A Glimpse of who I am

FIRST NAME:
Lisa

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Nope...though people think it was Lisa Marie Prestley...Not quite

WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Been a while...nearly did in March though

WHY? Mixed emotions (anger, annoyance, hurt...) towards someone

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? With effort I writre okay I suppose, but I hate writing..keyboard is my thing

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Chicken

KIDS?
Definitely....more than willing to adopt

IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? hmmmm .....what do you think guys?

DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL?
Sorta..like to write/type my thoughts

DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Who me? Neeeeeever!!!!!! Shame on you for asking!!! LOL!

DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yup I do.

WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I would be scared as h*** but yes I think I would

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Frosted Flakes though I know it's not exactly healthy

DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
My sneakers...yes...only way to get them off

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Physically Not very…Emotionally….Yes

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN HURT?
hmmmm....don't think I have allowed myself to be

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Strawberry Cheesecake is nice, but generally I am indifferent

SHOE SIZE?
8 and a half

RED OR PINK?
I'm thinking Red

BIGGEST REGRET?
In hindsight....none (good and bad by the grace of God are learning experiences)

WHAT IS THE THING YOU LEAST LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF?
hmmmm...put it this way...I am a work in progress!!

WHAT IS THE THING YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF?
The fact that I am down to earth

WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST RIGHT NOW?
I will always miss my Tamzy


DO YOU HAVE A BEST FRIEND?
Nope, but a few very fabulous friends though

DO YOU THINK YOU’VE MET YOUR SOULMATE?
hmmmm, ahhhh bwoy, does it even make sense to search?

THE ONE THING YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN LIFE?
God's Purpose for my Life


IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
I don't know...that would depend on my mood

FAVORITE SMELL?
Couple things...good food, and nice cologne on the right person, and ofcourse nice perfume on myself


THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO?
I guess their general disposition....and I like a well dressed guy

FAVORITE DRINK?
Suppligen

GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?
Half Full!!!!!

FAVORITE SPORT?
That's a stretch...still trying to warm up to the sports thing

FAVORITE FOOD?
Don't really have one, but anything prepared by Raquel and Ms. Juliet is bound to be a winner...finger licking good!!!

FAVOURITE MOVIE?
I won't embarass myself by answering that...the answer would be a gateway to my heart

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING?
Happy endings, guy gets girl!!!

SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer, but not the kill me dead hot kind of summer like NY/Texas

HUGS OR KISSES?
Depends on who is giving it to me

ONE NIGHT STANDS OR HAPPILY EVER AFTER?
Happily ever after please!!!

SWEET GESTURE THAT MAKES YOU SMILE?
A number of things; anything that genuinely says..Lisa..you're special!!! Thanks for the mangoe Channy Boo!! and Fish at Port Royal Mich and Marlon!!!

FAVORITE DESSERT?
Have a few...but warm potatoe puddign with butter melted on top

WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?
Just finished Sidney Sheldon's Memories of midnight


CATS OR DOGS?
Dogs...Big Up Max and Lenny

FAVORITE SOUNDS?
Worship Songs and Sweet R&B tunes

ARE YOU IN LOVE RIGHT NOW?
Ahhh bwoy...Exactly what is that?

BEST PICKUP LINE EVER USED ON YOU?
Who says anyone is trying to pick me up?


WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT?
Dancing...what do you guyts think?

WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
June 18, 19...you don't need to know the rest, Nuttal Hospital

Lyrics that speak to my heart - Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson)

Grew up in a small town

And when the rain would fall down

I'd just stare out my window

Dreaming of a could be

And if I'd end up happy

I would pray (I would pray)

Trying hard to reach out

But when I'd try to speak out

Felt like no one could hear me

Wanted to belong here

But something felt so wrong here

So I'd pray (I would pray)

I could breakaway

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly

I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky

And I'll make a wish

Take a chance

Make a change

And breakaway

Out of the darkness and into the sun

But I won't forget all the ones that I loved

I'll take a risk

Take a chance

Make a change

And breakaway

Wanna feel the warm breeze

Sleep under a palm tree

Feel the rush of the ocean

Get onboard a fast traintravel on an airplane,

far away (I will pray)

And breakaway

Buildings with a hundred floors

Swinging with revolving doors

Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but

Gotta keep moving on, moving on

Fly away, breakaway

I'll spread my wings

And I'll learn how to fly

Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye

I gotta take a risk

Take a chance

Make a change

And breakaway

Out of the darkness and into the sun

But I won't forget the place I come from

I gotta take a risk

Take a chance

Make a change

And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway

The Will Of God ...at least the way I see it.

