I Got Dunked In Water!!

This past Sunday I was baptised by Pastor Phillip Ward of Destiny Worship Center, our home church. It was an amazing experience and there are not words to describe how I excited I am about it. It has been a long road to get to this point.


For much of my life, I fought the idea of attending church and sharing in faith and worship. I thought I could take care of myself and do it on my own. I was shown the hard way that I couldn't and that was when I began my spiritual journey. I have learned so much along the way and what is so amazing is that I know I am only at the tip of the iceberg. I am happy that I have reached this point and that my wife, Cara, has been beside me every step of the way. I can honestly say that I would not be at this point if it were not for her. Whether she knows it or not, she has been my rock and my biggest cheerleader as I have gone through this spiritual growth and I thank her for it.


I also want to thank those of you who took time out of your Sunday afternoon to come to the ceremony. I cannot express how much it meant to share this momentous event in my life with you.

For those of you who were not there, here is a video of my baptism that my buddy Tanya sent me.

The Inside of the Track

Will and I are running together to train for the 10K we are doing on Thanksgiving morning. It's the first time we have ever worked out TOGETHER on an ongoing basis. As I look back over the course of our almost 10 year relationship, I think about the playful competitiveness that's always been a part of us. We've teased about who scored higher on the SAT (remember, we did start dating in high school...); we've teased about whether TCU or UTA is the better school (we even went to the TCU/UTA basketball game on our second anniversary...TCU won by the way!); and we've teased about whose way is the right way to solve most any problem (as we usually take different approaches). But it seems like lately we're finding that there's value in one another's way. And that we rely on one another more than we ever would have admitted before.

When we train, we run on the track at the Cedar Hill Recreation Center. It takes 13 laps to make one mile. Of course, in running, like most everything else, we have different approaches. I am usually full of energy at the start. I like to take off at a good pace--then I hit a wall and have to slow down. Will on the other hand starts out slowly and builds up speed as he goes. Though we have our differences in style, we choose to run together, pushing one another when one of us feels weak or wants to quit. Because I like to start with some speed, I usually start on the outer most lane. Though running on the inner lane of the track may be more of a mental advantage somehow it seems to keep us moving. When I hit my wall, Will crosses over pushing me to the inside of the track. Then I work to keep my pace up with his. Later, after breaking through my wall I catch a second wind. Somehow it's about this time Will hits his wall. Without ever having to talk about it, we switch back, with Will taking the inside of the track. Normally as we finish our run, Will always has the energy to pick up speed for our final lap. And it always takes everything I have to keep up. Yet we usually finish beside one another stride for stride.

I was thinking about all of this as we ran tonight. And thinking about how much Will keeps me going and encourages me when I struggle or am weak. Not just in working out, but in our life and our marriage. Though in the past I used to consider our differences as a hindrance, with maturity I realize how much those differences are what I love and appreciate about him. I certainly hope that I do for him what he does for me when I struggle. I am so lucky to have him as a partner, choosing to run by my side--even if he isn't such a TCU fan. ;)

America is For Real

I have seen something that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. America will finally have its first African American president. When all of the news channels finally projected Barack Obama as the winner of this election all I could do is begin to weep. I feel like this win by Obama is something that means more to me than just a man winning an election. This makes me believe that the United States is truly a place where dreams can come true.

I can remember growing up in the suburbs and going to school. More often than not, I was always the only African American in the class. This would be a theme that would continue to be in my life up to this point. I was often the only African American in many of my undergraduate courses, the only African American in my graduate school graduation class, and am currently the only African American in my division at work. It has always bothered me and made me feel uncomfortable, but I always told myself that it was okay because I was being afforded opportunities that many of those before me did not have. People like my grandfather, Ducky, did not have the same opportunities. He grew up in a world where he was not treated equally and was only given the option of going into the military or being a sharecropper. Two generations later I am a successful engineer, like my father, and the U.S. will have an African American president.

I am just so overjoyed to know that when I have a son or daughter I will be able to tell them that they can become president and actually mean it in my heart. This will be a defining moment in my life and for the country and I am glad to witness it. Being a child of the 80s all I've witnessed is a lot of war and terrorism, but now I have something positive that I can tell children about when I am old.

I just want to thank my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles for helping me become what I am today. I didn't understand why you all pushed me so hard to succeed, but tonight I understand why.