90/10

10% of our lives is what happens to us, the other 90% is how we deal with what happens to us. As human beings we choose to wrestle with the 10% of our life that can easliy be pinned, given the 3 count and defeated by what we choose to do with the other 90%. It all has to do with attitude and how positive we are about the life we live. Every day is a struggle and god gives the strength to handle those struggles, he gives us the opportunity to work for him through our positiveness. Positiveness gives us the ability to garner attention and that's where God recieves the glory, through the attention that is paid to us. That's when people ask questions like: how is she getting out of bed after he left her at the alter, how does he still smile when he has no job and no money to take care of his family, how can you continue to live when your love one's death came so quickly and suddenly, they were so young, y'all had a long life ahead of you. It's because Jesus dwells in that person, and the only way he can dwell there is through the positiveness and the faith that person clings on to. The lord cannot dwell in any unclean place and the reason we feel so disconnected from him is because there is no room for him to dwell in our heart when it's cluttered by negativity. The bridge to understanding our life and how we continue to find him amongst the trouble, the heartache, the impossible moments, and diffculties is through positive moments in a not so positive place. The souls of men and women are found during the great diffculties that cannot be explained or that can't seem to be defeated. America's greatest generation defeated the greatest war in history and a baffling depression, America's greatest presidents are known for what they did in a time of crisis not peace, and Jesus most defining moment was escorted by pain and suffering. And if our god is for us then what and who could ever stop us, that is a positive thought and you cannot believe that truly without thinking positively. With those words we gain great power, with those words we are a avalanche of faith that cannot be stopped, with that faith we cause destruction that changes the world for the greater. It all starts with positiveness and the attitude we use today to defeat tomorrow problems that God turns into a story to change one soul at a time! What can stand against us when we are positive? Nothing! I don't know what I will do with my life, but where ever I live it from I will be a mountain of positiveness. I've been to negative for this portion of my life. So God shine through me whether it's from a house on 1600 Pensylvania Avenue, whether it's from the rolling plains of Alabama, whether it's from southwest side of Clay, whether it's from a city street corner, let me be positive in your image so I maybe used for the good of the world. God bless you, God bless the good ole USA and may god make us positive every day that we live.

From 30,000 feet, Ich bin ein Berliner

From 30,000 feet you can see miles beyond the natural road blocks that prohibit our fore sight on the ground. From 30,000 feet our adversities are small hills compared to the mountains we see from the ground. From 30,000 feet the vision you obtain from the ground seems to be useless. I do think that one reason God made it possible for man to suspend from 30,000 feet is to get a inch of a glimpse of how high he sits as we wonder the maze that we call life. Being this high gives a whole new meaning to a lot of things, for example; I think when God said if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will be able to move mountains. I truly believe that he meant if you trust in his vision from way above 30,000 feet there is not a mountain that can hender you, essentially saying that they have been moved to provide a path for the life God has in store for you. For some unknown reason God gave me this amazing best friend (Jacob Morris) who is allowing me to escort him and his wife to the beautiful mountains and valleys of South Germany. During this long 8 hour flight that I am currently in the midst of, I've been able to acknowledge how small I am compared to the large movement God is trying accomplish on the ground. I recall President John F. Kennedy standing before a wall in Berlin on June 26, 1963 and saying that, "Freedom is indivisible and when one man is enslaved all are not free." He went on to say that Americans from across the ocean are as one with the free man that stands on the free side of the Berlin Wall. Our fallen president then let go of some of the most famous words an American has ever said in the German language. "Ich bin ein Berliner!" meaning WE ARE ALL FROM BERLIN or we are all Berliners. What a pleasant sight it would be for the Lord that has given his all for us, to look down and see a world where all men wasn't just free but saved by the blood of his son Jesus Christ! This may seem like the impossible and is an accomplishment that couldn't take place in any man's lifetime but if we all lived by the thought of IF ONE IS ENSLAVED by the darkness of this world then NO MAN IS FREE. We would work tiredlessly to find freedom for one soul, so that we may find freedom. We would work as hard as a woman who went to be a missionary in Iraq in the middle of the War on Terror.  Her and her husband dug wells for the waterless Northern Iraqis who only recived water from Saddam every few months. On there way out of  the village some terrorist lined the highway and fired machine gun rounds into their truck. She awoke from her comma months later only to realize she had a body full of bulletts, that 3 of her fingers were gone, and her husband was killed. After mourning her losses she found a way to realize god was way above 30,000 feet and is currently tring to become a missionary once again. Ich bin ein Berliner!" We are all from Berlin. How great would it be if we could scream amidst our life full of mazes filled with mountains and natural roadblocks with useless vision, Ich bin ein christen! We are all Christians! May God bless you, May God bless these States that are United under him and May he continue to love us from way above 30,000 feet.          