Between 2000 and 2005 (yes...all of five years), I went through a very tough experience (at least tough for me), that very (very!) few people know about (including yourself and Racquel). I won't go into the details of it, but it was a period of self doubt and low self esteem, fear beyond compare, and basically believing that I had stepped out of the will of God, and that all that was happening was retribution for stepping out of the will of God.

You know the funny thing? The resaon I thought I had stepped out of the will of God was because things were so ROUGH, spiritually, emotionally and at times maybe even physically. I figured that there was no way I could be in the will of God and be having such a mad, crazy, hard time. Here are some of the lessons I believe God taught me during this time:
1. My ultimate desire in life must be to be in the perfect will of God.
2. Though this is my desire, I cannot let the fear of not living up to the perfect will of God prevent me from stepping out in faith.
3. There are times when I will step out in faith and I am so far from the mark it aint even funny, and there are times when I will step out in faith and I will be dead on!
4. Having stepped out in faith, the fact that things may be as hard as hell, does not necessarily mean that the decision was the wrong one and that I have stepped out of the will of God. Sometimes God's will is for us to face difficult, trying situations to break us, melt us, mold us, fill us and use us, and He knows that in the absence of this...it will never happen. Yes!
5. Having stpped out in faith, the fact that things appear perfect does not necessarily mean that the decision was the right one either, and that I am in fact in the will of God. Sometimes in the midst of perfection we forget God and become very independent and then God's will for us cannot be accomplished.
6. Irrespective of which card was played, whether we are in God's perfect will yes or no...the prayer has to be the same...Guess what? Every single day we have to pray that the Lord will show us His will for our lives for each moment of our existence. Because guess what again? Today we are in His will, tomorrow we have let our guard down and we have stepped out.

So what am I saying ? Something I have had to come to grips with...the prayer has to be..."Lord, I don't know where I am right now, whether I am on the right path or the wrong one, whether I am in your will or not. But this is for sure, if I am on the right path..keep me there no matter how hard it is and accomplish your purpose for me in this situation. If I am on the wrong path, get me back on the right path...for even when I am on the wrong path, you have a perfect plan for how I can get back on the right path. Either way Lord, help me to know that your are leading me and grant me the peace that comes with this knowledge...and always teach me to pray....Not my will but yours be done...Amen".

A Little Perspective

Team West Indies!!

In April of this year, my co-workers and I journeyed to Panama for our companies annual convention. It was the coming together of the entire Central America and Caribbean Team, and it was an absolutely fabulous experience. The only thing that in a sense 'stole' my thunder and caused me to be a bit 'sober' at times was the awareness that after having gone all out for the convention, our company had huge, HUGE expectations of us for the next twelve months. In fact those huge expectations were to the tune of a 35% increase in sales. This in a sense caused me to be very 'wary' as in my mind there was this consciousness of the huge responsibility that I had. But you know what...these are the the lessons I took from the experience:

1. There are no substitutes for hard work


2. Hard work usually bears good fruit


3. Hard work always has its rewards


4. A job is a fair exchange....I do my job well...I get compensated...that's it!


5. When rewarded for work well done enjoy the reward in whatever form it comes


6. Never, NEVER be afraid of expectations or increased responsibility....they challenge you to reach higher heights and to avoid complacence

Sometimes I think we all need a little reminder about this, so that we can put out our best efforts in anticipation of the rewards that await us. Ofcourse we must always be careful to ensure that our greatest motivation is doing the will of God and bringing pleasure to him even when we are on our jobs, because this too is an area in our lives which can honour and glorify him.

