq – blocked by the US until this year – and since 2008 have held an $8bn agreement with Iran to develop refining capacity and gas resources. China has oil deals in Sudan (where it has substituted for US interests) and has been negotiating for oil concessions with Libya, where all such contracts are joint ventures.

Furthermore, Chinese exports to the region now account for no fewer than 10 per cent of the imports of every country in the Middle East, including a huge range of products from cars to weapon systems, food, clothes, even dolls. In a clear sign of China's growing financial muscle, the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, yesterday pleaded with Beijing to let the yuan appreciate against a sliding dollar and, by extension, loosen China's reliance on US monetary policy, to help rebalance the world economy and ease upward pressure on the euro.

Ever since the Bretton Woods agreements – the accords after the Second World War which bequeathed the architecture for the modern international financial system – America's trading partners have been left to cope with the impact of Washington's control and, in more recent years, the hegemony of the dollar as the dominant global reserve currency.

The Chinese believe, for example, that the Americans persuaded Britain to stay out of the euro in order to prevent an earlier move away from the dollar. But Chinese banking sources say their discussions have gone too far to be blocked now. "The Russians will eventually bring in the rouble to the basket of currencies," a prominent Hong Kong broker told The Independent. "The Brits are stuck in the middle and will come into the euro. They have no choice because they won't be able to use the US dollar."

Chinese financial sources believe President Barack Obama is too busy fixing the US economy to concentrate on the extraordinary implications of the transition from the dollar in nine years' time. The current deadline for the currency transition is 2018.

The US discussed the trend briefly at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh; the Chinese Central Bank governor and other officials have been worrying aloud about the dollar for years. Their problem is that much of their national wealth is tied up in dollar assets.

"These plans will change the face of international financial transactions," one Chinese banker said. "America and Britain must be very worried. You will know how worried by the thunder of denials this news will generate."

Iran announced late last month that its foreign currency reserves would henceforth be held in euros rather than dollars. Bankers remember, of course, what happened to the last Middle East oil producer to sell its oil in euros rather than dollars. A few months after Saddam Hussein trumpeted his decision, the Americans and British invaded Iraq.

Read also:

• 'China will overtake America, the only question is when'
• 'The end of the dollar spells the rise of a new order'
• The Independent on Facebook
• The Independent on Twitter
• by: BY ROBERT FISK

Never Forget the reality of Christ's life and love,

November 18, 2011
With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter. 2 Thessalonians 2:15, NLT
Paul knew that the Thessalonians would face pressure from persecutions, false teachers, worldliness, and apathy to waver from the truth and to leave the faith. So he urged them to "stand firm'' and hold on to the truth they had been taught both through his letters and in person.
We also may face persecution, false teachings, worldliness, and apathy. We should hold on to the truth of Christ's teachings because our lives depend on it. Never forget the reality of Christ's life and love!

Source: Tyndale House Publishers [lifeapplicationdailydevotional@newsletter.tyndale.com]

Are You Pursuing Your Passions?: Are You Pursuing Your Passions?: "Starting Over"

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