Not me but we, which turns into HE

Years ago a 16 year old young girl stood in a bathroom shaking from the thought of herself being with child. She paced back and forth nervously as she shook the stick that would determine her life's fate. When the reading finally showed itself to my mother she dropped the stick and before it could hit the ground she knew she would not stroll the stage of her High School graduation, nor grace the halls of any university. There in her belly forming, was all the hopes and dreams that she had left and Marion Clark Thomas was later born into the world. Even though the young father of my brother promised to be around he later took off after graduating and my mother knowing before he ever left that she needed to quit school and begin caring for her child, she was ready for the responsibility. Later came Sherrie Thomas by way of the same father and later me when my mother met the lanky love of her life in my father. My mother is THE STRONGEST WOMAN I know, she has suffered loss after loss and she continues to move forward. First it was the loss of her dreams, then it was lostness of the door shutting behind the father of her two children, and the heartfelt loss as she stood beside a casket with the man of her dreams within. With all these losses it's amazing that she could still stand to live this life and I marvel at this beautiful woman everyday. The reason she still stand are many and I believe it has all to do with god but as far as rewards I finally saw why she is so satisfied with a life with no fulfillment, at least that's what I call it. A wise man once said that the greatest gift you could ever give the world isn't your services or efforts but it is the gift of another human being. If you could give this world another person who will continue to push forward the efforts of truth and service years beyond your living then you will change the world more than any Nobel prize winner or president. When you have the chance to mold a person to transform human being after human being it leads to change beyond years, decades, and generations. My mother's joy and rewards was for a trophy case of accomplishments or for degrees of acrediations, but it was turned into pushing her children to do well to this world every since she drop that stick when she was 16. Her trophy case is filled with the image of a high school Valedictorian and a degree and masters won by that Valedictorian from the University of Alabama that made her the most sought after tax manager in the city of Birmingham and on the edge of CFO. I believe there is an image of a solider who went from the battle field to building government ships as a private citizen with a degree in engineering for the betterment of the strongest Navy the world has ever seen. In the recent part of that trophy case is the image of a younger Thomas who was to prove wrong his caring school counselor who called his mom after hearing of his acceptance to Auburn to debate whether he should attend or not. The counselor argued that his ACT score was to low to finish the increasing toughness of an Auburn University degree, but she pushed her son forward and in a couple days I'll walk across a stage to shake the hand of the president of a university I love and as a memory in my mother's mental trophy case. Matter of fact it won't be me but we who walk across that stage. As in we I mean Elizabeth,Ronald, Marion, and Sherrie. For we forged this life together and we stormed the gates of difficulty together all for the betterment of this world and to my mother she should receive all the glory. If I know Elizabeth like I think I know her she would add not me but we turns into he. She believes that through all things, through all that this world brings and it's impossible moments and the days where you lose all hope and all dreams. That life is possible through Christ that strengthens her, me, our family, and the life we continue to live. It's not about me but we, which turns into he, and he being our lord and savior Jesus Christ. God bless you, may God bless these great states of America and May god continue to let us all be trophies to our parents.