The Puzzle

As a child I remember my parents used to give Nadia (my sister) and myself Jigsaw Puzzles to entertain ourselves…this was in lieu of Barbie and Ken with their ‘Dream House’. Initially, because of our ages, the puzzles were 20 piece puzzles…hey a big challenge for a four year old!!! It would take forever to put the pieces together, but it was really something to behold the end product…usually a picture of some cartoon character…Donald Duck or Mickey and Minnie Mouse or even Kermit the Frog with Miss Piggy. The older we got though the puzzles became a lot more complex. We graduated from 20 piece to 50 piece puzzles and eventually to 100 piece, 500 piece and even 1000 piece puzzles. Needless to say this was a far cry from the 20 piece puzzles we started out with. I mean, now, putting together a puzzle was an extensive affair which took weeks even months….sometimes you started and just lacked the momentum to continue. The individual, isolated pieces made absolutely no sense. They were abstract. Finding the corresponding pieces was literally like looking for a needle in a hay stack. There were times when you would swear that you had found the perfect ‘match’ and then proceed to force the pieces together just to recognise that ’Cho Man!!’, this was not the right fit. Most times we ended up having to do random sections of the puzzle for it was virtually impossible to take the systematic approach. Really and truly, we felt that we were working in the dark…for were it not for the picture on the front of the puzzle box, we would have had no clue of what we were working towards. But you know the most amazing thing….there were times when we actually would complete the puzzle…and it would be the biggest sigh of relief and feeling of satisfaction.

Ok…stay with me now…there is a point to all of this….

I think one of the most profound lessons I took from the year 2006, is that life is one massive 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Each piece represents an experience, a lesson learnt, an opportunity, a challenge, a success, a failure, a moment of joy, a moment of anger, a birth, a death, a hope, a goal, a disappointment, a good decision, a feeling of regret…a million different things…..At the time when we hold each piece of the puzzle, we sometimes have difficulty understanding the relevance of that particular piece. The ‘good’ pieces are usually the ones that fit perfectly and we don’t have much of a hard time finding their rightful place. The ‘bad’ pieces are the ones that we have difficulty putting together, and so we wonder about their relevance and purpose. Sometimes, we feel like not bothering to fight to put together all these pieces because of how challenging and time consuming it seems to be. I mean…this puzzle in many cases takes literally years to come together. But the most amazing thing is that….at the right time, the pieces fall perfectly into place and we are able to see the big picture…the intended outcome that God had for our lives. I learnt that, things don’t happen by accident…that every experience has relevance and is crucial for our lives to take proper shape and form. There are no irrelevant experiences or emotions or circumstances. God uses all of them to accomplish His purpose in our lives if we will allow Him to do so. There are times when experiences seem pointless and we only begin to make sense of them some five or ten years down the road. God taught me this year that I would be foolhardy to discard of any of the pieces of my life-puzzle. Simply, the picture would never be complete, and therefore I would never be complete. He taught me to embrace every experience in my life and to, above all else, learn from each one, because they are all important.

So…..as we all embark on 2007, some of us have incomplete puzzles which we are carrying forward from 2006. Some of us will have new puzzles to put together. Irrespective of what we are starting with, let us be encouraged to treasure each piece. Let us not grow tired of putting together the puzzle…yes we may have to take a short break from time to time….but even then let us not lose sight of the fact that there is a big, BIG, picture that God has in store for us. Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”’. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you….plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. Trust that God knows what He is doing. Every piece of the puzzle will be used by Him to complete the picture…the plan…He has just for you.

When I am ready to speak but there is no one to listen

For as long as I can remember I have been in the habit of speaking to myself. No! I am not crazy! I do not answer my own questions, and I do not have an iamginary friend. Seriously though, I speak to myself about just about everything!!! I reason with myself, question myself, figure things out, make sense out of my life, joke around with myself, walk myself through decision making and problem solving...I do just about everything. Now I not talking some one or two sentence conversation... no man...they can be very lengthy, oftentimes enjoyed while in the shower (or on my thrown), in my car, as a snuggle in my bed drifting off to sleep, anywhere I catch the vibe.

Truth is sometimes I have the desire to share these thoughts with other people, hence this Blog. I guess this is my avenue for getting things off my mind, while allowing others the chance to, in their own way, in their own time, give me feedback and their point of view. Not so good at this opening up thing but I working on it. Sometimes I am bursting at the seams to share with someone and end up simply bursting for lack of that someone to share with. But hey...I am a tough cookie right?! But even a tough cookie needs a listening ear sometimes. So here are my thoughts (at least some of them), for what they are worth. This way I can speak even when there is no one physically there to listen.