New stuff

WOW! It's been a while & a lot has happened since the last time I blogged.

January recap- beginning of internship at McGarity Elementary; 1st grade. I got the best supervisor UWG could have offered as I prepared for graduation. Chit-Chat Read's first book was a huge success. The girls loved the book and the program itself.

February recap- Internship was beginning to become a lot. It's hard to work for FREE! If you've interned before I know you feel my pain. If not you'll never understand. "Love is..." was a nice turn out. It made me excited for next year's event, because I have plenty of ideas. 

March recap- I was dismissed by two of the closest people in my life. I guess reality checks are quite necessary for growth. I was extremely hurt in the beginning, because I was caught completely off guard. I realized that when you're cut off and actually take a second to step back for evaluation it is an eye opening experience. March was rough. I found out I was not accepted to GSU for graduate school. Little did I know that the storm was shorty about to be over....

April- I was admitted into UWG's amazing graduate program. I went to visit my family in Texas & loved it so much I plan to be back. Soon! I turned 24 years old & if I could say so myself it looks kinda good on me :) and last but not least GRADUATION is around the corner.

Sometimes we have to experience the clam before the storm, go thru the storm & see the amazing beauty on the other side. I've been thru it these past few months of 2012 & I truly count it all joy. I thank the people praying for me constantly--those prayers are not in vain at all.

YAHWEH!

HELP!

Some people are screaming, calling out & even begging for help (in their own non-verbal way
). What can be done to make the difference? It's so many thing I want to do to help people in so many different ways. I realize sometimes the answers are right there in the mist of the silence. I had to question myself today "Erica when do you ever take time to sit and listen for the answers?" Guess talking to yourself sometimes isn't so bad after-all, right?

Keep my family, friends & myself in your prayers.... I pray for you, you pray for me I love you; I need you to survive!

2011 flashback

As I look back through what 2011 brought me I kind of get emotional; whew Lawd this was a long trying year! I definitely blogged the most this year, as you can see. The things posted were for me & how I felt. I've accomplished a lot in preparation for 2012. And I'm really ready to see what 2012 will have in store for me. I feel as though I'm as prepared for 2012 as I can be & glad to be able to bring in the new year with 3 of my closest friends. I might even cry a little. God has been good (a lover, friend provider, my everything), my family is in great health & loving each other dearly, and my friends. & I are at an awesome place in our friendships. I'm excited!

Such a message!

Shoutout to my Peter for putting me onto this song!!

Breaking comfort zones ASAP!

I recently attended Christmas with the Condrey's; an event hosted by Praise 102.5's inspirational DJ Corey "Coco Brother" Condrey which was something like a Friday night church service. Great singing, a powerful message & wrapped up my the most inspirational/encouraging messages I've ever heard in my life by gospel artist William McDowell! He said 

"If you miss an appointment with God. He is not obligated to reschedule." 

The purpose for this quote was how we are so quick to stop our praise/worship because we don't want to make others feel uncomfortable or we fell slightly out of place, so we rush our praise. To me my praise is the way I say thank you Lord for ALL you have done for my family, friend & myself. My praise is the way I draw myself near to God and we converse about it all. Praise is a great opportunity to gain answers to questions and find a certain kind of peace much searched for.  Gospel artist Vicki Yohe once said "your breakthrough is on the other side of your worship" 

As I sat in in the service praising & worshiping the Lord showed my an escalator that was placed on pause. I was the only person on the escalator standing comfortably, yet wanting to get to the top, but it wasn't moving & I seemed to be okay with that. Then I was shown an image of things I've been wanting to accomplish at the top of this escalator. It's as though God was at the top looking down on me asking when was I going to get out of this comfort zone so he can turn the escalator on for me to get to the top. I didn't have to use the steps to get to the top, because God already has everything in motion, just waiting for an okay. The okay is my praise & my worship!

From this point on there I will no longer place a hold on my praise, because I want HIM to know my worship is forreal! My praise will be my okay & my thanks!

Chit Chat Read

I mentioned before a couple of times about a program I was starting. Remember? Well, it is finally starting up tomorrow, Dec. 15, 2012. I'm soooooo excited I can't even sleep. I consider it such a blessing to see my dreams coming true right before my eyes.

The program is a book club/mentoring program  called Chit Chat Read. The target is girls ages 11-16 in the Douglasville, GA community. I feel this program is beyond needed due to the different things we will offer, such as literature, self-esteem workshops, etiquette courses, etc. The base of the program is African-American literature as a way for the girls to find a release through literature. Some of the books selected for the program are written by a fabulous author, Sharon Flake. The characters are around the same ages of the Chit Chat Read girls and face similar problems....

CHIT CHAT READ

In life, society places stumbling blocks in our way as we strive to move ahead. Girls are faced with their hardest challenge of being accepted between the ages of 11-16. With proper people placed in their lives, girls will be able to overcome these obstacles of low self-esteem and peer approval and become successful students and citizens. Through communication, we help one another with some of the issues we are all faced with as we grow and mature into young women. In literature, we can find character(s) that we can identify with in certain situations. Chit Chat Read is a book club program where your daughter can talk about her issues, dilemmas, and joys in its relation to literature. The characters in each book are around the ages of 11-16 and face ordinary issues that a typical teenage girl may face. These issues include but are not limited to boys, parents, religion, school, social media, and acceptance; these books have it all! The girls will read, share, and discuss how the characters overcame obstacles in their lives and how they compare to or relate to those characters in the book.

We will meet once a week on Thursdays to have our chit chats. I feel this is a great way for your daughter to deal with issues from her past, current issues, and potentially prevent future problems or issues from arising. This is a literature program embedded with Christian values that will promote abstinence, self-worth, and the importance of academics. Our motto is “He loves me, I love me” referring to God. I want the girls to appreciate themselves and to know God loves them, too. I hope you find interest in this program and allow me the opportunity to work with your daughter.

The girls will read one book a week, using a book chunking method. Book chunking is dividing the total number of the book’s pages by seven, because there are seven days in one week. Each Thursday we will meet to discuss the book in its entirety. Not only will we chat about the challenges the characters faced, but how we can relate to those challenges in our own lives. There will be weekly activities based on the book, including special guests who will share similar experiences as the character(s) from the story.