The Small Things

There is something that always take us down, I don't care who you are and how holy you are, there is this one thing that you can't beat no matter how hard you try to dominated it. That one sin, that one mess up, that one uh oh, or OMG that as long as you can remember has led to you finding some kind of disbelief in the one true God, and leads to a network of future sins. For instance a huge problem in my life has always stemmed from the lost of my father, not that its my fault or its because of my sin that he is no longer with me. Since I lost my father I've been hell bent to find a mate so I could make sure that I wouldn't experience the nights of loneliness that I witness my mother go through. Due to the fact that he left this world early in my childhood, I would say that my life has lacked a manly presences. I was raised by three woman at different stages of their life. I had a sister who was in high school and college, a mother at middle age and a grandmother. So to often I depend on women, a lot of my life has been defined by the girl I'm dating and when they leave, my world is shattered because my girls, My mother and such has always been there. I also confide in women way too often, for the most part the girls in my life has always known more about who I am then the men in my life and that's not right. I didn't know that it wasn't right until recently when God confronted me through my own actions. He set a scenario that the devil had a trap in and I fell right into it. The beautiful thing about this misery that I'm going through now as I wait to leave this trap is that he is changing me for the better. Females is my problem they should not be as high of a priority that I make them and I'm going to change that now. Knowing that, I'm more than eager to have a son, so I can make sure he knows what I didn't know, and have the manly guide that I didn't have. The thing about tragedies and traps in our lives is that they give us scars that become souvenirs we never lose and those scars remind us that our past is never that far away. I once heard a song state so truly that, "To live is to suffer but to survive is to find meaning in that suffering." To often we let our sufferings define us and that's where our one thing we can't defeat develop. By trying to be in control of my life and being so aggressive in going after girls, dreams, and materialistic things I lose myself and my purpose. Jesus used the perfect parable to describe this wondering and losing of self in John. He says something to the effect of I am the shepherd, who watches his flock and when one of mine stray from the pack they wonder towards the evil one. That's what we do when the littlest of things distracts us from the path we were made to tread. Just the hope of being a mother one day can lead to a unhealthy relationship that can find pregnancy before marriage, just one drink can lead to addiction that takes years to break, and the dream of marriage can turn into a deep lust that's hard to shake. The smallest things can cause the biggest disasters. February 1st 2003 a shuttle filled with mothers, father, sons, and daughters made it's way back through the atmosphere that has protect us for so long, but that day it brought destruction. As the Columbia Space shuttle made it's way back home, a couple of tiles as big as the ones on your kitchen floor was broken off as the shuttle entered space weeks ago and was now missing. These specially design tiles keep the bottom of the space shuttle from overheating and breaking apart, well on that day the smallest part of the ship led to one of the biggest tragedies in the history of the space program. The smallest things makes god withhold blessings from us and every time we miss a blessing it's a small tragedy in life. God has to know the blessings he give won't be wasted, he has to know you will use it to bring those in who are lost. Just like the parable of the talons, god gives us these things we treasure and it's up to us to bring the glory back to him. Some of the reasons the people who desire fame haven't found it is because fame defines their life not Jesus. The reason most girls can't find that happy ending is because the wedding ring and the story defines you and not Jesus. Some of the reasons those like me who seek that girl and can't have her is because she defines you and not Jesus. At the end of that parable above I mention from John. Jesus finishes by saying I will search for the lost lamb and save them from the evil one that stands at the gates of my pastures. Today me and you need to let that one thing go and not let the evil one lure us beyond the pack and through the gate where he awaits. He takes us past that gate and deeper and deeper into the woods where a small hill becomes a mountain range. For I can witness to that fact, I let the smallest thing like my mother, sister, and grandmother love lead to the trap in which I lie now: broken, apologetic, and humble. The Lord is speaking to us who are in the trap and beckoning us saying find me, look for me over those small things, search for me over the little things, Seek ye the kingdom of heaven and all those small sins will be erased and all of your small wishes shall be given. For there is great power in small things and great faith and praise is given to our god when we abandon them, only to get them back! May God bless you, may God bless these United States and may God bring the small things to our attention.

