Father, Father, I love you

Father, Father,…. you are strong, you wise, you are love to others, you can teach us about life As I say these words to my biological dad on Father’s Day. Looking into the eyes of my father who has brown eyes and underneath is his wrinkles from staying up late when I was sick or my two siblings who were sick when we were younger. My father’s gray hairs stick out of his hair because of all the stress that he has gone through in the last 10 years of his life with job losses, cancer, separation, and family issues. My dad still has his youth and you would not think that he is 55 years old but looks as if he was still in his early 30’s. Sometimes he shows me his muscles to tell me how are his muscles look which I always tell my dad it looks good. My dad has a sense of humor never dies away but it always alive when I am feeling down. My dad is also a father to many others children who are not his own. My nieces always call my dad, “Dad”. I love it when I hear my nieces call my father, “dad”. Many others have looked to my dad as their own heart father and it touches my heart that my dad can be there for other individuals.

My father had his father passed away when I was 6 years old but misses his biological father each day as he tells me. My dad has adopted my mom’s father, as he own dad. My dad also has the father in heaven as his own. My dad could not survive without his father in heaven after having colon cancer and thanks Lord for his life each day.

If you do not have a father to celebrate this Father’s Day please look to the Lord as your own. The Father in heaven will not leave you or forsake you and be by your side when you feel alone. Father, Father will always love you.

Isleen

Facing Technology


I am at the age of 29 years old and seen technology move into new directions in the last 15 years of my life. For me, getting on the Internet was the new thing when I was 16 years old and using the cell phone back in 1996. This was a new device to explore if you were buying car or looked up for important information. It took forever to get information to download from the Internet. I remembered that I had waited 5 mins. for each page to download because the modem was so slow. Times have changed since then and today we have the Internet in the palm of our hands. For me social sites were ideal while I was in school to keep up with everyone’s life. I started to use Myspace back in 2004. I could put my pictures, write blogs, make comments to each of my friends and it was fun. Then, Facebook came out in 2004 for college students. Only college students could log on to the website to keep up with each other's lives. Facebook was a different world back in 2004 compared 2010. Many of us, college students kept up because of our classes but not socially purpose like today. Other social networks like Twitter came out in 2008. Not many people knew about Twitter until media started expressed how useful it was. The social media became the new thing in 2008 or 2009.

Having a smart phone was the new thing to carry around so you can log on to your Facebook or Twitter. Having these social media was convenient to be to keep up with your friends. The convenient was taking over my everyday life by having Facebook in the palm of my hands or chilling at home. June 1st, I am leaving Facebook, Twitter and Myspace but I will be back in August. I need a season of my life to focus more than social media. Why you ask? One reason is that I need to focus on my life on my studies for my Master degree. It is hard enough to keep up with the smallest tasks at home or with my family. A distraction when it comes to being at church. Yes, at church. You are sitting in the pew when the pastor is giving the Sunday’s message and you take a moment to glance at your Facebook status. Yes. This has happened to me many times and it has become a distraction to me. There are other personnel reasons but you will have to call me or email me.


I love to see what had happens with my friends or I update the good news. This summer, I am going old school without Facebook, Myspace or Twitter. Will there be a difference in my life? You will have to wait and see after August. Having a life without Facebook will be a question in which you had to see in my future blog.

The Baby boomers generation are surviving without Facebook but can Generation X or Y surviving without Facebook? My dad tells me why is Facebook is so popular and what is so big about it. He has a Facebook but rarely checks on it. Why are the Baby boomers are not in love without Facebook but our generation in love with Facebook? Many of the baby boomers keep up with their emails and phone calls with their family or friends. Have our generation lost of being personnel with others? Have we lost the personnel touch when it comes to party invitations or old sending pictures in the mail? I would have to agree with my statement. Post office is in trouble because many our generation is sending invitation on Evite or Facebook it. Many jobs are lost because of technology. Next time you send invitation in the mail for a party think about how many jobs are lost because of technology. I know it is convenient for us but think about the $.44 can save a family’s bread and butter or even a job.

What will happen if our technology collapse? How will we communicate?
I was reading article this week about Facebook having privacy issues on the settings and that were a numerous people quitting Facebook. Check out this article at this link: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/bus/2010/05/25-47/Facebook-CEO-admits-mistakes-vows-simpler-privacy-controls.html . After reading this article, I questioned myself about privacy settings. Are we putting social sites first in our lives? Think about this question? When we are stressed, alone, rejected, happy, sad, moody, etc. we have to put it in Facebook status to allow the world to read it. Are you really giving your life away to technology? What will become after Facebook or Twitter? Where will our communication be in the next few years? Will it be in the eyeglasses or a small device smaller than a blue tooth? Will be smaller that IPOD? Think about it? Here I go old school? Will my life change to reach out to real people? Will I reach others people around me than reach for my Facebook or Twitter? I will let you know this little test. I will journal many of my entries of this little test to tell you will happen. See you in August.

Old School Gal,
Isleen

I have a Dream

I have a Dream

Martin Luther King, Jr. is inspiring person of the century and amazing speaker. As I read, I have a Dream speech I could comment from the beginning of his speech until the end of his speech. My favorite part of the “I have a Dream Speech”, is where Martin Luther King ,Jr. says, “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

Martin Luther King, Jr. made his speech of his dream but do you have a dream? I want to challenge on your dream? Are you still pursuing your dream or is your dream dead? I recently was counseling a few people and I had encouraged them not give up your dream even when things were at a rough point in their lives. I really feel there are reasons on why we were given dreams in our lives.

I had a hard time trying to manage my crazy schedule with my two jobs and three classes. I had sat down in one of my co-workers office and I told her how stressed out I have been feeling about my current schedule. My co-worker asked me on why I went back to school and do I have vision that I was pursuing? I told her yes. I had to go back to a few of my journals to read of what were some of my dreams in the past. I found a journal that I had written five years ago. I was surprised to see I have not given up on my dream to finishing school while I was going through some personnel struggles. Today, I am still in the place where I was 5 years ago but on a different level in my school. I had my dream to finish college but I never thought in a million years that I would be in the place of where I am today. I know the Lord has guided me in the path of where I am. I am not going to throw in the towel. My dream is for my future family. I am not married and I do not have children but when I look at my niece's faces and I think to myself will I support them in the future? Will I survive this recession with my future family? These are my fears for my future family but I am willing to fight to have a better life. Another dream of mine when I was child is to teach. I have always wanted to be a teacher since I was 12 years old. I used to teach my brother and sister in the summer months when there was nothing to do and they would be bored of my lesson plans. Now , I as I look back I do not want to give up on my childhood dream to teach others. My dream is to teach the learning disabilities students in the college. I was one of those learning disability student was told that I could never graduate from the university but only a 2 year college, but I did. I managed a full time job while going to school until I graduated with my undergraduate degree. I still have my dream and I am not going to give up. Here is one of verses that inspires my life in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “ ²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” Keep your dream alive. Finish the race to you dream.

Isleen

Pride

During the summer around the time Fourth of July, I like to get Old Navy t-shirt or tank that has the American flag. I started this tradition since I was in high school because I love celebrate American’s independence. As American,I am proud of our country and where I live which there is nothing wrong about it. Then there is the word pride. The word pride is defined is having something such as an achievement or possession that somebody feels especially pleased and satisfied. Recently in my life, I have dealt with pride in my life. If I do not know something, I can usually google on cell phone to find the answer but I came into a situation where I did not know the answer accept to look at the Lord. The Lord has shown me in class or through my textbooks that Lord is in control and I am not.

I rode my bike for the first time without the training wheels when I was six years old with my dad. I had a red Huffy bike that had training wheels on it. My dad decided that afternoon that I was going to ride my bike without the training wheels. I was frightened to ride my bike without the training wheels but my dad knew it had to be done or else I will never ride a bike. He told me that he will hold on to my bike but he will let go after 1 min., which he did. I was riding my bike and it was the proudest moment for my dad but then I fell off the bike. I tried repeatedly to ride my bike without the training wheels and eventually rode my bike without my dad. I never gave up on my bike or showed my dad that I can do it, which I did. In life, you can never give up on the Lord. The Lord will be with you every step of the way. You just have to let go and allow the Lord to take control of your life. We do not have the answers of why negative things happen to us but we need to press through the Lord by having trust in him.