What Jesus told me, Phillip Marshall, and Cam Newton

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people  
gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of  
the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They  
made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this  
woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded  
us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this  
question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.But  
Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7  
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to  
them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a  
stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At  
this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones  
first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  
10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has  
no one condemned you?”11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither  
do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of  
sin.” John 8:2-11

One of my favorite beat writers for Auburn University football is  
Phillip Marshall. I look on in awe at ole Phillip on Saturday  
afternoons and mornings right as he works the media room right before  
Auburn plays. See, Mr. Marshall diligently strolls around the room and  
shakes hands and spills 47 years worth of stories he's accumlated over  
his prize winning career that has seen him rise to height of winning  
The Herby Kerby award and 29 other awards given in the state of  
Alabama Writers Association. The best story I've ever read by Mr.  
Marshall had to do with himself more than it had to do with Auburn  
athletics, which is a rarity for him since he goes out his way to not  
be the center of his writting. He told a story about him being a young  
wreckless man who had too much to drink and ended up eventually  
arrested after crashing the Huntsville Times car the newspaper had  
provided for him. This story is beautiful to me because he uses it to  
draw a line of how no one is perfect and how that mistake changed his  
life. From that day forward he no longer took a sip of acohol before  
driving a car. Every one has had that one moment in their life where  
they have made the biggest mistake of their life but the lord changed  
their life from that moment on. I made a huge mistake in high school  
my senior year that almost led to me being chained to the woodshop  
back in Clay County Alabama, where young small town hero's dreams in my beloved county go to die. For some unknown reason God found mercy on  this poor sinner and now I'm a month away from graduating from one the  
nation's top 50 universities. See god never takes a mistake made by us  
and lets it die, he uses it for the good of the kingdom, not only does  
he use it but he magnifies it. This world is a very dark place, and if  
you've ever tried to find your way through a dark room you have found  
it incriblely hard. Well to save us the trouble of stumbling, stubbing  
our toe, or outright running into walls god creates a light in us that breaks the darkness like the sun ends the pre dawn night. He uses us as a beacon of hope in darkrooms that light the way for others who are  
trying to find their way through life. Sometimes our lights aren't  
bright enough, they're not distracting enough people from making the  
mistakes we barely escaped from with our lives. So God sometimes sends  
people to up the ante, fuel our candles and make our light  
unavoidable. God has made no better example than the story in the  
above lines where the priests are foaming at the mouth to murder this  
poor young lady, but since god has told us that he is never changing  
he's repeated himself through history once more. Today their is a  
sinner, accused of stealing lap top, a blamed rule breaker that took  
money to play, and now an expelled (allegedly) student from the University of  
Florida. What other charges are the press going to throw at this man?  
What else can they say about Cameron Newton that has not been said  
already? They have dragged my fellow peer into the streets and have  
asked everyone to pick up their stones to take the life he has worked  
so hard to regain. Yes, he has fallen short of the kingdom of god, yes  
he has made some mistakes, but who hasn't? They accuse him of being a  
cheater where he has been deemed just about as clean as one can be,  
but yet bad journalists rise from the masses much like they did in John  
chapther 8 and much like the Jews that brought false witness against  
Jesus. Now the University of Florida breaks the law by releasing  
information about Cameron as student at Florida (allegedly), what else will Fox  
news, Espn, and the other journalists do to be able to throw the rocks  
of judgement and discouragement at someone who has moved past their  
past? They all sit back and wonder why does he still smile, how does  
our case fall apart when we present it, why do our witnesses mix up their  
stories. I'll tell you why because it's a man that kneels in the dirt  
that's drawing in the sand,and he's speaking to Cameron as they scream  
charge after charge. He says what have you done they haven't done  
before, be strong for I am here with you, and when that man finds the  
right time, when Cameron's light is the brightest, when the arms are  
drawing back to mangle, He will rise from the dirt and say " may he without  
sin cast the first stone", and as he goes back to finish what he was  
drawing there will be silence. Within minutes you'll hear the  
slanderous filth hit the ground just as the rocks did when the woman  
accusers walked away; and Just like Jesus told Phillip Marshall, myself,  
and now Cameron Newton, Go and Sin No More!

DWB (Dating While Black)

This blog is going to be a little risky for what I usually write but I want to be direct in my thoughts and intentions whenever I do talk about this world. That's exactly what this world is very direct and uncomfortable and no matter how many times we try to avoid conflict we're only avoiding what will eventually happen. All my life I've always had friends that tilt towards the white side of skin color. All my life I have always dated people that tend to be of the lighter color race. I don't know why but I always have been like that, it's not a race thing because I have a ton of black friends and I happen to think the two most beautiful women in the world are African American, those being my mother and sister. I do still have a attraction to women that are black and I truly see the world as being anyone for anyone and color not mattering much but God has made the small majority of women I do find attractive because of dislikes and likes to be white. One time my mother who is very supportive of me and anyone I would like to date told me, "the life you lead tends to end up with you being alone Brodrick." I never quite understood what she meant when she said that but recently it has weighed on my heart and the weight is as heavy as gravity. I think what she meant was, no matter how I see the world in no way is the world as I see it. Where I believe in looking internally to find the intentions of people, some people believe in describing people by what they see. Even though I think this is as right as a left turn, I'm really guilty of it also. Just like the priests who drew back to throw stones of death and judgment at a adulteress, we hurl our beliefs at people of what we think the world should be like and no one likes to live a life under the intense pressure of other people judgement squeezing you night and day. What I believe my mom intended to say in my own words is that, you want to do something large with your life outside the walls of fear of the public. Meaning I want to lead a life in the view of the public: as a servant, motivator, and leader of people where every camera is on me. Therefore I will need to be able to withstand the stones that people toss and in order to stand to the rocks flying at my beliefs and the judgement squeezing my relationships, I will need a mate that can dodge flying objects as well as I and take just as much pressure that will be given to us and finding that is terribly hard. No one wants to lose family and friends due to a relationship they are in or deal with relationships that are difficult enough themselves without the added pressure of something deeply rooted as color. So when I have found potential love I believe it has been constricted by the fact that when that person looks me in the eye they believe in what I'm possible of and shy away from that stage. I remember Cam Newton's State Trooper that protects him (Gene Wiggins) told me this during a road trip, "I seen you speak while I was protecting the Speaker of the House and I don't want you to ever forget my name because I will see you on T.V. one day." That's a lot pressure for me and anybody else that plan to be by my side one day. It's sad that it matters this much but history has made it impossible to change and I must find someone who is willing to rewrite the history books with me. Someone who cares about what the world thinks of them solely for the reason of fear that a person may not think it is of Christ. They care not what the world says and care not what the world believes for we are made by a savior that is not limited by the powers of this world. We stand on ground that doesn't shake when the world shakes, we sail upon tides that don't rise when the earth's gravity pulls them, and our days are bright when the world's are cloudy. We should find a common strength in our love with our mates that no man can break and no task can make weary. The only way we can find this is by limiting ourselves and extending God in our lives, we have to let go of our power of choice and tell the Lord whether you make me single for rest of my life or perfect love with me and another you have the reigns. My worldly desire to love is SECOND to your will! That's how you find love that ascends racial differences and color like John Smith and Pocahontas (it's a true story)... That's how you find marriage that last beyond 50 years where you tear up when you talk about the love of your life like Laura Boyd's grandparents. That's how you live a life of singleness for the service of the lord like Mother Teresa. No need to fear what may be in store.... if we never find what we are looking for ....because I know of one that gives more than what we've been waiting for.... and if I find loneliness on this side he'll hold my hand along this life's shore. The life I lead may end with me being alone but I will never be alone. I am in a marriage with the lord where he will never be ashamed of my color, nor shy away from the stages that I will take, never succumb to pressure and there will never be a til death do us part.
May God bless you, may God bless these United States of America and may he continue to change our view of the world.

Greg Varner

If you hate politics just continue to read through, I promise there is a great point at the end of this!