Isleen Rodriguez

Holding on

It seems lately that I feel like I am holding on to what is occurring in my life right now. I recently heard 3 awesome points from a co-worker that he states, “ 1. God is in control and loves you. 2. Hard things, crazy things, happen 3. 1 &2 don’t contradict each other.” He stated very well. G-d is in control with everything in your life and he will love you no matter what happens good or bad. Some people blame G-d because of love one dying, a loss in a relationship or even loss of a job. When we go through hardest of life we need to hold on to the Lord with our dear life. This is a perfect example picture for you imagine. A little girl is in tears and in pain from being sick but she looks to her daddy for comfort. We should be the same way with the Lord and look to him as our daddy. Second quote, from my co-worker that he says, “ Hard things, crazy things, happen.” A famous quote that some say, “ Sh*t happens!” We are not in control of negative things occurring in life but we have to keep on going but not look at the negative but look to the positive of the situation. Third, 1 & 2 statements don’t contradict the statement but there is truth if you think deeply. G-d is in control and he loves you and hard thing, crazy things, happen. We don’t always have the answers with everything but to have faith in him and realize it is out of our hands. As I sit here and tell you that you to have faith in the Lord. The Lord has shown me in the last few weeks with people calling me up to give me this or ask me if I need help with anything. I have tears in my eyes because I know the Lord is faithful with everything he says from the beginning to the end.

Isleen

7 Minutes with G-d

7 Minutes with G-d

He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. —Psalm 23:2

“The word connected captures our contemporary experience of life. Many people rarely go anywhere without a cell phone, iPod, laptop, or pager. We have become accessible 24 hours a day. Some psychologists see this craving to stay connected as an addiction. Yet a growing number of people are deliberately limiting their use of technology. Being a “tech-no” is their way of preserving times of quiet, while limiting the flow of information into their lives.

Many followers of Christ find that a daily time of Bible reading and prayer is essential in their walk of faith. This “quiet time” is a disconnection from external distractions in order to connect with God. The “green pastures” and “still waters” of Psalm 23:2 are more than an idyllic country scene. They speak of our communion with God whereby He restores our souls and leads us in His paths (v.3).
All of us can make time to meet with God, but do we? In Robert Foster’s booklet “7 Minutes With God,” he suggests a way to begin: Start with a brief prayer for guidance, then read the Bible for a few minutes, and close with a short time of prayer that includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication for others. It’s vital to take time today to connect with the Lord, who is our life.” —

David C. McCasland

We need to set aside the time
To read God’s Word and pray,
And listen for the Spirit’s voice

As I was reading today’s devoution, it made me think of all the times that I did not spend time with the Lord. The night before I was so tired from working all day and reading part of the night but there was one important thing forgot to do spend time with the Lord. The busier you are in your life the more distraction you receive in your everyday life. There are times when I have to lay down my cell phone in the purse and forget about it when I hangout with my boyfriend or my family. I want to give all the attention to my boyfriend or my family than my cell phone. I think the Lord wants part of our whole attention to focus on him instead of us being busy. Today, I challenge you to spend 7 minutes with the Lord each day. Can you meet up with the challenge? I am doing the same thing in my life from this day on.

Isleen

A Clear Picture of My Destiny

A Clear Picture of My Destiny


In my last entry was on News Years Day, I had said that I plan on going to school this semester but I was waiting an answer for my financial aid. If the financial aid was not to come by the start of the school year which was by Jan.19th, 2010 then I would not go to school until the summer. Well, I looked online for my financial aid and I received it on Jan.12, 2010. I was in shocked because it takes weeks, and weeks to wait for your financial aid. (Some of you guys know this if you are in school). My faith level is on high. There is more to this story as it continues………

This morning, I went to my master orientation meeting and I was a little nervous to walk in the room and fear what was going to happen next. There were few questions coming to my mind such as “Was this learning disability gal going to make it in the Master’s program?”, “Will my two jobs schedule will work with my new classes?” and “Was my degree plan going to work out with my adviser?” When the orientation meeting was over my adviser spoke with me about my degree plan and it took him about 10 minutes. Amazed I was but I knew that the Lord was on this. One of my classes will meet each month for 2 days and another class is online which starts in the middle of the semester. There will be no job conflicts with both of my jobs. Amazed I am..... When the Lord is working with your destiny there is no road blocks blocking in your path. As my day ends it gets brighter and brighter to where I am going to walk the next 2 and half years of my life. I will not look back of my past or at my weakness for having a learning disability. I will overcome my lack of trust. When my hope is gone I will move along, move along…. (As the song goes) I will move along to find the Lord in those rough times.

If you are feeling down remember that the Lord is with you when no matter what is going on in your life. If you are lost trying to find you’re your destiny just believe and have faith in the Lord. Give the Lord glory first before yourself. You will find that the Lord wants you to give him glory because your life will come clear to what you are suppose to do in your destiny.


Psalm 73:24:

“24 You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.”