What is Quantitative Easing? Any clue at all? Before you google it let me stand upon my soap box and lecture you. I'm not a Democratic or Republican, I'm not even a Independent. I truly seek the best intentions for my country, some would say that's exactly what a Independent is? To be honest why is and has there ever been a political affiliation to anything but the American people and the laws that uphold this land. President Washington warned of political parties during his farewell address, he mention that while useful to holding the current administration accountable parties could become more about what's great for a small few and less about compromise. Quantitative Easing is a new plan in place by our Federal Reserve to get money flowing through our economy and financial systems by continuing to extend Non Borrowed Reserves and lowering the Federal Fund Rate while keeping the Interest Rate low. This is to promote a pro liquidity agenda to increase money to small businesses. The point of that question was to expose how little we know about issues that we elect officials to handle for us. The reason Quantitative Easing is so important is because it provide businesses that are in credit crunches with loans from banks that aren't lending because they have to hold so much money in order to apply with the federal loan rate. This is a huge issue for us students who are in search of jobs from businesses that can't make payroll because of the lack of loans. They depend on these loan because they are waiting on customers who have no money to buy products or pay bills. That's just the tip of the ice burg, it's so much more under the plan I just explained that I barely know. There are few things in this world that upset me more than people not voting. Can you imagine the great pain it would cause those women that stood in picket lines for the right we sleep on, or the heartache of the people that were sprayed by water, bitten by dogs and hung from trees for the privilege we forget. We fought a entire war on the princple of taxation without representation yet we forget to file for absentee ballots or drive a mile down the street. Then we wonder why America isn't the same as it was in our nation's younger years. A anger I hold that's even larger than not voting is the reason that nobody knows what Quantitative Easing is, the few times we do go out to vote we vote straight ticket or we guess vote. There is no way we can get it right every time when we choose men to represent us, but it's just down right dangerous to choose a man upon party. There is a small town lawyer that lives in the beautiful cheaha foothills of Ashland, Alabama. He has done nothing but dedicate his life to the service of people. I remember him taking in a troubled young cousin of mine and a group of her peers from all over Clay County for counseling to prevent their reoccurring troubles. He has held bible studies from his small law office all in name of faith in god and the hope to make a town better. One day this gentlemen received a call from district 13 senator Kim Benefield who was stepping down to handle family business. She was calling to ask this small town servant to be her hand picked successor to her seat. No matter the party affiliation Greg Varner dedicated himself along with his amazing wife Kelly, stealing time from their law firm and three beautiful daughters all in the name of service to the state of Alabama. After months and months of his name being slighted in the public eye, his money being drained by the campaign and a tired spirit it looked as if he had defeat his opponent after winning 3 of the major counties involved in district 13. Then Lee county. See, District 13 is the largest district in the state of Alabama it covers more than half of the entire link of the eastern border of Alabama and Georgia. The counties that are mostly involved in the politics of this giant district is Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, and Randolph. Cherokee and Lee county barely wants anything to do with the rest of us. We only own half of Lee county in our district and the population lives mostly in Smith- Station which is suburb outside the state lines of Georgia and people there basically only care about Georgia politics. After winning three of the counties that truly care about the issues, Mr. Varner lost Lee county by 1800 votes. Meaning that the candidate Greg Varner lost too, whom was a democrat just 4 short years ago won by a slight margin because most people in Lee County had no clue of the issues or who the candidates were, they voted straight Republican. He didn't beat Greg but Washington D. C. beat a candidate that more than half the people that cared picked to be their representative. My whole point to this political rant, pertaining to God of course, is that Greg Varner came to the mic with hymnal in hand and read a song that basically said Lord I am at your service and I am your servant, you lead me where you will and I will follow. In that moment I knew what it looked like to become 2nd to the lord's will in defeat, to minster from the loser box, when we live in a country that glorifies the winners. A man that had put his life on hold donated his family and money to win, just praised the lord for his loss in front of a room of supporters. I think he did more for everyone in that room than he could ever do for us in the state's capital. So even when we try so hard but don't succeed know that the Lord is in that loss just as much as he would have been in the win. I hope when Washington D.C. is against me, and the politics are too much and life has given me a loss. I know that the wins and losses are only secondary to the true service that I live and I hope to be as much of a servant in a time of loss as Greg Varner was Tuesday night.